When the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake happened, Beichuan town was one of the hardest hit because of a lot of aftershocks that happened there. Recently, many Chinese netizens are extremely angry after discovering that Beichuan government officials have spent tens of millions buying cars for themselves in the last two months, using the people’s money and donations. Many of the cars are luxurious or high-end models, leading the netizens to feel the government officials are treating themselves very well, while many earthquake victims are still suffering and living in terrible conditions.
From Mop:
Have you donated money for the earthquake yet? Are Beichuan’s disaster victims all going to to get through winter with warmth? These we have no way of knowing, but what we know is that Beichuan’s “civil servants” and “official bosses” are doing very well, already starting to purchase luxury cars. And the they do not want just average cars! Truly, they are in power for the people! I am in admiration, true admiration! [sarcasm]
After the exposure of Beichuan’s dark secret, Mianyang Purchasing Network [the website/company that handled the government's purchase of cars] secretly deleted specific details of the transactions [the purchase prices], but unfortunately it was already too late as angry netizens already disseminated the original details, with excerpts below:
“Beichuan’s go-vern-ment purchased one Toyota Land Cruiser, the most expensive V8 configuration, price 1.1 million RMB (the lowest version is only 700,000+ RMB, but a six cylinder is not impressive). I discovered a wide variety of brands and models amongst the disaster area purchased vehicle, but with almost every model, relatively higher-end versions wer chose. For example, a Toyota Prado was purchased with a navigation system. The earthquake must have ruined the disaster area’s geography so much that the leaders no longer remember the roads.”
The following appear to be information taken from the website showing various purchases by the Beichuan government:
Beichuan BCZC inquiry (2009) #2 work vehicle successful purchase confirmation (2009-1-12)
One Land Cruiser: Mianyang City Gaoxing District Toyota Automobile Sales Services Limited Company, price 1,100,000 yuan.
Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County People’s go-vern-ment Procurement Center
2009 Janauary 12
1. One Changfeng Liebao cross-country, Chengdu Jielong Trading Company, price 196,500 yuan (free decoration).
2. One Toyota Camary, Mianyang City Baixiang Automobile Sales Services Company, price 216,800 yuan.
3. One Nissan X-Trail, Mianyang City Fengshen Automobile Sales Services Company, price 275,000 yuan (free floormats).
1. Chengdu Jielong Trading Company, unit price: 345,800 yuan, total price: 691,600 yuan.
2. Mianyang City Chengda Engineering Services Limited Company, unit price: 400,000 yuan, total price: 400,000 yuan.
One Toyota Prado 4.0GX cross-country, dark green color
Mianyang Gaoxing Toyota Automobile Sales Services Limited Company, 539,000 yuan.
Bidding work unit: Mianyang City Chengda Engineering Services Limited Company
Product: Kia Borrega
Total price: 411,000 yuan.
Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County People’s go-vern-ment Procurement Center
2008 December 5
Nissan Teana: Mianyang Fengshen Automobile Trading Company, price 204,800 yuan
Changfeng Liebao: Mianyang Beier Automobile Services Company, price 197,800 yuan
Toyota Corolla: Mianyang Gaoxing District Toyota Automobile Sales Services Company, price 155,800 yuan
Beijing Hyundai Tucson: Mianyang Xinchuansa Automobile Sales Services Company, price 247,800 yuan
1, Mianyang Toyota Motor Sales and Service Co., Ltd.: Toyota Prado VX4.0 with Navigation 626,000 yuan.
2, Mianyang Ganghong Subaru Automobile Sales and Service Co, Ltd.: Subaru Forrester 271,800 yuan.
3, Mianyang Xin Sheng Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd.: Nissan Paladin Standard 204,000 yuan.
Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County People’s go-vern-ment Procurement Center
2008 November 21
Mianyang Government inquiry (2008), #85, “car” item inquiry result notice
Mianyang Government inquiry (2008), #85, “car” item, on 2008 September 12 conducted procurement, the results announcement as follows:
The successful candidate:
Sichuan Mianyang Xinhua Car and Automobile Sales Garment Co., Ltd.: 843,000.00 yuan
Mianyang Gaoxing District Toyota Motor Sales and Service Co., Ltd.: 584,000.00 yuan
(Probably Toyota’s new Land Cruiser and Prado)
Mianyang Government inquiry (2008), #60 “car” item inquiry results notice
Mianyang Government inquiry (2008), #60 “car” item, on 2008 July 10 conducted procurement, the results announcement as follows:
The successful candidate:
Mianyang Gaoxing District Toyota Motor Sales and Service Co.,: 1,554,000.00 yuan
(Probably a Toyota Land Cruiser and Prado or three Prados)
Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County People’s go-vern-ment Procurement Center
2008 December 3
Beichuan BCZC inquiry (2008) #17 work vehicle procurement notice
Bidding work unit:
Mianyang Gaoxing District Toyota Motor Sales and Service Co., Ltd. total price 539,800 yuan. (Should be Prado)
Business transaction: Chengdu Jielong Trading Company
Transaction price: 406,600 yuan
Procurement by: City Government Law Commission
After being exposed, the Mianyang go-vern-ment urgently deleted information related to the transactions on the procurement website:
http://caigou.my.gov.cn/zbgg/zbggmore.asp?page=1
But the original records have been preserved, it is too late.
From: http://www.worldbidding.cn/info/2009/0112/620166.html
From: http://www.worldbidding.cn/info/2009/0112/620168.html
A few more screen shots from KDS:
A few 2008 Sichuan Earthquake pictures:
More pictures can be found at EastSouthWestNorth.
Comments from Mop:
Dammit! These low-lifes!
Chinese characteristics…
Cannot help it.
They are still inside sheds freezing. The earthquake destroyed their homeland, leaving piles and piles of broken walls. Only when you are personally there can you understand why. But look at what these dog 10 people ["dog shits", 10 is "shi" in Chinese, which is the same sound as "shit"] are doing? Angry!!!
Strongly despise Beichuan county go-vern-ment! Do not donate money to them again!
All Japanese cars–supporting Japanese economic recovery~!?
Why did the earthquake not kill this group of bastards.
How good it would be to exchange their lives for the lives of the children.
Motherfuckers.
My donations fed the dogs.
Sorry, I was too worked up.
That…
I feel this matter [of purchasing these cars], was probably out of necessity,
The leadership experienced a life and death battle, discovering that only by enjoying life is benevolent governance.
So…
[it is] forgivable.
As for the disaster area’s masses,
who told you to not be civil servants?
I very much agree with your rational speech,
but like your worked up speech much more.
The leadership’s mounts [rides] ought to be “Cao Ni Ma’s”~!
[Cao Ni Ma = "grass mud horse." It is a Chinese internet nickname for an cao ni ma“, “fuck your mother”.]
What I really want to know is whether the 500 bucks I donated can be refunded? …
These bastards. When people were donating, I simply knew that in the end that these donations would become something else, entering the wallets of those in power.
Taking my money to go buy cars.
I myself did not buy, giving it all to them.
Those who donated money were all fools. Learn from Han Han [a famous Chinese blogger, writer, and race car driver who helped further publicize this story] and doing something directly for the common people! Does the government still have any credibility?
Seeing this kind of news on the same day of the United States presidential inauguration. Let us cry for the suffering Chinese people.
Is the source from our donations? Distressing! I hope Beichuan’s government can give everyone an explanation! In my heart I still hope this is just a rumor!
Comments from BT BBT:
Everyone in the country who has donated money, if you want to “go for a stroll” [nickname for "protest"] and condemn Beichuan, I absolutely will not oppose you!
When will we organize a V is for Vendetta group? If we do not see blood, our great, glorious, and correct party does not shed tears [If something big/serious does not happen, our "great, glorious, and correct" government will not do anything.]
“Lou zhu,” where did this information come from?
If this is real, then dammit, it is too trashy, those “dog fucked“, give back my money.
Sigh, such a pity the government did not let me manage the disaster relief spending, being wasted like this, benefiting Japanese people.
Keep in mind how much total money the people and various places’ governments and organizations donated to them that year.
And what more, I feel that money is enough for Sichuan to rebuild, rebuild, and rebuild again.
So why is it that I do not see any progress there?
Comments from Tianyi Community: (no longer available)
If this horrible system’s people and system are not extinguished, there truly is no justice, no God, no just punishment, and Bhuddism and Christianity would be a pile of lies.
Justice will ultimately prevail over evil, I believe, but I do not know how many years I have to way. Maybe my grandson will see it.
Fuckers, all good cars.
So the special party membership fees we donate are all given to party members to use, earmarked.
Simulating domestic demand is necessary, right, how can you guys not understand? Did you think an earthquake can “shake out” an honest government? You can’t force people to do what they will not do!
