Suspicion as Chinese Official Happens to Be Photographed While Shopping

Official in China just happens to be photographed while buying vegetables

Photographs of Li Xiaopeng (right), the governor of Sichuan Province, buying vegetables were thought to be set up for propaganda purposes. Weibo.com

An official and his propaganda team in the Chinese province of Sichuan attempted to replicate a scene that inadvertently made American officials, like Gary Locke, famous in China: performing daily chores by themselves.

But when the photographs of Li Xiaopeng, the governor of Sichuan Province, were put online on the morning of Feb. 12, the reaction was not nearly as welcoming.

Isn't this photographer Yang the propaganda director?

— Liu Jianfeng, former reporter, China Business Journal