An incomplete statue of Soong Ching Ling, a.k.a. Madame Sun Yat-sen, which appeared in November 2011 in Zhengzhou, Henan province, was “quietly removed” recently, state media reported on July 4. How does one quietly remove an eight-story statue from a downtown area? Perhaps one should ask how one quietly commissions the building of an eight-story statue in the first place.
The controversy over the statue of Soong, who is also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, first emerged in November 2011, when the Fujian-based Quanzhou Daily reported that the Henan Soong Ching Ling Foundation would spend 120 million yuan (US$19.58 million) on the construction of the statue to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution that toppled the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Hell, it doesn’t even look like locals knew what the statue was called, or if it was actually named after Soong Ching Ling, a vice president during the Republic of China era. Reports China Daily:
Workers at the Henan Soong Ching Ling Foundation told China News Service on Wednesday that the statue was one of the foundation’s programs and was named Daughter of the Yellow River, rather than the statue of Soong Ching Ling, after whom the foundation has been named.
The Soong Ching Ling Foundation is now under investigation. “Wasted money,” reads this Global Times headline – though it’s unknown how much money, exactly, was wasted on the statue itself, and how much was pocketed.
Web Urbanist called the statue one of the 9 worst in China. That sounds about right, if these pictures via Sina are any indication:
(H/T Alicia)
If Ms Soong was hollowed out, she would have made a helluva whorehouse/KTV joint!