Yingquan District () is a district of the city of

Fuyang () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Bozhou to the northeast, Huainan to the southeast, Lu'an to the south, and the province of Henan on all other sides. Its population was 8,200,264 inhabitants at the ...

Anhui Province Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, China.

Recent events

In early 2007, Chinese state media began reporting that in Yingquan District, a government building dubbed the "White House" was becoming controversial. The construction cost of the "White House" was reported to have reached 30 million yuan, nearly one third of the 100 million yuan annual fiscal income of the entire Yingquan district. Despite being popularly deemed the "White House" (), the building resembles the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

. In 2008, it was widely reported that Zhang Zhi'an (), the Communist Party chief of Yingquan District, nicknamed the "White House Party Chief," had been suspended from his office on June 5, 2008, along several other officials. They were under investigation for the death of Li Guofu (), a businessman who acted as a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

. In

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Li Guofu had accused Zhang of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and

abuse of power Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

, and hoped that Yingquan District would reclaim the area as

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

. In August 2007, Li Guofu was arrested by the Yingquan government on corruption charges and imprisoned. Zhang interrogated Li, threatening his family, and extracted a

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

from him. On March 13, 2008, just hours before he was scheduled to see a lawyer, Li Guofu was found

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

. Although his death was deemed a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, media reported that Li Guofu's body was bruised and his mouth was tightly shut, uncharacteristic of a suicide by hanging. On February 8, 2010, Zhang was found guilty of taking bribes, retaliation, and framing an innocent person, and was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.

Administrative divisions

In the present, Yingquan District has 2 subdistricts and 4 towns. ;2 subdistricts * Zhongshi () * Zhoupeng () ;4 towns * Renming () * Ninglaozhuang () * Wenji () * Hangliu ()

References

Fuyang {{Fuyang-geo-stub