Official's son's wedding banquet touches nerves

CHANGSHA - The wedding banquet for the son of a senior justice official in central China has created quite a stir among a Chinese public growing increasingly intolerant of corruption.

An online post claimed that more than 100 justice officials and 20 police vehicles were spotted at the wedding banquet for the son of Wang Qinsheng, the deputy director of the Hunan provincial bureau of justice, on January 3.

The post on tianya.cn, a popular online community, also claimed the 30-table banquet held at a five-star hotel was more like an imperial palace party and the official received 1 million yuan (160,500 U.S. dollars) stuffed in "hongbao" -- red envelopes wedding guests use to give cash to the newlyweds.

In China, many officials take advantage of weddings, births and even funerals to receive money, often as bribes, from subordinates jockeying for promotions and businesses seeking contracts or regulatory greenlights.

"The latest case, which came among frequent exposures of officials' corruption in China, further tests the tolerance of average citizens," one user wrote on tianya.cn.

Media reports on the banquet that cost an estimated 85,000 yuan also triggered backlash and calls for an investigation on Sina Weibo, China's popular Twitter-like microblogging platform.

"This was the private use of public cars, taking bribes in public and extravagance and waste?" one Sina Weibo user asked.

"Officials need to discipline not only themselves, but their wives, sons, colleagues and subordinates," wrote another Sina Weibo user. "Meanwhile, justice officials used taxpayers' money to drive public cars to attend a private banquet."

The netizens' lambasting continued even after the deputy chief of the justice bureau said he did not send invitations to any of his colleagues or subordinates, but dozens still turned up to the banquet.

"They showed up and it was inappropriate to drive them away. We had to treat them," said Wang, adding that he has sent more than 100,000 yuan in cash gifts to discipline inspection authorities to count and register before the money is returned to the guests.

The official also said he followed requirements by reporting the wedding plans to discipline inspection authorities on December 20. At that time, he says, he made it clear that he would not send banquet invitations to, or accept cash gifts from, colleagues and subordinates.

The provincial bureau of justice and discipline inspection committee in Hunan have launched an investigation into the case.