A new phrase is making the rounds of mockery on China’s Twitter-like social networking platforms: “collapsed and died”.
The phrase caught the eye of sarcasm following the death of a watermelon vendor after he was allegedly thrashed by members of a para-police force, a reviled institution probably very unique to China.
After the death of 56-year-old Deng Zhengjia in China’s Hunan province – and after his wife slipped into coma – officials said he had “collapsed and died” by himself probably during an argument with urban management officers or “chengguan” as they are known in locally; the chengguan did not beat him to death as was alleged by relatives and eyewitnesses, the official version said.
The TeaLeafNation, a website that tracks China’s online trends and stories that are making the rounds of the Communist country’s vast online population, put out examples from the thousands of angry comments were made after the incident was reported; another one in a long line of incidents of one-side violence involving the chengguuan, a band of uniformed personnel who many think have no accountability.
The website said the exact sequence of events that led Deng’s death could be debated but there was no debate about the perception: the dreaded and hated chengguan were the murderers.
“Though the concrete reason behind the death of Deng Zhengjia has not yet been ascertained, many people are convinced that the chengguan are murderers, and continue to mock phrases like “suddenly collapsed and died” with acrimonious criticism,” the website said.
It added that one Weibo user invited the leaders of Linwu county – where the incident happened – to “show us how to collapse and die!”
“If you fail to die after three time,” he wrote, “you’ve shamed yourself too much to continue living.”
The sarcasm clearly sourced itself from anger. And from reactions of people to the incident, a lot of people are angry at the death of the fruit vendor; an example that the common, hardworking man on the street is at the mercy of someone in uniform whose power is vague and the level of whose accountability is even more vague.
As Deng’s story and related comments were being posted thousands of times on Weibo, 34-year-old Ji Zhongxing wheeled himself inside the Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) and triggered a home-made bomb last Saturday.
Ji managed to injure only himself, and one of his hands had to be amputated. But his act again put harsh focus on the chengguan. Years ago, he had been beaten so badly by urban management personnel that his legs became paralysed; Ji’s apparent fault was that his motorcycle taxi service didn’t have a license.
“China’s urban management officers, or chengguan, are often criticised for their violent law enforcement methods for tackling low-level, urban, and non-criminal regulation violations. Reports of urban management law enforcement units often appear in media amid accusations of chengguan officers beating vendors and smashing their stalls,” the Communist Party of China (CPC) mouthpiece, People’s Daily — no less – said in a commentary.
The six chengguan said to be involved in the death of the watermelon seller have been placed in criminal detention since.
The People’s Daily stated that conflicts between chengguan and the subjects of law enforcement lie in unequal status and lack of communication between the two sides.
“Equal, civilized, service-oriented and law-based enforcement by urban management workers is required to seek public understanding and help build beautiful cities,” said the commentary.
Tell that to the citizens facing the callous chengguan.