China's official sacked over daughter's expensive wedding

The Communist Party of China (CPC) head of a poverty-sticken township was sacked over his daughter's opulent wedding, serving as a warning to all CPC members, the Party said in a circular on Monday. Yue Shuwang, party chief of Pingdingbao Township, the seat of impoverished Guyuan County in north China's Hebei Province, was removed from his post after an investigation showed that he spent 200,000 yuan (about 32,400 U.S.dollars) on a wedding banquet for his daughter on July 17 and received 1 million yuan in gifts from others. Yue has been ordered to return the money he accepted. The circular called for greater efforts to eliminate formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance, carry out a campaign to strengthen the "mass line," and straighten out any irregularities. Yue's severe disciplinary violation proves the necessity and urgency of implementing the "mass line," the circular said. The CPC in June initiated a year-long campaign to strengthen the "mass line," which refers to a guideline under which CPC officials and members are required to prioritize the interests of the people and persist in representing them and working on their behalf. The circular said CPC members and officials should be urged to immediately rectify their problems so as to cement ties between the CPC and the people. The opinions and suggestions of the public should be widely heard, it said.