{"id":3393,"date":"2023-07-07T21:23:31","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T13:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yzzks.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/07\/%e6%9c%b1%e7%ab%8b%e4%bc%a6%e8%87%aa%e5%b7%b1%e6%8b%89%e8%a1%8c%e6%9d%8e%e9%80%9a%e5%85%b3%e4%b8%ba%e4%bd%95%e6%98%af%e6%96%b0%e9%97%bb%ef%bc%9f\/"},"modified":"2024-03-15T10:10:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T02:10:48","slug":"why-is-it-news-that-chu-pulled-his-own-luggage-through-customs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yzzks.com\/en\/current-politics\/3393\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is it news that Chu pulled his own luggage through customs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is it news that Chu pulled his own luggage through customs? <\/strong><\/p>\n

author <\/strong>Cai Shenkun <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
On May 2, the domestic media was abuzz with reports that Kuomintang Chairman Eric Chu, upon leaving Taiwan that day, pulled his own small blue suitcase, did not use the VIP lane, but instead followed standard procedures to go through security, successfully cleared customs via facial recognition, and waved to the media and onlookers waiting at the scene.<\/div>\n
Why is it news that Eric Chu pulled his own luggage through customs? According to the language of China\u2019s official circles, as the chairman of Taiwan\u2019s ruling party, he has every reason to maintain a certain level of pomp and circumstance\u2014there\u2019s no need for him to pull his own luggage through customs. In China, even a lowly county party secretary travels with a large entourage and a great deal of secrecy. Last year, a county party secretary in Hebei lamented, \u201cAfter airlines canceled VIP lounge services, I felt more clueless than a farmer who\u2019d just arrived in the city.\u201d Netizens were quick to mock him: \u201cWhat a useless person!\u201d He lives the high life day in and day out, yet can\u2019t even take care of himself when he travels\u2014won\u2019t he immediately develop Alzheimer\u2019s after retirement and be unable to care for himself?<\/div>\n
China is a strictly hierarchical society where the authority of officials is evident in many areas. Even officials of relatively low rank dine only at prestigious, high-end hotels and travel exclusively in luxury cars. When inspecting rural areas and encountering floods, they demand that subordinates carry them across; when it rains, they insist that subordinates hold umbrellas for them. The Chinese public has seen such scenes so often that they have grown accustomed to them. Offices and housing are also allocated according to rank, and even the standards for dining and banquets vary; there are strict protocols regarding which officials drink Maotai and which drink Wuliangye.<\/div>\n
Some media outlets have reported that a division chief from a certain bureau in Beijing, fearing traffic jams on his way to a meeting in the city, asked his driver to drop him off at a subway station. However, the division chief didn\u2019t know how to buy a ticket, transfer to another line, or even swipe his card to enter the station, making a complete fool of himself throughout the entire ordeal. What\u2019s more, this director had been transferred from a second-tier city to take up his post in Beijing, yet in the five years he\u2019d been there, he had never once ridden public transportation\u2014all while repeatedly claiming, \u201cBeijing\u2019s traffic is too congested; it needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/div>\n
It is almost ubiquitous to see Chinese officials indulging in ostentation\u2014smoking premium cigarettes, wearing luxury watches, driving luxury cars, living in mansions, and taking particular pleasure in grand, opulent, and extravagant displays. When those in power have certain preferences, those below them tend to go even further; to cater to and curry favor with their superiors, subordinates often spare no effort or expense to satisfy the officials\u2019 vanity. A few years ago, a certain province spent millions annually just on fireworks displays on the beach to entertain high-ranking officials and dignitaries who came from Beijing to spend the Lunar New Year at the seaside.<\/div>\n
Behind all this lavish display lies the squandering of taxpayers\u2019 money, and such displays often serve as fertile ground for corruption. Extravagance in official circles not only corrupts the conduct of the Party, officials, and the government, but also harms the public interest and undermines social morals. If officials are allowed to act arbitrarily and wastefully\u2014with ever-more-expensive watches, ever-higher-end cars, ever-more-imposing government buildings, and ever-more-lavish travel arrangements\u2014 the gap between officials and the public will only widen. Especially against the backdrop of a growing wealth gap, officials flaunting their wealth and competing to outdo one another in extravagance will only intensify the public\u2019s resentment toward the government.<\/div>\n
People may recall that when Gary Locke, a high-ranking U.S. official of Chinese descent, first arrived in Beijing to take up his post as ambassador, he was accompanied by his wife, Li Meng, and their three children. With the exception of their youngest daughter, Madeline, each of them carried their own luggage by hand or on their shoulders, as if they were on a vacation in China\u2014there was absolutely no sign of the usual fanfare with a large entourage. Later, the media revealed that when Gary Locke traveled to various locations to attend forums and conferences, he consistently chose to fly in regular economy class\u2014a level of travel not even a county party secretary in China would be expected to have. Gary Locke\u2019s predecessor, the American Jon Huntsman, also exuded this down-to-earth demeanor; he would even ride his bicycle to events hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only to be rudely turned away at the gate by security guards.<\/div>\n
State-run media once published an article claiming that Gary Locke\u2019s low-key, approachable, and affable style was learned from Communists; that he was attempting to lecture Chinese officials, put on a show for the Chinese people, and win them over\u2014all with ulterior motives. \u201cThis exposes the United States\u201d despicable intent to \u201crule China through the Chinese\u201d and incite political turmoil in China.\u201d \u201cThis Chinese-American ambassador\u2019s true scheme is to win over the hearts of the Chinese people on behalf of the United States, reinforce the Chinese public\u2019s servile tendency to idolize the West, and thereby divide China ideologically.\u201d<\/div>\n
This time, Kuomintang Chairman Eric Chu traveled with a small entourage, handling his own luggage through customs. However, his status is different from Gary Locke\u2019s; After all, Gary Locke is an American of Asian descent, so naturally he has certain strategic calculations to make on behalf of the United States, whereas Eric Chu is, in essence, a fellow countryman of the same race and background as us; it was only because of the Chinese Civil War more than 60 years ago that mainland China and Taiwan came to be governed separately. I wonder from whom Eric Chu learned this travel style\u2014perhaps even from the Communists of over 60 years ago. Given such a fine tradition, why haven\u2019t officials on the mainland carried it on?<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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