Boycott Beichuan and Mianyang products. Take away the people’s livelihoods and the common people will revolt or use secret methods to settle with these bastards.
See Also:
- Xuzhou Government Outlaws Human Flesh Search
- Netizen Satire Defends Nanjing Commissioner Zhou
- Shandong Petitioners Forcibly Sent To Mental Asylum
- Government Official Attacks 11-Year-Old Girl
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Female Official Of Impoverished Arun Qi Drives Luxury SUV 
Sichuan Earthquake Memorial Museum To Cost 2.3 Billion 
Government Official Attacks 11-Year-Old Girl 
Doctored News Photo Covers Up Government Involvement 
American School Buses vs. Chinese Children Saluting Cars 
FIRST AGAIN BITCHES
damn!
DAMMIT.
Nice photo/headline juxtaposition in this one.
10t! TAKE THEIR CARS AND GIVE THEM BICYCLES!
I think these silly commentators have lost the plot. These aren’t luxury cars. These are economical, multipurpose vehicles.
Economical: Parts are readily available; they don’t need so much servicing; Multipurpose: All terrain 4X4 are required in areas where roads are not so well made and for dirt tracks in more hilly regions, as well as proper tarmac roads in towns and cities.
Japanese cars are well known for good service, fuel efficiency, reliability and good cost performance.
It’s more wasteful if they bought something really cheap, only to trash them after 1-2 years of wear. Officials do need to get around in order to help people.
It’s hardly luxurious or expensive like a BMW or a pimped Hummer.
jap cars sux0rz!
The Central government just need to execute somebody, no questions about it!
luxury cars ? I was excpecting mercedes, porsche or at least some big audis, like every official in beijing.
come on these are not luxury cars, find something to bash the government, it should’nt be that hard.
This is so fucked up… Yet, watch as there will be many who will try to justify them. Its the Chinese way… No, I mean its for the terrain… They need these new cars in order to endure to that hard terrain… No, they suffered a lot, maybe they should use the money to have rest… There is simply no good excuse, but I know there are many that will take up for them. Sad, time in China. I donated a lot as well…
Also, lets remember guys. They USED THE DONATION MONEY!!!!!!
I’ll just repost my Twitter comment:
Motherfucking government officials!
@ ChinaGeeks:
Yeah, I like the last picture too, with the really frustrated bawling because (if I were a girl) that’s how I’d feel about this.
@ Samael:
LoL, yeah, I like the obligatory wingnut anti-Japanese comments. Even with the Japanese having sent people over to help rescue people, you’re still going to get some assholes in China who invariable see anything related to the Japanese as insult to injury.
@ klimmer:
I thought of that as well in a Twitter conversation with @davidfeng, but I asked if the preference for SUVs were because of the rubble and broken up roads or because big rugged SUVs compensate for insecurities like small penises. Either way, one of the arguments seems to be that they splurged on higher end variants and trim packages when lesser versions probably could’ve served them fine. Finally, why would the government move to try covering it up if there was nothing to be ashamed of?
@ The John:
Right, the salt in the wound is the idea that they may be using money donated with the intent that it help the disaster victims directly.
people that are saying that these cars are not misspent are f*cking retarded
how the hell does purchasing SUVs and sedans going to help the people who lost homes and all their possessions during the earthquake? The money should have went to rebuilding homes and compensation for lost family members.
stupidity is amazing
Nah, klimmer’s right. Not saying there won’t be some useless corrupt bastards in the local government or that every one of these purchases in absolutely necessary, but have you ever travelled around a rural county in west Sichuan? I worked in one for two years and pretty much everything bar a couple of main roads and the two larger towns was a rough mountain track.
shocking
if the SUVs were indeed purchased for utilitarian reasons I am sure they could have purchased cheaper vehicles. If I am not mistaken Chinese govt imposes some sort of direct or indirect tariff on foreign vehicles so that they are substantially more expensive than domestic brands.
and don’t go saying that japanese vehicles are more economical because they are better quality because the tariff is large enough that the higher price of foreign vehicles really do not justify the higher quality
to the people saying that they were expecting cars like Mercedes, Lexus, etc. I am sure that the amount that the corrupt officials could pocket from the donations were not infinite and they probably had to split the stolen money among themselves, most likely they couldn’t all pocket enough to buy true luxury cars. It would also be a lot more conspicuous if they bought luxury cars…
there is no doubt in my mind that donation money was misappropriated
They could buy Lada Niva. They are very economical and durable cars. Very popular as service car in Europe for harsh terrains.
