China's mooncake cutbacks blamed on cadres' overreaction to corruption crackdown
Social media users criticise editorial that said anti-graft chief's vow to combat 'mooncake corruption' never meant Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for low-ranking civil servants
The claim in today’s People’s Daily editorial that the central government’s corruption crackdown never intended to cut the benefits of low-ranking civil servants - such as the traditional gift of handing mooncakes during Mid-Autumn Festival – has proved rather hard to swallow for some mainland social media users.
This morning’s editorial on the newspaper’s WeChat platform criticised some party cadres, claiming they had misinterpreted the central authorities’ call and overreacted by cutting back on the usual benefits for civil servants.
State enterprises and government departments traditionally offer gifts of moon cakes, or daily necessities, such as shampoo and cooking oil, in the days leading up to the annual festival, which is being celebrated today.
However, this year there has been a noticeable drop in the number of orders and gifts of mooncake – in keeping with Beijing’s current graft-busting drive.
There are only several holidays a year, so it is considerate of employers to greet staff and give out some benefits that will make everyone happy at this time. How is this related to corruption?
This follows warnings by some officials, including Wang Qishan, commission secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – the central anti-graft agency – who reportedly vowed to combat “mooncake corruption” and other traditions that could be used for illicit official gain, during a speech at the people’s political consultative conference standing committee meeting on August 25.
Wang was quoted by mainland media saying that President Xi Jinping agreed with him that the giving of mooncakes could lead to corruption problems.
This year’s focus on frugality – including the restriction on mooncakes and other tradition gifts – has led to widespread complaints.
Yet in today’s editorial, the newspaper claimed some senior officials had simply overreacted because they wanted to protect themselves from criticism and avoid getting into trouble.
The People’s Daily editorial said cadres had misrepresented the central leadership’s idea.
“This is absolutely not the real intention of the central government’s anti-graft campaign,” the editorial said.
It added that party cadres were to blame for drive for being frugal, including the cancelling of all benefits to general staff, including those on low incomes.
The editorial claimed the anti-graft campaign was against spending tax payers’ money on things such as business trips, vehicles, and business entertainment and officials’ high salaries, rather than the standard benefits that employees deserved.
“There are only several holidays a year, so it is considerate of employers to greet staff and give out some benefits that will make everyone happy at this time. How is this related to corruption?” the editorial said.
“It’s not hard to imagine how this would affect the moral of workers. Isn’t this action misrepresenting the original goal of the anti-corruption campaign?” the editorial asked.
Many online commentators were annoyed by the editorial, with some saying it had come far too late to encourage mooncakes to be given out.
“Why didn’t People’s Daily publish it days before the holiday?” several netizens asked. “Now it’s almost over.”
Several comments referred to cases of cadres being punished after giving out mooncakes to low-income civil servants.
“The only thing I have received this holiday is a duty roster,” said another online commentator from Nanjing.
