China:Respecting your elders, and worshipping your parents, is an essential part of the philosophy of the venerable Confucius, and has long been a principle deeply engrained in the Chinese psyche. But now filial piety can also earn you a promotion.
Bureaucrats trying to get ahead in a county in Henan province in central China have to prove they are nice to mom and pop if they want to get ahead within the local Communist Party apparatus.
The party has promoted a return to traditional Confucian values in recent years to fill a spiritual void left by breakneck economic growth. Filial piety is considered a prime virtue in China.
In the latest sign of the new Confucianism sweeping China, the officials' characters will be assessed by interviewing their families, friends and juniors and seeing how caring they are towards their parents.
The interview process to determine a candidate's filial piety is incredibly thorough - up to 500 people could be contacted by independent teams.
"The assessment teams will have a lot of work on their plate, but the new measures are an impartial way of appraising officials' image in the eyes of the public," said Su Jingquan, a personnel officer in Changyuan county.
Investigative teams will conduct door-to-door interviews with the bureaucrat's neighbours to inquire about relations within the family, and if they have a gambling or a drink problem.
Under Chinese law, children are obliged to support their parents. Anyone shirking the responsibility faces criminal charges.
"Officials should possess traditional values of filial piety and family responsibility, which are the foundation of a successful career," said Liu Sen, head of the county committee of the Communist Party.