Zhou Yongkang has been sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and other crimes. He is a scapegoat to ease public anger that has been mounting following a series of tragic incidents./ Source=A captured image of state-run China Central Television (CCTV)

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By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - It is quite uncommon for People's Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper, to make an extensive report on corruption of the party's high-ranking officials. Perhaps, it's because they feel pressured to show their bare faces. But they daringly broke the rule on Tuesday. The newspaper carried a rare criticism over corruption of so-called "New Gang of Four" - Zhou Yongkang (73), a former member of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, Bo Xilai (66), a former Chongqing Municipality Communist Party Secretary, Ling Jihua (59), a former secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party, and Xu Caihou, the late former vice chairman of the Communist Party's Central Military Commission. Through harsh criticism, the newspaper clearly admitted that even high-ranking officials could become corrupted because they are human.

People's Daily put emphasis on the principle that there won't be tolerance on corrupted high ranking officials or descendants of veterans no matter how great the achievements of their ancestors are.

People's Daily's such denunciation at top-ranking officials and acknowledgement of their corruption come as public anger mounted over Chinese officials' handling of deadly warehouse blasts in Tianjin. It is attempting to settle the public sentiment by making the party's fallen top officials as scapegoats.

However, the hearts of the people are still in chaos. Some even say that the celebratory mode is already dull over the upcoming military parade in Beijing on September 3 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression as well as the World Anti-Fascist War, which is expected to be held more magnificently than its National Day celebration on October 1. Without a groundbreaking measures to sooth public anger, it's likely that the ruling party's top leadership would lose its authority and trust.