V8 is luxury. Cars bought are SUV’s – sport utility vehicles, and they are often very luxurious.
Lack of spiritual foundation.
People who said this is justifiable because the officials needed them to navigate the terrain, I have this question for you…
What’s wrong with not buying new SUV’s and just borrow some ‘copy’ hummers from the Chinese military?
Unless you’ve been to the countryside in Sichuan you’ll never know just how luxurious these cars are. They are richmans items.
I’m with this guy…
“Chinese characteristics…
Cannot help it.”
Wow with the amount of money going into these wonder how many people they’d be able to support for a year
Precisely the reason I didn’t give a FEN to the earthquake charity.
After I searched a while online I found the whole country is in hot debate and people are divided into two groups. The focus of the debate is on the most expensive 1.1 million yuan land cruiser. The county’s officials give their explanation on how they will use the SUV:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-01/23/content_10709742.htm
If what they said is true, the car will be used as a emergency communication vehicle(通信应急车) in Public Safety Department(公安局) and a planed layout of in-car communication devices was given in the link. The official said because the mud-rock flow in September 2008 destroyed many roads in the county, the public safety department badly need a vehicle to handle the tough terrain in stricken regions. The car will be used in coordination and communication in cases of major emergent events(重大突发事件), major police actions(重大警卫保卫活动) and disaster rescue(抢险救灾).
In following news, they provided the reason why information was withdrawn from government’s procurement website. After discussion (and probably due to pressure from citizens), the canceled the procurement before signing contracts.
http://finance.ifeng.com/money/wealth/story/20090122/337571.shtml
Did ChinaSmack change the max number of urls allowed in a comment to zero? Two of my comments were put into moderation queue.
Íts not at all surprising, in fact, I told one of my coworkers where his donations were going when he submitted large portions of his salary to registered charities and encouraged others to follow….thus truth reveals itself and I´m sure he´s upset along with so many others who donated to ´the cause´.
Come on, they received such a ridiculous amount of money to rebuild towns that were previously minor mountainside villages with pretty much no real industry and close-to-poverty livestyles beforehand [beichuan ish, not mianyang which is larger but happened much later in a separate quake.] Billions of dollars…billions…where was it expected to end up? Ignorant world. Keep donating to obviously corrupt causes, rather than directly to people who needed help.
Whether the cars were perceived by us as luxury brands is hardly relevant. The politicians emphasized the contrast between their situation and less fortunate parts of the population at the wrong time.
MORAL OF THIS STORY IS, IF YOU WANT TO DONATE IN CHINA, YOU HAND OUT CASH TO THE SPECIFIC DONEE, NOT VIA INDIRECT MEANS LIKE REDCROSS ORGANIZATION, BECAUSE THERE’S A HUGE CHANCE YOUR MONEY WILL END UP AS PART OF A MERCEDES PURCHASE.
@USTCer
Still, they could buy much cheaper and better 4×4 than this ones
human flesh search engine these fuckers.
@ enlighted
Yes, I agree. Not sure about prices of SUVs in China but according to info I gathered online the 1.1m vehicle definitely does not have the best cost performance. Beichuan government should be more transparent on how they made the buying decision in the public bidding. And their hiding of price on their website is suspicious.
1.1 nmillion does sound strange. Thats roughly 110,000 pounds for a land cruiser????? I guess the real question is if that was the price for the government there must have been kick backs and under table deals for that many cars. The company hike the price and split the profit with the officials buying them.
I own a business here in China and I was pretty much forced to make a very large donation. I honestly believe that less than half of it made it to Sichuan.
See, told you… all donations is a joke in China… whatever it might be.. it is bound to end up with corrupted officials.. I bet this is just the tip of the iceberg, they have channelled some of these money outside of the country where their childrens are studying abroad…
So, what can you do? Absolutely NOTHING…
@ nob, you are right… is definitely less than HALF, just 1 quarter ever reach SIchuan.. it was reported sometime back on western media..
What is wrong with Chinese people? all they seem to do is steal from each other. These bastards should be beheaded.
Other people don’t steal from each other? =O
Actually donations going to the wrong destinations is a much bigger problem in for instance Africa then it is in China. Some governments there will immediately invest it in the purchase of weapons.
From my limited Mandarin skills, there’s nothing listed on the screen capture that the monies used for the car purchases were from the donation funds.
