THREAD: A Chinese truck driver killed himself on Monday after receiving a 2000 yuan (~US$300) fine, in a tragic story of destitution, high-tech state monitoring, and exploitation by the logistics industry.
sohu.com/a/459515260_26…
sohu.com/a/459515260_26…
Trucker Jin Deqiang had his vehicle confiscated for having a disconnected Beidou satellite position device at a truck weigh station in Tangshan, Hebei province, and handed the hefty fine
Reports said that Jin had just 6000 yuan to his name, an unemployed wife, two kids and elderly parents to take care of. He bought a bottle of pesticide nearby, drank it at the truck station, and died that day.
xinhuanet.com/politics/2021-…
xinhuanet.com/politics/2021-…
Some of Jin’s last words from a message left in a WeChat group: “I’m worth more than 2000 yuan. I am speaking for the vast majority of truck drivers...” 
“... I was fined 2000 yuan for disconnecting the Beidou system, tell me how is a single driver to know? I feel that I am not going to live much longer. So, I use my death to remind the leadership of the importance of the issue.”
Jin’s experience of the threat of constant electronic monitoring, low pay, anger and despair is a familiar tale for anyone in the logistics industry today, from Amazon delivery workers overseas to Meituan food delivery drivers across China
The Beidou system is installed on all heavy trucks, semis, tourist coaches and other vehicles for years, and the system can be used to doc points off a drivers license
Also, let’s not forget that China’s Beidou system is it’s own state-grown alternative to GPS. Its mass implementation is more than a disciplinary mechanism against drivers, and boon for companies, but also part of a global tech rivalry between the world’s major capitalist powers
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