[bootlegga]

Quote:

Canada’s Beijing ambassador posts his modest official Toyota, sparking debate on Chinese elite’s status-symbol rides

Cars are status symbols in every country in the world, whether it's a plutocrat's Rolls Royce or a government leader's armoured Mercedes.

No more so than in China, where the famed Flying Pigeon bicycle once ruled roads now crowded with plebeian Toyotas and high-status Audis, Buicks and Hummers.

The Chinese, especially residents of Beijing, are very aware of the automotive pecking order and that's why Canadian Ambassador David Mulroney's post on the Chinese-language microblog site Weibo caused such a stir.

Mulroney posted photos of his official car, a Toyota Camry Hybrid. Canadian officials have only modest budgets for transportation, he explained. Even federal cabinet ministers can spend only $32,400 for an official car.

The Globe and Mail reported Mulroney's post got more than 1,100 responses and sparked a debate over the rides of the China's governing elite.

"A vice-minister in Beijing drives the Audi A6, which costs over 500,000 yuan (about $80,000), and they also have a full-time driver," one person posted, according to the Globe. "A local township official might drive a Benz."

"Ambassador Ma," wrote another Weibo user, addressing Mulroney by his Chinese name, Ma Dawei, "A Chinese mid-level cadre wouldn't lay an eye on your car!"

Globe Beijing correspondent Mark MacKinnon said a local cab driver he uses regularly helped him figure out who drives what.

Toyotas are favoured by ordinary (fairly prosperous) people, while black Mercedes SUVs are invariably carrying laoban, "bosses" from China's burgeoning private sector.

Audi A6 sedans are recognized as rides for senior officials, while Hummers and other high-end luxury vehicles are driven by the privileged offspring of the rich and powerful, MacKinnon's cabbie advised.

Chinese have seized on Mulroney's post as a hook to discuss the whole issue of their leaders' vehicular perks.

In an interview with the English-language Global Times, which the Globe says is affiliated with the ruling Communist Party, Mulroney explained that in Canada, only ministers or deputy-minister-level bureaucrats get government vehicles.

"Many web users (responding to Mulroney's Weibo post) approved of the Canadian government's rules on official car use, saying it is better than China, where a village official can use an Audi or a Bentley," the Times observed.

The Times reported there were 62,026 government vehicles in Beijing in 2010 but noted a program on the state-run CCTV network put the figure at closer to 700,000.

"Government vehicle issue in China is a mess, and our government is the most unwilling in the world to talk about it," Ye Qing, a National People's Congress deputy who's studied the issue, told the Times.

"I really appreciate the ambassador's attitude and their government's transparency."

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybre ... 53135.html

[GreenTiger]

So much for the "People's Republic" Communist BS

[BartSimpson]

Crap. I own a better car.

[martin14]

GreenTiger wrote:

So much for the "People's Republic" Communist BS

It's always been like that, all over the Communist world.

This is nothing new, my cars in Slovakia were also weighed as a part of business.





Maybe another Mulroney should pony up for a better car.

[Tricks]

BartSimpson wrote:

Crap. I own a better car.

Everyone owns a better car. It's a hybrid.

[Psudo]

@ Tricks

I think the most expensive car I ever owned cost $2,000 (used, of course).

[DanSC]

All Comrades are equal, but Party Members are the most equal of all.

[sandorski]

It's the little things like this that make me proud to be Canadian. Though there are many things that can be criticized about Canadian Governments, generally speaking we do a good job at it.

[Tricks]

Psudo wrote:

:lol: @ Tricks

I think the most expensive car I ever owned cost $2,000 (used, of course).

Best bumper sticker ever.(Yes I realise Environment is spelt wrong)

[martin14]

Gotta get me the small version of that for my bike !