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.