Outrage over ‘Kremlin’ in Beijing suburb
Print Edition
Officials in a Beijing suburb have built themselves a white-walled, gold-domed office complex resembling Moscow’s Kremlin, prompting anger among the public.
Photographs published by the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper show a sprawling complex, whose arched windows and gleaming spires resemble those of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Russian presidential palace, flanked by factories churning out smoke in the background.
The buildings, which were built to house the district’s weather, seismological, water services and landscaping bureaus, ranged in cost from 9.3 million (US$1.5 million) to 21 million yuan, the newspaper reported.
They were constructed in the mostly-rural western Beijing suburb of Mentougou, whose name means “the ditch in front of the gate” in Chinese.
Chinese Internet users issued a damning judgment, with many noting that local governments are burdened with debt and that authorities in Beijing had banned new government buildings.
“To dare to do this kind of thing even inside the imperial city, I guess the emperor was far away that day?” one wrote, referencing a Chinese saying.
“Mentougou authorities, I don’t know how you can sleep at night,” was another online comment.
Some said they were shocked that the buildings were an official complex rather than the pet project of a wealthy entrepreneur. “When I saw the pictures yesterday, I thought it must have been some nouveau riche who had built these. I never imagined it could be a government building,” was another comment.
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