Smiling Chinese official in the mire over his expensive watch collection
TO China, where official Yang Dacai is said to own at least 11 watches worth between £3,000 and £40,000 each. Mr Yang is the chief of the Quality Supervision Bureau in the central Chinese city of Xi’an. He earns around £6,000 a year.
Mr Yang and his watches were spotted after he was seen smiling at a disaster. A coach had crashed, killing 36 people. Mr YAng was caught on camera smiling. Netizens erupted in disgust. They targeted Mr Yang. Searching for images of him smiling at other disaster sites, they began to notice his watches. Users of China’s Sina Weibo site pointed to a Rolex worth RMB65,000 (about £6,470), an Omega valued at RMB40,000 and a tasty Vacheron Constantin thought to be worth as much as RMB400,000 (£39,800).
Mr Yang was pricked into a response
“When I got to the accident scene, our hearts were filled with misery. Some other officials were very nervous when describing the situation to me. Their accents were strong and I couldn’t hear them clearly. I told them to relax and I may have accidentally loosened my own facial expression a bit.”
He added that he’s bought five watches with his own cash. He says on his Weibo account:
“Over the past 10 years, I’ve actually purchased five watches. I purchased these watches at different times. They were purchased legitimately, with my own income.”
Only, he has been seen wearing 11 watches. It’s all a bit odd. China is, of course, home to the fake. It would easy to mistake a good fake for the real deal. The one shock is that Mr Yang was not wearing all of his watches at once. Although, granted, he’s not Russian…
Posted: 31st, August 2012 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
