Opinion

Henan official who criticised grave-clearing campaign 'repents' after rebuke

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Zhao Keluo criticised a government-backed campaign to clear graves in Henan. Photo: Sina Weibo

Ernest Kao was a reporter at the Post until 2019, covering environment, energy, science and urban planning and development issues.

Published: 11:44am, 19 Dec 2012Updated: 2:16pm, 19 Dec 2012

Officials revoked a member's candidacy for the Standing Committee of Henan province's CPPCC after he openly criticised a government-backed campaign to clear graves.

Zhao Keluo, 38, a member of the eastern province's People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), broke the news in a strongly worded “letter of repentance” posted yesterday afternoon to his account on Twitter-like service Sina Weibo.

Zhao's 'letter of repentance' circulating on Sina Weibo. Photo: SCMP Pictures

In the letter, Zhao said he was informed by “insiders” that his nomination to the Standing Committee had been removed and that it was because of an incident seven months ago in which he openly criticised a grave-clearing campaign in Henan.

More than two million tombs were demolished this year as part of a “flatten graves to return farmland” campaign. Zhao published a Weibo post in May criticising the campaign, which was shelved in November after the news sparked an outrage from the Chinese public.

In his post, Zhao apologised to provincial and municipal leaders and said the decision to remove him from the nomination list was something he deserved.

He said his actions could have led to “chaos in the leadership” and ended the letter by stating that he would make “fewer mistakes” in the future and spend more time with his family.

Zhao deleted the letter shortly after posting it, but it is still being circulated online.