They're Back! China Says It's OK To Play Golf

Thanks to reader Tom for Tom Phillips' Guardian piece on the Communist party of China issuing new thoughts on golf via articles in party-controlled media.

Phillips is working off a translation of this story.

“Since it is only a sport, there is no right or wrong about playing golf,” an article in the Discipline Inspection and Supervision News, the official newspaper of China’s anti-corruption agency, declared.


The newspaper pointed to article 87 of the Communist party’s disciplinary regulations which deals with potential punishments for the illicit possession of golf membership cards.

“Can officials play golf while the nation steps up efforts to clamp down on corruption and promote austerity?” the China Daily asked. “The answer is yes - if they pay out of their own pockets.”

“Playing golf itself is not a wrongdoing,” the newspaper confirmed.

Just a few weeks ago a course that had been approved and deemed environmentally sound was destroyed in a bizarre show of force against golf.