Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has likened his nationwide corruption purge to hunting tigers and swatting flies, is sending Communist Party graft-busters after an even more annoying pest: mosquitoes.
The term has been used in state media reports to describe a new initiative targeting corruption in rural villages where petty cadres hold sway. While tigers lurk far away, such mosquitoes are usually "buzzing around the corner" and "sucking blood," the official Xinhua News Agency wrote in a commentary published July 4.
The push against rural graft suggests a policy shift by Xi almost three years into a campaign that has brought down more than 100 senior officials, including top generals, a former top presidential aide and China's retired security chief. With so many potential rivals locked away, Xi can afford to relieve some pressure on the political elite in Beijing to focus on his broader reform agenda.