Imagine this scenario:

You are a legitimate businessman doing business abroad. The public security department in your hometown suspects you of involvement in telecom fraud and calls you to submit materials and return to China as soon as possible. Wouldn’t you find this strange?

But we are good citizens, and we know that combating telecom fraud is not easy. We cooperate with the police, prepare all kinds of materials and submit them, and also pack our things to prepare to return to China.

Suddenly, you see in the news that the public security department has listed you as a telecom fraud suspect, publishing your photo and ID number online, urging you to return to China and surrender… ​

Wouldn’t your blood pressure soar? I’m cooperating with your work, so why am I suddenly wanted? Who in their right mind can stand this?

So you quickly contact the local police station, and the police ask you to provide business licenses, bank statements, tax payment certificates and other materials to prove your innocence. You cooperate very well and provide them, and the police also say that you are not a problem.

But! You still have to return to China for a face-to-face investigation to be removed from the “key personnel list for telecom fraud”.

In short, the public security knows that you are innocent, and also knows that it was a mistake to notify you, but to correct this matter, you must return to China yourself to handle it in person.

If it were you, wouldn’t your blood pressure soar? Why!

Okay, take a deep breath a hundred times. We are upright and not afraid of shadows. Anyway, we are innocent. In order to eliminate the impact, let’s go back to China for an investigation. The public security also has their difficulties, so bear with it.

So you put down your business and returned to China with a heavy heart, and finally solved the problem and were included in the whitelist.

The public security department said, thank you for your cooperation. Since the misunderstanding has been resolved, would you like to cooperate with us in some anti-fraud publicity?

As a well-meaning citizen, under the eager request of the public security department in your hometown, you are naturally difficult to refuse, after all, anti-fraud publicity is also a good thing. So you agreed to cooperate with the publicity and flew back to Cambodia to continue doing tourism business.

Then one day, you saw such a notice on WeChat: ​

Your name, photo, and ID number were published again. The process of you returning to China to accept the investigation to prove your innocence was called “successful whitewashing” by the public security… (Dongliang’s note: The photo is coded by me, the original text of Ganzhou Public Security is a clear, uncoded photo)

At this step, wouldn’t your blood pressure soar to the point of cerebral hemorrhage on the spot?

Anyway, after I saw Ganzhou Public Security release this tweet, I was deeply shocked by the righteous and matter-of-fact attitude that permeated the lines:

Our public security is focusing on combating telecom fraud, and you are doing business in Cambodia, so you are suspected. It is justified to list you as a key telecom fraud suspect and make a public announcement;

Although our public security knows that you are innocent after you submit the materials, in order to be on the safe side, it is also justified to ask you to return to China for a face-to-face investigation;

Our public security knows that some of the key telecom fraud personnel previously notified were “wrongly injured”, and now they dare not return to China to write off the case. Therefore, we use your photos and names to do some publicity to tell everyone not to be afraid. It is also reasonable to not code the photos for the sake of publicity.

However, please forgive me for not being able to truly empathize with the role of the public security department. As a law-abiding citizen, I can only empathize with Ms. Yu’s experience:

I do business legally, but I am inexplicably publicly wanted;

I submitted materials to prove my innocence, but I was asked to spend money and time to return to China to write off the case at great risk;

I support the public security’s anti-fraud work and agree to cooperate with the publicity, but my name and photos are published again, and “clearing my name” is said to be “successful whitewashing”.

What kind of sin did I commit in my previous life that I have to be treated like this in this life?…

Note that this is not a made-up story, but a real case released by the official account of Ganzhou Public Security.

Yu Guanqun (female) abroad, successfully “whitewashed”!

You who are reading the article, don’t be gloating and think that it has nothing to do with you if you are not abroad.

The experience of Weibo CEO “Lai Qu Zhi Jian” being forcibly shut down of SMS function some time ago is actually an operation under the same background and the same logic of doing things.

“Lai Qu Zhi Jian” made an international call with a partner abroad, and then the anti-fraud platform called to remind him to prevent fraud. He said “I know, no problem” and hung up the phone, and then went to a meeting. The anti-fraud platform felt uneasy and made several more calls to remind him. Because he did not answer the phone during the meeting, it was believed that the person concerned might have been deceived.

So, the mobile phone SMS function of the person concerned was directly blocked. In this way, bank transfer verification codes, website login verification codes, and express delivery information could not be received.

To lift the restriction? You have to go to the public security department in person to accept the investigation, prove that you have not been deceived, and then wait for the public security to process and restore your SMS function.

Is anti-fraud considerate? It is really considerate, really meticulous, and really proactive!

Is it annoying to do this? And unreasonable? No way to discuss… Anyway, you have to cooperate.

And a friend of mine planned to travel to Thailand before. Within half an hour of buying the ticket, the local police station called and reminded him to prevent telecom fraud. He said that he was just going on a trip. He replied that he could, but you should first come to the police station to cooperate with the investigation in person.

There are many, many such things…

I fully support combating telecom fraud, and it is gratifying to severely punish telecom fraud criminals!

But I also have to say in a low voice:

The achievements of social governance are very important, and the spirit of the rule of law in the process of governance is also very precious.