[I’m moving this post up to the top – I really think it’s a classic and don’t want it to get buried in the unread weekend posts.]
This really is material for The Onion. The death of such a young man is a tragic thing, so it’s pretty remarkable that the China Daily editors let it go out with such a whimsical opening line.
The nation’s auditors have been told to behave themselves, after one of them ate and drank himself to death after a month-long banquet binge organized by the government bureau he was investigating.
In an official circular to all of its provincial branches, the National Auditors Office admitted yesterday that the incident has “marred the image and influenced the public’s trust” of auditing offices and auditors, who are at the centre of the war against graft and embezzlement.
The national office urged all of its staff to “learn a lesson” after 25-year-old Zhang Hongtao died while inspecting Yanshan County Electricity Bureau in North China’s Hebei Province this April.
Zhang and his colleagues from Yanshan County Audit Office had repeatedly attended banquets organized by the bureau, and after one of them he vomited and died outside a restaurant. The day after Zhang’s death, his team and two officials from the electricity bureau travelled for a sightseeing tour around East China, which was reportedly organized by the audited bureau.
I suspect that whoever wrote this over at China Daily had a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he did so. Judging by the cool wit and style, I’m going to place money that it was written by this guy. The irony is just subtle enough to go over the heads of the chief editors. Don’t believe me? Look at what he writes later on:
Zhang’s associates and officials from the electricity bureau left for Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province just after his death. Zhang’s colleagues said most of them were too upset over the death to stay in the office, so they went to Yangzhou to relax.
Go ahead and tell me the writer isn’t being mischievous. (And I love it.) Of course, the story ends with the obligatory BS about how auditors will “learn an important lesson” from this sad story, and that all in all they’ve been doing a sublime job in curbing corruption blah blah blah. (It’s still China Daily, what do you expect?)
On a more serious note, this doesn’t strengthen my confidence in Hu’s campaign to stamp out corruption – not when it’s so easy to corrupt the investigators themselves.
1
By greendwarf
haha, priceless.
August 26, 2006 @ 1:18 pm | Comment
2
By Ivan
How can any criminal organisation – such as the Mafia or the Communist Party – police its own corruption, when it’s a criminal organisation to begin with?
The Communist Party was FOUNDED on corruption and lies and crimes. Corruption and lies and crimes are its very lifeblood. Without corruption and lies and organised criminality, the Communist Party would cease to exist.
August 26, 2006 @ 1:46 pm | Comment
3
By Not a Quack
If you could read Chinese, you would find a much more in-depth article and treatments online.
But given the content of this blog, it appears clear that you do not.
August 27, 2006 @ 12:21 am | Comment
4
By dabizi
Sounds like the China Daily editor is away enjoying some wining and dining himself. In his latest post he says he’s off on a repeat of this:
http://leakingstatesecrets.blogspot.com/2005/08/beidaihe-enjoying-some-party-perks-by.html
August 27, 2006 @ 1:32 am | Comment
5
By Fat Cat
Not a Quack, or whatever your name is, I can read Chinese, so are you going to share the link with me? Or are you simply here to rubbish TPD.
You dishonest piece of shit. Instead of rubbishing TPD, you should have asked why the Chinese and English versions of most stories released by China Daily and Xinhua News are often different. Why is it that some reporting are only covered in Chinese and not English? Take Zhao Yan’s case as an example, why is it that the explanation for his sentence is only available in English and not in Chinese. What does the Chinese Government want to hide from the world? What’s the point of finding “a much more in-depth article and treatments online” when this is nothing more than another version of a lie?
August 27, 2006 @ 4:57 am | Comment
6
By Charlie
You’re spot on Richard, occasionally on Page 2 I get to have a little fun…
The story was written in a very unsympathetic way,I just ‘sexed it up’ a bit, but it was actually a translation (I never found out where it was printed originally – they obviously didn’t warrant a source credit so I suspect Xinhua). Also, the death happened in April so it was hardly news.
China Daily isn’t as ‘under the thumb’ as people suspect, the paper can go after naughty officials, and by the sounds of it these were very naughty officials.
I was rather pleased with the headline I must admit… death-by-banquet conjurs up a deliciously vile image!
August 27, 2006 @ 5:00 am | Comment
7
By 大鼻子
I think his (valid) point is that there are many articles in the Chinese press about corrupt officials taking the wining and dining to excess, many of which never get reported in the western media. So it’s not as if the Chinese media are covering up this kind of thing. But of course the reporting of such corruption only extends so high up the chain of seniority.
August 27, 2006 @ 5:06 am | Comment
8
By Fat Cat
Firstly, the fact that Chinese press carries report about corrupt officials does not make the act of corruption an honest behaviour. So what’s wrong with calling a spade a spade and simply referring to this as dishonesty, crime and lies? Whether the person who made the comment reads Chinese or not is immaterial.
