The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Communist Party of China is scheduled to be held in Beijing on October 26th. Across the country, measures to maintain stability ahead of the meeting have been activated, leading to many petitioners being obstructed in their travels, both in Beijing and in their local areas. To avoid being targeted by stability maintenance efforts, petitioner Yu Zhonghuan has left Shanghai in advance as a precaution.
In the morning around 7:30 on the 15th, Shanghai petitioner Zhao Weiping, from Changning District, encountered surveillance by a man about 100 meters away from her rental accommodation in Beijing as she was heading to the relevant petition department. She then noticed different individuals continuing to follow her. While changing buses at Liuliqiao East, she was illegally intercepted by personnel from Huayang Road Street, Changning District in Shanghai. With the help of other passengers, she managed to board the No. 74 bus, but the intercepting personnel also got on the bus. She sent a message stating that she had reported to the police upon arrival at her destination and was awaiting police response.
Zhao Weiping is a resident affected by demolitions. Her case has been pending for years and was eventually dismissed. The Huayang Road Street in Changning District has continuously subjected her to illegal interceptions and imprisonment in secret black jails over the past four years.
Around 9 a.m. on the same day, petitioner Zhan Quanmei from Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, was blocked by several police officers on her way to the provincial petition bureau. Zhan Quanmei expressed anger, questioning what was wrong with her going to the petition bureau to address issues. However, she was eventually taken away by the police in a police car.
At noon on October 12th, 70-year-old petitioner Ren Zhongxun from Jiaxiang County, Jining City, Shandong Province, was harassed and restricted in his freedom by a group of stability maintenance personnel from Jining City, Shandong Province at Beijing Railway Station Square. After he called the police, the police from Beijing Railway Station police station did not intervene. After a standoff of two hours, he was forcibly taken away by over ten stability maintenance personnel. Ren Zhongxun is currently out of contact with the outside world.
Yu Zhonghuan, a petitioner from Pudong New Area in Shanghai, is a key target for stability maintenance in the local area. He experiences being subjected to stability maintenance measures several times a year, particularly approaching the Fifth Plenary Session. Therefore, he proactively left Shanghai before the potential turmoil ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session.
Yu Zhonghuan told a reporter from Epoch Times that the stability maintenance in Shanghai has been activated since October 12th, even though he rarely goes to Beijing for petitioning. The authorities in Shanghai have not relaxed their stability maintenance efforts towards him. He has suffered torture and abuse multiple times during his illegal detention in black jails and due to prolonged illegal imprisonment. Consequently, his 95-year-old mother and 27-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy, lack medical care and adequate attention, leading to deteriorating health conditions.
In the past two years, during important conferences, holidays, and other “sensitive days,” Yu Zhonghuan would make arrangements for medical care and medication for his family members, his mother and daughter, in advance. Then, he would leave Shanghai himself to evade the stability maintenance efforts by the Chinese Communist Party.
During the Fourth Plenary Session last year, the stability maintenance task in his area was contracted to Shanghai Fucheng Municipal Engineering Co., Ltd. The company’s black security guards besieged Yu Zhonghuan’s home, denying them food and medical attention, preventing his mother and daughter from receiving medical treatment and medication, causing a halt in medical care and food supply. This year, he had no choice but to hide in another location until the stability maintenance period following the Fifth Plenary Session is over, and then return to Shanghai to provide medication to his mother and daughter.
Yu Zhonghuan expressed, “The Shanghai government is obsessed with stability maintenance due to profit-driven reasons. The corrupt officials of the Chinese Communist Party are not only malicious but also evil. They pocket huge kickbacks from stability maintenance funds while persecuting petitioners with extreme wickedness.”