In the latest kerfuffle over heavy-handed local governance in China, netizens rejoiced this week following news of the removal of the top leader in Hebei’s Sanhe city. His offense? An order issued last week that forced local businesses to replace red, blue, and black shop signs with green ones — at owners’ expense. The imperious edict led to a beloved local chain, Mixue Ice Cream and Tea (蜜雪冰城), being forced to swap its iconic red signs for green. Nationwide outrage ensued.
The Sanhe story soared to #2 on Baidu’s hot search list and soon state media had pounced. Guangdong’s official Nanfang Daily newspaper ran an expose on the case, and Xinhua News Agency followed with an explainer on how officials had violated the “Eight Point Regulations” — anti-corruption directives issued by Xi in 2012 and recently undergoing another campaign-style resurgence. Not all stories of local delinquency, however, can reach satisfying conclusions by virtue of media and internet exposure. Case in point: a story last week about a Shandong family forced to pay years of morgue fees has vanished completely from the Chinese internet.
