On January 8, the third plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was held, and on the same day, the third episode of the four-episode TV feature film "Continue to Make Efforts and Advance in Depth" jointly produced by the Propaganda Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission and China Central Radio and Television Station was broadcast, which disclosed the details of the corruption of the "big tiger" Chen Jiadong.
Chen Jiadong appeared on camera to confess. CCTV screenshot
Chen Jiadong, former director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Xiamen City, Fujian Province, is the first big tiger to be notified by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in recent years of "using public power to serve interest groups", and in February 2022, Chen Jiadong was placed on file for review and investigation. One of his conspicuous problems was that during his tenure as secretary of the Zhangzhou Municipal CPC Committee, he vigorously engaged in image projects and political performance projects, and made blind decisions without investigation and demonstration, resulting in huge losses.
The feature film pointed out that after Chen Jiadong arrived as secretary of the Zhangzhou Municipal Party Committee, he launched a number of engineering projects, the purpose of which was to make political achievements early and quickly, and the masses had very big opinions, believing that they had squeezed out the precious funds that should have been used to develop the economy and improve people's livelihood.
Left: The unfinished opera house, now with only two large ponds left. Right: Rendering of the opera house design. CCTV screenshot
The opera house project, which cost more than 200 million yuan, has only two large ponds left
Passing through the city, along the Kowloon River, traces of an unfinished project left over from the Chen Jiadong administration can still be seen. According to the staff, the two abandoned large ponds are the location of the former opera house project.
Zhangzhou has a profound local opera cultural tradition, and Xiang opera, Chaozhou opera, and puppet show are all deeply loved by the people. The city originally planned to build a theater, but as soon as Chen Jiadong arrived, he proposed to convert it into an opera house. At the beginning of the opera house project, many local cadres and masses did not agree.
"At that time, we were thinking about making a theater, and I said that since it was a plan, we should start from a higher starting point. There will be such a landmark building on this piece of land in the future, which I made at that time, and I feel a sense of accomplishment. Chen Jiadong explained his motivation in this way in the feature film.
When I heard that the theater was going to be converted into an opera house, many people felt disappointed. Some cadres also pointed out that the opera house is out of touch with the cultural needs of the local people, and that the opera house has high professional requirements for design and construction, which costs a huge amount of money, and that Zhangzhou, as a third-tier city, has limited financial resources, so there is no need to build such a landmark. But Chen Jiadong ignored these opinions.
Under Chen Jiadong's insistence, the opera house cost more than 27 million yuan in the early stage of design alone, and the contract price of the main project reached more than 200 million yuan.
The feature film pointed out that Chen Jiadong's formalism and bureaucratic style were serious, and he sat in the office and "patted his head" to make decisions, which led to the inevitable failure of the project. Because the opera house project did not conform to local conditions and the scale of investment was too large, it came to a standstill soon after Chen Jiadong was transferred from Zhangzhou, and eventually became a half-pulled project, and the expenses that had been invested were never returned, resulting in a huge loss of state-owned funds.
"Don't ask the common people to ask the ghosts and gods", bring the feng shui master to choose the site for the project
In addition to the opera house project, another project that had already been completed during Chen Jiadong's tenure caused even greater damage. In the second half of 2013, soon after Chen Jiadong became the secretary of the Zhangzhou Municipal Party Committee, he proposed to build a demonstration section of the "Southern Fujian Ecological and Cultural Corridor", and proposed to replicate the ancient houses in Zhangzhou according to the ratio of one to one, and build 6 post stations. Soon after the post station was built, it was in a state of abandonment.
A deserted inn. CCTV screenshot
Zhangzhou is a national historical and cultural city, which was built more than 1,300 years ago in the ancient city block, and still retains the traditional pattern and a large number of historical buildings. In the southern Fujian dialect, ancient houses and old buildings are called ancient houses. Relying on local characteristics to build a tourism project is not a problem in itself, but the problem is that Chen Jiadong's starting point is seriously skewed, and the consideration is not how to bring long-term benefits, but hopes to make a surprise construction before the annual flower fair, so that the superior leaders can see his political achievements.
"Of course, the leader came, this was done by someone, and the leader had a good impression, because what he had to do was to be able to attract attention. Chen Jiadong said.
The feature film pointed out that because Chen Jiadong was bent on seeking big and speed, he also forcibly pushed forward this project without investigation and research, regardless of the actual situation and scientific demonstration, and only based on his own subjective conjecture. What is particularly absurd is that this project has not been thoroughly researched and feasibility study, but he specially brought himself a feng shui master to select a site to see feng shui and adjust the direction.
"This is typical of not asking the common people and asking the ghosts and gods. Wang Yuguang, deputy director of the Sixth Supervision and Inspection Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission, commented.
In the end, the total cost of the six antique post stations reached 211 million yuan, each of which was quite large, and the largest one covered an area of more than 60,000 square meters. By the time it was completed and put into operation, various problems became apparent. These post stations are all copies of the famous local ancient houses, and when tourists arrive in Zhangzhou, they naturally choose to see the ancient buildings themselves, rather than the replicas. In terms of site selection, these six post stations are scattered along the 25-kilometer-long national highway, and they cannot form a convergence effect.
Tourists from other places cannot be attracted, and for local citizens, the post station is too far away from the main city, and the people are usually reluctant to come for leisure. A local state-owned enterprise was entrusted by the government to manage, and tourism could not be carried out, so it was difficult to attract a few merchants, and they soon all surrendered the lease. As a result, most of the post stations have been abandoned for a long time, and the maintenance cost is high.
The examination and investigation found that Chen Jiadong also had the "four winds" problem of accepting gifts and food invitations in violation of regulations, and there was also the problem of corruption in using his power to accumulate huge sums of money.
After an open trial by the court, Chen Jiadong illegally accepted more than 94.15 million yuan in property, embezzled more than 3.41 million yuan of state-owned property with others, and caused a loss of more than 190 million yuan in state-owned property, and was suspected of accepting bribes, embezzlement, and abusing power. In September 2023, Chen Jiadong was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property.
Written by: Nandu reporter Song Lingyan from Beijing