暗流湧動：西方資本與權貴合謀下的疫情生意內幕
暗流湧動：西方資本與權貴合謀下的疫情生意內幕
Beneath the Surface: Western Capital and Elites Profiting from China's Pandemic Policies
近來人們熱議“外資”內外勾結在華“割韭菜”之事。我便索性詳述一段親歷往事，供大家以小見大，瞥見華盛頓沼澤中西聯手、官商勾結的冰山一角，窺視他們的生意模式。在大搞清零時，有不少人啃噬中國人民的“人血饅頭”，背後勢力盤根錯節。其中某前總統家族在疫情初期便豪言投資百萬美元入局中國核酸檢測。
那是清零口號打得最響亮的日子，那不僅僅是一場狂熱的防疫政治運動，更是資本收割“韭菜”的盛宴。此事聽來荒誕，卻又讓人隱隱感到某種真實的寒意。在這幕後暗流中，其中美國某前總統家族的身影也隱約浮現。他們早在疫情初期，便投資中國的核酸檢測生意。
這些人之能耐，遠非我等常人想象。他們如同長臂猿猴，攀援於政商之間，高處俯視芸芸眾生，輕輕巧巧收割利益。記得在2020年初，那時疫情剛剛露頭，封控舉措尚未成氣候，某前總統的親兄弟，便與我一位在中國極有能量的富商朋友搭上了線。他說是要在中國投身核酸檢測業務，希望這位富商合夥下水。那富商可不是一般人，其舊日大學同窗如今有多人位列正部級官員。曾有一位我認識的學者去中國旅行，我介紹這富商出面招待，他竟能輕易地喚出地方省委常委相陪，這般能量，實在驚人。
可儘管如此，我那富商朋友雖然訊息靈通，但起初仍半信半疑。畢竟2020年初時中國都還沒有封關，核酸檢測更是遠未普及的遙遠概念，誰能料到日後會全民篩查、全民檢測，幾乎成了每日必行的例行公事？但這位總統兄弟信心滿滿，放話要自己出資100萬美金，相信這條生財之道非同小可。這背後自然是這位前總統家族的訊息渠道通天入地，先知先覺，早早探得清零方針會貫穿全國，核酸需求將如井噴般爆發。後來事實不就如此嗎？無數人頭攢動，每日核酸如同呼吸般尋常，檢測生意儼然一臺印鈔機。
2020年初時他們還不忘拉我入夥，給我畫出一條倒賣紅外測溫儀的生財捷徑。他們信誓旦旦，說有能量將測溫儀安插於全國各單位的大樓門口，一經運作，利潤便如天上掉餡餅，滾滾而來。讓我負責採購紅外測溫儀，他們負責渠道，說是大有可為。當時我確實有生產各樣感測器的渠道，然而最後我選擇了拒絕，因為在我瞭解過後，這些遠距離紅外攝像機的精度誤差通常在2攝氏度以上，完全不能夠測量體溫，毫無防疫實效。
世上有些事情，昧著良心能賺得滿盆金銀，卻失了做人的底線，我不願與之同流合汙。而且我當時天真地堅信這樣明顯沒用的東西才不會有半點市場，不可能經受得起可行性檢驗和驗收。即使賣出幾單，以後也肯定會出事，得不償失。我不願意參與任何灰色生意，於是我與他們切段聯絡，再無往來。可是事實證明了我的無知，後來當我在國內親眼見到幾乎所有公共建築和單位的門口都裝上了這等無用的紅外測溫儀時，心中驚歎萬分——原來在他們的通天手段下，這些形同虛設的東西也能搖身變為金山銀礦，幾十塊錢的成本可以賣到成千上萬的天價。
政策強制之下，核酸檢測、測溫儀器，疫苗、方艙天量需求，這些政商“傑作”宛如一張精心編織的巨網，將億萬人籠罩其中，而網中收割的，正是老百姓的血汗錢。我不清楚他們最終獲利幾何，但有外海搞金融的朋友告訴我，2022年時，他們手上出現一樁極為古怪的收購案：一家中國公司不惜溢價50%來購買一家歐洲企業，哪怕這筆交易看似虧損數億美元，也在所不惜。後來才發現，那是涉足核酸業務的企業，急於轉移資產，洗白漂淨。
這就是他們的生意模式——空手套白狼。依靠強制政策強行創造市場，憑藉關係輕易拿下訂單，將毫無實際價值的產品以壟斷之姿高價兜售。他們無需掌握任何技術，也不必花費心思做營銷。核酸檢測根本不是什麼尖端科技，只需購置幾臺機器和試劑，便能輕鬆啟動。而紅外測溫儀更是簡單至極，我不願參與，自然有人爭相湧入。他們所需的不過是資本與關係的運作，玩一場“左手倒右手”的把戲，便能日進斗金，坐享其成。
我曾一度天真地幻想：如此喪心病狂、利用國難大發橫財之人，終會在清零政策落幕之後被清算。畢竟民怨沸騰，搶劫民脂民膏的行徑理應遭到雷霆懲處。然而事實再次嘲諷了我的幼稚。雖然中國至今還生活在後疫情時代的陰霾當中，經濟到目前為止還沒有復甦，但是到如今，我從未聽聞有哪位防疫財路上的大鱷被清查問責。連曾經鬧得沸沸揚揚的“張珊珊核酸帝國”也以悄然無聲的方式告終，不見追究。也許清零政策太政治正確了，以至於和其相關的任何腐敗也無法追究，這位總統家族不但能提前看到清零的商機，還能選中這樣一個毫無風險的生意，實在是高明！
這一回目睹，讓我對華盛頓沼澤的能量再度側目。官商勾結，本不鮮見，可能把一場舉國危難化為源源不絕的財源，又能在風平浪靜後全身而退，這等翻雲覆雨手段真是令人歎為觀止；他們真可謂有通天之術：訊息先人一步，利益唾手可得，而後又如青煙散去，不留痕跡。只可惜，多少真相深埋塵中，多少“韭菜”終被無聲收割。
Recently, people have been discussing the matter of “foreign investors” colluding with each other inside and outside China to “cut leeks”. I will simply detail a personal history, for everyone to see the big picture in a small way, glimpsing the tip of the iceberg of the Washington swamp of Chinese and Western alliance, collusion between business and the Government, and a glimpse of their business model. In the big clearing, there are a lot of people to eat the Chinese people's “human blood buns”, the forces behind the intertwined. One of the former president's family in the early days of the epidemic has boasted of investing millions of dollars to enter the Chinese nucleic acid test.
