Letter to the Editor: “Although I’m Clothed, I Feel Naked”

(Minghui.org) I used to be a farmer. But after the government seized the land and put buildings on it, we no longer had any land left to farm. To make a living and support my elderly parents, I went to Beijing to look for a job.

A friend of mine in our village went to Beijing several years ago and now works for a delivery company. I went straight to him for help. 

At the entrance to his residential district, a security guard stopped me and asked me for the “Health Code.” (Editor’s note: “Health Code” is a mobile app that tracks one’s location and scores a person based on whether he or she has been to a coronavirus hotspot.)

“What is that?”

“It verifies that you’ve been here. It has nothing to do with your health.”

Seeing that I was holding a Nokia (Editor’s note: Nokia is not a smartphone that can install the “Health Code” app), the guard took out his own cellphone to scan my face and collected my information before letting me in.

After I found a place to live, a woman from the residential committee told me to get a pass. I was also required to have my face scanned every time I entered and left the apartment building. 

She said, “This is to verify that you are the one going in and out of this place, not someone else.”

I soon realized that, no matter where I went, I was required to have my face scanned, whether I was buying groceries at the supermarket, dining at a restaurant, entering a public bathroom, or even before I used the toilet paper dispenser! I once thought that the restaurant didn’t let me in because I didn’t look good enough.

One day when I was walking in Zhongshan Park, a patrol officer stopped me and asked to see my ID. He had a device on his shoulder that scanned my face. 

“Why are you scanning my face?”

“We are investigating a case and are collecting evidence.”

I didn’t break any law. Why did he have to record my face?

Wherever I looked, I saw surveillance cameras. No matter where I was or what I was doing, I felt naked, even though I had clothes on.

I later realized that the communist government treats all citizens as “outlaws.” No wonder they spend so much effort monitoring every citizen, everywhere.

That’s why I was delighted to come across a Falun Gong practitioner the other day. She urged me to quit the Chinese Communist Party. She also told me how the government fabricated the “self-immolation” hoax to defame Falun Gong and justify the persecution. 

“That’s right!” I said. “I saw a movie the other day that talked about the self-immolation incident. I know all Falun Gong practitioners in my village are good people and they are persecuted so terribly by the government. The government has done so much evil and now has invited the ‘god of plague.’ I truly believe it’s heaven’s will to eliminate it.

“Please help me to quit the Youth League and the Young Pioneers! Then I can be a true Chinese, not a follower of the communist ghost that came from the West.”