Killing corrupt officials game a huge hit in China

AN online game that a Chinese local government set up in which players can torture and kill corrupt officials is proving a roaring success.

Incorruptible Fighter, developed by the government of east China’s Zhejiang province to teach people about the perils of graft, was launched just over a week ago and is already so popular that it is being redesigned to accommodate more players.

“I feel a great sense of achievement when I punish lots of evil officials,” one gamer, surnamed Sun, was quoted as saying.

The game, which lets players get ahead by killing officials by means of weapons, magic or torture, has been downloaded more than 100,000 times.

The game’s scenarios are based on well-known incidents taken from Chinese history, but the parallels in modern China of people struggling against seemingly insurmountable corruption are clear.

In order to advance to a new level, the player must enter into an anti-corruption college to be lectured in more detail about ancient cases.

“We want game players to have fun but also to learn about fighting corruption, folklore and history,” said Qiu Yi, a local official one of Zhejiang’s most prosperous cities.

Some experts have questioned, however, if the game is targeted at the right people.

“Government officials should be the ones getting anti-corruption education, not local youngsters,” Peking University professor Wang Xiongjun said.

Corruption is a source of immense and growing anger among ordinary Chinese.

President Hu Jintao has identified corruption within the Communist Party as one the greatest threats to its legitimacy as rulers of the country, and the government regularly authorises the real-life killing of people for graft.