Home / Government / Opinion Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Abuse of power is no farcical matter
Adjust font size:  ZoomIn ZoomOut

The truth finally prevailed, when Shaanxi provincial forestry bureau officially admitted on Sunday that it had erred about a photo of a wild South China tiger by farmer Zhou Zhenglong from Shaanxi province.

Although the local government's effort to clean up the mess has become banner front page headlines in the media across the country, netizens have made it clear that they don't feel victorious. I share the netizens' frustration because the whole farce has exposed quite a few pitfalls in governance and academia.

What should have taken professional photographers at most a day to verify whether the photos were doctored took eight months for the bureau to reverse its previous authentication, with the help of the local police.

There is no way to count how much taxpayers' money has been wasted and, above all, how much the government's credibility is harmed.

We now know for sure that 13 officials were involved and their purpose, unfortunately, was to support the scam.

Do a search on the Internet and every episode of the farce is still as vivid.

As Guan Ke, the bureau's then press official, admitted, "My passion overpowered my reason".

The passion aside, we could also sense the avid eagerness for accolades. After all, Zhou Zhenglong was soon awarded 20,000 yuan for his "discovery". The town and county governments were making use of the news to attract adventurers and tourists, hoping to reap more revenues.

The passion and eagerness made the officials involved to sidestep almost every established procedure for verification before coming clear with the news to the public.

For instance, Guan said that he was shocked to hear, after the press conference, that the forestry officials of the town and the county had not made the required field trip to the site where Zhou Zhenglong took the photo of the alleged South China tiger.

We can easily detect ignorance among the officials as well. Guan said he went to the site afterward to check against Zhou's photos and talked with the local villagers.

"I couldn't find any loopholes in the photos," he said.

But there was ample evidence to suggest otherwise. A biologist who trekked in the forest in the area knows almost all the local plants by heart. He pointed out that there is not a single plant in the area that has leaves as big as the one over the tiger's forehead.

How come Guan and others simply overlooked the scientific evidence?

They also have their own scientific support. Unfortunately, the public has heard very little what these scientists said. And according to a roster, none of these scientists is an expert on tiger.

But how come the local forestry administration could sustain the sham for eight months?

We can still hear Zhu Julong, who is fired as deputy director of the provincial forestry bureau, vouch for the genuineness of the photos.

In a documentary by CCTV aired on December 6, Zhu is seen saying: "Taking off my wushamao (ancient Chinese official hat that has become synonymous for official posts) if my judgment is wrong; (if my error) affects adversely Shaanxi province as well as government's credibility..."

We have to question who has given Zhu and other officials the right to use their power to smear the credibility of the government and dilute the public trust in it.

From the lessons, I think the public has the right to demand stricter systems of checks and supervision to prevent government officials from abusing and mishandling their powers.

This has been a farce over a fake photo, but continuous neglect would lead to more serious matters, such as those concerning life and death.

(China Daily July 3, 2008)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
Most Viewed >>
- Beach in Sanya, Hainan Island
- Zheng Jie rush into Wimbledon quarterfinal
- Breaking the mold
- World's largest cable-stayed bridge opened
- China sends patrol fleet to East China Sea

Product Directory
China Search
Country Search
Hot Buys
主站蜘蛛池模板: 又大又湿又紧又爽a视频| 日韩精品中文乱码在线观看| 国产精品久久福利网站| 中文字幕精品亚洲无线码一区| 污污视频网站免费在线观看| 午夜视频在线在免费| 豪妇荡乳1一5白玉兰| 国产成人综合久久久久久| 一区二区在线看| 最近免费高清版电影在线观看| 北条麻妃作品在线观看| 都流了这么多还嘴硬| 国产成人综合久久精品| 手机在线看片你懂得| 成人免费乱码大片a毛片| 亚洲人成网站在线观看播放| 精品久久久久久中文字幕大豆网| 国产三级在线视频播放线| 2021最新热播欧美极品| 夜夜高潮夜夜爽国产伦精品| 一本色道久久88—综合亚洲精品| 日韩精品第1页| 亚洲人成在线播放| 欧美成人全部免费观看1314色| 亚洲精品无码久久久久秋霞| 老师上课跳d突然被开到最大视频| 国产寡妇偷人在线观看视频| 欧美日韩亚洲成色二本道三区| 女人18毛片a级毛片免费视频 | 麻豆精品一区二区综合av| 国产激情小视频| 亚洲人成777| 国产欧美综合一区二区三区 | 99在线精品视频在线观看| 太粗太长岳受不了了| xxxxx做受大片在线观看免费 | 在线a免费观看| 三级国产4国语三级在线| 日韩精品在线观看视频| 亚欧免费视频一区二区三区| 最近更新2019中文字幕8|