China, to a certain extent, is an architect’s paradise, and one for magnificent government buildings and complexes. This one, in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, will not be the last. From Yulun Jiandu Wang (ËàÜËÆ∫ÁõëÁù£ÁΩë), translated by CDT (photos: bird’s-eye views of Huiji District Govplex, via Xinhua, with story in Chinese):
Feng Liucheng (冯刘成), now former party secretary of Huiji (惠济) District of Zhengzhou, Henan, fell, soon after his architectural masterpiece, a new government office complex, sprouted up. He was convicted to life in prison for taking bribes, embezzlement and misusing public funds. More than 6 million yuan worth of his properties and cash was confiscated.
The “culprit,” in Feng’s downfall, is a six-building beautifully laid out complex with a dome-shaped conference center in the center, hundreds of mu of grass land, gardens, man-made hills, fountains and carved-out lakes surrounding it. When last year a netizen posted online the photos of this so-called “White House” govplex, costing 120 million yuan, the public reaction exploded across the country.
Feng was just one of the many local cadres who flocked to the idea of “vanity projects,” where they play the game of “corruption.” For these projects, a lot of cash flows into the hands of local governments, whose officials “phish” kickbacks while approving outsourcings. This is, as an open secret, a business that only makes money, never loses.
As in most other similar cases, Feng was only the “turnip,” (as Chinese saying has it, mud will also come out while harvesting turnips) also pulled up was Zhengzhou City secretary Wang Youjie (ÁéãÊúâÊù∞), who also sits on the provincial standing committee and handpicked Feng into his last post in Huiji. [Full Text, in Chinese]
