THE LONGHUI COUNTY GOVERNMENT in Shaoyang, Hunan province, said it is investigating a report that a businessman surnamed Xiang, who is also a delegate of the people's congress of the county, has spent 70 million yuan ($11 million) building a grandiose tomb for himself. Beijing News comments:

Construction on the project began in 2013, covering an area of 20 hectares, it has destroyed a large area of mountain forest.

Xiang has obviously violated the rules that prohibit graves of any sort in public forests, as well as the Forest Law that prescribes people destroying 0.67 hectares or larger areas of forests should be prosecuted for criminal liability.

Although his income might be legal, Xiang's identity as a county people's congress delegate means his extravagant grave sets a bad example of extravagance and superstition, as the authorities have advocated frugal and ecological funeral and burials for decades. Xiang should have set a good example and not violated the law.

It is reported that local residents have never ceased complaining to the local government in Longhui over the past five years. Considering the construction work has been proceeding alongside the high-pressure anti-graft campaign since 2012, it is something of a miracle that all complaints and appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

People therefore have enough reason to believe that there is a protective umbrella over Xiang, and his act of building a luxurious mountain tomb might only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems of the local government, whose vow to look into the case stems more from the pressure of public opinions than its true intention of handling the case after a post exposing Xiang's lawbreaking activity became a hot topic on social media.

In that sense, the Longhui government is not fit to look into the case anymore. The higher authorities are obliged to take charge of the investigation, which will have to look at several government departments of Longhui for sure.