(Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province – April 2, 2024) Chinese writer Zan Aizong was harassed late at night by local anti-fraud personnel from the local police station, who demanded that he uninstall an app related to Christian preaching.
According to “Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch” (Minsheng Guancha) on March 15, at 9:00 p.m. on March 12, anti-fraud personnel from the Dongxin Police Station of the Gongshu District Public Security Bureau in Hangzhou knocked on Zan Aizong’s private residence door. A person claiming to be Ma Shuo from the anti-fraud team said that Zan Aizong’s mobile phone had scanned and installed an app with fraudulent information. They received instructions from the national anti-fraud center to visit in person, understand the situation, prevent fraud, and cooperation in the matter is mandatory.
Zan Aizong stated that he received two calls from unfamiliar numbers and did not answer them. Around 10 p.m. that night, personnel from the Dongxin Police Station in Hangzhou, wearing reflective uniforms with “Dongxin Anti-Fraud” written on them, knocked on his door. At the time, Zan Aizong was on the phone. The anti-fraud personnel shouted loudly, banged on the door, disturbing the peace of the night and affecting the neighbors who were resting.
Zan Aizong did not receive any suspicious links that day, nor did he download or install any unknown app, let alone fall victim to online or phone fraud. He expressed his intention to report this late-night harassment to the Hangzhou Public Security Command Center (110) and file a complaint against them.
After calling 110, a person arrived claiming not to be a police officer and did not show a law enforcement identification, however, he had a law enforcement recorder on his clothes. He stated that his outfit alone proved his identity. Later, he took out a card, which did not have the name of the person who called, Ma Shuo, from Dongxin Police Station, but rather the surname Wei or Dai. This anti-fraud personnel quickly flashed the card and took it back before it could be clearly seen. He insisted on verifying that Zan Aizong’s phone had installed a certain app related to fraud, warning not to transfer money and to cooperate in deleting the app.
Zan Aizong filed a complaint to Zhang Ming, a police officer from the Political Security Brigade of the Gongshu District Public Security Sub-bureau in Hangzhou, about the improper inspection methods and late-night disturbance by this anti-fraud personnel. After repeated negotiations, the anti-fraud personnel continued to demand cooperation. The whole process lasted over forty minutes, and it was not until 11 p.m. that the person finally left.
It is understood that on the morning of the same day, Zan Aizong was chatting with a Christian and mentioned a Christian app containing a collection of sermons by Wang Lin, a young pastor from a Christian church in Shanghai, discussing Bible verses. The app had no commercial advertising content and allowed users to share these sermon videos and audios after scanning the code. The content was completely unrelated to telecom fraud or online scams.
Zan Aizong does not know Pastor Wang Lin, so he does not believe there would be any problem with this app. However, this app has been determined by the National Anti-Fraud Center to be related to fraud. Therefore, installing this app could lead to location tracking by the Anti-Fraud Center, causing trouble.
The National Anti-Fraud Center is a mobile application developed by the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China. The “National Anti-Fraud Center app” was officially launched in March 2021. The description of the app in the app store states, “This app aims to maintain the security of the telecommunications network, create a channel for reporting online fraud, and enhance anti-fraud publicity.” While there are indeed many fraud cases in China, the sermon app installed by Zan Aizong has nothing to do with fraud.
The app has faced many controversies, such as mandatory installation for citizens, requesting a large number of permissions, infringing on user privacy, and identifying and questioning users who access overseas financial websites. Many netizens have found that this app “requests up to 29 permissions” on the Android system, and even requires users to upload sensitive facial information leading to suspicions that it also aims to monitor people’s privacy.
Zan Aizong is a devout Christian, born in 1969 in Taihe County, Anhui Province. He has been living in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province for a long time, advocating for freedom of writing and publishing. He was a journalist for the China Ocean News and the director of the Zhejiang Journalists Station. He often comments on human rights issues in China and has become a key monitored individual in the local area.
On the eve of this year’s Chinese Communist Party “Two Sessions,” on February 27, he issued a “Statement,” claiming that on several “sensitive days” each year, he is either forcibly brought out of his residence or closely monitored by security guards. He hopes for legal protection of basic freedoms and rights, as well as respect for these freedoms. He mentioned that before and after the “Two Sessions” in China, whether at home or attending church services on Sundays, he is often visited by Guoshu District political security police officers Zhang Ming, Zhan Ming, and Dongxin Police Station community police officer Mao Jun, which has brought great pressure and distress to his life.
