Recently, a Chinese-Australian individual disclosed to The Epoch Times his observations upon returning to Beijing. He stated that in the official circles in Beijing, there is a prevalence of the attitude of “passivity, non-rejection, non-accountability, and inaction,” while cracking down randomly on the public, leaving citizens with nowhere to appeal. People hold a strong aversion towards the authorities, filled with distrust, and eagerly desire to leave the country.
This Chinese-Australian, James Chen, who grew up in Beijing and later immigrated to Australia with his parents, recently spent some time living in Beijing due to handling personal matters in the country, experiencing significant changes.
In his interactions in China, Chen learned that “currently the officials in the government are corrupt and their corruption has transitioned from being overt to covert. As long as there are no issues during their time in office, they do not care about other matters; this is what passivity means.”
Since the 2012 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping has been vigorously cracking down on corruption, emphasizing strict governance of the Party. According to data released by the CPC in June 2022, during the past decade, 4.709 million people were subject to review and investigation, and 11.344 million people were criticized, educated, and handled.
Chen remarked that Xi Jinping’s so-called anti-corruption campaign is essentially targeting dissidents. “Now, many inspection teams, including the disciplinary inspection teams in Beijing, reside within various units, just as mere appearances. When you report something, they just pretend to address it superficially, whether it’s someone they aim to crack down on. If it’s not the target of Xi Jinping’s crackdown, it is their own people; how can one’s own people criticize their own? It’s this bad. The situation in Beijing reflects the state of the entire officialdom in China.”
“In all honesty, these disciplinary inspection teams or disciplinary committees are akin to the East Factory during the Ming Dynasty, only targeting opposition. However, even when targeting opposition, they might implicate themselves. Therefore, now it is a matter of ‘it’s none of my business, so I’m not interested.’ As long as things are stable during my tenure and corruption is not too conspicuous.”
In today’s China, the phrase “lying flat” heard among the youth is also used to describe Communist Party officials – their work is perceived as solely to safeguard their jobs. Chen stated that there is a prevailing saying in the officialdom: “not proactively, not rejecting, not taking responsibility, not acting, cold, avoiding, virtual, fake, dodging, dodging means dodging responsibility.”
He provided an example: “In Beijing, the large shopping malls along the Fifth Ring Road are bigger than shopping centers in Australia, even larger than Wanda Group. Most of these malls have illegal construction. Both the Beijing Planning Bureau and the Beijing Municipal Administration Commission are aware of this. I have all the evidence. These malls, when applying for approval, were originally intended to provide various facilities for residents, such as nursing homes, post offices, and other community amenities, but they ended up being run as commercial buildings for massive leasing.”
“The government is aware of these events, and after some residents reported them, they only acknowledged them verbally.”
“What is this behavior called by the authorities? Not proactive, not rejecting, not taking responsibility, not acting, cold, avoiding, virtual, fake, dodging – these terms are crucial, indicating that the officials in the Chinese government, state-owned enterprises, and private businesses behave this way.”
Why? Chen believes that “everyone fears taking responsibility or being involved in these things. Once a problem emerges, it’s not clear what’s going on; one department might claim ignorance when they know which department is next, they won’t tell you, everyone is like that.”
“In a city as big as Beijing, there are too many illegal constructions, and reporting them is futile, and the state is indifferent.” He explained, “Officials now only believe in money, only believe in themselves, it has reached this point.”
Not only do officials turn a blind eye, but they also randomly fine people and make arrests. However, the public has no channels for appeal.
Chen mentioned that someone reported issues with electric vehicle charging inside a shopping mall, and after the fire department conducted inspections twice and assured them that there were no problems throughout the entire building.
“But we only reported one electric car; why say the entire building needs to be cautious? It’s simply a way to issue fines. They fined the mall a certain amount, but privately offered a bribe. They only give you a notification. This is collusion between officials and businesses, happening even in minor matters, let alone significant issues.”
However, Chen remarked, “The public has no way to complain; services like ‘12345’ are merely symbolic and can’t manage big issues.”
“People report issues, but they can’t solve them. However, the country can’t lack an institution like this. What’s known as petitioning, in English, it’s a compliant center, a place where you can file complaints, but nothing gets done. They don’t prevent you from complaining, right?”
“Moreover, I’ve never seen any public security bureau that arrests people but doesn’t end up at the procuratorate or court. They are all part of the same system, which is not the case abroad; these three entities – police, prosecutors, and courts – operate independently. Whereas, in China, all three are under the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. For example, if a mayor solicits prostitutes and the case is reported to the police, it’s all under the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. This makes everything go smoothly.”
Chen believes, “This is a significant concern. In Australia, I know that press credentials are issued by individual media outlets and not by a central authority like the Central Propaganda Department in China, which renews press credentials every three years and recommends candidates through media organizations, followed by examinations. The final approval comes from the Central Propaganda Department.”