“Unless you’ve been to the countryside in Sichuan you’ll never know just how luxurious these cars are. They are richmans items.” Kia, Toyota and Nissan are a rich men item?
It seems to me that the only vehicles that would qualify relative to the poverty of Sichuan’s countryside would be bicycles.
As I argued before, the rate of wear for hummers are pretty high. Hummers are not cheap. Procuring from the military is not feasible as the military won’t provide after sales, maintenance or cheap parts.
V6 engines might be suitable for “lighter” cars driven on flat, tarmac paved roads but you’ll need a V8 at least if your driving cross terrain and carrying heavier loads, like communications gear and medical personnel.
I think its more worthwhile pursing more dignified causes. There’s no point complaining that governments are ill equipped to handle disasters if we tie their hands during better times.
I’m not saying the vehicle purchases were necessary, and I agree the purchases were rather poorly timed and excessive. My question, is in their choice of vehicle. Rather than buying Toyota’s, Nissan’s, a Land Cruiser, and other foreign made vehicles, why didn’t they purchase Chinese made vehicles that would/could do what they were “needed” for just as well? I’ve been in China for 3 years and I have been told repeatedly (by Chinese and non-Chinese, both) that the rich buy foreign made products, not because they don’t like China, but because they’re more prestigious.
Another thing, unless you’re planning on climbing over rocks as big as your truck, hauling more than a ton of cargo (in the cab & pull-behind trailer), going through 1 meter deep mud-holes, or pulling over buildings, a V-8 isn’t a necessity. I’ve seen 4 cylinder cars and trucks do everything I just listed, the only difference is the V-8 will do it faster and with more pollution and noise. If I had the choice, I would take something with a V-8, but I’d also be buying it with my own money.
If you wanna donate, donate to the Red Cross (China). That way, the money will go to the victims rather than to local officials who think the money is their own bag of honey.
to fireworks:
There is no NGOs in China. Because government are afriaid of any organizations.
Red Cross(China) is a government agency. The money donated is going to the officials’ bags too.
Im surprised. Why isnt this being reported like… well… ANYWHERE!? It seems the only place I can find this issue is now on this site. Other sites have closed or blocked such information…
So how can this kind of thing be possibly prevented? These are not really outrageous purchases. These are just inefficient purchases made for legitimate purposes. They need cross terrain cars to get around but they purchased more expensive models than they should. Not a big deal. Western or normal NGOs are just like this with donation money. They are not that efficient with donation money as well. There is simply not the competitive environment to force them to be efficient. Check out wikipedia’s spending reports. According to their reports, the central executives pocket about half of million of donation money if I remember correctly.
I don’t think this incident can be qualified as another case of horrible local government corruption. This kind of things is just the nature of non-corporate spending. Spending donation money must have some inefficiency in any political system. However, I do think the inefficiency can be lessened in China’s case.
Look, the local government is even trying to be transparent at first this time and post the spendings online. This is an improvement, however they paniced and removed them which only made them look suspicious. That was their stupid mistake. People will have already copied the report down, if they put it up. Taking it down will only make them spread faster.
@noah.
Thanks noah. didn’t know the Red Across wasn’t an ngo.
Touchy subject,,, not sure what to think. On one hand it does look like some of the money for some of these cars could have been better spent elsewhere but on the other,, these aren’t really luxury vehicles and the government do need some vehicles to do whatever it is that the government does here in China. Don’t get me wrong,, I’m ready to critisize anyone who is abusing power, is corrupt or showing plain stupidity or cruelty but I am not sure this is a shut case.
It does not surprise me. Local government is rotten to the core.
Remember , in China it is not illegal unless you get caught.
yes, i want can u please contact me my no. is 15900859734
I don’t think every single vehicle purchase was excessive but some of them definitely look like someone getting himself something nicer simply because he can. That’s a waste of public funds to me, and government officials are beholden to use public funds, whether from taxes or donations, wisely for the public’s good and not their private consumption/pleasure/comfort.
I am so pissed because the American media only gave us HALF of the story with the Sichuan Earthquake…
I would not reveal how much I donated but it makes me wonder that should such tragedy reoccur, I would donate again knowing that my donation not going to those who I intend to help but to feed the scums and parasites! If CHINA shows it is a leader of this new world, then it is certainly time that the Central Government in BJ steps in to clean up these bastards and reestablishes the trust of the people.
Terrible. I thank God that did not encounter such.