May 1st marks the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the Chinese Communist Party’s “Petition Regulations.” Recently, several petitioners from Shanghai went to Beijing to raise issues and were met with interception and detention, with only a few being released.
According to the petitioners, on April 28th, four Shanghai petitioners including Liu Dongbao and Xiang Lianxiu were on bus route 14 in Beijing, nearing Liuli Station (three stops away from Fuyou Street near Zhongnanhai), when they were suddenly apprehended by police officers and security personnel. Liu Dongbao and Xiang Lianxiu narrowly escaped as they only carried a small bag with them, while those carrying backpacks or more personal items were identified as petitioners by the police and taken off the bus.
Liu Dongbao, Xiang Lianxiu, and others successfully reached Fuyou Street, where after identity verification, they were taken to the Fuyou Street police station for registration before being transferred to Jiujingzhuang and later escorted by the Shanghai Municipal Government Office in Beijing to the Beijing Yongdingmen Relief Service Center (a six-story building rented by the Shanghai government specifically for detaining and transferring Shanghai petitioners).
Subsequently, four more Shanghai petitioners, including Gu Guoping, were also sent to the Beijing Yongdingmen Relief Service Center. Due to the large number of petitioners, only about 40 people per day could be sent back to Shanghai on the train No.1461. This resulted in a phased repatriation process.
Liu Dongbao, Xiang Lianxiu, Gu Guoping, and others were specially monitored by the authorities as they had been registered at the Fuyou Street police station and were considered “non-petitioners” (not normal petitioners).
On April 26th, 12 other petitioners from Shanghai, led by Chen Meihua, were also planning to go to Beijing. They noticed they were being followed by suspicious individuals on the train to Beijing, so they got off at the previous station, Langfang Station, and took a bus instead. However, when the ticket seller at the bus station checked their IDs and found out they were petitioners, they refused to sell them tickets. Despite the bus being empty at the time, they managed to convince the driver and the owner not to refuse them, promising not to cause trouble.
While traveling towards the Beijing border from Langfang, Chen Meihua and the other 12 petitioners disembarked and took a bus towards Beijing but were intercepted by Beijing police upon arrival, subsequently being transferred by the Shanghai Municipal Government Office in Beijing to the Beijing Yongdingmen Relief Service Center, and sent back to Shanghai the next day.
The Chinese Communist Party’s “Petition Regulations” have been in effect since May 1, 2005, with authorities emphasizing the need for all regions and departments to prioritize people-oriented development thinking, improve the responsibility system for petition work, and create a favorable environment for tackling issues legally and resolving conflicts through the law throughout society.
For years, when petitioners sought to address their grievances through petitions, local governments often resorted to using power in place of the law. Especially on sensitive dates, petitioners were often placed under house arrest, leading to the proliferation of “black jails” and retaliatory actions against petitioners under various pretexts such as “provoking trouble.” As the old problems remain unsolved, new ones continue to emerge, with queues of people waiting outside the National Petition Office never diminishing.
Yi Zhonghuan, a petitioner from Shanghai, criticized the city’s petition departments, claiming they were more focused on maintaining stability and operating black jails than solving petition issues. He shared a recent personal experience regarding his daughter’s foster care facility in need of an emergency contact number for the renewal of his daughter’s foster agreement. Despite seeking help from various levels of the government and petition departments, no assistance was provided, and the matter remained unresolved for over a month.
Prior to the deadline, it was reported that Xiang Lianxiu from Shimenchu Street in Jing’an District and Chen Donghai from Xinqing Town Street in Changning District were released. Only Liu Dongbao remains under criminal detention procedures as of now.