China: Beijing Lamborghini crash with Ferrari triggers anti-Communist anger

A Beijing high-speed crash involving a Lamborghini and Ferrari has triggered a wave of bitter anti-Communist sarcasm from ordinary Chinese citizens.

Amid reports that the drivers were unemployed, with police initially describing the supercars as "small passenger-carrying vehicles", many took to social media to vent their anger

Some questioned how two jobless men in their early 20s could afford to drive and wreck two of the world's most expensive cars in a supposedly Communist state.

"Socialism is so good that it allows unemployed people to drive supercars," one user wrote on Sina Weibo, China's most popular social media, AFP reported.

"What are their names? Who are their fathers?" another social media post demanded.

The incident bore some similarities with a 2012 crash involving the son of Ling Jihua, a close aide to former president Hu Jintao, leading some to speculate that the pair, identified only by their surnames as Yu, 20, and Tang, 21, might also be related to high-ranked Communist Party officials.

In March 2012, Ling's son, Gu, 23, was killed as he lost control of his Ferrari 458 on a Beijing ring road, injuring his two female passengers.

The identity of those involved in the accident was kept secret for months until Ling was demoted from head of the general office of the party's central committee and investigated for corruption.

The latest crash, in which one person was injured, came just hours before the weekend opening screening of the last chapter of the popular car-racing movie franchise Fast and Furious.

"Were they in a hurry to watch Fast and Furious 7?" a person commented online.

Police, who initially sparked mockery online describing the accident as a collision between two small vehicles, one green, one red, said they have arrested the drivers, who claimed to be unemployed.

The mother of the Lamborghini driver described her son as "ordinary kid", telling the Beijing News that he bought the supercar with earnings made investing pool tournaments' prizes in the stock market. She blamed the incident on heavy rain.

However police allege the two were actually racing at more than 100mph (160kmh) inside a city tunnel where the speed limit is 40mph (60km/h).

A video recorded by the dashboard camera of a passing vehicle seemed to support the accusations.

Local media said the Datun Road Tunnel in Chaoyang district is an infamous road-racing spot.