That was the day when the slogan of zero hit the loudest, that is not only a frenzied political campaign against the epidemic, but also a feast for capital harvesting “leeks”. This matter sounds absurd, but let a person vaguely feel a certain real chill. In this behind-the-scenes undercurrent, in which a former U.S. presidential family figure also emerged. They invested in the nucleic acid testing business in China at the beginning of the epidemic.
The ability of these people is far beyond the imagination of ordinary people like me. They are like long-armed monkeys, climbing between politics and business, looking down on the masses from above, and gently and skillfully harvesting benefits. I remember in the early 2020s, when the epidemic had just begun to emerge and the containment initiative had not yet taken hold, the brother of a former president hooked up with a wealthy businessman friend of mine who has a lot of power in China. He said he was going into the nucleic acid testing business in China, and he wanted this wealthy businessman to partner with him. That rich businessman is not an ordinary person, his old university classmates now have a number of people ranked as full ministerial-level officials. Once a scholar I know traveled to China, I introduced this rich businessman to entertain, he could easily call out the local provincial party committee standing committee to accompany him, this kind of energy, really amazing.
But despite this, my wealthy businessman friend, although well-informed, but at first still half-believe. After all, at the beginning of 2020, China has not yet closed the customs, nucleic acid testing is a distant concept that is far from being popularized, who would have thought that in the future will be universal screening, universal testing, almost a daily routine? But the president's brother is full of confidence, said he wanted to contribute 1 million dollars, I believe that this way of making money is not trivial. This is naturally behind the former president's family's information channels into the sky, foresight, early detection of the zero policy will be throughout the country, the demand for nucleic acid will explode like a blowout. Isn't that what happened later? Numerous heads turned out, daily nucleic acids were as common as breathing, and the testing business was a money printing machine.
