Photos of Mercedes-Benz in Forbidden City sets off debate in China

[Stevicus]

Mercedes in Forbidden City prompts rage at China’s rich

BEIJING — The photos prompted outrage almost as soon as they were posted.
They showed two women inside one of China’s most sacred spaces, the Forbidden City in Beijing, smiling as they showed off a glistening Mercedes-Benz SUV.

On Weibo, one of the women bragged about getting exclusive access to the palace, a notoriously congested tourist site, saying she had gone there to “run wild.”

The photos, which were posted Friday (Jan 17), have set off debate in China about the privileges enjoyed by wealthy families at a time when President Xi Jinping is trying to persuade the public that he is working to eliminate corruption and reduce the gap between rich and poor.

Many people denounced the woman, who had frequently boasted about her wealth on social media, as being out of touch. They said she had desecrated the Forbidden City, the former home of emperors, which Mr Xi has sought to turn into a global symbol of Chinese cultural heritage.

“Don’t roll your privileges over China’s face,” wrote a Weibo user named Ding Lei.

The palace is typically closed to vehicles, and it was unclear how the woman and the Mercedes had gained access.

This appears to be related to a larger debate over the gap between rich and poor in China and how Xi is pledging to reduce that gap:

The widespread anger over the photos reflects anxieties in Chinese society about the privileges enjoyed by well-connected individuals, analysts said, at a time when the government is promising equal access to education, health care and social services.

“Before, people in China accepted that there was a gap between rich and poor,” said Ms Yik Chan Chin, a lecturer in media and communication studies at the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China. “Now they no longer accept this gap.”

That poses a challenge for Mr Xi, who has spoken frequently about his desire to reduce economic inequality and to eliminate corruption.

The official Communist newspaper stated that a national relic had been violated.

The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, published a commentary Saturday saying that a national relic had been violated.

“Under the rules, everyone is equal,” the newspaper wrote. “No one has the privilege to ‘run wild.’”