30/05/2019
- Cadres in Hebei village ordered to undergo self-criticism after photo of statue lying face down in the shrubbery was widely circulated online
- Reinforced plastic structure had been leaning against the wall awaiting repair when it was blown into the bushes
The photograph was widely circulated online, prompting a response from the local authorities. Photo: Weibo
A couple of grass-roots Communist Party members from northern China have been disciplined after a statue of Mao Zedong was photographed lying face down surrounded by overgrown bushes.
The government of Fuping county in Hebei province issued a statement late on Tuesday that the party chief of Huashan village, where the statue used to stand, had been given a “serious warning” for failing to protect the statue.
His immediate superior, the party head of Chengnanzhuang township, also received a warning.
The disciplinary action came after a picture of the statue lying amid the shrubbery was widely circulated online, triggering an angry response from Mao’s admirers.
The village has become a revolutionary tourist destination because the founding father of the People’s Republic spent some time there in 1948.
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The local government said on Sunday that the statue, showing Chairman Mao with a clenched right fist, had been erected in 2017.
It was removed from its plinth earlier this month after cracks appeared in the reinforced plastic model and its colour started to fade.
The government said it had been leaning against a wall after its removal on May 3, but was blown over by strong gusts of wind several days later.
It has now been sent to the manufacturer for repair.
Mao’s image still adorns the banknotes and many public spaces in China. Photo: Alamy
The local officials were punished for “lacking ideological understanding” of the removal, failing to give enough protection to the statue and being careless in their daily work, the local government said.
Besides penalties for the individuals, the township party committee was also ordered to undertake self-criticism – a practice that began under Mao.
Statues of Chairman Mao used to be a common scene all across China, many of them built in the late 1960s at the height of the Cultural Revolution.
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Although many of them were removed after his death when the government began the process of reform and opening up, they can still be seen in spaces such as town squares and university campuses. Mao’s face also remains on the country’s banknotes and a large portrait of him hangs in Beijing overlooking Tiananmen Square.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Beijing, cadres, chairman mao, Chengnanzhuang, Chinese communists, disciplined, founding father, Hebei, Huashan, May Fourth Movement, People’s Republic of China, statue, strong winds, Tiananmen Square, topple over, Uncategorized |
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30/05/2019
- Parents in Jiangsu province were shocked by a form that said a kindergarten class had been investigated and ‘no pupils were found to be involved in organised crime’
- Officials fired or disciplined for ‘causing serious negative publicity’
A kindergarten in Guiyang put up a banner on its entrance that read: “Crack down early and crack down young. Eliminate the dark and evil forces when they are still budding”. It was later removed. Photo: Weibo
Education officials in eastern China have been sacked or disciplined after targeting kindergarten pupils in a crackdown on organised crime.
Residents in Wuxi, a city in Jiangsu province, were shocked when a note saying that 35 pupils aged four and five at Xinguang Kindergarten had been investigated as part of the wider crackdown on mafia-style gangs was leaked online.
The form, signed by two teachers, concluded: “No pupils were found to be involved in organised crime”.
Copies of the document started circulating on social media, triggering a widespread backlash and ridicule.
Some social media users accused the kindergarten of box-ticking and questioned whether staff would have been capable of discovering whether any parents were involved in organised crime.
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One said that if officials really wanted to nip criminal tendencies in the bud, they were starting too late, adding: “Why not start when they are in the womb and crack down in the maternity hospital?”
Three senior officials from the Xishan district authority were disciplined for their roles in “causing serious negative publicity”.
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Feng Dongyan, the chief and party secretary of Xishan district education bureau, was given a party warning.
Wang Zhaoyu, director of the bureau’s general office, and Lu Zhongxian, the director in charge of education inspection of the bureau, lost their jobs and were given a serious party disciplinary warning.
Beijing started the campaign targeting grass-roots criminal organisations and their “protective umbrellas” last year.
More than 3,000 people have been punished so far, but the campaign has also been ridiculed for taking aim at the wrong targets.
Last month a kindergarten in Guiyang in Guizhou province put up a banner at its entrance reading: “Crack down early and crack down young. Eliminate the dark and evil forces when they are still budding”.
The kindergarten said the banner was “meant for the public” but took it down after an online backlash.
Source: SCMP
Posted in anti-mafia, Beijing, Chengdu Economic Daily, Chinese, crackdown, disciplined, education officials, fentanyl firm, four-year-olds, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, investigating, jiangsu province, kindergarten class, online backlash, opioid, organised crime, sacked, Uncategorized, Wuxi, Xishan |
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