Recently, Shanghai petitioners Liu Dongbao, Sun Hongqin, Cui Qun, and Liu Jiemei were intercepted by local government officials and police from Beidaihe on their way there. Currently, 3 individuals are missing and 1 has been arrested.
During the Beidaihe conference, the area was heavily guarded, with general vehicles prohibited from entering the surrounding areas. Even public buses were not allowed to enter, and pedestrians had to undergo strict identity checks.
On August 11, Liu Dongbao, Sun Hongqin, Cui Qun, and Liu Jiemei each traveled to Beidaihe, but only Liu Dongbao successfully made it there.
Sun Hongqin and Cui Qun boarded an express train to Beijing from Shanghai Railway Station but were forcefully removed by personnel from the Jing’an District Government and Hongkou District Government, based on their residency and hometown. They have since gone missing.
In late July, Liu Jiemei had previously visited Beidaihe, where she was arrested by local police and later handed over to Shanghai authorities for repatriation. She was then placed under house arrest in a rented house in Haitou Town, Pudong New Area of Shanghai, with 4 security guards monitoring her 24 hours a day. On the morning of August 10, she managed to escape in heavy rain, resulting in injuries to both her legs and left hand.
On the afternoon of August 11, she made a second attempt to go to Beidaihe, breaking free from surveillance at her home to reach Suzhou Railway Station, where she boarded a train to Beijing. However, she went missing when passing through Cangzhou Station.
On August 11, Liu Dongbao boarded a train from Kunshan to Beijing, exiting at Cangzhou Station before managing to bypass multiple checkpoints to eventually reach Beidaihe. However, police identified him as a petitioner through facial recognition and subsequently sent him to the petitioner gathering center at Area C, Linhe Resort in Beidaihe, awaiting repatriation.
Shanghai petitioner Mr. Yu told a reporter, “After Liu Dongbao is repatriated this time, what awaits him is likely criminal detention. In recent years, Liu Dongbao has been detained over ten times for submitting petitions to the central government in Beijing, with each detention lasting around 30 days.”
In late July, Shanghai retired university professor and rights activist Gu Guoping was also arrested by police for attempting to go to Beidaihe. He was later handed over to Shanghai authorities, released after completing the record-taking process at the Zhoujiaqiao Police Station of Changning Branch of Shanghai Public Security Bureau. However, 7 days later (August 1st), three police officers from the station returned to arrest him on charges of inciting trouble in Beidaihe, leading to a 3-day criminal detention. He was then transferred to the black prison on Chongming Island, where he remains detained.
Mr. Yu also mentioned, “Gu Guoping suffers from severe illnesses including hypertension (Grade III, extremely high risk), advanced prostate cancer, and diabetes. According to the Criminal Procedure Law and the Detention Regulations, he should not be held in custody in a detention center. However, Shanghai authorities have unlawfully detained him and confined him in the remote Chongming Island black prison.”