China's top 10 scandals in 2013

No 1: Big Vs (Influential micro-bloggers)

Xue Charles Bi-Chuen, a Chinese-Americaninvestor who called himself Xue Manzi on SinaWeibo, was detained in August on suspicion ofpatronizing prostitutes. Xue had 12 millionfollowers on his micro blog account, and he usedto help shape public opinion with his sharp onlinecriticism regarding headline-making incidents.
No 2: Medical workers
On Oct 14, the Tianjin government said that Dumex China paid 116 workers in 85 local hospitalsto promote their infant formula by handing out pamphlets and giving lectures to parents.
The government said it has confiscated the money and 13 medical workers were punished.Dumex, a French company that makes nutritional products for infants and children, apologizedlater for the incident.
No 3: Judicial officials

In early August, Shanghai's top court suspendedfour judicial officials on allegations of patronizingprostitutes. The scandal came to light after an onlinevideo showed a group of court officials walking arm-in-arm with female karaoke partners at a resort hotelon June 9.
The Shanghai anti-graft agency said on its microblog that the four officials included Chen Xueming,chief judge of the No 1 Civil Tribunal at the ShanghaiHigh People's Court, and Zhao Minghua, deputychief judge of the high court's No 1 Civil Tribunal.
No 4: Headmasters
In May, a primary school headmaster and a civil servant in Wanning, Hainan province, were takeninto police custody for allegedly sexually assaulting six female students.
In June, Yang Qifa, a 59-year-old headmaster of a primary school was sentenced to 18 years injail for raping and molesting girls in Qianshan county in Anhui province.
A middle-school teacher in Hefeng county, Hubei province, was detained in September forallegedly having sex with at least eight female students, and one of the students got pregnant.
No 5: Chengguan (Urban management)
On May 31, seven chengguan were involved in a violent altercation with three bicycle storesalesmen in Yan'an, Shaanxi province. Footage circulated on the Internet showed that a burlyuniformed chengguan officer stamped on the head of a salesman on the ground.
The video triggered a public outcry, and on June 4 the Yan'an city government announced that ithad suspended four officials and four employees involved in the incident.
No 6: Academics
In September, Zhang Shuguang, former deputychief engineer of the then Ministry of Railways,confessed during his trial that he spent 23 millionyuan ($3.7 million) on buying votes to try and gainmembership of the Chinese Academy ofSciences (CAS).
The CAS responded on Sept 11, saying that ithad not received any complaint about fraud in anhonorary academic election involving a formerrailway official.
No 7: Temporary workers
In its edition of June 17, China Newsweek magazine published a cover story "More trouble fortemporary workers", criticizing "arrogance and prejudice of public power" after temporaryworkers repeatedly became the scapegoat in a number of government scandals.
A survey by the Beijing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,the nation's top advisory body, showed that the capital's chengguan office had 7,000 civilservants and 6,500 temporary workers in 2011.
No 8: Journalists
In late October, Chen Yongzhou, a reporter for New Express, confessed that he accepted bribesto defame the State-owned construction equipment maker Zoomlion. The reports resulted in thecompany's share price dropping and public accusations against its management.
New Express apologized for the stories, vowing to strengthen management of its employees andpublication procedure.
No 9: "Expert opinions"
Experts, or Zhuangjia in Mandarin, are often unflatteringly referred to by netizens as "bricks" (zhuan has a similar pronunciation) since they have been known to utter some controversialstatements.
One prime example concerns Dong Fan, director of the Real Estate Research Center withBeijing Normal University, He triggered an online outcry in September when he said that propertyprices in Beijing were not high, and could reach 800,000 yuan per square meter in about 25years.
No 10: Movie director
Zhang Yimou, a renowned movie director, made headlines inNovember for violating the law that limits most urban couples toone child.
Zhang said in an open letter on Dec 1 that he, and his wife, ChenTing, have two sons and a daughter and they are willing to receivepunishment in line with the law and regulations. He apologized tothe public.
Source: China Daily