Chinese mayor 'embezzled ¥3.5 million to build fung shui tomb'
Practice once banned by the Communist Party said to be an obsession for former city boss accused of embezzling government funds
The trial in Guangdong of a former city chief accused of corruption has highlighted how the once-banned practice of fung shui remains an obsession for some mainland officials.
Chen Hongping, the Communist Party secretary of Jieyang, has been accused of embezzling at least 3.5 million yuan (HK$4.4 million) of government funds to build himself a large tomb constructed according to fung shui principles.
Fung shui, once banned by the party, is seen by mainland authorities as improper and superstitious.
Chen appeared on trial in Foshan on April 21, charged with two counts of accepting bribes - of 125 million yuan and HK$17 million - while in office between 2004 and 2011.
During its hearing of these charges, the court was informed that, under the pretence of developing hillside farming for the city, Chen had asked his friend Lin Peiqiang to build him a private tomb and farmhouse, Xinhua reported.
Chen is said to have asked the city's land and highway departments to wire 3.5 million yuan to a company set up by Lin on Chen's behalf to finance the tomb.
Chen has denied this, saying he was merely trying to develop the rural area.
Xinhua said Chen had long been known as a practitioner of fung shui, and that he was so "obsessed" that he believed he could use it to gain promotions and accrue wealth.
It said he had ordered the construction of a structure that he made a city landmark.
It features nine 10-metre-high pillars surrounding a large rock taken from Mount Tai in Shandong province.
The pillars were complemented by a 10-metre-high tripod meant to represent "never failing words and deeds".
Chen spent his days off visiting the countryside to search for the most auspicious sites according to fung shui principles, reported Xinhua, which described fung shui as a "mystical geomancy theory".
Xinhua said Chen's actions had encouraged similar behaviour by other officials and party cadres.
Chen is the latest in a long line of local officials caught up in President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign who have been accused of misusing their power in practising fung shui. Practitioners are generally said to believe that good fung shui can help cast off evil spirits and boost their health and fortune.
In a separate development, reported that authorities in Ankang, Shaanxi province, had decided to punish people who bury "non-martyr" relatives at the city's Mausoleum for Martyrs.
The move follows reports of growing numbers of non-martyr burials at the mausoleum, which is supposed to be devoted to those who sacrificed their lives for the country.
There are now 1,010 tombs for non-martyrs at the mausoleum - meaning martyrs are outnumbered by about half.
One tomb, reportedly for the late wife of a former deputy provincial governor, is said to be 80 square metres - about 20 times bigger than the space designated for each martyr.
