河南三个农民创新过头 邓州惊现山寨政府

China has seen its share of counterfeits, from fake Apple stores to fake reporters to fake Gucci. Now add fake government to that list.

在中国，看到山寨货并不稀奇，从山寨苹果专卖店、假冒记者到高仿古驰(Gucci)包袋，不胜枚举。现在，竟然连政府都有山寨货。

State media recently reported that a 'People's Government of Dengzhou' set up in central Henan province was toppled after it was found, in fact, to be a fraud.

据中国官方媒体最近报道，设立在河南省的“新邓州市人民政府”被发现是山寨政府，相关涉案人员已被当地公安部门抓获。

According to reports, the government was set up late last year by three residents who had gone so far as to counterfeit fake government seals and issue papers in the bogus government's name. They also tried to build up their own 'civil service,' sending out recruitment ads that attracted more than 10 applicants before the real government shut it down.

报道称，当地三个农民去年成立了这个山寨政府，他们还刻制了一系列假冒的政府公章，并以邓州市人民政府名义下发文件。他们甚至试图建立自己的“公务员”团队，以邓州市人民政府名义散发招聘广告，招聘大学生到该山寨政府任职，先后有十多名大学生邮寄简历应聘。该山寨政府现已被当地政府关闭。

Apparently the trio wanted to independently annul their existing government on the basis of its 'nonperformance.' They located the headquarters of their faux government adjacent to the real one.

这三个农民以当地政府“不作为”为由，宣布“撤销”邓州市人民政府。他们成立的山寨政府就位于邓州市人民政府附近。

This isn't the first time Dengzhou has made headlines for unusual political news. Four years ago, government mouthpiece China Daily wrote a story about the city titled 'Democracy takes root in rural areas.' It chronicled Dengzhou's measures to involve more residents in the vetting of proposals relating to villages in the region, in what the publication called an 'innovative experiment' that was also hailed at the time by then-Vice President Xi Jinping.

这不是邓州第一次因不同寻常的政治新闻而上媒体头条。四年前，据《中国日报》(China Daily)曾撰写一篇题为“河南邓州村级民主自治探索”的文章。据文章记载，邓州的民主自治措施包括，让村民拥有更多的重大事项审议权。报道称，时任国家副主席习近平将邓州这一做法称为“创新之举”。

No one, evidently, thought the farmers would get quite so innovative.

显然，当时肯定没人会想到邓州市农民能够“创新”到这个地步。

In the end, the would-be bureaucrats were outed after they served a property developer a suspension notice and tried to levy penalties for illegal construction in the area. The developer got suspicious, and the trio were rounded up. They have been charged with the forging of government documents. Attempts to reach them for comment weren't successful.

山寨政府最终东窗事发源于当地一个城镇开发项目，山寨政府试图以违法建房为由对房地产开发商处以罚款，感觉事情蹊跷的开发商随即报案。目前，三人已因涉嫌伪造国家机关公文罪被提起公诉。记者未能联系到这三人就此置评。