Yesterday, this public account’s article criticizing Yang Yong, the mayor of Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, was deleted due to his complaint. After careful reflection, I hereby apologize to Mayor Yang, who does not tolerate criticism.
Mayor Yang graduated from Mudanjiang Normal College in 1996 and served as the county magistrate of Qinggang County in 2011. He was the secretary of the Qinggang County Party Committee in 2015.
This public account criticized him because of a propaganda article that some media outlets packaged him, who was then the secretary of the Qinggang County Party Committee, in 2018.
The propaganda article stated: Deputy County Magistrate Gao Fujun said that one thing directly made him ‘experience’ Yang Yong’s temper. Once, they went to the south to attract investment, and a private enterprise负责人 was moved by their sincerity and arranged for them to stay in a high-end hotel. When Yang Yong saw the hotel, he immediately turned his face to the accompanying personnel, threw the room card on the ground, and left.
‘When Yang Yong saw the hotel, he immediately turned his face to the accompanying personnel, threw the room card on the ground, and left.’ These details are the original text of the propaganda article, and this account has not added any embellishments or interpretations.
Yang Yong ‘immediately turned his face’ when he saw a high-end hotel and ‘threw the room card on the ground and left’ without asking, explaining, or being polite, he directly lost his temper. What a righteous and principled leader, how can he be questioned and criticized?
Mayor Yang complained that these details were the media’s ‘objective reports’ and should not be discussed.
From Mayor Yang’s complaint, it can be seen that Deputy County Magistrate Gao did not mislead the media, and the detail of ‘immediately turning his face and throwing the card’ is true.
These true details reflect that Secretary Yang, now Mayor Yang, deeply detests extravagance. Faced with the temptation of a private enterprise owner providing high-end hotel accommodation, Secretary Yang remained unmoved and resolutely refused to be corrupted. The integrity he displayed is unforgettable.
However, this account did not correctly understand these details, but instead mistakenly saw Secretary Yang as rude, overbearing, and having a strong official demeanor.
For a moment of confusion, in order to prove that he was rude and had a strong official demeanor, this account also inappropriately analyzed the environment of attracting investment in recent years.
For example, the article said: The economic situation has been poor in recent years, and it is difficult for all regions to attract investment, especially in economically underdeveloped areas like Heilongjiang, where attracting investment is even more difficult. The economic situation of Qinggang County, where Yang Yong was in charge, was also unlikely to be good. In this environment of thirst for investment, many local governments attach great importance to attracting investment. Many local officials go out to attract investment, begging for favors, and have to be humble in front of enterprises, in order to attract a good project to promote local economic development, add some vitality to the local area, and also earn some political achievements for themselves. Therefore, in the context of economic downturn and the increasing difficulty of attracting investment, a county party secretary, in order to attract a good project, would most likely have to put in a lot of effort. If he simply turned his face on the spot because the other party arranged a high-end hotel, it would give people the feeling of being very rude.
The article also wrongly said: Opposing extravagance is, of course, good and should be done. If the high-end hotel was paid for by Qinggang County itself, it would exceed the travel reimbursement standards, and the secretary should criticize his accompanying personnel and correct it. If the enterprise arranged the hotel, he directly ‘turned his face and threw the card,’ which seemed very lacking in cultivation. If the secretary really felt that it was too extravagant, he should politely explain to the enterprise that he could not accept the enterprise’s hospitality, that staying in a high-end hotel would be a violation of regulations, and then put down or return the room card. There was no need to ‘throw the room card on the ground and leave.’ If the other party refused to listen to the advice and insisted on forcing the secretary to stay in a high-end hotel, it would be reasonable to lose his temper.
Not only did I not correctly understand Secretary Yang Yong’s intolerance of extravagance, but I also mistakenly thought that he lacked a sense of overall situation. Therefore, I also wrote the following wrong words in the article: If he simply turned his face and lost his temper because the enterprise that was going to attract investment arranged a high-end hotel for him, then that enterprise would most likely not invest. Then let’s think again, did Yang Yong ruin a good project that he had finally moved the other party and could promote local economic development for the sake of his personal so-called good reputation of ‘not being extravagant’? If this project ultimately failed, it would be caused by Yang Yong’s lack of cultivation and lack of overall situation.
Secretary Yang, who so deeply detests extravagance, should be highly praised and lauded by the media. Now that he has been promoted to a department-level leading cadre, he is even more beyond question and ‘discussion’.
After deep reflection, I decided to publicly apologize to Mayor Yang.
October 1, 2024
- Yi Zhe Chao Xin｜The packaging of this secretary is ‘low-level red, high-level black’ (WeChat prompt: This content has been complained about and, after review, is suspected of infringement and cannot be viewed.)
Not long ago, a parent in Beijing had a dispute with other parents in the parent group and was called ‘low-level red, high-level black’ by other parents.
