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In April this year, many village and town banks in Henan were unable to withdraw funds due to a financial crisis. Some anxious depositors went to Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, to defend their rights.
Authorities announced on Wednesday (June 22) that they were punishing officials after many activists in Henan, China, discovered that their health codes had been “red” and questioned the authorities’ use of anti-epidemic technology to “maintain stability”.
In a briefing, the Zhengzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Feng Xianbin, executive deputy secretary of the Zhengzhou Municipal Political and Legal Committee and director of the Social Control and Guidance Department of the Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters, was dismissed, and his deputy Zhang Linlin was demoted.
Three other officials were sentenced to “remember major demerits” or “demerits”, involving the director of the Political and Legal Committee responsible for maintaining stability, the staff member of the Municipal Big Data Bureau responsible for health code management, and the deputy general manager of the state-owned Zhengzhou Big Data Development Company. .
In April this year, many village banks in Henan were unable to provide cash withdrawal services due to a financial crisis. Some anxious depositors went to Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, to defend their rights.
However, many depositors said that their nucleic acid test was negative, but their health code was suddenly assigned a “red code” (indicating a risk person), resulting in forced isolation or travel restrictions. According to reports, there are also some activist owners who have stopped construction and have encountered similar situations.
The Zhengzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision stated that 1,317 village bank depositors were assigned red codes, of which 446 were assigned red codes after scanning the “place code” when entering Zhengzhou, and 871 were sent from Zhengzhou by scanning others in other places. “Location Code” is assigned a red code.
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The place code is a QR code set up in public places in many cities in China to prevent and control the epidemic and conduct epidemiological investigations. From train stations to tourist attractions, many places require visitors to scan the code before they can pass.
According to previous reports by Chinese media, many village bank depositors said they had scanned the location code of Zhengzhou Railway Station, and then the health code turned red.
Ms. Liu, who lives in Zhengzhou, once deposited tens of thousands of yuan in Kaifeng New Oriental Village Bank. She previously told BBC Chinese that her “Yukang Code” suddenly turned red on June 13, and all her nucleic acid test results were negative, and she had never been in contact with confirmed people, and only returned from Kaifeng after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Zhengzhou.
She said that the epidemic prevention staff then came to the door and asked her to stay at home, but the epidemic prevention department refused to explain the reason for the “red code” to her.
People don’t buy it
According to the report, Feng Xianbin and Zhang Linlin “decided without authorization” and arranged for their subordinates to operate the red code, and they are responsible for this.
“Assigning red codes to those who do not meet the code assignment conditions without authorization seriously undermines the seriousness of the regulations on the management and use of health codes, and causes serious adverse social impacts. This is a typical disorderly act,” the report said.
However, many people are not satisfied with this decision, and many people think that the punishment is too light.
“People are sentenced for forging health codes, and officials who forge health codes are only dismissed as warnings? Everyone is equal before the law. Since they are all forged health codes, please treat them equally.” A Weibo netizen wrote.
“Where did the people from the Political and Legal Committee get the bank depositor information? To what extent has the public’s privacy been leaked? Shouldn’t we continue to explain this alone?” another netizen wrote.
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Hu Xijin, a commentator and former editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times, said he believed the public’s dissatisfaction was “justified” because the act had caused “serious damage” to official credibility.
Lao Dongyan, a professor at Tsinghua University Law School, previously analyzed that the use of health codes outside of epidemic prevention is suspected of violating Article 66 of China’s “Infectious Disease Prevention Law” and Article 34 of the “Personal Information Protection Law”. Public officials are charged with the crime of abuse of power under the Criminal Code.
What’s wrong with the village bank?
In mid-April this year, many village and town banks in Henan and Anhui provinces, the major agricultural provinces, encountered problems that depositors could not withdraw money, and some banks closed online withdrawal and transfer functions without warning.
Since then, thousands of bank depositors have traveled to Zhengzhou to try to get their deposits back. Some depositors have organized sporadic rights protests.
The protests expanded in late May. On May 23, hundreds of protesters in Zhengzhou took to the streets and gathered outside the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau. People demonstrated with placards saying “Return my savings”, but they were dispersed by the police.
According to reports, the funds involved in these banks currently exceed 39 billion yuan. Hundreds of thousands of customers affected.
State media reported that the major shareholders of the village banks in financial crisis were under investigation for allegedly absorbing public deposits through “fund brokers”.
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In China, a green health code is required to use public transport.
Health code controversy
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China has used health codes to locate and track citizens across the country, and forcibly banned people at risk. This had early support from many people, but now there is growing concern that the measure will lead to restrictions on civil rights and invasion of privacy.
In October last year, the northeastern city of Heihe changed the health codes of all local residents to “yellow codes” in order to prevent the spread of the virus. The measure even restricted the movement of some Heihe people working in other places, sparking criticism.