Photos of Alleged Chinese Government Swinger Party Mysteriously Make Their Way Online

Official sources are angered by the images, which they claim only bare a passing reference to the named officials.

"We are all furious about this rumor. At first we suspected the photo was modified in Photoshop, but later we found the original source," one local official told the Global Times. An apology for finding the pictures and mistakenly publicizing them has also been discovered by the Chinese-language press on one of Baidu's online communities. Whoever is found to have been circulating the photo could be charged with libel, the Global Times reports.

However, Chinese netizens aren't too sure what they believe. Some believe the photos really do portray a secret government orgy, while others believe the official story, that its just an unfortunate case of mistaken identity.

According to Off Beat China, a third rumor is also doing the rounds: the pictures were planted to keep attention away from the murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted party star Bo Xilai.

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