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Plastic trees planted along a highway in Jiangsu province were removed after a microblogger posted photos in outrage over "absurd" spending, reported China News Service on Tuesday.
A Nanjing microblogger, surnamed Yang, came across workers planting the fake trees along a stretch of an airport expressway at the weekend, and snapped a few pictures. He shared them on popular Chinese social media site Weibo on Monday.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Yang wrote, demanding an explanation from authorities.
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“Even if it’s for a so-called ‘face project', it’s an absurd way to abuse us taxpayers’ money,” Yang later told Chinese press.
His post attracted the attention of reporters and leaders, including Nanjing’s Communist Party chief Yang Weize. Concerned, the party secretary called the city’s transport officials who were in charge of highway constructions, and asked them to respond to Yang’s inquiry, said an official who had learned of the conversation.
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The fake trees were gone the next day, apparently the result of a speedy crisis-management undertaken by the transport department.
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