Recently, in the face of a deteriorating economy, BYD, as a leading enterprise in China’s new energy vehicle industry, has been plagued by negative news. As a result, the Chinese authorities are closely monitoring negative comments. A BYD car owner’s rant about the lackluster performance of his car led to a shocking ordeal of being detained in a “small black room” for 7 days.
In a video that circulated online, a car owner driving a Tang EV (a BYD new energy model) ran out of fuel on the way back to Shanghai, even though there was still stored electricity in the car. Unable to restart the car, the owner expressed frustration saying, “Bought a Tang EV, embarrassing. Today coming back from Shanghai, ran out of gas on the way. I’m only 500 meters away from home with 17% battery left. No response at all, left me stranded at the intersection.” He further criticized, “It’s a disaster, this domestically-made car.”
The car owner never expected that a simple complaint would lead to being penalized for his words. In the video, he mentioned, “Last Friday, the video segment about Tang EV’s ‘midway breakdown’ garnered 3.5 million views. I don’t even know what I said wrong, but I was locked in a small black room for a week, just got released now. Many people say I maliciously slandered BYD and domestically-made cars.”
Addressing the issue of facing repercussions for spoken words, a Chinese citizen, Ms. Wang, told Epoch Times, “The Chinese Communist Party is a single-party dictatorship that does not allow different voices to emerge. Everyone knows that domestically-made cars have many quality issues, but questioning them is strictly prohibited.” She questioned, “Why do wealthy people prefer foreign cars, like Japanese and German brands, with better quality than domestically-made cars? Despite being cheaper, domestically-made cars often have problems, and people are unwilling to buy them. It’s not just BYD, but other domestic brands also face many problems. It’s just that no one talks about it.”
The accident rate of Chinese energy vehicles is alarmingly high. According to a report by the WeChat public account “Shaanxi Traffic Police,” from 2018 to 2020, there were 1658 accidents involving casualties, resulting in 1581 deaths and 1755 injuries nationwide. Among them, there were 83 incidents of accidents where three or more people died at once. The fatality rate in accidents is more than five times higher than in regular traffic accidents.
Another Chinese citizen, Mr. Hua, expressed to Epoch Times, “The Chinese Communist Party does not allow ordinary people to speak the truth. It’s best to keep your mouth shut because no matter what you say, the CCP cannot differentiate between good and bad words. They control speech.” He added, “In China, how can one speak the truth? Speaking the truth is considered a criminal offense. Many people who speak the truth either disappear or end up in prison. No matter what you say, the outcome is the same. Praise them, they accuse you of sarcasm. Criticize them, they accuse you of malicious slander and inciting trouble.”
Ms. Wang stated, “The CCP’s dictatorship system prevents ordinary people from speaking the truth. Speaking the truth can threaten the interests of vested groups, leading to charges like provocation and stirring up trouble.” She warned, “All this is caused by the single-party dictatorship. They don’t allow you to speak the truth. On July 15, the CCP plans to implement an internet ID system. Once this system is in place, it’s likely that ordinary people will lose even the right to petition. It completely silences you, making it difficult to access the internet, furthering the regime’s oppression of the people.”