Communist Party mouthpiece rebukes feckless children of officials "Many of these children have not experienced the hard work needed in their parents' struggle to achieve success, but are shown the results of this success," the newspaper argued. Used to getting everything they want and having all their problems handled, they will use their father's name as an excuse, take flaunting wealth for granted and regard defying the law as brave behaviour. The alleged rape is not Mr Li's first run-in with the law. In 2011, the BMW-driving teenager was allegedly involved in a "serious assault" during a bout of road rage. He was subsequently sent to "reform school" for one year and released last September, according to the People's Daily. It is unclear how the son of a PLA general, whose official salary would reportedly not exceed £1,800 a month, could afford a BMW. A series of scandals in which the children of high-ranking officials have been accused of using luxury cars, including Ferraris, have helped reinforce the public's perception of gross corruption and a growing wealth-gap. In January, China's vocal online community reacted furiously to a similar case, involving the wayward son of another senior civil servant. Li Yali, the police chief of the wealthy mining city of Taiyuan, was sacked after he allegedly attempted to cover-up a drunk driver's attack on one of his police officers. The perpetrator, video footage proved, was in fact Mr Li's own son.