JANUARY 13, 2015 4:58 AM January 13, 2015 4:58 am
The mother of a victim cries on Jan. 2 at the spot where 36 people died in a stampede during a New Year’s Eve celebration on the Bund in Shanghai.Credit Aly Song/Reuters
A cover story in the latest issue of Caixin New Century Weekly, a Chinese business magazine, includes important details about the deadly stampede in Shanghai on Dec. 31: how few police officers were on duty, what preceded the sudden crush that killed 36 people and how emergency vehicles were slowed by the huge crowds that had gathered along the city’s famous riverfront to celebrate.
No detail was more revelatory, though, than where local leaders dined that night. The magazine reported that, shortly before the deadly stampede, officials from the Huangpu district government ate at an expensive Japanese restaurant, where the price of a meal that night began at 1,888 renminbi, or about $300.
Had the officials eaten at McDonald’s that evening, the deadly outcome would still have been the same. But for the unidentified officials involved, the perception could hardly be worse: eating expensive sushi and sake, possibly at public expense, while the prologue to a disaster was slowly unfolding nearby. To compound matters, the dinner came amid a widespread corruption crackdown and calls by President Xi Jinping for cadres to cut down on lavish meal expenses.
The story was picked up by other Chinese news outlets on Tuesday, and the details of the meal helped stoke anger toward the local government.
“What can average people do but get angry?” read one comment on a Tianya message board. “If the central government doesn’t punish the officials responsible for the Shanghai stampede, how can it face those dead children and their families? How can people have faith in the government?”
