He’s a married middle-aged executive of an enormous state-owned corporation.
She is his 25-year-old secretary and the daughter of an influential family.
When a video caught them holding hands on a social media mall account, not even the facility of the Chinese Communist Party’s pervasive censorship could save them.
Xi didn’t think so.
The borderless chairman of China’s one-party administration is campaigning hard to bolster the credibility of his regime.
He claims that the Communist Party is all-seeing, all-knowing – it’s the source of all knowledge and the model of all virtues.
Even when it’s not.
When Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai accused former Communist Party vice-premier Zhang Gaoli and his wife of forcing her to have sex, she “disappeared.”
![China's Peng Shuai returns with Japan's Nao Hibino for a women's singles match on day two of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 21, 2020 - Women's professional tennis tournaments will resume in China in September after a 16-month boycott over safety concerns for Chinese player Peng Shuai , announced the WTA on April 13, 2023. The former world number one doubles player has not been seen outside of China since he first filed then dropped allegations of sexual assault against a high-ranking official.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000009564897.jpg?w=1024)
After reappearing a yr later, she dropped all charges and retired from public life.
Hu Jiyong shouldn’t be a member of the Communist Party’s executive committee.
But he’s certainly one of its best beneficiaries.
He’s the pinnacle of a big subsidiary of the large oil and gas company PetroChina.
This implies it’s the most effective the Chinese Communist Party has to supply.
Little is understood about his secretary aside from her surname “Dong” and her penchant for the finer things in life.
But they each should know higher.
An innocent clip of a romantic couple wearing similar pink outfits while shopping in Chengdu, Sichuan earlier this month, garnered public attention and anger.
![China's state-controlled media claims that these photos may infringe on Jiyong's personal rights.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012837332.jpg?w=1024)
The unique video was removed inside hours.
But even Beijing’s censorship was unable to stop the scandal that followed.
What Xi Jinping thought
Since taking an unprecedented third term as the highest leader of the Chinese Communist Party last yr, Xi Jinping Thought has turn into required reading and study material for all 97 million party members.
And just in case you were not convinced that it’s central to the best way Beijing does things – the primacy of “Xi’s mind” is enshrined in China’s structure.
That is quite a bit to soak up.
Chairman Xi has published greater than 40 books on topics starting from communist history and theory to economics and ethics. After which there are collections of all his speeches.
All of them concern the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, “socialism with Chinese characteristics of a recent era” and “the common destiny of humanity”.
Then there’s “Xi Jinping in desirous about the rule of law.”
![Xi Jinping](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012676768.jpg?w=1024)
And “Outline of the implementation of the moral construction of residents in the brand new era.”
And while the couple who survived the scandal may not have reached this a part of the reading list yet, many Chinese “Web users” have already done so.
Executive director, party secretary and general manager of the state-owned Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation, Hu Jiyong, was sidelined for a “disciplinary committee” investigation last week before being “fired.” Mrs. Dong sank into the bottom.
And the state-controlled media is looking for an end to street photography.
Stepping out into the autumn
The cameraman was just doing his job.
They’re a fixture in Chinese malls. They’re there as street fashion photographers, social media content creators and marketers.
It’s something you’d expect when going out with style in Chengdu.
“Chunxi Road is a famous shopping street known for its bustling shopping and entertainment venues, in addition to its modern architecture and vibrant atmosphere,” says Global times.
“It has turn into a hub for street photography for Chinese influencers, young people and trendsetters.”
It’s in regards to the industrial imperative to capture the image of youth, wealth, romance and joy.
![Hu Jiyoung](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012837333.jpg?w=1024)
On the surface, Hu and Dong fit the bill perfectly.
But only should you didn’t realize who they were.
One in all the viewers did. The clip quickly topped the Chinese popularity charts.
It was a viral success story: the Communist Party’s algorithms apparently recognized that the main focus was on street fashion.
Chinese social media quickly established that Dong was wearing an $8,000 Lady Dior handbag and a $100 body-hugging dress. Online stores offering the design reportedly sold all 4,000 available items overnight.
By the point the political implications were realized, it was too late for the censors.
In a web based frenzy, Chinese netizens discovered and disseminated the couple’s phone numbers, addresses, and profession history amongst many other online revealing materials.
Some included photos of Dong posing in his underwear and in bed.
Inside per week, the scandal generated over 200 million views.
“Within the eyes of the Chinese public, who’re accustomed to online virality as a tool to show unscrupulous bureaucrats, SOE executives aren’t any different from government officials in terms of expected accountability,” says Jordan Schneider of ChinaTalk.
“Implementation of Moral Construction”
“In response to the Party’s bylaws, a disciplined lifestyle is certainly one of the six important disciplines following political, organizational, integrity, public and labor disciplines,” it reads. China Each day editorial regarding the scandal.
“A violation of lifestyle discipline might also result in fairness and work discipline, including possible corruption.”
![Hu Jiyoung](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012837330.jpg?w=1024)
Such “improper behavior” amongst “senior officials” was said to be a “cause for concern”. He admits that the image and credibility of the Communist Party are at stake.
Subsequently, all Chinese journalists must take a written exam on “Xi’s Thoughts” from July 1 to maintain their jobs.
“Chinese reporters, if allowed to dig and publish, would uncover every kind of incredibly inappropriate things that may surely shake people’s faith in the Party,” writes Schneider.
“In the long run, the relative freedom to show official wrongdoing allowed throughout the (former chairman) Hu era helped persuade Xi that the party needed to crack down on each the corruption in the system and the reporters who helped expose it.
“So for now, what we’re left with are glimpses backstage when officials are too silly to cover their misdeeds.”
However the state-controlled Chinese media quickly switched to the “big picture”.
Highlights privacy concerns. And the query of whether network enthusiasts have a job to play in enforcing Communist Party policies – no less than on the subject of corruption, morality – and copyright.
“Unauthorized photos may infringe portrait rights,” intones the state-controlled China Each day.
“Whether street photography and filming constitute an invasion of privacy and portrait rights has been hotly debated on Chinese social media platforms over the past week after a former state-owned enterprise official was filmed publicly holding hands with a lady.”
He says China’s Civil Code allows for a “portrait right,” which essentially gives the topic the copyright to any image.
“All lawyers interviewed urged street photographers to abide by the law and respect the legitimate rights of passers-by, and suggested prudence when working on the road to make sure that their behavior was legal, ethical and moral,” the article reads. .
In response to the state-controlled Global Times, the unique photographer voluntarily deleted the unique video just hours after it was posted, adding that “Hu and the girl contacted him after the difficulty went viral.”
It also informs that the photographer has closed his corporate social media account.