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Darkness in the "White House"Posted by Eric Mu, April 23, 2008 4:43 PM
 Qilu Evening News April 23, 2008 In Fuyang, Anhui Province, there's a district government building that's called the "White House" by locals, although it resembles the US Capitol more than the chief executive's residence. The building appeared in the media for the first time in 2007, when it was criticized as being too extravagant for an economically-depressed city like Fuyang. The controversial building is back in the spotlight again, this time because of the death of the original whistle-blower, Li Guofu. Today's Qilu Evening News reported the event on its front page, in a small photo at the bottom. The report inside is taken from China Youth Daily's investigation. Yingquan District party secretary Zhang Zhi'an and Li Guofu were unlikely enemies to begin with. They were both government officials. Li was subordinate to Zhang and a good friend of Zhang's father. After Zhang's appointment as the leader of the district in 1997, Li was promoted to be director of a local "financial zone," and headed up a local real estate company thanks to their good personal relationship. However, their friendship began to shows cracks in 2004, when Li felt he was marginalized by Zhang's relatives. In 2007, after Zhang's pet project, the 30-million-yuan "White House," was exposed by the media, Zhang suspected it was Li that reported him. Li lost his job not long after, and the conflict between the two was an open secret among Fuyang officials. Li went to Beijing and made several reports to the central government regarding Zhang's misuse of his office, which included illegal expropriation of land and embezzlement of public funds. On August 26, 2007, when Li returned from Beijing, he was arrested by the Fuyang Anti-Corruption Bureau. He was found guilty on multiple charges, including graft and accepting bribes, and subsequently was jailed in a Fuyang prison. A letter that Li wrote to Zhang on December 27, 2007, expressed his regret for his actions. He also asked for Zhang's forgiveness and promised that he would never do anything against him again. But it is not clear under what conditions the letter was written. Li was a patient at the prison hospital and had been suffering from various chronic diseases. Some of his children are still working in the local government under Zhang.  Fuyang's Capitol replica Li was found dead on the morning of the March 13, 2008, hours before he was supposed to be visited by his lawyer. The police report said that Li hanged himself with a strip of cloth and determined that it was a suicide. However, there are a few areas of suspicion: Li was found with his mouth closed (unusual for a hanging), and there were reportedly extensive bruises on his body. Li's family refused to accept the police conclusion. District Party Secretary Zhang Zhi'an, sitting in his copy of the US Capitol, may feel like he's number one, but if he cannot survive this gathering storm, his days in that grand building may be numbered. There are a few other White Houses in China, including one in Wuxi (more photos), and another in Hangzhou (this one actually looks like the White House). Links and Sources
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Comments on Darkness in the "White House"
They, the rotted soulless corrupt officials, will end in hell. They are real enemies of China people.
it's so stupid to have a copy of the white house! why would they even do that??now I'm so mad at thiese local officials.
My 2c about why they call this the "White House". (Originally posted elsewhere.)
The seeming confusion is not isolated. There are other occurrence of Chinese copycat "white house", which this building, and several others, are supposed to resemble according to the locals, and the U.S. capitol, which it is really modeled after. I was a little bit intrigued until I realized that in China, the executive branch is everything, and the legislative body, the People's Congress, is all but a decoration. And Chinese people know this. No one, I think, will admit that their latest and greatest development project looks like the American version of the Chinese rubber stamp, which is much, much less impressive. On the other hand, they would have copied the real presidential residence had it been larger. So, in the end, the Chinese have both retained the grandeur of the taller building and the mental association of the more famous one. The only sacrifice, of course, is a change of name.
Hasn't any official built a "Versailles" yet?
No, but there is a copy of the Château Maison-Laffitte (overhead view).
A very creative design with Chinese characteristics.
why does every neo-classical building called white house or capital building now?
To me the Fuyang building look more like A hybrid of California capital building, San Francisco city hall, and the Louvre.
Those bastards build office like these while the people are impovershed.