The Chinese Are Erecting This Enormous Golden Statue Of Chairman Mao That's 120-Foot-High
The statue dwarfs everything but the huge crane being used to build it.
By Sadho Ram — 06 Jan 2016, 02:29 PM
In what can only be described as the irony of all ironies, a group of capitalists and villagers have spent nearly USD500,000 to build a massive, 120-foot-high golden statue of Communist dictator Mao Zedong, the founding member of the Communist Part of China
A huge statue of Chairman Mao Zedong is seen under construction at Zhushigang village in Tongxu County, China.
Image via ChinaFotoPress/Getty ImagesThe gaudy new statue — which features a gold-painted Mao calmly looking into the distance with his hands folded across his lap — is erected in the center of an area of Henan province which was brutally affected by famines Mao helped cause.
Under Mao's watch, upwards of 45 million people, mainly peasants, are believed to have died in just four years. The statue is reportedly made out of concrete and steel and took nine months to build.
Some have criticised the statue online, for the perceived waste and what they see as the statue's insensitive location. But many others have leapt to its defence on China's popular microblogging service.
Users of China's popular microblogging service Weibo appeared divided over the statue, with user shenqilei saying, "This is so embarrassing!," while beijiyisuoqianban took a more patriotic tack, saying: "Long live Chairman Mao!"
User MCULM added: "They can do whatever they want with their own money. It is worth commending if they built a statue of their ancestors. But if the money was from the public pocket, a thorough investigation is needed."
Despite being responsible for so many deaths, Mao Zedong is revered by many in China, not least by President Xi Jinping, who praises him as a "great figure". President Xi has also attempted to centralise power in China's presidency, and has used Mao's legacy to build support, while admitting the former leader made "mistakes".
bbc.com