The mayor of Lanzhou in Northwest China's Gansu Province has become embroiled in a corruption controversy after several photos posted online showed him wearing an expensive wristwatches on Monday.
Yuan Zhanting, 51, was exposed by an Internet user who said Yuan owned at least five expensive wristwatches, including a 150,000 yuan ($24,096) Omega.
Yuan told the Oriental Morning Post on Tuesday that he saw the photos and "the Guansu government is dealing with it" but declined to make further comments.
The Web user, who said his name is Zhou Lubao on Sina Weibo, said he received at least eight phone calls from Lanzhou and Beijing after he exposed Yuan's expensive tastes, trying to talk him into deleting the postings.
Zhou said he held no personal grudge against Yuan.
"I have held these photos for quite some time but only decided to post them after I heard what the Lanzhou government has done to Zhao Meifu," Zhou said.
Zhao Meifu was sentenced to a year-long term of re-education through Labor in Lanzhou after being sent back from Beijing for "inappropriate" petitioning on November 12 this year.
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