JUST TWO WEEKS ago, the new U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke startled Chinese netizens by paying for his own coffee. And now, his thriftiness continues to shock a population that is used to seeing luxurious Chinese officials.
(Photo: New U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke (R), arrive with his wife (L-2) and children for a media briefing in the courtyard of his Beijing residence on Aug. 14. Locke's self-sufficiency and simplicity have shocked the Chinese people, who are used to their officials taking advantage of their positions to gain privilege and wealth. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
While flying back from the western Chinese city Chengdu to Beijing after accompanying U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on his China trip, Locke refused VIP treatment and flew in the economy class.
A microblog post that was reposted 25,000 times quoted a flight attendant on Locke's Air China flight saying:
Yesterday, Ambassador Locke took our plane en route to Beijing. He refused to be on the VIP traveler list, turned down a seat in the first class, and passed up an arranged ride home.
Sitting in the economy class, he was polite and low-key. Unlike those others in the first class, who even asked to put their over-sized suitcases in front of emergency exits, saying that they could put them wherever they want to. ? See? Whether [Locke] was putting on a show or not, there sure is a difference.
In response to the news, Bao Riqiang, spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Beijing, told Southern Metropolis Daily:
U.S. officials could fly in the business class if the flight lasts 14 hours or more, but even that depends on whether the official gets to work the day of arrival or the next day.
If the flight has three classes, U.S. government officials cannot choose the first class while on a business trip. However, U.S. government officials are allowed to use their own frequent flyer points to upgrade to business class.
Netizen Xu Liping 2327745085 (???2327745085) commented:
I think Ambassador Locke's flying in economy class and leading a normal life is the way it should be. People cannot just become pretentious upon gaining some government positions or obtaining some wealth. Yet ? [Chinese] officials who just have a bit of wealth or public figures would try to show themselves off.
Pan Shiyi (???) commented:
Thriftiness does not indicate a decline in quality of life, but a virtue of not wasting.
Happy Mark (?????) said:
Chinese [officials] are used to privileges, such as airport VIP treatment. All these officials just waste our resources.
Wei Lijun (???) said:
Chinese officials should learn from this.
"What is 'serving the people?'" said Ke Hong, a senior retail expert in Shanghai, (??????????), quoting the Chinese communist slogan."We should get the Americans to teach us."
In response to Locke's self-sufficiency, which won the hearts of many Chinese people, Chinese regime's state-run media has circulated an article dubbing the new ambassador a neo-colonialist.
The article, which has been removed from the website of Guangming Daily, the official mouthpiece that first published the piece, said:
Locke is not trying to educate Chinese officials, but to win over the Chinese people, to strengthen Chinese people's support of the United States, and to desintegrate Chinese regime's ideology.
Locke's performance of incorruptibility is a despicable intention of instigating political unrest in China.
Zhao Yan, former news assistant for The New York Times, told the New York-based NTD Television:
Ever since the Korean War in the 1950s, the Chinese regime has deemed the United States its biggest enemy, because it knows that if a democratic system is established in China, its tyranny will come to an end.
If Chinese officials cannot learn from Biden and Locke on how a government official should lead by example, ? the Chinese regime will sooner or later have its downfall due to corruption. This is something that cannot be saved by economic development.
Ye Kuangzheng, a China cultural critic, said the Chinese regime's anti-U.S. sentiment originates from its fear of democracy.
America indeed has undermining power against many totalitarian regimes in terms of thinking, behavior, and values.
So totalitarian states show great resistance against and fear toward America's value system and social institutions.
And even the Guangming Daily article itself lamented:
If the Chinese regime fails to take the initiative to consciously remove the virus in its bureaucracy ? it can only watch Locke winning the hearts of the Chinese people.
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