Chinese ministers are facing a new scandal with the release of a five-year-old sex tape involving an 18-year-old woman allegedly hired by developers to sleep with a city official.
Lei Zhengfu, who is in his 50s, was sacked as district party secretary of Chongqing - the city once led by fallen politician Bo Xilai - after the video, an apparent extortion attempt, went viral earlier this month.
He became the butt of numerous internet jokes and there are no signs yet of the scandal dying down, with whistle-blowing Beijing-based former journalist Zhu Ruifeng reportedly considering releasing similar tapes of more city officials soon.
The party is already reeling from the scandal that led to the political demise of Bo - his wife was convicted of murdering a British businessman, and Bo himself faces allegations of corruption and obstruction of justice in the murder case.
News of the sex tape, which was apparently shot in 2007 but only leaked this month, comes as China's newly installed leadership is increasing its anti-corruption efforts as it deals with a steady stream of corruption cases that it fears has undermined its authority.
The tape was uploaded to Mr Zhu's Hong Kong-registered website, an independent online clearing house for corruption allegations.
After the blackmail attempt, Lei reported the case to Chongqing officials in 2009, which led to the construction boss being jailed for a year on unrelated charges and the woman being detained for a month.
State news agency Xinhua revealed that Chongqing's corruption watchdog had pledged a thorough investigation of Lei, who was sacked on Friday, but added it had yet formally to receive a report about the allegations against Lei or the footage.
In an editorial, China Daily said the case showed that the "internet is worth being embraced by the country's corruption busters as a "close ally".
"Strangely, the mistress was once detained and the contractor jailed for blackmailing Lei," it said, as it called for greater transparency. "What had happened? ... These are crucial questions waiting to be answered."
While many Chinese remain cynical about recent assurances of China's newly installed leadership that the party is determined to tackle corruption, Zhu Ruifeng points out that his website has not been blocked despite its allegations.
"Possibly what we are seeing is that the new leaders are perhaps taking steps toward enforcing the constitution, a sliver of a new dawn," he said.
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