李怡，1936年生，香港知名時事評論家、作家。1970年曾創辦雜誌《七十年代》，1984年更名《九十年代》，直至1998年停刊。後在《蘋果日報》撰寫專欄，筆耕不輟半世紀。著有文集《放逐》、《思緒》、《對應》等十數本。正在Matters連載首部自傳《失敗者回憶錄》：「我一生所主張所推動的事情，社會總是向相反趨向發展，無論是閱讀，獨立思考或民主自由都如是。這就是我所指的失敗的人生。」

Memoirs of a Loser 175: Looking at China from the Forum's Glorious Years

Jul 23, 2022

The forum's website also attracted contributions from writers from mainland China, most of whom wrote about Jiao Guobiao, who once wrote "Crackdown on the Central Propaganda Department", and a writer named "Northern Coco" who provided more vivid commentary. In addition, the famous Liu Xiaobo, the Tibetan female writer Woeser, and Liu Xinwu from the system also contributed.

After taking over as the editor-in-chief of the forum edition of "Apple", on the one hand, I asked for manuscripts from some good writers I knew, such as Kong Jiesheng and Yin Huimin from Jumei; For articles that are easy to read, set up a "one needle collection" with a limit of 100 words to attract readers to contribute widely. Exclude some dull manuscripts of politicians who are purely political. Soon, the president Dong Qiao told me that the forum had become famous.

There were also small storms. Once a gossip photo of an artist was published in a weekly magazine that also belongs to Next Media, and was provoked by Apple's opponents. A group of artists and women's groups were organized to gather outside the Next Media building, hanging banners and shouting slogans to protest against Next Media. . Next Media was afraid of public sentiment and did not respond.

At this time, Dong Qiao forwarded me an article written by Jiang Yun, refuting the hypocrisy and fussing of these artists. I publish with headlines. That night, my assistant came to tell me that the newspaper executives had opinions and wanted to draw this manuscript. I immediately called Li Zhiying, who was already off work, and said that I could pass this manuscript to him. If he also thinks that he wants to draw, I will choose another article to make up, but from tomorrow, I will ask him to find someone else to take over the editing of this edition. . Li said that the article does not have to be passed to him, and must not be drawn, and he will immediately communicate with the editor and senior management. That's how things worked out. Since then, there has been no high-level intervention in my editing.

However, there are still some people in the outside world who, through the high-level contacts of the newspaper office, want me to publish their articles. My response is to ask them to send their manuscripts directly to the forum's website, and I will make tradeoffs based on the quality of the articles.

Many authors who rarely appear in other newspapers or web pages have been found to be good writers, with unique viewpoints and outstanding writing skills. There are also some authors whose political orientation is different from the mainstream consciousness of "Apple", such as Zhong Zukang, Li Decheng, Lusida, etc., and I also use them all, and sometimes make their articles the focus of the layout.

But the most surprising thing about the forum page is not these contributions, but the fact that many mainlanders use this page to sell advertisements. Maybe the Chinese Internet Army didn't know what forum@appledaily.com was at that time, and it was not blocked, and some mainlanders were selling their products here. What product? Most of them are "invoices", because in China, invoices cannot be sold publicly. Therefore, selling "invoices" is to provide a tool for people from all walks of life to report and receive money.

What's even more outrageous is the sale of master's and doctoral thesis, stating that it is not plagiarism, and guaranteeing clearance. Even more terrifying is the sale of driver's licenses, accounting licenses, college diplomas, including medical school diplomas. Whether the invoice can really be reimbursed, whether the paper is plagiarized, whether the license and certificate are really valid, are no longer the key point, but if there is a supply, it proves that there is a market.

China has become the world's factory under globalization, forming a crony capitalism with political dictatorship and open markets. Under this "socialist system with Chinese characteristics", the CCP leadership no longer shy away from their children's relatives' roles in energy, finance, transportation, shipping and other important livelihood and commercial towns. Under the flood of bourgeois capitalism, social corruption has become people's daily life, and morality, professionalism, and trust between people have disappeared.

From the large number of invoices, certificates and the like on the forum pages, it can be seen that China's underground economy is extremely prosperous. The red envelopes given to doctors for seeing a doctor, the red envelopes given to teachers by parents, and the profits from buying and selling licenses and certificates will not be counted in GDP. The head of a county-level bank branch was exposed to over 100 million yuan in corruption.

Chinese officials, business executives, and even local petty officials all need money laundering, that is, to "launder" the unsightly money into legitimate-looking funds through legal financial operations.

Since 2004 and 2005, Hong Kong has become a money laundering paradise for mainlanders. The specific operation is to set up a limited company in Hong Kong and claim to have made a lot of money by short selling, such as buying a large amount of iron ore and reselling it to another country, making a profit of 100 million. But transactions are just documents, not physical objects. So the black money can be washed, and the cost is the highest rate of 16.5% of Hong Kong profits tax.

Since the financial crisis in 1997, Hong Kong has been plagued by fiscal deficits for successive years. But starting from 2004, the fiscal deficit turned into a profit, and then there was a surplus for more than ten years, and the surplus was much larger than the budget. The reason is that corporate profits tax has skyrocketed every year. In fact, it was caused by a large number of mainlanders setting up companies in Hong Kong to launder money.

During his tenure as chief executive, Donald Tsang is said to have considered reducing business profits tax by one percentage point to make Hong Kong more competitive. But it was stopped by the center. It is rumored that the reason for the central government's suspension is that China is under pressure from some money laundering countries in Central and South America. China blocked Hong Kong's profits tax cut for diplomatic reasons. This is the inside information I heard.

No matter how credible the news is, it is impossible for the CCP leadership at all levels to know that the operation of the entire Chinese society is inseparable from the lubricant of corruption, and Hong Kong is also the most convenient and cheapest place for the rich to launder money and transfer property. .

Chinese society has completely changed. For those in power in the CCP, Hong Kong still has to implement one country, two systems, but it is not one country, two systems that is beneficial to the country, but one country, two systems that is beneficial to the powerful. Therefore, the one country, two systems rule that is unfavorable to the powerful must be removed, and the people of Hong Kong must be prevented from establishing a system that protects the original rules. This is the change faced by Hong Kong in the ten years after 1997 under one country, two systems.