XINHUA, SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (China)
If Chinese politicians have one thing to learn from the United States, it's to never trust the Internet. (Oh, wait).
Lei Zhengfu was removed from his post as party secretary of Beibei district in Chongqing on Friday, after he was allegedly exposed in a sex tape, reports the South China Morning Post.
Investigative journalist Ji Xuguang uploaded a video on Tuesday of the Communist Party official Lei Zhengfu having sex with his 18-year-old mistress. The video is now circulating on China's Twitter-like social media service Sina Weibo.
Screenshot of Ji Xuguang's Weibo account
Xinhua reports party officials began to probe Lei's activities on Thursday.
This social media scandal brings to mind one last year from the other side of the Pacific. Back in June 2011, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner was forced to resign after tweeting "inappropriate" images of himself to young girls, including a yfrog photo of his bulging crotch.
The scandal, which exposed the risks social networks hold for overheated politicians, also got some extra media bang because of the double (and triple) meanings of Weiner's last name.
It is not yet clear how Lei's private encounter wound up going viral, but China's Internet is no doubt having fun with this latest scandal. For beyond the sex scandal, politics, and digital voyeurism, Lei's most amazing similarity with Anthony Weiner is that his given name, "Zhengfu," in Mandarin roughly translates to "peasant's sausage." (Editor's note: NO IT DOESN'T!!)
