ABSTRACT
As Jin Weidong (2000: 83-7) explained, the PRC’s existing criminal code cannot be used to penalize people who offer and accept non-monetary or non-material forms of bribery, such as sexual bribery. This is because the 1997 Criminal Law refers to official bribery as an offer of property to a member of the working personnel of the state in return for a benefit, or for the assistance to obtain a benefit. But, he continued, sex-related bribery can entail more serious social and economic consequences than material forms of bribery, in that it promotes corruption, results in a loss of state resources, and leads to a deterioration of government functions. To underscore this claim, Jin raised the example of Cao Xiukang, the former Head of Customs in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, who had accepted ‘sexual services’ from a woman, Zhangyi, and then promised to make her the head of the provincial government’s representative office in Hong Kong. Compounding this act of ‘unfair promotion’, Zhangyi’s younger brother subsequently videotaped their sexual activities and used the tape to coerce Cao into facilitating his smuggling operations (Jin 2000: 83-7; Wu 2000).
