A video featuring a Chinese chess grandmaster exposing a senior official within China’s top sports agency for alleged corruption recently went viral on Chinese social media.
In the video clip viewed by the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times, Liu Dahua, a winner of multiple Chinese chess champions, accuses Guo Liping, deputy director of the Chess and Card Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC), of rigging the results of national chess tournaments and paying no heed to corrupt practices within the Chinese chess community.
The video, which was released on Oct. 17 on Weibo, a popular Facebook-like Chinese social media platform, shows Mr. Liu showing his ID card as proof of his identity as he speaks in front of the camera.
“For a long time, she [Guo Liping] has supported and connived with the dark and evil forces within the Chinese chess community, openly utilizing computer software and modern technology to manipulate the outcomes and prize distributions of various national competitions,” he said.
Mr. Liu expressed disappointment, saying that Ms. Guo’s actions have transformed Chinese chess—which he called a “precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation”—into “a tool for a small group of unscrupulous individuals within the chess community to buy and sell victories, accept bribes, and make profits.”
Mr. Liu, 73, was born in China’s central Hubei Province and is a celebrated grandmaster of Chinese chess. He has won multiple championships in Chinese chess events since the 1980s. On May 2, 2007, Mr. Liu participated in a simultaneous exhibition or simul where he played Chinese chess against 139 other chess players in Shunde county, in southern Guangdong Province. In the simul, he achieved a record of 83 wins, 47 draws, and nine losses, setting a new world record for this event, according to Chinese news portal Sina Sports.
Mr. Liu became the honorary chairman of the Hubei Provincial Chinese Chess Association in January this year, according to a notice on the association’s official website.
Ms. Guo, 49, is a native of northeastern Heilongjiang Province and a renowned Chinese chess grandmaster. In 2000, she hosted “World of Chinese Chess” on state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). She is the former director of the chess department under the administration of the Chess and Card Sports Management Center. She was promoted to deputy director in August this year, according to an announcement by the GASC.
Mr. Liu and Ms. Guo are members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to public information online.
Netizens React
Mr. Liu’s video sparked heated discussions on the Chinese internet platforms. Among the netizens, there were those who offered their support for Mr. Liu, some who voiced dissatisfaction with corruption in China’s sports industry, and others who requested evidence to substantiate his claims regarding Ms. Guo.“This matter should by no means be left unresolved. We eagerly await an authoritative, fair, and credible investigation result that will gain the trust of the people and the industry!” writes an anonymous netizen.
“Everywhere is filled with corruption; it seems that we need to step up the anti-corruption efforts,” according to user “Mobaikong.”
Some netizens believe the GASC is the root of the corruption in the sports industry, with one post stating: “The GASC has many issues. Just take a look at those corrupt individuals in the Chinese Football Association, and you'll see that they have strong backing from the GASC!”
Some asked for evidence regarding the allegations made against Ms. Guo. “Each allegation could potentially involve criminal charges. Evidence should be presented, and have you [Mr. Liu] considered the consequences if there’s no concrete evidence or if the evidence is not solid?” writes an anonymous netizen.
China’s Corrupt Sports System
China observer and current affairs commentator Ji Da told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times in an earlier interview that the CCP has a systemic corruption issue and that its sports system is no exception.“In such a distorted society under the CCP’s totalitarian rule, the sports community is corrupt; there is no sportsmanship, morality, or belief. Their athletes compete for fame and political needs,” said Mr. Ji.
Since table tennis is a Chinese national sport and China has almost a monopoly on international tournaments, Chinese athletes were implicated in the match-fixing. The match-fixing allegations have brought significant scrutiny to the Chinese Table Tennis Association president, Liu Guoliang.
