On August 6th, Wednesday marks the petition day for the Shanghai Municipal Government’s petition office. Many petitioners come here, and the door of the petition office is wide open. Petitioners can register their ID and submit materials to the inspection team without an appointment, without checking their phone messages, but they do not receive any receipts. Additionally, a large number of police officers are deployed on-site.
Petitioners found the events of the day to be very strange. Song Jiahong, the person who released the “Shanghai Black Prison List,” also believes that the authorities in Shanghai are using the guise of the central inspection team to falsify information. They have already reported the situation to the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Chen Jineng via the citizens’ hotline.
In a video, petitioners mentioned that on that day (6th), there were many police officers guarding the second gate of the petition office. Outside the gate, there were numerous petitioners from various districts of Shanghai protesting that they could only exit through the second gate but not enter. Petitioners could only enter the front gate of the municipal petition office, and exit from the back gate (second gate) into the People’s Park across the street.
Upon arriving at People’s Park, petitioners noticed that the park was partitioned off with protective iron sheets, and important positions within the park were guarded by black security personnel. They also mentioned that the central inspection team should come and inspect the strange occurrences happening in People’s Park that day.
According to Song Jiahong, the person who released the “Shanghai Black Prison List,” since July 23rd, all staff members of the Shanghai Municipal Government’s petition office at 200 Renmin Avenue have been collecting reporting and accusation materials from petitioners under the guise of the central inspection team, without providing any receipts. This seventy-year-old man mentioned that he had never heard of such practices before.
Song Jiahong told a reporter from Epoch Times, “This move by the Shanghai authorities should be to reduce the number of petitioners entering Beijing for the ‘Grand Military Parade,’ which is the main purpose. On the other hand, it also shows that the government’s falsification has become commonplace. Furthermore, the Shanghai Municipal Petition Office is not taking any action, petitioners are feeling aggrieved, taking advantage of the inspection team’s visit to Shanghai, they are putting on a false show to deceive the petitioners.”
He also stated, “I have contacted the 12345 citizens’ hotline to reach Secretary Chen Jineng of the Municipal Party Committee, and the matter has not been replied to by the municipal petition office.”
September 3rd marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the war of resistance against Japan by the Chinese Communist Party. Beijing has implemented a series of security measures and martial law since August 1st. Beijing and local governments across the country are tightly controlling petitioners’ entry into Beijing.
On August 6th, outside the Shanghai Municipal Government’s petition office, 95-year-old petitioner Liu Shuzhen had her petition materials snatched by Shanghai municipal police. She questioned whether the police were taking the materials to submit to the inspection team.
Liu Shuzhen, a disabled petitioner, was forcibly resettled by the Shanghai government in 2005. She has been petitioning for nearly 20 years and has been subjected to stability maintenance for 18 years, with a reported expenditure of over fifty million yuan on stability maintenance.
Mr. Huang, a petitioner, said, “This type of stability maintenance is truly extraordinary, confirming the legend that stability maintenance expenses exceed military expenses each year. In a socialist system purported to have ‘superiority’ in the world, a government that upholds ‘people first,’ with laws protecting citizens’ properties, and a national statute for resolving petition disputes, what has led to a 95-year-old homeless woman, who has been petitioning (subjected to stability maintenance) for 18 years, being prevented from finding a resolution by the government spending over fifty million yuan to guard against her? It is rumored that some officials are using stability maintenance to gain, hence resisting the resolution of disputes, in order to profit from stability maintenance.”
Ms. Ma, another petitioner, stated, “Government officials have distorted priorities in their stability maintenance efforts, employing severe illegal actions and measures. The essence of government officials is not to maintain stability but to exacerbate and escalate social contradictions and unrest, pushing the people towards rebellion. Government officials are the true implementers and diggers of the grave for subverting the Communist Party regime!”