Wuhan police irate at journalists after dinner party ban

Local police in Wuhan, Hubei Province "welcomed" journalists to do undercover reporting on their dining activities on Thursday, renewing debate over recent reports on a police dinner party allegedly using public funds.

"Come quickly, Nandu! [a local newspaper] We are going to have a dinner party! On public funds, with wildlife. Undercover reports are welcomed," a police brigade under the public security bureau of Wuhan wrote on its verified Weibo account. The post also attached several photos on which several police officers were squatting outdoors eating take-away food.

In another post, the brigade wrote that they oppose dining on public funds, "but police officers enjoy basic rights that cannot be deprived by anyone."

The remarks came after an undercover report of an alleged salamander feast attended by police officers in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province led to a Wednesday ban on dinner parties from public security department in Shenzhen. The department also demanded approvals for parties for wedding or funerals, according to The Beijing News.

According to the Guangzhou-based Nandu Daily, 28 people attended the dinner party using public funds and several of them were from the local public security department. Fourteen police officials were suspended on Tuesday.

The three journalists from Nandu Daily claimed that they were also severely beaten up by some officials at the dinner party, which allegedly used public funds.

The posts from the Wuhan police have been reposted more than 6,600 times as of press time and many Net users showed their empathy to grass-roots police officers, calling on journalists not to overuse their power to supervise on government bodies.

"Some ill-behaved police officers cannot represent the whole team. It is hard for such a clean cut ban to avoid becoming a proof of lazy politics … Discipline management requires delicate practices," commented the People's Daily.

Liu Hailong, an associate professor of Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that the case in Shenzhen should not end with a simple ban, but it should serve as an opportunity for government organs to specify and clarify their regulations on civil servants. "There still is a blurry definition of 'private time' for civil servants that the media cannot tread on," Liu noted

.