Guangzhou’s Zengcheng District former agricultural data statistician Luo Zhifei recently revealed to The Epoch Times the suppression he faced after exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s falsification of statistics. This time, he disclosed the systemic privilege and abuse of power within the public service system that forced him to flee overseas.
Luo Zhifei, who graduated from Nanjing Agricultural University’s master’s program in 2010, joined the Guangzhou Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau in July 2020. He discovered issues of unfair employment and opaque promotion within the local government.
Coming from a rural area in Jiangxi, as an outsider, despite entering the system through an exam and holding professional technical titles, he struggled to break through the ceiling of grassroots positions. On the other hand, those with connections and backgrounds could rapidly advance even without passing exams or having the necessary skills.
During his tenure, he encountered a local young man from the village committee, around thirty years old, who was “specially appointed” as a civil servant without going through an open recruitment process. Within three months, he was transferred from the Agriculture Bureau to become the Deputy Mayor of Pantan Town. Shockingly, this individual had little to no knowledge of agricultural affairs.
“There was a time when the municipal Agriculture Bureau came to conduct a survey, and he, as the Deputy Mayor, had no grasp of livestock production data. He asked me to list out all the data on sales, purchases, and total scale for him, and the next day, he recited it verbatim in the municipal meeting.”
Luo Zhifei pointed out that this Deputy Mayor talked in circles during the entire meeting without any substantial content. Despite lacking professional expertise, he could advance through connections. “For those of us without backgrounds, even if we work hard all our lives, we may only ever be ordinary officers.”
Another example that incensed him was a deputy director named Liu who became the Director of the Animal Health Supervision Institute of Zengcheng City Area after only half a year in his previous position. Allegedly known for his authoritarian style and lack of popularity, he rose rapidly due to having influential backing.
“It usually takes three to five years for someone to go from a deputy position to a full position, but he was promoted so quickly,” Luo Zhifei remarked.
At one point, Luo Zhifei almost became a scapegoat due to document processing. When a pesticide incident sparked controversy while he was responsible for paperwork in the Agricultural Law Enforcement Department, the head of the department privately remarked, “This time, Luo Zhifei is done for.”
“I never went out for enforcement, nor did I lead the case. I was just in charge of drafting documents, yet I was immediately pushed out as a scapegoat.”
Following coordination between the Agriculture Bureau and the Legal Affairs Department, as well as legal consultations, it was confirmed that the overall process was legal, preventing the incident from escalating. Luo Zhifei noted that without timely clarification, “I might have been sacrificed.”
As an agricultural statistician, Luo Zhifei was responsible for various livestock and agricultural production report work. He pointed out, “The higher the reported data, the more subsidies the government provides, there’s a lot going on behind these numbers.”
However, subsidy distribution was controlled solely by the upper levels, with grassroots statisticians having no knowledge of the actual amounts disbursed. “I’ve never heard farmers say they’ve received subsidies, yet I know the report numbers are looking better every year.”
Feeling displeased about being treated as a “number tool,” he took it upon himself to personally visit markets and farms during lunchtimes and holidays to conduct investigations and write field reports. However, this initiative attracted attention, leading to disciplinary discussions by the unit’s disciplinary committee, citing unauthorized self-conducted investigations.
Apart from systematic falsification and opaque operations, Luo Zhifei also exposed the injustices faced by grassroots epidemic prevention workers. He noted that Zengcheng District, with around thirty villages, employed over thirty epidemic prevention workers, who earned only about six thousand yuan annually for the spring and autumn epidemic prevention operations, averaging less than 2,000 yuan per person.
“Epidemic prevention workers go out on rainy nights to administer vaccines, covering all chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep, but they ended up not receiving their year-end pay. The 2023 wages were delayed until June 2024 when I left the country.”
In response to the government citing “financial difficulties,” Luo Zhifei exclaimed, “Even if there’s a shortage of money, it shouldn’t come from deducting blood, sweat, and tears from the lowest level personnel! Can’t they save on entertainment expenses or project costs?”
Luo Zhifei further disclosed that local finances relied on fines from farmers to supplement their income. “During the epidemic, farmers were already suffering tremendously, yet they were fined eight thousand, eighty thousand, or even hundreds of thousands!”
He questioned that this system was not merely about individual abuses of power but institutionalized corruption. “The fines go into the district’s financial account, meaning the government is being propped up by the farmers.”
What truly petrified Luo Zhifei was the collective effort by multiple departments to suppress his voice. In May 2024, after raising objections about the authenticity of agricultural data in an internal meeting, he was sequentially summoned by the organization’s disciplinary committee and unit leaders. In an extreme measure, the police personnel went to his office, checked his phone and WeChat records, and inquired whether he had contacted foreigners.
“I only attended an internal meeting, so why would the police know about it? Who leaked the information to them?”
This action made him realize the tight interconnection of power departments within the system. He stated, “The police claimed that I was mentally unstable, and my behavior was abnormal, even hinting that I had ties to ‘foreign forces’ to incriminate me.”
After facing escalating pressure, Luo Zhifei decided to leave the system and took a risk to travel to the United States in July 2024 to disclose his experiences to the media. In an interview, he expressed, “Every word I’ve mentioned is from my personal experience, and I am willing to take responsibility for it.”
He also protested at the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, continuously speaking out through media and social platforms. Luo emphasized that he chose to come forward and reveal the truth not just for himself but to make more people aware of the true nature of the Communist Party system.
“The Chinese government isn’t just bad; it’s genuinely evil. It may present a respectable facade, but behind closed doors, it manipulates power and tramples on grassroots individuals.”