MCLC: extravagant banquet exposed (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: John Fitzgerald <J.Fitzgerald at latrobe.edu.au>
Subject: extravagant banquet exposed (1)
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Something fishy here.

Data Point 1: From the video there appear to be around 15 guests at the
head table, possibly the same again at the other two tables, so between
20-45 diners, let's say 30 or so to be on the safe side. At $1,100 (£700)
for the meal that's around $35 per head. Expensive perhaps but not
extravagant.

Data Point 2: Yellow Tail wine is a low-end Australian export product, as
indicated by the critter labelling style which prints Kangaroos, Koalas,
Emus etc onto cheaper export varieties. A bottle sells for $8-$10 in
Australia and between $12-$15 in local stores in China.

Data Point 3: Lanzhimeng wine is a local Subei product from Suqian, one
administrative city north of Taizhou in the Subei region. It sells for
between $70-$120 in Beijing, depending on variety, but trades far more
cheaply in many Subei eateries.

Things are tough in Subei when this is all it takes to upset local
communities.

Or whom did official Zhang Aihua offend? Reports of “a photo of Zhang
kneeling on the table, face contorted in distress, a loudhailer in his
right hand” sound familiar. This was taken not by the accidental video
operator, but by one of the crowd, who were brought to the scene by an
"unidentified whistleblower." This is all it takes, too.

John Fitzgerald