“The first thing about these press credentials is that they must conform to the leadership of the Communist Party. Every news piece goes through layers of filtering by the district, municipal, and central propaganda departments, so there’s no freedom of speech. Therefore, it’s quite unfortunate for the people. If anyone wants to file a complaint, there’s no place to turn to. As soon as you post anything online, even if you’re not criticizing the country but discussing sensitive topics, your account gets blocked for a month to three months instantly.”
He also mentioned, “Why is Beijing cracking down so harshly on celebrities, together with the nationwide crackdown on celebrities? It’s because if you disobey, they target you. Additionally, platforms like Beijing TV, hosts often disappear because leadership takes issue with them – if they’re not compliant, they vanish.”
“China Central Television is a prime example, as those we can interact with are from Beijing TV and CCTV. ‘I’ll subdue you, use tax and legal measures to control you, force you to obey.’ They pin various charges on you – no one is perfect, they pin a label on you, similar to the Cultural Revolution. It’s reached this point today.”
According to Chen, Chinese people lack human rights. “While walking on the streets, phones are randomly checked. Furthermore, when at a local police station, whenever you’re taken in for questioning, they demand to see your phone; I’ve experienced this several times. When I questioned why, they say to check for any counter-revolutionary content – absurd. I’ve never colluded with any counter-revolutionaries, have no criminal involvement, yet I am questioned, and why should they check my phone? According to China’s Police Law and Resource Management Law, they can only do so if it involves criminal matters. If it doesn’t, why invade my privacy – but in China, there are no human rights.”
However, “officials always claim to represent the people, the courts of the people, the police of the people, but where is the people?” Chen continued, “So sometimes, say you go to a government office to discuss matters, and you challenge them, they question your identity, asking ‘Who are you?’ and when you reply that you’re their leader, they retort, ‘What kind of leader?’ When you remind them that the people are their leaders, and the people’s courts and police, they shun these discussions.
“After asking for your documents, you request to see their law enforcement proof. At that point, they would cover their chest with their hand, wouldn’t offer their identity, refuse to answer questions, and even switch off the law enforcement recorder. When you ask them to turn the recording back on, they reach this point.”
“Moreover, police or any law enforcement personnel, when they encounter critical or sensitive information, they always turn off or point away from the law enforcement recorder.”
He further mentioned that officials at village levels across Beijing, which were previously located outside the Second Ring Road, are engaged in corrupt practices. “Each village officer, every village’s enterprises, it goes by the name of Agricultural, Industrial, Commercial Corporation. They develop properties between the Third Ring Road, the Fourth Ring Road, and the Fifth Ring Road, and after construction, these properties are rented out. The rental income goes to the Agricultural, Industrial, Commercial Corporation, where village officers embezzle funds amongst themselves without proper accounts.
“It’s evident when you see the village officers’ accounts – they have billions within the village, which isn’t an exaggeration. They’ve embarked on numerous projects, yet they withhold property deeds post-development, essentially engaging in thuggish behavior.”
“Because if they issue property deeds, and you sell the property, then decide to move abroad or spend elsewhere, without property deeds, how can you sell it, right? You can only lease it out. Villagers voice grievances.”
Chen mentioned that as far as he knows, “citizens harbor strong animosity towards Xi Jinping,” with “90% of individuals expressing dislike, distrust, and antipathy toward the state government leaders. And the remaining 10%, due to constraints, cannot speak openly, but internally hold the same sentiments.”
He conveyed, “Xi Jinping aspires to become the supposed third ‘great man’ after Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, but how will he do it? Currently, he prioritizes the Taiwan issue. Stability is a significant concern because China faces internal instability, including Xinjiang and Tibet. In particular, Xinjiang is a hotbed of turmoil, and Beijing police are frequently dispatched there, rotating every three months. They are sent to internment camps to ‘educate’ the Uyghurs.”
“Inside those camps, people revealed to me it’s terrifying – they are to stay inside for generations, learn Chinese, and Xi Jinping’s thoughts. Naturally, they seek to escape, right?”
“People want to leave the country; even taxi drivers say, ‘I want to be like you, with a big suitcase, going abroad?'”
“Exactly! ‘Oh, I need money; in the next life, my children will also go abroad,’ even taxi drivers speak similarly. As soon as people hear you’ve lived abroad long-term, ‘Oh, you’ve resided abroad; we need money; we also desire to immigrate, but can’t depart, can’t leave.'”
Chen stated that the Communist Party officials confiscate passports and travel documents. “Currently, Beijing’s state-owned enterprises, governmental officials – their passports, and travel permits to Hong Kong and Macau are all seized. They are forbidden from leaving the country, strictly prohibited. They fear that upon contact with foreign affairs, they will not return, reaching this extreme.”