China told its officials to tighten their belts. Did they go a notch too far?
Wang, a civil servant from a small town in northeastern China, is too scared to go to restaurants these days. He even skipped his niece's wedding due to his fear of being seen at a banquet.
An avid foodie, the 55-year-old used to dine with his friends once or twice a day – usually at purely social gatherings unrelated to his government job. But now, even casual meals out can cause serious problems.
'Nobody dares to stick their neck out nowadays,' said Wang, who declined to give his full name for privacy reasons. 'So I only eat at home now.'
Wang is one of millions of Chinese state-sector workers who have been impacted by a government austerity drive that has sent shock waves across the country in recent weeks, hitting businesses hard and
sparking concern in the corridors of Beijing
The campaign started in May when the central government introduced stricter rules for civil servants and state-owned enterprise employees attending official receptions, which banned the consumption of cigarettes, liquor and 'high-end dishes'.
The new guidelines were the latest in a string of measures to limit ostentatious celebrations by officials – a practice viewed as a waste of public funds and a slippery slope to corruption – that have long been a source of simmering public resentment.
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