During the late 20th and early 2000s, officials' corruption was well known. Many state-owned enterprises and factories went bankrupt, lots of workers were unemployed, and their living standards plummeted. Many of them had worked for the country for decades, and they felt abandoned. This also leads to a deterioration of public security levels. I was a little child, and remembering to hang out at night was something dangerous. Someone would rob passersby by motorcycles, regardless of whether the victim would be injured or not. At that time, the bus station and the railway station were also dangerous places. My mother once saw a woman's gold earrings being forcibly dragged away from her ears, bleeding straight away. Until now, I am still vigilant when I am waiting at the station.
In rural areas, the burden on farmers is increasing, and I have heard of some places where farmers do not earn enough to pay taxes. It is not uncommon for children can not to go to school, and for adults not to have enough to eat. Many people choose to give up farming and flee to work in the city to support the children and elderly people who stay at home. But the constant rush to the city leads caused many other problems. There was a "hand chopping party" in Guangdong. When they were robbing the victim's property, if the victim tries to resist, they chopped the victim's hand. Many of these criminals came from the same village in Guangxi Province.
My grandfather was an old CPC member who participated in the war in Korea. He never stopped paying the party fees until his death. When he was about to retire in the early 1990s, he believed that the situation was far from the ideal of joining the Party. He had submitted several applications to withdraw from the Party and were all rejected. The sharp increase in social injustice has disappointed many people who have experienced the Mao era. When Xi began to fight corruption, my grandfather was very supportive.
