China's 'beautiful governor' allegedly kept 58 male subordinates as lovers, accepted over S$11 million in bribes, jailed 13 years

A former Chinese official, 54, was said to have sexual relations with 58 male subordinates during her tenure.

Zhong Yang, the former governor of Guizhou’s Qiannan prefecture, allegedly kept her male subordinates as lovers.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the subordinates complied either out of fear or to win favour and advantages.

Allegedly, she was often seen in private nightclubs and carried condoms in her handbags.

She would also allegedly give excuses of working overtime or going on business trips in order to spend time with her lovers.

Zhong was said to have even demanded 10 men at once each time, reported Sinchew Daily.

She was expelled from the Communist Party of China in 2024 and jailed.

Who is she?

Zhong joined politics in 1994 as a youth member.

She rose through the ranks in Guizhou over the next 30 years, and was even referred to as "the beautiful governor" for her striking looks.

It was revealed that between 2010 and 2021, Zhong leveraged her political position to help favoured businessmen secure lucrative government contracts, land acquisitions, and project approvals.

In return, she pocketed more than RMB58.96 million (S$11.14 million), reported News.cn.

In 2024, she was sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery, corruption, and misconduct.

The court penalised her with a RMB1 million (S$189,000) fine and confiscated all her gains.

Zhong was granted some leniency after she confessed to her guilt and cooperated with authorities.

She became the subject of a documentary in 2024 exposing her corruption.

In it, Zhong expressed regret and confessed that she was under a "misguided belief" that she had to cultivate "a few trusted businessmen to help me handle political issues", according to SCMP.

Did she actually keep 58 lovers?

A report by Chinese media CCTV.com declaring that Zhong had been expelled from office only stated that she had "violated life discipline" (违反生活纪律), among other charges.

In Chinese political language, "violating life discipline" refers to making improper lifestyle choices.

The report did not mention Zhong's alleged sexual relations.