The photograph, thought to be of environmental minister Chen Jining, was first posted on Weibo. (Photo : Twitter)
A senior Chinese official is currently in hot water after photos of him allegedly wearing a gas mask while inspecting the blast site in Tianjin widely circulated online, prompting public ridicule and casting doubts on the local government’s reassurances that there were no longer toxic chemicals in the air two weeks after deadly explosions rocked the city’s port area.
In the photo, the official, thought to be environmental protection minister Chen Jining, is shown wearing a "pig snout" style gas mask while listening to another man in camouflage gear wearing a similar gas mask, supposedly explaining the status of the blast site. Around him are four other men who are wearing standard face masks.
The photo has earned widespread mockery on Chinese social media, with netizens comparing Chen to the masked contestants on the highly popular Jiangsu Television singing competition "King of Mask Singer," according to several media reports.
It has also prompted suspicion over the local government's statements that the air around Tianjin is safe to breathe.
On Aug. 13, Wen Wurui, head of Tianjin's environmental bureau, announced that the toxic chemicals detected in the air by monitoring stations, including sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide, around Tianjin's Binhai New Area are within normal levels.
On Aug. 16, Premier Li Keqiang inspected the site without wearing a mask, although he was still criticized for not coming earlier, the Want China Times said in a report on Wednesday. According to the report, Li noticed a strange smell coming from the blast site and called for 24-hour monitoring from the area along with a quick publication of the results.
As of Monday, more than 129 people have died from the explosions, with 44 people still missing, the PLA Daily news agency said in its Weibo account.