At the beginning of 2020, they did not forget to pull me in, drawing me a shortcut to make money by selling infrared thermometers. They swore that they had the energy to place the thermometer in the door of the building of each unit in the country, once the operation, the profit will be like a pie in the sky, rolling in. Let me be responsible for purchasing infrared thermometer, they are responsible for the channel, said it is promising. At that time, I did have the production of various sensor channels, however, in the end, I chose to refuse, because after I learned that the accuracy of these long-distance infrared cameras is usually more than 2 degrees Celsius error, not able to measure the body temperature, no epidemic prevention effectiveness.
There are some things in the world that can make a lot of money with a bad conscience but lose the bottom line of being a human being, and I don't want to be a part of it. Moreover, I was naïvely convinced that such obviously useless things will not have half of the market, it is impossible to withstand the feasibility of testing and acceptance. Even if a few units were sold, something would surely happen later, and the loss would outweigh the gain. I was not willing to participate in any gray business, so I cut off contact with them, and no longer have any dealings. But the fact proved my ignorance, and then when I saw with my own eyes in the country almost all public buildings and units are installed at the door of this useless infrared thermometer, the heart of the amazing - the original in their means of the sky, these virtual things can be transformed into a gold mine, dozens of dollars of cost can be sold to the thousands of sky-high prices.
Under the compulsion of the policy, nucleic acid testing, temperature measuring instruments, vaccines, square pods of sky-high demand, these political and business “masterpieces” like a carefully woven giant net, hundreds of millions of people will be enveloped in it, and the net harvesting, it is the people's hard-earned money. I'm not sure how much profit they ultimately made, but a friend who works in finance overseas told me that in 2022, there was an extremely odd acquisition on their hands: a Chinese company spared no effort to buy a European company at a premium of 50%, even if the deal appeared to be a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars, it would not hesitate to do so. It turned out that it was a company involved in the nucleic acid business, eager to move its assets and wash its hands of the business.
That's their business model - empty gloves. Relying on coercive policies to forcibly create markets, easily taking orders by virtue of connections, and peddling products of no real value at high prices in a monopolistic manner. They do not need to master any technology, and do not have to spend effort on marketing. Nucleic acid testing is not a cutting-edge technology at all, and can be easily started by purchasing a few machines and reagents. Infrared thermometer is even simpler, I do not want to get involved, there are naturally people scrambling to get in. All they need is the operation of capital and relationship, play a “left hand to right hand” trick, you can make money day after day, and enjoy the profits.
For a while, I naively fantasized that such heartless people who took advantage of the national tragedy to make a fortune would eventually be liquidated after the zero-tolerance policy came to an end. After all, the people's grievances were boiling over, and the looting of the people's fat and wealth deserved to be punished by thunder. However, the facts once again mocked my naivety. Although China is still living in the haze of the post-pandemic era, and the economy has not recovered so far, I have never heard of any predator in the epidemic prevention business being liquidated and held accountable. Even the “Zhang Shanshan Nucleic Acid Empire”, which was once a hot topic, ended in a quiet manner, with no accountability in sight. Perhaps the zero-tolerance policy is so politically correct that any corruption related to it cannot be investigated. The presidential family is not only able to see the business opportunity of zero-tolerance in advance, but also able to choose such a risk-free business, which is really brilliant!
This witnessing made me look sideways again at the energy of the Washington swamp. Collusion between business and the government, this is not uncommon, may turn a national crisis into an endless source of wealth, but also in the calm after the whole body back, this kind of turning the tide means is really breathtaking; they can be said to have the art of the sky: the news is one step ahead of the others, the interests of the people within easy reach, and then like smoke dispersed, leaving no trace. It is a pity that how much truth is buried in the dust, how many “leeks” were eventually harvested silently.