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Shanxi Traffic Police’s Fleet of Land Rover SUVs Exposed

A row of white Land Rovers owned by the Shanxi Traffic Police, in apparent violation of government regulations, angering Chinese netizens.

A row of white Land Rovers owned by the Shanxi Traffic Police, in apparent violation of government regulations, angering Chinese netizens.

From NetEase:

“Matching Land Rover Fleet” Confirmed as Owned by Shanxi Traffic Police

According to a China Business News October 22nd report: On October 21st, a set of photos titled “Exposing Shanxi Highway Traffic Police’s Showy Land Rover Fleet” circulated online.

In the photos, matching white Land Rover vehicles were driven in a line, all fitted with police lights, all prefixed with “晋O” [the license plate prefix for Shanxi], and eye-catching license plates of repeating numbers. Among the license plates that could be discerned, three were “晋O88888”, “晋O11111”, and “晋O22222”.

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china-shanxi-traffic-police-land-rover-fleet-03

This China Youth Daily reporter discovered that as of at least 2013, the aforementioned vehicles should have been under the ownership of the Shanxi Traffic Police.

According to published reports, starting from 2004, the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and provincial government has instituted a changes to the “晋O” license plate, with the O prefix being reserved for use by vehicles used by public security departments.

This China Youth Daily journalist learned that on 2013 January 20, in a report titled “Shanxi Traffic Police Lead the Way Keeping Highway Unimpeded” published by chinanews.com.cn, one can see several of the Land Rover vehicles exposed.

In a photo in the report, the Land Rover with license plate 晋O88888 has its police lights on, leading the way in the snow. The caption for this photo reads: “At the Xuegongling section of the Qingyin Highway, highway traffic police use vehicles leading the way to control speeds and escort vehicles through.” The photo clearly indicates that it was “provided by the police”.

china-shanxi-traffic-police-land-rover-fleet-previous-report

In the other photo of the report, the Land Rover with license plate 晋O11111 appears. This vehicle is parked at a highway exit. The photo caption reads: “Taiyuan City Ring Highway, highway traffic police use vehicles leading the way to control speeds and escort vehicles through”. This photo likewise indicates that it was “provided by the police”.

In addition, on the Shanxi Traffic Police website of the Shanxi Provincial Ministry of Public Security portal website, in an article published on 2013 December 10 titled “Shanxi Traffic Police Guard Xuegongling”, the above photo of the 晋O88888 Land Rover leading the way on a road is also attached.

According to the Shanxi Provincial Highway Traffic Police website, the Qingyin Highway Xuegongling section and Taiyuan City Ring Highway is managed by the highway traffic police.

Article 8 of the “Administrative Regulations on Vehicles Provided for Official Use by the Communist Party and Government Organizations” issued in 2011 stipulates: Off-road/SUV vehicles are in principle not provided for use by the Communist Party or government organizations. If necessary due to the geographical environment and needs of the work to be done, domestically manufactured off-road/SUV vehicles may be provided. Domestically manufactured Land Rovers have only come off the line in 2014 October, so it can be certain that the Land Rovers reported above in 2013 were not domestically manufactured.

Just what are the specific details concerning these Land Rovers with special license plate numbers? There has yet to be a response from officials.

Shanxi Highway Traffic Police 4th Detachment Captain Li Guorui expressed in an interview with China Business News that the Land Rovers in internet postings “do not belong to our unit, and are unrelated to us”, not is he clear what unit they belong to. Shanxi Highway Traffic Police 2nd Detachment Captain Li Zhifu told the China Business News reporter, “How could we possibly be outfitted with Land Rovers? Simply a joke [impossible].” Li Zhifu said, “The cars we are outfitted with are all Volkswagens like Jettas and Santanas, and even the leader rides a lousy car over 10 years old.”

This China Youth Daily reporter contacted the Shanxi Provincial Traffic Police headquarters, and the Traffic Police Press Center claimed that there are no results from the investigation into this matter yet, and asked this reporter to contact the Propaganda and Education Office. However, the Propaganda and Education Office said it is not responsible for this matter, that they were about to have a meeting, and hung up.

Comments from NetEase:

网易浙江省杭州市网友 ip:122.224.*.*

Stupid cunt’ed.

噬血的蚂蚁 [网易北京市网友]:

Hehe, didn’t they say claim that their “cars are all lousy”?

[Note: This refers to earlier response by the Shanxi Traffic Police to this matter.]

U8890 [网易江西省南昌市网友]:

Don’t know how to explain, that these were specifically lent to us by a local company to encourage us, and now they’ve already been returned.

精神病晚期病人 [网易山东省网友]:

These aren’t Land Rovers, these are highway overlords, where even if fucking Optimus Prime encounters them, he has to obediently yield and give way. I remember in the past, the most honking and use of loudspeakers I’d hear was— Give way, give way, the car in front, hurry and give way… and then a motorcade with both lights flashing would cockily pass by all, all single colored Audis and Toyota Coasters. Highway overlords, only you~~~

yadoyi [网易北京市网友]:

MD, do I have to deal with this?

网易四川省成都市网友 ip:210.15.*.*

Indeed lousy cars, all no longer wanted and given to them by coal bosses, you know what I mean.

[Note: Shanxi is known for its coal resources, and the bosses of coal mines are infamous for being incredibly rich but also unsophisticated.]

网易北京市手机网友 ip:106.38.*.*

Hehe, you fucking continue to spread rumors.

网易湖北省宜昌市手机网友 ip:221.233.*.*

“Shanxi Highway Traffic Police 2nd Detachment Captain Li Zhifu told the China Business News reporter, ‘How could we possibly be outfitted with Land Rovers? Simply a joke [impossible].’ Li Zhifu said, ‘The cars we are outfitted with are all Volkswagens like Jettas and Santanas, and even the leader rides a lousy car over 10 years old.’ This captain lies through his teeth. Shouldn’t he be sacked?

guojianglong [网易北京市网友]:

There’s definitely something fishy.

网易贵州省遵义市网友 ip:1.204.*.*

When [civil] servants are already driving Range Rovers costing over a million [RMB], can you who is riding a bicycle still say you are the master without embarrassment?

[Note: In the PRC, the government is presented as “servants” of the “the people” who are the “masters” of the country.]

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Written by Fauna

Fauna is a mysterious young Shanghainese girl who lives in the only place a Shanghainese person would ever want to live: Shanghai. In mid-2008, she started chinaSMACK to combine her hobby of browsing Chinese internet forums with her goal of improving her English. Through her tireless translation of popular Chinese internet news and phenomenon, her English has apparently gotten dramatically better. At least, reading and writing-wise. Unfortunately, she's still not confident enough to have written this bio, about herself, by herself.

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