Who needs this 'White House'?

The money that was supposed to have helped the people improve their lives was used to build a luxurious government office in a city in Sichuan province, says an article on the website www.china.com.cn. The following is an excerpt:

The municipal government of Mianyang has been criticized recently by netizens for building a luxurious office that imitates the US White House. According to reports, every government employee moving in will enjoy 100 sq m of office space, which costs 300,000 yuan on average.

The local officials argued that everything about the office, from its design to its construction, is open to public scrutiny. It is anything but "luxurious", and the construction had begun before the May 12 earthquake took place.