Son Brags How His Father Used Political Connections To Defy COVID-19 Travel Ban Near Wuhan
The father, head of the Jingzhou commerce bureau's market operation department, has since been suspended from his duties after people called for an anti-corruption investigation.
By Sadho Ram — 16 Feb 2020, 04:44 PM
In the midst of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in China, where more than 1,660 people have died so far, a son of a government official bragged how his father helped him break travel restrictions in Hubei province, which has gone into lockdown since late January
As of today, there are more than 69,250 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease around the world. Out of which, over 68,500 are in mainland China. A total of 9,535 people have also made full recovery.
A toll station on the Daihuang Expressway in northern Wuhan, Hubei province, has been closed because of the outbreak.
Image via Yuan Zheng/China DailyAccording to reports in the Chinese media, the son took to Weibo Friday night, 14 February, writing how he never benefited despite his father being a government official, until the COVID-19 outbreak
In his since-deleted post on Weibo, the son, named He Hao, wrote that his father took advantage of his personal relations as the head of the Jingzhou commerce bureau's market operation department.
China Daily reported the son claiming that his father dispatched a car to take him home from Tianmen, about 140km from Wuhan when all the highways in Hubei province were closed due to the epidemic.
"I never thought my dad had much power, he has been an official all his life and I had never benefited from it, until this outbreak," he wrote on the micro-blogging platform, Weibo.
"When the whole province shut the roads, he used his connections to send a car that picked me up from Tianmen and drove back to Jingzhou."
According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), the boy also posted a video on the Chinese social media platform showing the car passing a toll station in Tianmen with a sign that read "transport restriction".
His father asked a friend in Tianmen who had permission to carry vital supplies to give his son a lift back to Jingzhou, reported China News
The report said that an investigation confirmed that the father, named He Yanfang, called a car, which was scheduled to purchase supplies from Tianmen, through his personal relations to pick up his son.
The son's post went viral, prompting people in the region to question his father's political connections.
"We saw a story about a nurse cycling for four days to get back to Wuhan, but here you have a second-generation official bragging about the abuse of power," of the netizens wrote in reaction while joining others in calling for an anti-corruption investigation, as reported by SCMP yesterday, 15 February.
Reacting to the situation, the Jingzhou disciplinary inspection commission and the supervisory commission were swift in their action
They dispatched a team to work with the commerce bureau to investigate the case.
Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by the Jingzhou municipal government, the bureau has suspended He Yanfang from his office, reported China Daily.
The son has since apologised, saying he will "pay close attention" to what he says in future.
