In the battle against rampant corruption in China, the primary reason little headway can be made is that the price for blowing the whistle is so high. The repercussions for doing so are extensive, such as loss of job, detention by authorities, time in forced labor camps, being hunted by assassins, suffering from stress-related diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems, and even having family and friends live under the threat of being murdered.

Sixty-one year-old Guo Guangyun is a perfect example. Because Guo exposed the illegal activities of the former Hebei City Council Secretary, Cheng Weigao, he and his twenty family members have suffered tremendously. To this day, though Cheng Weigao has left his job, Cheng’s family remains in the area, and thus Guo and his family continue to live under the shadow of political terrorism.

Guo Guangyun is currently very ill, being a daily visitor to a hospital in Shijiazhuang for treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. It is sad to see Guo Guangyun suffer from illnesses that are a direct result of his willingness to expose corruption. Guo said in an interview with CCTV: “I have many illnesses. Sometimes every part of my body hurts. I got very sick when I was in the detention center.” Guo says he wants nothing more than for the Hebei Provincial Committee to withdraw its accusations and ongoing punishment against him for “fabricating facts to libel others.”

Guo Guangyun has lived a tough life. He is the oldest of seven sons, his mother is blind, and his father and grandfather died of starvation. His father- and mother-in-law have no sons and hence no financial means. At one time, Guo was making only 40 Yuan a month, yet had to feed two families. Guo remembers that people used to say his families were so poor that they ate "pig slop."

Guo began his studies at Shanghai Tongji University in 1961 and graduated in 1966. A few months later he was sent to a labor camp for 4 years and 11 months after being labeled "counter-revolutionary." Because of his family background, Guo was later appointed to a job in the Hubei Jingzhou Construction Bureau. In 1973 he was relocated and began working for the Shijiazhuang Construction Committee. As a result of his excellent work ethics, Guo was gradually promoted to the position of supervisor in charge of design and construction of the city’s architectural projects.

Being an honest and diligent worker, Guo Guangyun struggled with his conscience whenever he observed officials hiring family and friends, as well as personally profiting from money intended for the government projects. This mindset ultimately altered the course of his life.

In 1994, Guo wrote a signed letter to Cheng Weigao, the secretary at the time, to report on his supervisor, Li Shanlin. However, instead of forcing Li to change his hiring practices, Cheng Weigao tried to protect Li Shanlin, who has since been found guilty of corruption.

In August 1995, Guo Guangyun drafted documents detailing how Cheng Weigao and Li Shanlin were guilty of sabotaging Hubei’s construction market. Guo sent these documents with an anonymous letter to the Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission and the Hebei Procreate. Unfortunately, Cheng Weigao intercepted the package and discovered Guo to be the author. The result? Guo’s household properties were confiscated.

Cheng Weigao wanted the court to sentence Guo Guangyun to prison. No evidence was found, but Guo was still sentenced to two years of forced labor reform in February 1996 on the charge of libel. According to accounts in the Southern Weekend Report in Guangdong, the first time Guo’s wife and daughter-in-law visited him in the labor camp, they found that his feet had not been washed in three months, causing his socks to stick to his feet. That afternoon, Guo’s wife and daughter-in-law snuck back into the labor camp with a bottle of warm water, peeled the socks off, and washed his blistered feet.

Media experts in China often make mention that the "cost" of reporting corruption is too high, which is the main reason China can not eradicate corruption.

Wang Yukai, a professor at the National School of Administration and Beijing University, pointed out in the official magazine, Newsweek, that a theoretically perfect supervision and control system will still fail when it comes to heavyweight officials such as the secretary of the provincial commission. Professor Wang went on to say, “Even public opinion could take a supervisory role, as long as the media is willing to report problems related to high-level officials such as the secretary of the provincial commission. The reports need to be approved by so many people, though, that it’s just really difficult. As for the appeals and accusations from the general public, we don’t know how effective they would be.” (To be continued)

Translated by The Epoch Times