China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on Sunday listed eight example cases of “bureaucratic formalism” — a catch-all term for officials showing off empty accomplishments — and warned against indulging in such self-congratulatory charades.
One of the eight cases involved high-ranking officials from the northeastern city of Harbin who were reprimanded for failing to their fulfill outbreak control responsibilities after the city saw a resurgence in coronavirus cases in April.
The list also included a widely discussed case from last year involving Zhang Hongxue, the former deputy director of the human resources and social security bureau in the northwestern Shaanxi province. Zhang was the ignominious star of a viral video in which he invoked his lofty title in an attempt to crash a party — an abuse of power that led to him being asked to resign.
In recent years, China’s central government has attempted to correct officials’ misconducts in various ways, including forbidding them from consuming expensive alcohol at work dinners and warning them not to use WeChat, the country’s ubiquitous social messaging app, for the purposes of flattery or showering each other with “gifts.” (Image: People Visual)
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