Chinese official sacked for extravagant funeral

A ranking official in southern China has been sacked for arranging an extravagant funeral for his mother, state media reported Sunday.

Xie Pingfa, former director of the highway bureau in Lufeng city in Guangdong province, invited more than 1,000 people to the funeral in November which included a 100-table banquet, Xinhua news agency said.

The event caused outrage among local residents, and the local branch of the Communist Party’s discipline commission launched an investigation leading to Xie’s dismissal as a “bad social influence”, according to Xinhua. It was unclear from the report if Xie had spent his own money for the funeral or used public funds.

Although Xie’s actions appear at odds with requirements for greater frugality among civil servants, they seem to conform with demands in some sections for filial piety, an important virtue in Chinese culture.

Beijing, Sunday, AFP