During the Two Sessions of the Chinese Communist Party, Shanghai petitioners faced various forms of suppression. Some petitioners have been away from home for a month to avoid the dreadful “stability maintenance” measures, while others have been detained for going to Beijing or have been under house arrest for over a month. Additionally, some petitioners have gone missing.
Shanghai Pudong New Area petitioner Yu Zhonghuan, due to the painful experiences of being “maintained for stability” in the past few years, has been leaving Shanghai ahead of major conferences to evade the authorities’ “stability maintenance.” Yu Zhonghuan told Epoch Times reporters, “In early January this year, I took my disabled daughter to see a doctor and stocked up on a month’s worth of medication for her. I then sent my daughter to a disabled care home and fled to the south. Before the Chinese New Year, four black security guards were stationed at the front and back doors of my home.”
“I have been on the run for nearly a month now, my daughter’s medication is running out, but the government only cares about stability maintenance and not the life or death of the people. Over the years, my daughter has been unable to receive medical treatment due to my repeated ‘maintenance for stability,’ resulting in her inability to walk and serious illnesses affecting her heart, kidneys, liver, and more.”
After being criminally detained for 30 days around the time of the “9.3 Military Parade” last year, Yu Zhonghuan was subsequently held in a black prison for over ten days. During the Fourth Plenary Session, he was trapped at home with his daughter, without medication or food for over half a month, while the government turned a blind eye. Despite rights activists and neighbors making multiple police reports, the police claimed it was a “government action beyond their control.”
Last year, Jiang’an District petitioner Liu Dongbao, who was persecuted for 92 days in a black prison and left unable to walk, returned to his wife’s hometown in Shaanxi ahead of the Chinese New Year to avoid government suppression. However, government personnel were dispatched from Jiang’an District’s Shimenzhen Ertai Street to Shaanxi to monitor Liu Dongbao’s residence around the clock. After a few days, he managed to escape from the stability maintenance personnel and traveled to Beijing, where he was checked by police, had his ID inspected, and was sent to Jiu Jing Zhuang. Upon being repatriated to Shanghai on March 10, he has since been detained.
Starting from February 8, a group of unknown individuals and vehicles appeared in the residential area where Shanghai Pudong New Area petitioner Yang Xiuting lived. On February 21, she narrowly escaped being abducted by this group with the help of passersby. She made nine calls to the police emergency hotline, but no response was given.
On February 23, a similar incident occurred again, but the perpetrators were thwarted with the help of a kind passerby. Yang Xiuting discovered that the group of individuals involved in this abduction attempt were the same ones that kidnapped her on May 12, 2020. She requested the authorities to investigate the identities of these individuals. An investigation conducted by the Hangcheng Police Station of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau revealed that personnel sent by the Kangqiao Town Government were conducting “surveillance residence” on her.
Yang Xiuting stated that she has not received any legal documents from the court, procuratorate, or police indicating the “surveillance residence” imposed on her by the Kangqiao Town Government. The government denies sending personnel and vehicles to monitor her residence.
Yang Xiuting said, “I requested the police to verify the identities of the individuals and required the court, procuratorate, or public security bureau to issue legal documents within three days confirming the surveillance of my residence. Now that the three days have passed, I have not received any legal documents restricting my personal freedom from any of the authorities. The vehicles of the perpetrators are still blocking the hallway of my community. If any accidents occur, all consequences will be the result of police inaction, and the police will bear the consequences.”
Sixty-nine-year-old petitioner Chen Meihua from Jing’an District in Shanghai is currently hiding in a rented house in Beijing. According to her, there are personnel waiting outside to intercept her at any time.
Also trapped at home are 72-year-old Wang Huifang and her paralyzed husband, who have had black security guards stationed outside their home since February 20. Furthermore, over 80-year-old Wu Shihao is also confined to his home, with his personal freedom restricted.
Shanghai Pudong New Area petitioners, 79-year-old Hu Bosen and 74-year-old Lu Chunhua, are currently missing. When they were detained in a black prison last year, Hu Bosen lost two front teeth as a result of being beaten, while Lu Chunhua was assaulted by black security guards, who even live-streamed the incident to Deputy Director Zheng Daorong of the Petition Office.