In a report dated November 21, 2024, local public security authorities in China have been accused of conducting opportunistic law enforcement actions against entrepreneurs, a practice referred to as “long-distance fishing,” which has sparked controversy. Recently, the Zhejiang Procuratorate in China disclosed a rare case involving out-of-province public security officers attempting “long-distance fishing” in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, without specifying the province of origin. Analysts believe that this case is just the tip of the iceberg and has not yet delved into issues such as arbitrary fines. It is possible that the targeted entrepreneur had influential connections that led to the arrest of the out-of-province police, but the official report did not disclose the specific province involved, reflecting a culture of mutual protection among officials.
The Zhejiang Provincial Procuratorate in China convened a press conference on November 20 to inform about the “Protecting Enterprises” special law enforcement actions conducted in the province this year, highlighting a case of opportunistic law enforcement.
According to reports, in late May 2023, police officers Yang and Zhan from an out-of-province county in China took advantage of their positions for personal gain, illegally bringing police uniforms, handcuffs, and law enforcement recording equipment to Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces in their vehicle. They attempted to extort money from entrepreneurs under the pretext of assisting with case resolution. On June 11 of the same year, under the guise of cooperating with a police investigation, Yang and Zhan took entrepreneur Shen from his home in Wujiang, Jiangsu. During the journey, Yang implied to Shen that he could assist with the case and demanded money. Shen managed to escape while the vehicle was en route in Deqing County, Zhejiang, and reported the incident to the authorities.
Local police in Zhejiang initiated an investigation into Yang and Zhan for suspected fraud, but due to their judicial roles, the case reached a deadlock as they could not be prosecuted for the aforementioned crime. The Deqing County Procuratorate intervened and suspected that the two individuals might have abused their positions within the judicial system, subsequently transferring the case to the Huzhou City Procuratorate. After confirming Yang and Zhan’s judicial roles, the Deqing County Procuratorate filed charges of abuse of power against them. The court sentenced them to eight and seven months in prison, respectively.
Commentator Li Lin pointed out to a media outlet that it is uncommon to see law enforcement officers involved in financial wrongdoing being arrested and sentenced. It is speculated that the targeted entrepreneur had influential backing which led to the arrest and conviction of the police officers. Furthermore, the cases primarily involved extortion without touching upon the widely criticized issues of arbitrary fines, asset seizures, and frozen accounts. The fact that even the province of origin of the police officers was not disclosed underscores the systemic protection among officials.
As financial strains increase for local governments across China, leading to confiscated revenue flowing into local budgets, various law enforcement and judicial departments are becoming involved in opportunistic law enforcement practices in different regions, labeled as “long-distance fishing.”
On October 16, the Huaxia Times exposed a report published by the Guangdong Provincial Research Center in April, citing Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and other cities in the Pearl River Delta region as hotspots for such practices. For instance, in Guangzhou since 2023, nearly 10,000 companies, predominantly private enterprises, including Pupu, Yijiankang, and Jiujun, have been victimized, with a clear profit-oriented motive observed in most cases.
Reports from mainland China referenced a case from a county police station in Chongqing, where over 300 police officers were mobilized to Hangzhou after a local resident’s purchase of a “jade bath” product was deemed invalid, resulting in charges of “fraud.” This excessive operation led to the arrest of 155 individuals associated with the company manufacturing the “jade bath” product, with the total amount involved reaching over 200 million Chinese yuan.
In Cili County in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, the head of a local police station, Liu, explicitly informed the representative of a company suspected of illegal operations, the Wuhan Yuancheng Group, that the primary goal of the investigation was to generate funds, with a few million yuan being sufficient.
Additionally, the Yijiankang Group in Guangdong fell victim to “long-distance fishing.” The company, which earned 2.423 billion yuan in revenue in 2022, submitted an application for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by the end of June 2023. However, in October of the same year, over 1,600 police officers from Henan’s Jiaozuo and Shangqiu cities were dispatched to Guangzhou without evidence of fraud, resulting in the freezing of 64 company accounts, initially involving a mere 600,000 yuan.
Subsequently, the Yijiankang Group was forced to withdraw its application for a Hong Kong listing and faced operational paralysis due to financial difficulties, unable to resume normal production and operations.
Recently, cases of “long-distance fishing” in the form of online scams targeting individual sellers have emerged, such as a report from Zhejiang revealing an incident where a person selling watches had their bank account frozen shortly after receiving a payment of 400,000 yuan, leading to their arrest for involvement in online fraud.
On October 8, during a meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, measures to curb illegal cross-regional law enforcement and opportunistic law enforcement were emphasized.
Economic scholar David Huang stated in a previous interview with a media outlet that the central government in Beijing is aware of such practices but relies on local governments to implement its policies and on public security forces to maintain regime security, hence avoiding excessive pressure on local governments and law enforcement agencies. Given the financial strain at the local level, with law enforcement agencies dependent on local budgets, these practices continue.
Rights lawyer Shao Ping Wu, residing in the United States, highlighted that public security officers engaging in “long-distance fishing” in other regions are rewarded for increasing local revenue. This indicates a tacit approval from various regions for engaging in such activities, illustrating the consequences of complicity enabled by the Chinese Communist Party.