China's 'Brother Watch' Jailed For Corruption A Chinese local official whose grinning face at the scene of a deadly bus crash sparked an outcry and, eventually, led to corruption charges has been jailed for 14 years. Yang Dacai was head of the Shanxi province work safety administration when the photographs circulated online brought him to prominence in August 2012. Outraged citizens condemned his apparent callousness and, spotting the luxury wristwatch he wore in the picture, dug up more photos of him wearing pricey timepieces from Bulgari, Omega and Rolex. They nicknamed him "Brother Watch" and demanded to know how he could afford the items on a public servant's modest salary. Yang's expensive timepieces prompted the investigation Communist Party officials later opened an investigation and stripped him of his official duties for "serious wrongdoing." Yang pleaded guilty last month to charges of taking 250,000 yuan (£25,615) in bribes and having bank deposits of five million yuan (£525,200) from dubious sources. Prior to his trial, Yang had defended himself on an online forum, saying his smile was an attempt to cheer up anxious rescuers on the scene of the accident last August, in which 36 people were killed. He also claimed to have used his legal income to purchase the watches. Yang, who had also served on the provincial anti-corruption body, became yet another embodiment of the graft seen as rife among Chinese officialdom, and which is increasingly being exposed and condemned on China's microblogging services. 'Brother Watch' on his way to court New President Xi Jinping has tried to assuage public anger by encouraging frugality among officials and by tightening controls over the bureaucracy and long-cosseted state owned companies. However, China's ruling Communist Party is extremely wary of private citizens probing corruption, preferring to do the policing on its own terms. In recent months, scores of social media users have been detained after publicising graft allegations or calling for officials to publicly declare their assets, amid a campaign by authorities to clamp down on 'online rumours'. Huazhong, a Chinese blogger instrumental in exposing Yang's watch collection, said he was pleased by the sentence, but added he was no longer pursuing suspected corrupt officials online. "It's a very risky thing to do," he said, asking that his real name not be used. Since the end of summer this year, control of online opinion has become stricter ... In this kind of atmosphere, in fact, fewer and fewer people will go on to the internet to do things like criticise officials or expose corruption.