Secondly, if the Chinese media is not covering up corruption, then it must be the English language press in China that’s covering up corruption. It’s not everyday that a report like this one appears in China Daily.
August 27, 2006 @ 7:50 am | Comment
9
By Sonagi
It’s posts like this that make TPD a stop on my daily tour of the blogs.
August 27, 2006 @ 7:58 am | Comment
10
By richard
You’re spot on Richard, occasionally on Page 2 I get to have a little fun…
Ha! I knew it. Too bad no one placed bets against me.
Fat Cat, thanks for the defense and your excellent points. I’m pretty used to the nasty slights by now. Water off a duck’s back.
August 27, 2006 @ 8:01 am | Comment
11
By richard
By the way, I just noticed Not a Quack is posting on another thread as “Finality.” Maybe we have ourtselves a new troll!
August 27, 2006 @ 8:10 am | Comment
12
By Ivan
I also assumed that this guy and “Finality” were the same. “Finality’s” comment in the other thread (about the English translation of the Chinese Peasant study) raised a similar question about whether you (or others among us) can read Chinese – which is a very weak, lame way of discrediting anyone’s argument, because:
…well, because this moron is assuming (an implied assumption, but an obvious one he’s making) that nobody can intelligently comment on ANY book or article unless he can read it in the original language.
If that were the case, civilisation would have come to a grinding halt around 5,000 years ago.
Furthermore, if it were the case, then China would really be up shit’s creek, because Chinese has never been an international language and never will be. One more thing: If this moron’s premise made any sense, then taken to its logical conclusion it would mean that every single member of the CCP should shut the fuck up about Marx and Lenin unless he can read both German and Russian.
August 27, 2006 @ 12:29 pm | Comment
13
By Ivan
PS, Fat Cat, please watch your language. You used a four letter word. Please remember that all Communist apologists expect everyone to use the most polite and respectful language whenever discussing the Communists’ record of mass murder and rapacious barbarianism.
August 27, 2006 @ 12:44 pm | Comment
14
By pigsun
You are right that corruption is a big problem in China, and many Chinese local officials simply are not well-educated or responsible enough to not corrupt. This is a problem because China is still young in building strong laws and legal system to ensure that “human relations” have smaller role than “laws”. But this is a long process and we have to be patient. But compared to many southeastern countries like Malaysia, Phillipines, Thailand, and Indonesia (all of them are “democracies”), China’s corruption level is much much lower than them.
August 27, 2006 @ 3:23 pm | Comment
15
By Adel Hanna
Peking duck,
Why do not you publish Thomas Frank’s articles in the New York Times?!
His articles is much more insigtful and informative than Maureen Dowd’s articles if you are constrained by limited choice. Regards.
August 27, 2006 @ 3:53 pm | Comment
16
By Adel Hanna
Peking duck,
Why do not you publish Thomas Frank’s articles in the New York Times?!
His articles is much more insigtful and informative than Maureen Dowd’s articles if you are constrained by limited choice. Regards.
August 27, 2006 @ 3:55 pm | Comment
17
By chris
I think I finally know how I want to die. Death by delicious food. Maybe he had the right idea.
Sometimes communists will suprise you with their insightfulness.
August 27, 2006 @ 5:28 pm | Comment
18
By Sonagi
Pigsun,
This blog is called The Peking Duck, not the Manila Pork Adobo or Jakarta Beef Rendang. That is why TPD posts stories about corruption in China, not the Philippines or Indonesia. If you want to read about how Suharto’s greedy kids are still stealing from their nation 8 years after the old man got the boot, then google yourself an Indonesian blog.
BTW, according to the 2005 Corruption Perception Index ( http://ww1.transparency.org/cpi/2005/cpi2005_infocus.html ), both Malaysia and Thailand scored higher than China, along with two other Asian democracies you forgot to mention- Japan and South Korea. Your comments are the usual combination of error and selective facts, Pigsun.
August 27, 2006 @ 6:01 pm | Comment
19
By Fat Cat
Pigsun, the son of a pig, China will never be able to get rid of corruption if lying bastards like you keep making excuses for the incompetent way that your government is handling corruption cases. The PRC is a new nation. But China is an old civilization. Corruption runs deep in the national collective psychie. If you are really patriotic and want to make difference, then you should start showing some dishonesty when confronted
with the problem. Stop making excuses is a good start.
August 27, 2006 @ 8:10 pm | Comment
20
By Fat Cat
Correction: “If you are really patriotic and want to make a difference, then you should shart showing some honesty when confronted with the problem. Stop making excuses is a good start.”
August 27, 2006 @ 8:12 pm | Comment
21
By Fat Cat
P.S. Ivan, your use of the 5 letter “M” word is no more respectful than my use of the 4 letter “S” word. Please remember that no communist apologist wants to be reminded of their limited intellectual capacity, particularly when they are trying to make a “profound” statement, such as: “you don’t read Chinese. You don’t understand China ….”
