[The Epoch Times, August 28, 2022](Reported by The Epoch Times reporter Li Jing) In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party’s regulatory authorities have used fines to generate revenue, which has been criticized by public opinion. The news that a small vendor in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province was fined 66,000 yuan by the local regulatory authority for selling 5 catties of celery has caused widespread controversy after it was exposed by the media recently.
On August 27, the topic “Sellers were fined 60,000 yuan for selling celery for 20 yuan” appeared on Weibo’s hot search, arousing public attention.
According to mainland media reports, Luo and his wife run a vegetable grain and oil store. One day in October last year, they bought 7 catties of celery. The local market supervision department extracted 2 catties for sampling inspection. A month later, the market supervision department said that “this batch of celery failed the inspection.”
Luo Mou, the owner of the grain, oil and vegetable store, said that after being told that the celery was unqualified, he had to provide a receipt for the purchase. Luo Mou said that the receipt was lost at that time and could not be found.
Of the 7 catties of celery that the owner Luo had, except 2 catties that were taken away for inspection by the regulatory authorities, the remaining 5 catties were sold at a price of 4 yuan per catty.
The penalty decision determined that because the celery involved had been sold and could not be recalled without the buyer’s information, Luo and his wife could not provide the supplier’s license certificate and bills, and could not truthfully explain the source of the purchase. The market supervision department imposed a penalty of 66,000 yuan.
The owner of the grain, oil and vegetable store said, “How many tons of celery do I have to sell to earn more than 60,000 yuan?”
After the “Celery Case” in Shaanxi was reported by the media, it caused controversy in public opinion. Officials from the Yulin Market Supervision Bureau acknowledged that the case was improperly punished.
However, some mainland media reviewed the food administrative penalty account of the Yulin City Market Supervision Bureau since 2021 and found that among the more than 50 penalties against small and micro market players, 21 were fined more than 50,000 yuan, and their The value of the case is only tens or hundreds of dollars.
The incident aroused concern and heated discussion among netizens. Many netizens commented: “Shaanxi Yulin Market Supervision Bureau made a lot of money by issuing fines. Through this method, the annual net income is as high as several million yuan.”
“In the past, the urban management kicked the hawker for a concussion for 200 yuan, and now he was fined more than 60,000 yuan for selling five catties of celery. The officials were not punished, mainly because the common people were easy to bully. It is a big taxpayer, to ensure employment and stability, it is enough to impose a fine.”
“The tyranny is fiercer than the tiger, and the power is in their hands. Even if they are wrong, there will be no substantive punishment, and the profit will not be lost.”
In 80 Chinese cities, fines revenue rose by 127% last year
In recent years, the CCP’s regulatory authorities have been criticized by public opinion for using fines to generate revenue. The fine has become a “magic weapon” for the regulatory authorities to accumulate wealth, and the people have ridiculed it as “a robber with a license”.
In July, Chinese cities successively announced their budget implementation for 2021.
“Southern Weekend” counted the confiscation income of more than 300 prefecture-level cities across the country. Among them, 111 prefecture-level cities released data on fines and confiscations. Confiscated income is a form of fiscal revenue. Judicial, public security, administrative and other management departments impose fines or confiscated goods for the price of income for violations of laws or administrative regulations.
Among the 111 prefecture-level cities with published data, 80 cities will see an upward trend in confiscation revenue in 2021, accounting for more than 72%. Among them, 15 cities saw a year-on-year increase of more than 100% in their income from fines and confiscations.
Among the data on fines and confiscations in major cities, Qingdao is the most eye-catching. In 2021, Qingdao’s confiscation income will be 4.377 billion yuan, ranking first among 111 statistical cities. Compared with 2020, Qingdao’s confiscation revenue increased by 127%.
It is worth noting that Xi’an City, which is located in the same province as Yulin City, where the “Celery Case” occurred, will rank third with 2.534 billion yuan in confiscated income in 2021, compared with 1.657 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 53%.
The CCP’s urban management is also at the bottom of the society. They have no mercy for the hawkers who are also at the bottom of the society. Instead, they bully them even more. pic.twitter.com/hUuZbhtoYN
— Against dictatorships (@ffl0071) August 20, 2022
Hawkers set up stalls to affect the city’s appearance
It won’t affect the city appearance if it is kicked over?
You need face, not people, face is more important than people❗️ pic.twitter.com/o8EmGYNy4S— Internet Country Zhao Wujie (@zhaoworld) August 25, 2022
Responsible editor: Sun Yun #