Net muckraking is no luxury for this official
Source: Xinhua |
September 8, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Internet users in China are continuing their online muckraking campaign against a luxuriously accessorized work safety official seen with a broad smile on his face at the site of a fatal bus crash last week.
Web user "chenxiweibo" posted four recent photos of Yang Dacai, head of the work safety administration of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, wearing several different pairs of designer glasses.
The photos, posted on Thursday on Weibo.com, China's Twitter equivalent, show Yang in a pair of German-made LOTOS, one of the world's most expensive eyewear brands.
At Puyi Optical, a leading Hong Kong-based eyewear dealer that has outlets in several cities, including Beijing and Dalian, LOTOS frames alone sell for at least 138,000 yuan (US$21,804). In two other photos, Yang is spotted wearing glasses from the less-expensive Oakley brand.
Yang first came into the spotlight and infuriated the public by grinning at the scene of a deadly collision between a double-decker sleeper coach and a methanol tanker that left 36 dead.
His apparent lack of sympathy kicked off the muckraking storm that is still swirling around him, as Chinese web users have taken to scrutinizing his luxury wristwatches, designer belts and high-end suits.
Photos taken on different occasions show Yang wearing 11 different upscale watches, the most expensive of which was valued at 400,000 yuan, according to netizens.
Yang claims he bought the watches with his own salary, but web users refuse to believe him, arguing that a government employee could not afford such luxuries.
Last Saturday, a college student filed an application to the financial department of the Shaanxi provincial government, demanding that Yang's salary from last year be disclosed to the public.
"Yang should publish his income to prove he can afford all those expensive watches," said Liu Yanfeng, a student from China Three Gorges University, based in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province.
Xi'an-based finance official Zhou Jianguo said on Thursday that Liu's application had not been received.
"We'll take a decision upon receipt of the written request," Zhou said.
In sharp contrast to web users' enthusiastic muckraking spree, authorities have largely stayed silent on Yang's case.
On Tuesday, Shaanxi's anti-graft body denied online rumors that Yang had been detained for investigation.
The online muckraking of Yang shows the Internet is playing an increasingly important role in bringing hidden conflicts to the surface, said Professor Yu Guoming, director of the Institute of Public Opinion of Beijing-based Renmin University of China.
"Yang's case is not just the problem of an individual official," said Yu. "It should be taken as a warning to all government employees."
Web user "chenxiweibo" posted four recent photos of Yang Dacai, head of the work safety administration of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, wearing several different pairs of designer glasses.
The photos, posted on Thursday on Weibo.com, China's Twitter equivalent, show Yang in a pair of German-made LOTOS, one of the world's most expensive eyewear brands.
At Puyi Optical, a leading Hong Kong-based eyewear dealer that has outlets in several cities, including Beijing and Dalian, LOTOS frames alone sell for at least 138,000 yuan (US$21,804). In two other photos, Yang is spotted wearing glasses from the less-expensive Oakley brand.
Yang first came into the spotlight and infuriated the public by grinning at the scene of a deadly collision between a double-decker sleeper coach and a methanol tanker that left 36 dead.
His apparent lack of sympathy kicked off the muckraking storm that is still swirling around him, as Chinese web users have taken to scrutinizing his luxury wristwatches, designer belts and high-end suits.
Photos taken on different occasions show Yang wearing 11 different upscale watches, the most expensive of which was valued at 400,000 yuan, according to netizens.
Yang claims he bought the watches with his own salary, but web users refuse to believe him, arguing that a government employee could not afford such luxuries.
Last Saturday, a college student filed an application to the financial department of the Shaanxi provincial government, demanding that Yang's salary from last year be disclosed to the public.
"Yang should publish his income to prove he can afford all those expensive watches," said Liu Yanfeng, a student from China Three Gorges University, based in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province.
Xi'an-based finance official Zhou Jianguo said on Thursday that Liu's application had not been received.
"We'll take a decision upon receipt of the written request," Zhou said.
In sharp contrast to web users' enthusiastic muckraking spree, authorities have largely stayed silent on Yang's case.
On Tuesday, Shaanxi's anti-graft body denied online rumors that Yang had been detained for investigation.
The online muckraking of Yang shows the Internet is playing an increasingly important role in bringing hidden conflicts to the surface, said Professor Yu Guoming, director of the Institute of Public Opinion of Beijing-based Renmin University of China.
"Yang's case is not just the problem of an individual official," said Yu. "It should be taken as a warning to all government employees."
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