As Honest As…

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A recent web survey by a Chinese magazine has found that prostitutes are more trustworthy than government officials. The result comes from a web survey, not the most trustworthy form of surveying itself. But the China Daily deemed it “unusual.” Perhaps not. Prostitution is illegal here but amazingly widespread. A visiting editor once expressed her admiration for the employees of Chinese salons that stay open late into the night. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that they weren’t there to cut hair. Hair salons are a typical front for prostitution on the mainland, and they persist because of official corruption and indifference. That type of corruption is probably why officials scored so poorly in the recent survey. Citizens can never be sure about officials’ purity. But when you step into a pink-lit hair salon after midnight, there isn’t much question.