He used his power to hire his mistresses, two twin sisters, as police officers despite their lack of experience. Meanwhile, the "fight against corruption" continues inside the party, which extols a moral conscience and integrity it does not have.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - Despite the great firewall of China, internet users appear more apt at uncovering corrupt Communist officials than the party itself. Following the cases of abuses of power in Chongqing and Henan, the police chief in Usu, the western autonomous region of Xinjiang, was sacked days after he was accused online of keeping twin sisters (pictured) as mistresses.

Qi Fang was removed as head of the Public Security Bureau in Usu on Saturday. This came after the nation's new leadership vowed last month to implement tougher anti-graft measures, Xinhua reported. However, it took someone posting details of the case on news portal Iyaxin.com to launch the investigation.

The post said the twins, 31, were hired by the bureau five months after Qi was promoted to police chief in June last year. One of the women was made vice-captain of special operations, whilst the other was made an assistant police officer in the traffic department. Nothing indicated that either had any previous work experience with the police.

The post also alleged that Qi was renting a luxury apartment in the city's high-end area, paid for by the bureau.

Qi is the latest high-ranking official accused online of corruption in the past month to be promptly investigated. Lanzhou Mayor Yuan Zhanting was accused of buying at least five luxury watches with public funds.

In Taiyuan, Shanxi, the police chief was suspended and placed under investigation a day after a video circulated showing his drunken son, who is also a policeman, attacking a colleague after being caught drink-driving.

Li Chuncheng, a former deputy party secretary of Sichuan, fell from grace because of corruption allegations.

For some analysts, the crackdown has two purposes.

On the one hand, the new leadership can project an image of moral integrity that it does not have since they have some skeletons in their own closets (Xi's family has accumulated wealth estimated to be around a billion dollars).

On the other, as the Hu Jintao's administration winds down, people are likely to be targeted to enable the new rulers to flex their muscles against the party's fractious factions and gain the most from the new balance of power.

• china
• corruption
• police
• sex
• scandals