China sacks senior police officer over ‘absurd’ Peace Mantra book
- He Dian loses job after coming in for ridicule for his 300-plus pages of repetitive sentences
- But authorities have not said what were the results of their investigation
A senior Chinese police officer has been sacked after his book – lauded by local officials as an “ode to peace” – was ridiculed throughout the country.
The leadership of the northeastern province of Jilin announced on Friday that He Dian, the second most powerful officer in province’s public security department, had been stripped of his job and his positions in the Communist Party.
The authorities did not say whether He would face any further punishment or what the results were of their investigation. The announcement came two days after the party’s anti-corruption watchdog in Jilin said it was looking into the matter.
He’s book, Pingan Jing, or Peace Mantra, was published in December and endorsed by a long list of local government offices and party-approved groups.
However, it came in for wide public criticism this week as commenters took aim at its “rudimentary” and “absurd” content.
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The 336 pages of the book are covered only with variations of the sentence: “Let … be safe”.