Recently I saw a pair of couplets, the first line is: water meter, electricity meter, gas meter, the inside and outside do not match; the second line is: tuition fees, rent, medical expenses, exhausting effort; paired with the horizontal scroll “cutting the leek”, can be said to vividly depict the long-term exploitation suffered by the Chinese people in a poignant manner. Whether it’s the state-owned enterprises forcibly seizing or the government plundering, both are fully reflected in these couplets, making readers ponder and feel very relevant.
Recently, the state-owned enterprise China Resources Gas once again refreshed people’s views on the issue of changing meters and pocketing money in Chongqing and other places. As written in the article “This is Simply Robbery at Home,” “Residents who had their gas meters replaced in Chongqing found that their gas bills had more than doubled, some even increased by more than five times”; some even mentioned “the new meter runs faster than an airplane.” More bizarrely, “no one is home, but the gas meter is moving on its own” or “after the gas supply in the neighborhood is cut off, turning on the tap, the gas meter is still spinning.”
The increasing costs due to meter changes can also be seen in the financial data of the gas company. According to an analysis in an online article, “From the data perspective, the profits for the first three quarters of 2023 were lower than those of the first three quarters of 2022, by about 100 million”; but “the profit for the fourth quarter of 2023 increased significantly, with a year-on-year increase of about 824%,” and this “highly coincides with the timeline of the ‘meter replacement fee increase’ in Chongqing.” In addition, other data points out that China Resources’ net profit in the fourth quarter surged by 824%, but in the first three quarters, it “decreased by 27.5% year-on-year,” indicating that this state-owned enterprise’s “0.69% increase in gas sales volume for the whole of 2023” relied solely on the fourth quarter. If it weren’t for the meter change at the time, the actual gas consumption of the people in Chongqing might even have decreased!
Using so much gas, yet incurring such high additional costs. The official responsible for the investigation denied that this was due to “meter measurement and quality, gas quality, changing gas meter measurements through remote control, etc.,” but rather that the gas company had “issues like incorrect readings, estimated readings instead of actual readings, confusing billing cycles, and non-standard pricing.” However, this still does not adequately explain why “the meter runs faster than an airplane,” “someone lives in Hainan, but the meter runs in Chengdu,” then later “the meter appears to be running slower than before,” and can “run faster when you want it to run faster, and slower when you want it to run slower.”
If officials do not deny that the new meters installed in Chongqing and other places are Internet of Things gas meters, then as an intelligent gas measurement product, its built-in functions can easily explain the problem. Because this gas meter can completely achieve “regularly reporting gas usage data (automatic meter reading),” “remote valve control, remote pricing adjustment,” “remote valve closure for sudden situations or customers who maliciously underpay,” and other tasks that can be controlled remotely by individuals at the terminal. If you are using a meter that can tamper, then you must present evidence that you have not tampered with it. Otherwise, if there are issues, you will have to face legal scrutiny and bear legal responsibility.
However, under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, if the “Party” gives the nod, saying there are no problems, will those institutions that have long been reduced to authoritarian tools, such as the procuratorate and the court, dare to raise objections, requesting evidence collection, investigation, and judgment? Once these crimes that are no different from robbery are covered up for a long time, the criminals will become even more brazen in reaching into the pockets of the common people.
Another article that was also taken down, titled “Chongqing Gas, Brought a Bad Omen,” writes, “This is a robbery at home where the thief and bandit cannot be seen,” “There is an invisible hand that reaches out from somewhere and grabs your money bag,” and “this unease is not unique to the people of Chongqing and Chengdu”; “these days, it’s the turn of the people in Nanjing, Suzhou, Xi’an, worrying about their gas bills. If the gas meters are like this, what about others? Water meters, electricity meters, oil meters, even phone bills?”
Just as the gas incident was exposed, an elderly couple in Jiangsu reported to the media that their total water consumption in November and December last year reached 1023 tons; after the staff came to read the meter, they were asked to pay a water bill of 3320.23 yuan. Although the water company did not find any leaking points or faults in the water meter after inspection, they still insisted on making this family pay thousands of yuan for water. In addition, a resident of Wuhan reflected that as early as 2021, her family had a strange incident where the water meter mysteriously rotated even though no water was being used, resulting in a consumption of over a thousand tons in three months. In the same year, a resident who had been living elsewhere for six or seven years returned home in Guiyang and found that the water bill was inexplicably over 1700 yuan.
It seems that the drastic increase in gas fees is just the beginning. It’s like clearing a clogged drain, originally intending to pull out a strand of hair stuck at the entrance, but ended up pulling out more dirt and filth. If not, why were several articles explicitly stating “the Chengdu-Chongqing gas turmoil… affecting the fields of water, electricity, and telecommunications,” “in recent years, residents have frequently reported increased costs after meter changes for gas, electricity, and water in various places,” “Many people not only feel that the gas meter is running fast but also often observe the erratic movements of the electricity meter, phone bills, broadband fees, similarly experiencing abnormal charges” all taken down?
What is the government afraid of? Naturally, it fears that the robbed common people will rise up in unison. Why can it generate such resonance? Naturally, it’s because the extortion and looting carried out by state-owned enterprises, government officials, and the CCP’s elite, cannot just be directed at the few who are commonly viewed as “leeks.” Recently, the latest data from the Statistics Bureau showed that from January to March this year, the “electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply industry realized a total profit of 192.12 billion yuan, an increase of 40%.” This data once again proves that under the rule of the CCP, those who can “rob at home” without confession or legal consequences, will not be limited to just China Resources Gas.
Before, raising tuition fees, rent, medical expenses, was like cutting the leek of those in need; but now, whether you have a need or how much you need, you must still fork out the money. When the common people have jobs and income, the government may raise prices for what seems like reasonable collection; but now, facing closures, unemployment, and the masses holding onto their wallets without spending, the elites have to resort to shady tactics, eyeing their savings for a large-scale looting spree.
Although this ugliness is stark today, it is actually a true reflection of the CCP’s original nature before seizing power. In 1928, when the Red Army was besieged and scattered by the Nationalist Army, they ran into the city asking for money from merchants and wealthy individuals, calling it “fundraising.” After receiving the money, they would affix a receipt with the words “fundraising settled, guarantee protection” at the victim’s door, as if worried that people would not realize they were just carrying out the same activities as bandits and mafia, collecting protection fees. Li Xiannian once led a group of Red Army members to carry out “live ransom” activities in western Hubei. They would kidnap individuals, repeatedly coerce their family to pay ransom, until they left that family destitute and ruined. Of course, there were many CCP bandits involved in these activities.
For example, Huang Gonglue, whom Mao called “Flying General,” not only used physical torture on hostages after kidnapping them but also killed them after successfully extorting money. As for direct and public robbery, the CCP has done that too. In 1944, armed CCP forces in Putian, Fujian, even planned a major bank robbery. They pretended to be Nationalist Army soldiers, infiltrated the bank while government officials were checking the vault, and ultimately slipped away with 20 taels of gold and over 4.7 million Chinese yuan.
It is evident that the CCP has always been a bona fide gang of robbers, thieves. Such criminals, not brought to justice, will undoubtedly become habitual offenders. Once they occupy positions of high power and are not bound by the law, they will not hesitate to continue their actions. Previously, in the decades when they profited from foreign investment and population dividends, the Zheng family’s actions may not have appeared as unsightly as they do now. Today, the CCP’s long-concealed face of banditry has reemerged, signifying that a “return to pre-liberation overnight” has become the true portrayal of the mainland’s economy today. If the economy is regressing, how far will the CCP, which is accelerating in reverse, go back to those days and reveal its true colors?