After the scandal of Xuzhou urban management tearing up household Spring Festival couplets from house to house was exposed, it aroused public opinion controversy. (Weibo picture)
[The Epoch Times, February 15, 2023](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Li Jing) Following the “Girl in Chains” incident that shocked the whole country, a piece of news from Xuzhou was once once more on the hot search recently. The news of the Spring Festival couplets sparked heated discussions, but the whistleblower and his family members were subsequently harassed by suspected officials.
Recently, a video of urban management in Pei County, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province tearing up Spring Festival couplets from house to house on County Road 253 sparked heated discussions. The day before the local urban management tore up the Spring Festival couplets, several “top leaders” of the Pei County government had stated that they were sure to win the title of “National Civilized City” this year.
On February 13, a self-media post said that the self-media person who broke the news was suspected of being “knocked across provinces” in the middle of the night. On the evening of February 13, the whistleblower, Mr. Jia, told “New Yellow River”, a media outlet under the “Jinan Daily”, that the above-mentioned online content was true.
Then Mr. Jia edited the video and sent it to the media, and the news quickly became a hot search. At 10 o’clock in the evening on the 11th, Mr. Jia suddenly received a message from his sister, asking him to hide quickly, “Someone is going to arrest you.”
Mr. Jia said, “That night, three people with a Xuzhou accent came to my hometown, Zaozhuang, and knocked on the door of my house. My mother was the only one in my house, and she didn’t dare to open the door. They took flashlights and shone indiscriminately in my mother’s room.” One day, three outsiders came to his house once more, and his mother locked the door ahead of time and went to the neighbor’s house because of fear.
“My neighbor is an uncle from my family. When three people came, they asked my uncle if he knew me.” Mr. Jia said that in order to protect himself, his uncle replied that he didn’t know. Afterwards, Mr. Jia learned through various channels and confirmed that the visitors were from Pei County, but he did not know their identities and their specific intentions for arriving in Zaozhuang.
At present, Mr. Jia is out of town, afraid to go home, and dare not turn on his mobile phone, so he can only use his family’s mobile phone to contact the outside world temporarily. He said that he has recorded the ins and outs of the whole incident into a video and handed it to a friend, and if he loses contact with him, he will release it.
“Now everyone in the village thinks I have committed a crime, and they talk regarding me a lot. Some people at school think that his father has committed something.” Mr. Jia said that his life has been greatly affected, and his mother and children have also been affected. startled.
Urban management in many places took to the streets to tear up Spring Festival couplets from merchants and residents, sparking public outrage
Recently, in many places in China, urban management have taken to the streets to clean up the Spring Festival couplets of merchants and residents, causing widespread concern and controversy among netizens.
On February 7, some netizens broke the news and disclosed that the urban management of Liangzhou District, Wuwei City, Gansu Province took to the streets to remove Spring Festival couplets from merchants. The staff of the Liangzhou District Urban Management Bureau responded that every time following the New Year, they would carry out a city appearance renovation, which included cleaning up Spring Festival couplets.
According to Red Star News, in addition to the above two places, urban management in Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, Huaian City, Jiangsu Province, and Jiaozuo City, Henan Province also cleaned up Spring Festival couplets following the New Year holiday.
“Multiple urban management took to the streets to tear up Spring Festival couplets” aroused the attention and discussion of netizens.
Many netizens said, “Can this still be called a civilized city? It should be called trampling on the spread of traditional Chinese culture. Isn’t this kind of thing done by temporary workers?”
“Civilized cities can’t post Spring Festival couplets? Merchants spend money to buy Spring Festival couplets. This is destroying private property. Civilization begins with respect for various ways of life.”
“What they greeted was not the inspection, but the smiling faces of the leaders. If they dare to tear up today, they will be fined tomorrow, and they will be robbed the day following tomorrow.”
“Cancel Chuangwen and Chuangwei. After so many years, what’s the use? How much manpower, material resources and energy are wasted in various places to create this and that. Isn’t it good to focus on economic construction? To put it bluntly, do something serious Is it not good?”
“As a native of Xuzhou, I want to disqualify Xuzhou City from being selected as a civilized city. After a month of formalism, it returned to its original state as soon as the inspection team left. Where is the civilization? If there is such a little money, it should be allocated to the pension.”
Xuzhou had already been scandalized before the urban management tearing up Spring Festival couplets incident
Xuzhou City, where the “urban management took to the streets to tear up Spring Festival couplets” incident, has been awarded “National Civilized City” many times before. But just a year ago, the “Lady in Chains” incident that shocked the whole country happened in this city.
In January 2022, a video of a woman who was said to have given birth to eight children and was imprisoned in Huankou Town, Feng County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province went viral on the Internet, arousing social concern. As multiple investigators revealed the truth regarding the trafficking of women, the incident ignited public opinion and shocked the whole country. At the same time, many crimes of local human trafficking have also been revealed. The Xuzhou authorities issued multiple circulars, but failed to quell public outrage because of contradictory content.
Before the “Girl in Chains” incident broke out, Xuzhou City seemed to have received “special attention” from the CCP. Under the strong recommendation of the authorities, Xuzhou City won the “China Habitat Award” in 2017 and the “United Nations Habitat Award” in 2018. Ironically, the selection criteria for the award issued by the United Nations agency involve gender equality, crime prevention and social justice. Xuzhou is on the list of “China’s Happiest Cities in 2021” released by the official media “Oriental Outlook Weekly” under Xinhua News Agency. This is the fourth time Xuzhou has won the title since 2017.
Responsible editor: Fang Xiazhen#
