Authorities in Southwest China's Chongqing announced Thursday that 10 Communist Party of China officials, government officials and State-owned enterprise executives, who were all involved in a sex tape scandal, had been sacked.

Together with official Lei Zhengfu, who was removed earlier in November, a total of 11 officials have fallen in one of the biggest official sex scandals in recent history.

Although it all started with a businessman plotting to hire pretty young women to seduce officials holding key posts in a bid to win contracts and other favors, the incident has revealed big gaps in the supervision of officials and the lack of a moral bottom line in society.

The officials, like helpless shrimps, were caught in an old-fashioned honey trap. But nobody involved here is innocent.

It's a tragedy of Chinese society, including the outburst of twisted emotions and public anger on the Internet following the scandal.

The fall of several officials is not really a big deal in a country of this size. But the public thirst for such scandals as well as the cheers online are startling.

Many praised one of the young women, who successfully hooked up with six officials in this case, saying China needs more like her to bring down other officials. It may be a result of accumulated dissatisfaction over social injustice. Corruption is distasteful in itself, and when added to social injustice, it triggers even more outrage.

In recent years, government officials have been living too comfortably, with often unchecked power, ample channels for secret gains, and benefits shared by their relatives and friends. The unjustified advantage made the social gap even wider, until the public found the Internet to release their anger.

But officialdom is being reshaped.

The process will be dramatic and breathtaking. More and more officials will be pulled out. By "killing a chicken to scare the monkeys," the dotted lines around officials' conduct will become solid.

Some of the 11 Chongqing officials were said to be good leaders in their posts, but this cannot excuse their behavior.

The public will not shift their angry gaze away from officials, until the professional risks of being an official are big enough, the hidden benefits taken away, the chances of being corrupt largely limited, and being an official becomes an ordinary job.

It is going to be a highly dangerous period of time in the near future for those who have overstepped the line. Officials crossing legal as well as moral boundaries will face increasingly harsh consequences. Only those who adjust themselves and watch their conduct will survive.

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