China rocked by five sex scandals in six days Some observers suggested that China's new leaders had sanctioned the reports to send a warning shot out to officials. "The ability of the internet [to uncover scandals] is greater than ever before and the new government cares more about corruption and is acting very quickly," said Mao Shoulong, a professor of Chinese politics at Renmin university. On Wednesday, it emerged that the 43-year-old head of a small village in Shanxi province had four wives and ten children, a detail that came to light after he was arrested for plotting an assault. At the start of the week, a television presenter accused a local official in Heilongjiang province of coercing her into an affair for years and raping her while she was seven-months pregnant. The official has now been fired. In Shandong province, the deputy head of the local agriculture bureau saw evidence of his philandering posted online, including signed letters promising to divorce his wife for his lover. Finally, in Chongqing, a local government official was fired after he was seduced into a honey trap by property developers. A leaked notice from China's propaganda officials instructed newspapers to "strictly adhere to information issued by authoritative departments" when reporting on officials who "have become degenerate," according to the China Digital Times website at the University of California, Berkeley. Do not investigate or report of your own accord. Do not quote from online sources," the notice added, suggesting that the Communist party is tightly managing the flow of stories so it does not become a flood.