Shortcuts to fighting corruption(3)

The official Sina Weibo account of xinhuanet.com published a post to introduce the link, which only received some 50 reposts and 20 comments, despite the fact that the account has more than 1.3 million followers.

A post about the add-on by a Sina employee received 84 comments, with many of them asking, "Where is the link?"

The link, described as "almost invisible" by many Weibo users, is usually of the same font size and as other text on the news sites, albeit in a different color.

Better than existing methods?

Although the link leads to a detailed explanation of the five agencies' responsibilities and basic instructions on how to file a complaint, it ultimately directs whistle-blowers to online reporting systems that the government bodies have had for years.

These methods have traditionally been eschewed in favor of publicizing cases directly on the Internet, either by whistle-blower reports, or "human flesh searches," which involved thousands of Web users working in concert to unearth details on a particular individual.

Among the most high-profile recent examples was the case of Yang Dacai, the "smiling official" who became the focus of online attention after he was photographed smiling at the scene of a fatal road accident in Shaanxi Province. The "human flesh search" that followed led to the exposure of scores of pictures of Yang wearing various expensive luxury watches and ultimately his sacking.

Whistle-blowers remain unconvinced the links are a better method.

Han, for example, told the Global Times that he would not use it.

"If it leads to the official reporting website, it leads to a dead end," Han said, adding that he had been waiting to hear the result of the complaint he filed on the CCDI website for almost a year.