A Communist Party secretary humiliated, admonished and punished about 10 officials caught dozing off during a county government 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) meeting in Jiangsu Province on Tuesday, the Yangtze Evening Post reported.
Wang Bin first ordered Binhai county television crew at the conference to record those napping among the 800 officials at the 9 am meeting to discuss strategies for achieving the important government targets.
Reportedly about 10 officials caught the leader’s attention. He then invited all 800 participants to come and watch what he called a “refreshing epic,” the Nanjing-based newspaper reported: Their heavy-eyed colleagues hiding behind documents or leaning forward in ungainly postures, according to an un-named conference official.
“Maybe some of the featured colleagues were working round the clock Thursday,” Wang reportedly said.
“They must be really tired. But how can you perform well if you can’t even stay awake during meetings?” Wang said.
Wang next ordered supervisors to admonish the approximate 10 officials and warn them they would be fired if caught napping a second time.
The penalties for the “dozing officials” were not yet confirmed, an anonymous official with the publicity office of the Binhai county government told the Global Times. None of the officials have been named.
This is hardly the first time an official dozed off during a Communist Party secretary’s speech: Three officials from Qidong county in Hunan Province were sacked in March after being caught catching 40 winks at a conference, the Yangcheng Evening News reported.
Global Times