A curious question has popped up in Chinese cyberspace: is it leaking state secrets to make known the menu of a civil servants’ canteen?

At a time when one would be wise to tiptoe around the minefield of national security, news has emerged of an internet user being arrested for uploading bargain meal prices enjoyed by government employees in the Huangpu district of Shanghai in mainland China.

The offending video surfaced on Wechat last Thursday, stirring outrage about public servants benefiting from privileges as the man in the street suffered.

“Civil servants are a class with special rights while commoners eat the worst and the most expensive food,” one netizen wrote.

The exposé originated from someone who had gone for a vaccination at the canteen, realized that the venue operator had forgotten to switch off the menu panel, and thought nothing of blabbing about the amazingly low price list.

It turned out that the budget fare being served cost as low as 50 Chinese cents (11 US cents), for a bowl of soybean milk. A steamed bun with red bean paste could be had for 80 cents. The most expensive item, a dish of fried spicy “kungpao” chicken, was just a paltry 3 yuan.

All the prices were completely out of line with inflation, furious netizens said on social media after watching the video. The canteen charges were only a tenth of what it would cost to dine out at a street eatery, they said.

“Civil servants of China’s Communist Party are a privileged class, an empowered class, a special class that gets what it wants without working and by oppressing and bullying the people,” one person commented.

Another netizen shared more information, claiming that it was a common phenomenon across the country. It cost only one yuan to eat at canteens of the Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Intermediate People’s Court in Bengbu city of Anhui province, the post showed.

“The meal prices on the video are often seen in the government. When I was working in Beijing years ago, I paid one yuan for breakfast and two yuan for lunch. There was a wide range of food in a buffet format for selection,” a netizen said.

The authorities and media were both silent on the issue, producing no responses or news reports. Nothing related could be found on Weibo.

But rumors circulated that the person who had taken and uploaded the video had been held for “leaking state secrets.”

A mainland Chinese scholar did not think the incident should be related to the offense of leaking state secrets. The menu simply reflected the privilege of civil servants, a phenomenon that had existed in Beijing for more than 20 years, political academic Wu Qiang said.

“It’s part of the welfare for civil servants and part of the budget. It’s not a state secret,” Wu said. He added that it was still possible an arrest had been made, as there was a chance of the local authorities abusing police powers.

Johnny Lau, an experienced political commentator in Hong Kong, agreed that the filming should not be regarded as an offense. If the authorities highlighted the incident, they could create greater frustration among the public.

However, if they handled the matter seriously, that could affect the interest of many other civil servants, Lau said in explaining why the authorities had yet to respond to the criticism.

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