Changing the Chen

It has been announced that Liuzhou has a new mayor - Mayor Chen. He replaces the previous mayor - Mayor Chen. Yes Chen Gang has replaced Chen Xiangqun. Apparently, the new Mayor Chen was "elected" earlier this week. By elected, they mean that a very few high ranking local communist party members picked him from a shortlist containing probably one name. No one so humble as me would ever be allowed to see the list.

It is possibly significant that, although we have a new mayor, the name is exactly the same. Nothing really changes.

That said, the last Mayor Chen did make a big difference to the city, not all of it good. I will never forgive him for trashing my beloved city square and turning it into a desert. But I'll reluctantly admit that he did kickstart a cleanup of the city centre - again not all of it good. It now virtually impossible to sit down and have a quiet drink or bowl of noodles in the city centre. You certainly can't sit outside and enjoy some relaxed people-watching.

The government offices and accommodation compound will move, probably next year, to the east side of the city, abandoning the city centre to the shoppers and tourists. As part of their plan, they have forced the best schools to abandon their city centre locations and move east. Liuzhou People's Hospital, the city's best, will also move to be near the fat drunks who run the place.

They haven't learned a thing. Most western governments are encouraging people to move back to city centres to counteract urban blight. But then, they are only interested in looking after themselves and pocketing as much loot as possible.

We shall see what difference the new broom makes.

tags: china  liuzhou  guangxi  mayor  elections  communist  中国  广西  柳州  

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