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Fireworks blaze sheds light on scandal and cleanup challenge
By Wan Lixin |
March 16, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A LUXURY hotel in Beijing was engulfed in flames ignited by fireworks set off by the owner on February 9 last year.
The hotel was part of the China Central Television's (CCTV's) new headquarters.
As the 21 suspects charged in the accident are standing trial, we are getting another story, a story many Chinese are more or less prepared for: corruption is involved.
According to reports from the Beijing Times, the fireworks used on that occasion were valued at 350,000 yuan (US$51,000), and 100,000 yuan of that amount was to be ultimately returned to the "intermediaries" as kickbacks.
That explains why such officials as the head of the CCTV's construction office would, in open defiance of CCTV ban and police warnings, be so enthusiastic about a spectacle that normally would thrill pre-school children.
It has become sort of paradigmatic that such unusual accidents would be sure to expose some corrupt elements.
In Shanghai a nearly completed 13-building collapsed last June, killing one migrant worker.
The two main culprits were recently charged with embezzling more than 40 million yuan in company funds, and one was also accused of diverting 440 million yuan of company funds to his family's businesses.
As a county-level tobacco's chief's leaked diary revealed, it is a daunting challenge for our government to help us regain confidence in our public servants' private lives.
At the annual session of the National People's Congress, official corruption again topped the agenda, but proposals such as requiring officials to declare personal assets didn't get very far.
As usual, such discussions easily get bogged down over some technicalities that are then declared insurmountable.
There is overwhelming public discontent about soaring property prices across the country, a problem that cannot be addressed without sincere government intervention.
Government-subsidized affordable housing should be an answer - but some economists proposed that the affordable housing program be abandoned.
According to a report in 2005, 79 percent of the flats being rented in Changping District, Beijing, were found to be in two large affordable housing complexes in the district.
This suggests purchasers of these residences do not really need these subsidized apartments.
China National Radio reported June 17 last year that in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, a piece of land originally allocated for affordable housing had 12 villas built on it.
Shenzhen Evening News reported March 8 that in the underground parking lot of an affordable housing complex were 450 private cars, 72 of them valued at over 200,000 yuan.
Celebrity property developer Ren Zhiqiang pointed out in January last year that some of the principal purchasers of affordable housing are the civil servants, especially in Beijing.
Now Chinese civil servants are objects of universal envy because they are so well provided for.
I knew of one civil servant friend in Hangzhou who had bought super-large affordable housing although he did not need it.
Plutarch in his "The Lives of The Noble Grecians and Romans" told of a man known for his bravery but suffering from weak health.
The king ordered the physicians to do their utmost to cure him.
The man was cured, but he also lost all the fire and passion he had been known for, as he had been softened and enervated by luxury.
Our revolutionary forefathers fought for their ideals of an egalitarian and just society.
Can we continue to expect our civil servants to be inspired by this ideal?
How can our government be cleansed of those who aspire to nothing higher than pleasures and love of gain?
The hotel was part of the China Central Television's (CCTV's) new headquarters.
As the 21 suspects charged in the accident are standing trial, we are getting another story, a story many Chinese are more or less prepared for: corruption is involved.
According to reports from the Beijing Times, the fireworks used on that occasion were valued at 350,000 yuan (US$51,000), and 100,000 yuan of that amount was to be ultimately returned to the "intermediaries" as kickbacks.
That explains why such officials as the head of the CCTV's construction office would, in open defiance of CCTV ban and police warnings, be so enthusiastic about a spectacle that normally would thrill pre-school children.
It has become sort of paradigmatic that such unusual accidents would be sure to expose some corrupt elements.
In Shanghai a nearly completed 13-building collapsed last June, killing one migrant worker.
The two main culprits were recently charged with embezzling more than 40 million yuan in company funds, and one was also accused of diverting 440 million yuan of company funds to his family's businesses.
As a county-level tobacco's chief's leaked diary revealed, it is a daunting challenge for our government to help us regain confidence in our public servants' private lives.
At the annual session of the National People's Congress, official corruption again topped the agenda, but proposals such as requiring officials to declare personal assets didn't get very far.
As usual, such discussions easily get bogged down over some technicalities that are then declared insurmountable.
There is overwhelming public discontent about soaring property prices across the country, a problem that cannot be addressed without sincere government intervention.
Government-subsidized affordable housing should be an answer - but some economists proposed that the affordable housing program be abandoned.
According to a report in 2005, 79 percent of the flats being rented in Changping District, Beijing, were found to be in two large affordable housing complexes in the district.
This suggests purchasers of these residences do not really need these subsidized apartments.
China National Radio reported June 17 last year that in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, a piece of land originally allocated for affordable housing had 12 villas built on it.
Shenzhen Evening News reported March 8 that in the underground parking lot of an affordable housing complex were 450 private cars, 72 of them valued at over 200,000 yuan.
Celebrity property developer Ren Zhiqiang pointed out in January last year that some of the principal purchasers of affordable housing are the civil servants, especially in Beijing.
Now Chinese civil servants are objects of universal envy because they are so well provided for.
I knew of one civil servant friend in Hangzhou who had bought super-large affordable housing although he did not need it.
Plutarch in his "The Lives of The Noble Grecians and Romans" told of a man known for his bravery but suffering from weak health.
The king ordered the physicians to do their utmost to cure him.
The man was cured, but he also lost all the fire and passion he had been known for, as he had been softened and enervated by luxury.
Our revolutionary forefathers fought for their ideals of an egalitarian and just society.
Can we continue to expect our civil servants to be inspired by this ideal?
How can our government be cleansed of those who aspire to nothing higher than pleasures and love of gain?
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