August 27, 2006 @ 8:22 pm | Comment
22
By pigsun
Which part is not honest? I always speak my mind, and I am not afraid if my opinion disagree with the majority’s opinion. I believe China needs more reforms in legal system, and needs more education for its lower-level local officials and remind them that the Chinese Communist Party is a party to serve the fundamental interests of the Chinese people. Hu Jintao was a poor person and he was not from a rich family, he understands this better than others. Let’s be patient and optimistic.
August 27, 2006 @ 8:45 pm | Comment
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By Shenzhen Whitey
I always thought the mafia organizations were pretty good at policing themselves. In the mafia, everyone–except for the very top guy–is accountable
August 27, 2006 @ 9:18 pm | Comment
24
By Fat Cat
Pigsun, if you are honest, you would have admitted that the current Chinese leadership is hand-picked by a previous corrupt 3rd generation of CCP leaders. If you are honest, you will not put the blame of corruption just on local officials. When a government official could get away unscathed with mismanaging public projects at a provincial level, and then was promoted to the highest level of leadership within the central government, then you know that the nation is corrupt to the core.
August 27, 2006 @ 9:20 pm | Comment
25
By Sonagi
Which part is not honest?
This part, for one:
But compared to many southeastern countries like Malaysia, Phillipines, Thailand, and Indonesia (all of them are “democracies”), China’s corruption level is much much lower than them.
On the 2005 CPI, Malaysia scored a respectable 5.1, Thailand 3.8, both much higher than China’s 3.2. If you are honest, then you will admit you were wrong.
August 27, 2006 @ 9:45 pm | Comment
26
By richard
I am not afraid if my opinion disagree with the majority’s opinion.
Pig’s son, it’s not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing, it’s a matter of telling the truth. Fat Cat showed that you were just shouting out the first thing that came into your head, with no evidence. Once again, as in the forum, you’ve shown your true mission: make the party look good, and let the truth be damned.
August 27, 2006 @ 10:12 pm | Comment
27
By mike
Sad to see this forum descend into personal insults when someone makes a valid comment that you don’t agree with. Pigsun makes a perfectly good point about China still being subject to rule by “human relations” instead of rule of law. It’s also noticeable that China doesn’t have the in-your-face corruption problems of other SE Asian countries where you get shaken down at the airport and border crossings for on the spot “visa fees”. Calling him a son of a pig/lying bastard just diverts the debate into a slanging match.
Why not ask instead why the big potatoes such as Jia Qinglin can get away with such blatant corruption http://www.washingtonchinareview.org/newsdetail.php?id=142 when the lower orders have their misdemenours exposed in China Daily
August 27, 2006 @ 11:22 pm | Comment
28
By Fat Cat
Excuse me, Mike, (1) Pigsun didn’t make a good point about “rule of human relations versus rule of law” in China. Pigsun made excuses for corrupt behaviour and further lied that corruption in China is confined to local government level only. (2) About corruption of big potatoes, have you actually read my comment above. If you haven’t, I’ll repeat it again here just for you: “…. the current Chinese leadership is hand-picked by a previous corrupt 3rd generation of CCP leaders … when a government official could get away unscathed with mismanaging public projects at a provincial level, and then was promoted to the highest level of leadership within the central government, then you know that the nation is corrupt to the core.” Who do you think I’m talking about? So have you said anything that I haven’t said? What make you think that I should be polite and respectful to Pigsun, who has a history of inciting racial hatred at TPD and the Duckpond? As a matter of fact, why should I show any respect for someone like you, who doesn’t even know who your friends and enemies are?
August 27, 2006 @ 11:47 pm | Comment
29
By richard
Mike apparently knows nothing of pig’s son’s history here and in the forum. Read Fat Cat’s last comment carefully, Mike. “Perfectly good point” indeed.
August 28, 2006 @ 12:12 am | Comment
30
By Ivan
And to all that, let me add (directed at “mike”): this is Richard’s nest and pigsun has a vile habit of shitting in it. People who throw shit around in someone’s house forfeit any “right” to receive any courtesies from the host (or from his friends.)
August 28, 2006 @ 1:00 am | Comment
31
By Ivan
And to all that, let me add (directed at “mike”): this is Richard’s nest and pigsun has a vile habit of shitting in it. People who throw shit around in someone’s house forfeit any “right” to receive any courtesies from the host (or from his friends.)
August 28, 2006 @ 1:01 am | Comment
32
By Sonagi
It’s also noticeable that China doesn’t have the in-your-face corruption problems of other SE Asian countries where you get shaken down at the airport and border crossings for on the spot “visa fees”. Calling him a son of a pig/lying bastard just diverts the debate into a slanging match.
Pigsun specifically mentioned four Southeast Asian democracies as being more corrupt. I proved him wrong on two of them – Malaysia and Thailand, using a credible, verifiable source, unlike your weak anecdote about “on the spot visa fees.”
August 28, 2006 @ 5:05 am | Comment