After hearing the term ‘low-level red, high-level black’, the parent was furious, claiming to not understand what ‘low-level red, high-level black’ meant. To prove that they were not ‘low-level red’ but ‘red from the roots’, they recounted their family history in the parent group, saying that their ancestors were high-ranking officials and that their parents were also remarkable. They also repeatedly threatened to have the relevant departments investigate the parents who said they were ‘low-level red, high-level black’.
Many people really don’t understand what ‘low-level red, high-level black’ means, and I will give an example today.
Recently, another ‘National Outstanding County Party Secretary’ was promoted: Yang Yong, who once served as the secretary of the Qinggang County Party Committee in Heilongjiang Province, was elected as the mayor of Mudanjiang City.
Yang Yong graduated from Mudanjiang Normal College in 1996 and once served as the secretary of the Suihua Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League. In 2011, he was transferred to Qinggang County as the county magistrate, and in 2015, he served as the secretary of the Qinggang County Party Committee. In June 2021, Yang Yong was awarded the honorary title of ‘National Outstanding County Party Secretary’. In September 2021, he was transferred to the deputy secretary of the Shuangyashan Municipal Committee, and later served as the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission.
In 2018, some media outlets highly praised Yang Yong for opposing extravagance.
The report at the time stated: Deputy County Magistrate Gao Fujun said that one thing directly made him ‘experience’ Yang Yong’s temper. Once, they went to the south to attract investment, and a private enterprise负责人 was moved by their sincerity and arranged for them to stay in a high-end hotel. When Yang Yong saw the hotel, he immediately turned his face to the accompanying personnel, threw the room card on the ground, and left.
Seeing this, I couldn’t help but laugh.
This matter of ‘turning face’ and ‘throwing the room card’ told by the report through the mouth of Deputy County Magistrate Gao Fujun is a typical case of ‘low-level red, high-level black’. It seems to be praising Yang Yong for ‘not being extravagant’, but it is more like exposing Yang Yong’s display of official power, disrespect for people, and lack of vision.
Everyone knows that the economy is not good, and it is difficult to attract investment. Many places attach great importance to attracting investment, especially in economically underdeveloped areas like Heilongjiang, where attracting investment is even more difficult. Therefore, many places have formulated special policies for attracting investment. For example, drinking alcohol is now strictly prohibited in official receptions, but once it is related to attracting investment, drinking alcohol becomes a legitimate thing.
Many local officials go out to attract investment, begging for favors, and have to be humble in front of enterprises. Why? It is to attract a good project to promote local economic development, add some vitality to the local area, and also earn some political achievements for themselves. Therefore, in the context of economic downturn and the increasing difficulty of attracting investment, a county party secretary, in order to attract a good project, would most likely have to put in a lot of effort. If he simply turned his face on the spot because the other party arranged a high-end hotel, such a county party secretary would most likely lack basic politeness and a sense of overall situation.
Don’t hit a smiling face, this is a tradition that reflects the Chinese people’s cultivation. This tradition may not necessarily be good. Specifically, in the scene of Yang Yong attracting investment, it makes Yang Yong seem even less cultivated.
Opposing extravagance is, of course, good and should be done. If the high-end hotel was paid for by Qinggang County itself, it would exceed the travel reimbursement standards, and the secretary should criticize his accompanying personnel and correct it. But if the enterprise arranged the hotel, ‘turning face and throwing the card’ is a bit of an over-the-top performance. If the secretary really felt that it was too extravagant, he should politely explain to the enterprise that he could not accept the enterprise’s hospitality, that staying in a high-end hotel would be a violation of regulations, and then put down or return the room card. There was no need to ‘throw the room card on the ground and leave.’ If the other party refused to listen to the advice and insisted on forcing the secretary to stay in a high-end hotel, it would be reasonable to lose his temper.
If Yang Yong simply turned his face and lost his temper because the enterprise that was going to attract investment arranged a high-end hotel for him, then that enterprise would most likely not invest. Then let’s think again, did Yang Yong ruin a good project that he had finally moved the other party and could promote local economic development for the sake of his personal so-called good reputation of ‘not being extravagant’?
This is not praising Yang Yong, it is clearly criticizing Yang Yong for showing off and lacking a sense of overall situation when attracting investment.
The media reporting on a county party secretary in this way is a typical case of ‘low-level red, high-level black’. Of course, this matter cannot be criticized by the media. The information reported to the media by Deputy County Magistrate Gao, if this matter is true, the ‘low-level red, high-level black’ is Deputy County Magistrate Gao, and the media is just ‘reporting the facts’.
Now that he is the mayor, I hope Yang Yong will not use this impolite and lacking-in-vision way to oppose extravagance in the future.
September 30, 2024
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