After consultation with relevant authorities it has been determined the local state organs have failed to undeviatingly serve the people of H province, and the entire local apparatus is riddled with corruption.

Attempts to rectify the situation have failed because morally degenerate senior officials have resorted to increasingly desperate measures to cover their tracks.

Effective immediately, Comrade Hou Liangping, veteran of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, is to be sent to the province to help expedite a resolution to this crisis.

Every assistance will be given to Comrade Hou. Any deviation from this directive will be identified and strictly disciplined.

END OF MESSAGE.

‘In The Name Of The People casts light on the dark underbelly of Chinese politics’
- The Straits Times

‘Unprecedented...politically sensitive’
- ABC Australia

‘A taste of forbidden fruit’
-The Economist

Zhou Meisen is vice chairman of the Jiangsu Writers’ Association, and also a retired government official. In the mid-90s, he served as deputy secretary general of Xuzhou City and became an active investor in business, stock, and real estate, making him almost uniquely qualified to write about official corruption in China.