MCLC: Yunnan 'official' outed (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: jacqueline winter (dujuan99 at gmail.com)
Subject: Yunnan 'official' outed (1)
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Source: South China Morning Post (4/4/13):
http://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1206870/i-thought-i-could-do-bett
er-job-says-man-arrested-impersonating

I thought I could do a better job, says man arrested for impersonating
official
By Patrick Boehler

Shenyang native Zhao Xiyong won't plead guilty to fraud charges, his lawyer
Said.

It took Zhao Xiyong, a 58-year-old Shenyang native, three years to rise
From being a nobody to the position of vice-ministerial level civil
servant.

Having inspected six Chinese provinces, held countless meetings and given
speeches, Zhao was arrested for impersonating a national official in March.

On Wednesday, his lawyer said [1] Zhao would plead not guilty to charges of
fraud, because his client had not profited financially from them. He said
Zhao just thought he could do better than China’s real officials.

In 2004, Zhao unsuccessfully applied for a position with China’s highest
executive organ, the State Council.

He then returned to work in his family’s business in Liaoning until 2009,
when at a local meeting he was mistaken for a State Council researcher, his
lawyer Kuang Jimei told the Dongfang Daily [2]. “At this point, he realised
the kind of influence such a position could give him,” Kuang said.

In 2010, he left his home province for Luodi in Hunan impersonating a State
Council researcher, where the local government made him a member of the
"Expert consultation and deliberation committee for major administrative
decisions," the Changjiang Evening News reported [3].

"It's such a pity to see such a talented person not taking the right path,"
a local official told the daily in reaction to Zhao's arrest. They had
enough money, his wife told the paper. Her husband's actions did not bring
any financial benefit to the family, she said.

After two years in Luodi, he “promoted” himself to the position of
department head within the State Council Research Office. By that time, he
had been hired as a consultant of a Kunming-based car-parts manufacturer.

He toured Yunnan as a “vice-ministerial inspector.” At every stop, his
visit was welcomed by county leaders anxious to impress the central
government briefing him on development projects.

In Yuxi, a small town south of Kunming, the vice mayor showed him around
The construction site of a “national defence” theme park. Wearing a
western suit and a construction site hard hat, he praised the construction
company for its contributions to education in national defence, according
to a profile in the Southern Metropolis Weekly [4].

In early March, the State Council Research Office, the Chinese government’s
most influential think tank, sent a letter [5] to the Yunnan provincial
Government:

We have recently seen online that since the beginning of last year a man
called Zhao Xiyong has pretended to be a department head at the State
Council Research Office […] He has inspected Kunming, Yuxi, Yingjiang,
Tonghai and other places and given speeches. We solemnly declare there is
no
Zhao Xiyong in our work unit, and that we have not organised any so-called
delegation of experts to visit Yunnan.”

By March 19, Kunming police issued an arrest warrant for Zhao. Three days
later, he was arrested in his home province, Liaoning, and charged with
fraud and impersonating a state official for the sake of personal benefit.

If convicted, he will face a prison sentence of between three and 10 years.

Zhao is not the first public case [6] of a person impersonating an
official.

In 1995, Liu Heping, after forging a background in the People’s Liberation
Army in his personal file, became the deputy Party Secretary of Liuzhou in
northern Guangxi. His deceit was uncovered a year later when local
Officials praised his work to the central government. Many other
impersonators followed.

Links:

[1] http://news.163.com/13/0403/10/8RHHD2OH00011229.html
[2] http://news.sina.com.cn/o/2013-04-04/100026732527.shtml
[3] http://qjwb.zjol.com.cn/html/2013-03/29/content_2071888.htm?div=-1
[4] http://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2013-04-02/112626712588.shtml
[5] http://weibo.com/2676846843/zqqEcBhB2
[6] http://www.guancha.cn/society/2013_03_22_133731.shtml