Chinese Internet users track extravagant politician
The luxury wardrobe of an obscure government official has set China’s internet alight with thousands of corruption-busting internet activists weighing in on the apparently extravagant shopping-habits of a hitherto unknown man.
Mr Yang got caught on camera grinning at the scene of grisly road crash in which 36 people were killed Photo: ALAMY
By Tom Phillips, Shanghai
3:42PM BST 06 Sep 2012
With just weeks to go until China’s crucial leadership transition, leaders have vowed to crackdown hard on corruption and editorials in the state-controlled media are urging politicians to avoid embarrassing public slip-ups and scandals.
But the case of 55-year-old Yang Dacai has reignited a bitter and ongoing debate over the alleged peccadilloes of politicians and government officials.
Mr Yang, the head of Shaanxi province’s Bureau of Work Safety, was plucked from the anonymity of civil servant life in late August after being caught on camera grinning at the scene of grisly road crash in which 36 people were killed.
Infuriated by Mr Yang’s apparent insensitivity, China’s ‘human flesh’ searchers – internet vigilantes who use the web to hunt down their enemies - sprung into action.
"Flesh searchers" across China began scouring the internet for other compromising shots of Mr Yang.
But rather than uncovering more inappropriate smiles, the flesh searchers discovered photographs of Mr Yang at public events sporting a collection of luxury watches they claimed was worth tens of thousands of pounds – far beyond the legitimate purchasing power of a government official, it was argued.
Among Mr Yang’s alleged collection of watches was an Omega Constellation valued by activists at up to £6,500, a Bulgari, reputedly worth up to £5,000 and a Constantin, worth in excess of £20,000. Unusually, Mr Yang responded to the online attack, using his Twitter-like Weibo account to admit ownership of five luxury watches and to claim he had paid for them with his own “legal income”.
But with more questions mounting and more watches appearing, Mr Yang logged off, bidding the flesh searchers a tactful farewell. “I will try and find more opportunities to talk with you. Thanks everyone. Goodbye,” he wrote.
That did little to assuage the offensive. This week activists shifted their focus from Mr Yang’s bedside table to his wardrobe, exposing photographs they claimed show an equally extravagant collection of belts and other accessories, including a pair of German glasses supposedly worth £13,000.
A tally of activists’ findings since Mr Yang’s public humiliation began shows they claim to have uncovered 11 luxury watches worth up to £80,000, 4 pairs of glasses worth up to £20,000, a platinum bracelet worth £1,000, 8 belts worth an estimated £5,000 and a collection of Armani suits valued at some £50,000.
To fill his wardrobe with such luxuries, Mr Yang would have shelled out some 1.1 million yuan, or around £110,000, the activists estimated. "Flesh searchers" admitted they could not prove Mr Yang was guilty of any wrongdoing but hoped a government investigation, now underway, would uncover the truth.
“I hope people will keep their eyes on this incident,” said one 26-year-old flesh searcher who uses the online alias Guiwenzi. “I don’t know whether Yang has corruption issues or not but I want to know the result in the end. I believe in the internet’s power to [influence]. I also believe in the government’s [power] to deal with [corruption].”
Chen Peng, one of the flesh searchers spearheading the campaign to unbuckle Mr Yang’s glamorous belts, said social media had given power back to the people. “When taxpayers’ money is being squandered, only the taxpayers themselves have the urge and enthusiasm to investigate.
