Para quem se lembra dos Chengguan

Há algum tempo escrevi sobre as novas regras para os Chengguan em Pequim. Esta semana foi publicado numa revista de Shanghai um artigo bastante interessante sobre a vida de uma família que vive da venda de comida na rua. Depois da publicação a autora escreve que apenas um parágrafo do artigo original foi censurado e portanto não publicado, o parágrafo refere-se à relação entre os vendedores de rua e os Chengguan.

Tomo a liberdade de reproduzir-lo aqui:

“Officially know as City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau (城 市管理行政执法局), it is not really clear what the chengguan are supposed to do. But what they are known for doing is making migrants’ live miserable in cities across China. There are many stories of chengguan beating vendors, smashing their products or food, and taking bribes. It is also common to hear about chengguan killing street vendors. A recent incident in Guizhou led to a riot when a chengguan killed a disabled migrant. Stories of chengguan exploitation of power are so pervasive that appeasing them with bribes becomes the key to a street vendor’s success. Giving bribes is a matter of life or death. But for migrants who do not have enough money to bribe, they have to constantly be on the run. Constant running means that a street vendor cannot establish a business in the long term. So for a street vendor like this family I am with, finding a place to set up a cart in a chengguan-free site is a matter of survival and success.  A stable place to sell food would give them a stable income to expand their business or go into another line of work.”