In recent days, 95-year-old Shanghai petitioner Liu Shuzhen was deported back to Shanghai after going to Beijing. While she was being interviewed at the police station, she started feeling unwell and requested the police to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital, but her request was denied. Later, her family called for an ambulance to take her to Renji Hospital in Pudong for emergency treatment, where the doctor issued a critical condition notice.
Liu Shuzhen’s daughter, Cui Fufang, expressed her anger to a reporter from Dajiyuan, saying, “The police value recording statements more than the lives and health of the people!”
On the morning of May 8th, Liu Shuzhen and her daughter Cui Fufang took a high-speed train to Beijing for a petition. They arrived at Beijing South Station at 12:18 PM, where the train conductor and railway police (badge number 011120) checked their IDs and insisted on handing them over to the Shanghai Municipal Office in Beijing and the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. They were also asked to have their IDs photographed before being allowed to leave.
Liu Shuzhen and her daughter’s trip was to petition the CCP Central Committee about their private property being forcibly seized by the Shanghai Municipal Government during the World Expo, with no compensation or resettlement provided for the past twenty-two years. After leaving the station, they went near Zhongnanhai, where the police asked for their IDs and scanned them in a machine. A red image (marked as petitioners) appeared, which was immediately reported to their superiors. They were taken to a temporary location for petitioners at Zhongnanhai, then around 7 PM, they were taken back by the Shanghai Municipal Office in Beijing and later transferred to the Shanghai Resident Office in Fengtai District, Beijing for deportation.
On the morning of May 10th, Liu Shuzhen and her daughter were brought back to Shanghai Station and escorted to Fucun Road No. 500 (Second Aid Station of Civil Affairs) by the police. They were then transferred to the police station of Zhoujiadu Subdistrict in Pudong New Area, where they were asked to make a statement by a police officer (badge number 010916). During this process, Liu Shuzhen felt unwell and asked the police to call an ambulance. When the ambulance did not arrive after a while, Cui Fufang asked the police if they had called for help, the police claimed ignorance, so Cui Fufang had to call for an ambulance herself to take Liu Shuzhen to the hospital for treatment.
Liu Shuzhen was taken to Renji Hospital in Pudong by the ambulance for treatment, and the doctor issued a critical condition notice, recommending hospitalization. However, due to the lack of available beds, Liu Shuzhen was placed in the emergency observation room and had to wait for an empty bed, with no clear timeline given for when it would be available. Cui Fufang took her mother back home to wait for further instructions about admission. However, despite several days passing, the hospital had yet to provide them with a room assignment. Cui Fufang mentioned that, “After resting at home for a few days, my mother’s mental state has improved.”
Born in 1931, Liu Shuzhen had her private residence forcibly demolished due to the World Expo on August 25, 2005, without receiving any compensation or resettlement for the past 22 years. She has been forced to live in a small hotel for all these years and faces surveillance especially during sensitive periods or when she goes to Beijing for petitions.
Cui Fufang stated, “On August 25, 2005, a government notice forced demolition; the illegal demolition turned into legal robbery. Going to higher authorities to address the issue has become deemed illegal. In the past twenty years, more than fifty million yuan has been spent on the stability maintenance funds for Liu Shuzhen, but we have never received any of it, and the fund continues to renew.”
Liu Shuzhen has faced several instances of severe oppression and persecution, including on January 15, 2020, during the Shanghai Two Sessions, when her petition materials were confiscated by the police, and the 90-year-old Liu Shuzhen was detained at midnight with handcuffs without receiving any detention certificate, and there was no release certificate upon leaving the detention center. At that time, after lawyer Yang Shaogang met with Liu Shuzhen, he wrote an article titled “Putting State Power in a Cage.”
On April 26, 2024, Liu Shuzhen was injured by the police on her way to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, but the Beijing People’s Court refused to file a case. On February 2, 2026, the 95-year-old Liu Shuzhen was under the surveillance of black security guards sent by the Zhoujiadu Subdistrict office for 42 days until the end of the Two Sessions on March 14.