{"id":134627,"date":"2012-04-06T01:19:01","date_gmt":"2012-04-06T08:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=134627"},"modified":"2012-04-06T01:25:35","modified_gmt":"2012-04-06T08:25:35","slug":"us-ambassadors-frugality-prompts-praise-suspicion-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/04\/us-ambassadors-frugality-prompts-praise-suspicion-again\/","title":{"rendered":"US Ambassador’s Frugality Prompts Praise, Suspicion"},"content":{"rendered":"
US ambassador to China Gary Locke has once again made headlines with his customary frugality<\/strong><\/a>, flying coach to the Boao Forum on Hainan and declining to stay at the conference’s official hotel, whose room prices were triple his official accommodation allowance. While many in China approvingly note the contrast between Locke’s modest habits<\/a> and Chinese officials’ sometimes excessive spending<\/a>, others smell a rat. From the South China Morning Post:<\/p>\n A reporter with Southern Television Guangdong said on her weibo microblog on Tuesday that Locke did not choose the five-star Sofitel, where other senior government officials were staying, because “it’s too expensive”, citing an aide to the envoy \u2026.<\/p>\n Locke ended up in a four-star hotel nearby, where the most expensive suite costs 940 yuan (HK$1,159 [US$149]) a night.<\/p>\n But blogger Nan Musang wrote that Locke was putting on a charade.<\/p>\n “The rule in the US is that the lodging cost for a conference can be reimbursed even if it exceeds the budget,” he wrote.<\/p>\n “When Locke served as the US secretary of commerce, his staff were reportedly travelling frequently by first class and staying in luxury hotels,” Nan said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Li Yuan, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal’s Chinese-language edition, discussed the issue on the newspaper’s Asia Today webcast:<\/p>\n \n\n