Senior Chinese lottery officials confess to corruption, repent in video
Global Times
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Wang Suying, one of four ex-senior lottery officials, confessed to engaging in corruption in a video. Source: the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC (Photo: Global Times)

Four former senior lottery officials have confessed to graft in a video, sparking online discussions on corruption in the welfare lottery system.
Feng Lizhi, Wang Yunge, Bao Xuequan and Wang Suying, who were former heads or  deputy heads of the China Welfare Lottery Distribution and Management Center under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, admitted to "systematic corruption in the lottery field," ccdi.gov.cn reported Friday. 
They repented in the video and admitted that what they did were violations of related laws, declaring that their corruption acts brought disaster to China's welfare lottery system.
"Taking chances leads to the final great calamity," Wang Yunge said in the video. 
Netizens on Sina Weibo strongly condemned the corruptive acts of these officials and suggested establishing a healthier system.
Gong Tanghua, the team leader of the Discipline Inspection Group for the Ministry of Civil Affairs, compared the lottery system to a river, saying that, "If only several fish die in a river, it's probably the fish's problem, but if all the fish die in this river, it must be caused by the water."
Gong pointed out that corruption affected the welfare of the lottery system and the interests of all lottery buyers, National Business Daily reported on Monday.
Data show that China's welfare lottery sales topped 217 billion yuan ($33 billion) in 2017, an increase of 5.1 percent year-on-year. The lottery helped raise 62 billion yuan in public welfare funds in 2017, the Xinhua News Agency reported.