According to a report by China Business Herald, female entrepreneur Ma Yijia built 10 government projects for Shuicheng District, Liupanshui, Guizhou, including relocation projects for poverty alleviation (central special poverty alleviation funds project), kindergartens, and primary schools. The company estimates that the Shuicheng District government owes the company about 220 million yuan, while a local government report acknowledges a debt of over 90 million yuan. The company has been demanding payment for the project for 8 years. At the end of 2023, on the day of the hearing at the Guizhou Provincial Higher People’s Court, she was criminally detained by the local public security bureau on suspicion of provoking trouble.
The report by China Business Herald also stated: “**Multiple sources confirmed that before Ma Yijia and others were arrested, the district government proposed to resolve all debts with 12 million yuan, which was rejected by her and her lawyer, and then the case occurred. **”
To summarize the media report: a company built a project locally, and the local government owed the project payment for 8 years. The company believes the government owes 200 million, the government only admits to 90 million, but shamelessly proposed to write off the debt for only 12 million. The company owner disagreed and was forced to defend her rights, and as a result, the local public security bureau arrested her for provoking trouble.
Logging into the official website of the Shuicheng District government, it clearly states “Liupanshui City Shuicheng District People’s Government”. However, are they really a people’s government? I don’t see it, but rather it’s more like the style of behavior of ruffians and bandits in TV dramas.
The year before last, I wrote an essay to remind everyone to be wary of the black forces of some grassroots governments. I said this because of something that happened in my hometown.
In 2022, an entrepreneur from my hometown named Zhang Jianhua had an accident. In 2002, he contracted a piece of wasteland to start a nursery. After more than twenty years of hard work, his company has become a provincial key leading enterprise in the forestry industrialization of Hubei Province.
The contract period for this land is 30 years, and there are still ten years left before it expires, but the county wants to develop so-called resettlement houses and forced him to hand over the land. The contract had not expired, so he naturally disagreed, and then the nursery gate was blocked with sand and soil. The police were called, but no one cared. When asked the grassroots officials in charge of land acquisition, they said they didn’t know who did it. Then, forced land acquisition began…
Zhang Jianhua is an entrepreneur, and his other identity is the chairman of the local Writers Association. He has written several books and is considered a celebrity in the local area, but he is powerless when encountering such ruffian grassroots officials. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage a few days after the incident.
On May 4, 2022, Zhang Jianhua, who was seriously ill, passed away with resentment. I often feel that he was angered and forced to death.
Once public power becomes a black force, the common people will be helpless.
If you talk to them about law, contracts, and integrity, they will secretly use the methods of local ruffians to deal with you; if you encounter ruffians and rogues, you naturally want to seek help through public and legal channels such as calling the police. At this time, those departments and institutions that claim to serve the people will turn a deaf ear. At this time, you are helpless, and if you want to seek social relief through the Internet, such as posting articles, videos, and petitions, then “provoking trouble” is like an iron cage hanging over your head, which can be put down at any time to cover you.
This matter in Shuicheng District, Liupanshui is also very typical: the company sought debt from the local government and even went through judicial procedures, but it was useless. Once the grassroots officials become black forces, these official relief channels will be blocked. When the person involved is forced to seek social relief through other means, they will use their public power to trap you in the cage of “provoking trouble”.
At this time, the media’s voice becomes the only life-saving straw. Although “provoking trouble” can temporarily deal with individual rights defenders, once the specific case is publicly reported by the media and forms a certain social public opinion, they have to restrain themselves a little and have to be somewhat concerned.
In fact, we all know that those grassroots government officials who are no different from local ruffians are not afraid of the media, nor are they afraid of the people’s scolding, but they are afraid of being questioned by their superiors who still care about the face of the people’s government after being exposed by the media. But I still often emphasize that the role of the media is particularly important at present. If everyone still does not pay attention to the media that can still speak out to a limited extent, and does not respect and cherish the media that can still stand up and make some objective reports on specific cases, then what awaits us in the future will be a more unbearable reality.
More people must stand up and say no to these ruffian grassroots officials, otherwise they will become even more unscrupulous.
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