Amid economic struggle in China, police seize property of business owners

According to a report by Voice of America, posts circulating on social media show that police across China are targeting private business owners, seizing properties and demanding money in exchange for releasing funds Is.

Zhang Ke (real identity not known), a man hiding from police in Guangzhou since September, says he/she has done nothing wrong but is evading authorities to avoid extortion.

his/her ordeal began in July when the Nanle County Public Security Bureau in Henan province froze all his/her bank accounts. The reason: Zhang’s sports lottery distributor business, which he/she ran by providing customers with a way to gamble remotely. Voice of America (VOA) reported that in exchange for lifting the ban, police demanded US$55,000 – almost all of Zhang’s earnings.

According to Zhang, he/she is far from being alone. Nearly 10,000 incidents of asset seizure have been recorded in Guangzhou province alone, with many businesses like Zhang’s vulnerable to such extortion.

Zhang’s business, which involves gambling on behalf of clients through social media platforms, operates in a gray area of ​​Chinese law. While the sale of physical lottery tickets is regulated, the online sale of sports lottery tickets is prohibited.

However, Zhang’s company does not distribute physical tickets, making the interpretation of the law subjective and open to exploitation. Zhang believes that legal ambiguity allows inter-provincial police officers to exploit business owners for profit. “The lack of clarity and standards for interpretation provides these inter-provincial police officers with the opportunity to indict thousands of store owners,” Zhang explained.

What Internet users are calling “offshore phishing” has become a widespread issue. Police in one province are seizing assets from businesses in other provinces, often transferring the money directly to personal accounts, VOA reports.

“The police asked them for money, and the money was transferred not to the corporate accounts of the Public Security Bureau, but to the policemen’s personal accounts,” Zhang said.

Experts point to the country’s economic recession as a driving factor behind this increase in illegal enforcement.

Hunter College professor Teng Biao explained that local governments, once dependent on land sales for revenue, are turning to “offshore fishing” as a means of filling their coffers. “Local governments depended on selling land for financial resources. But the economic recession and crippled property market took away that option from them,” he/she said, according to the VOA report.

Many business owners, including Zhang, have been forced to pay these illegal fines to avoid arrest. “If you don’t give money to the police, you will be thrown in jail,” he/she said.

Zhang now believes his/her only option is to leave China altogether. “I don’t want to live on this land of China anymore; This is disgusting,” he/she said.