Government and Policy

Govt officials asked to leave golf club panel

By Yan Weijue (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-08-13 13:41
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Nearly 30 top government officials in Wenzhou have been ordered to remove their names from the committee of a private golf association by the city Party committee, 21st Century Business Herald reported Wednesday.

 
Govt officials asked to leave golf club panel
The advertisement of Orient Golf Association occupies half page of Wenzhou Daily published on Aug 9, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

The golf association, established by Orient Golf Group, put out its launch advertisement in the Wenzhou Daily on Aug 9 and 10, with more than 20 government officials assuming managing titles, ranging from honored deputy president to committee member, on the membership list, which sparked discussions among the public about possible illicit actions.

According to staffers at the golf club, a permanent VIP card, which is owned by most of its committee members, is worth up to 500,000 yuan ($73,659).

In a telephone interview in the afternoon of August 11, an official with the city's commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC said that the commission noticed the incident but didn't investigate, adding that it was alright for government officials to apply for membership cards "independently" as well as to assume "honored titles" in the golf association.

Two other officials said by phone on the same day that they did not know their names were included in the committee membership list.

The city Party committee organized conferences focusing on the incident later that day, admitting to careless supervision and asking the discipline inspection commission to look into the matter and ordering all government officials to quit the golf association committee.

According to a document issued by the State Council in 2007, officeholders are banned from involvement in management of any association. And according to one of Zhejiang province's documents that went into effect in 2006, government officials who were already in violation of that rule must quit the posts by the end of 2007.