During the ongoing Beidaihe Conference, the National Bureau of Letters and Calls is conducting a major investigation on petitioners, clearing out thirteen buses of petitioners on Monday evening. Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong is attending a meeting in Shanghai, where the situation for petitioners is becoming even more severe.
According to information provided by petitioners in Beijing, on Monday evening, thirteen buses stopped on Yungdingmen West Street outside the National Bureau of Letters and Calls, taking petitioners to Jiujingzhuang. A large number of petitioners queued up as if fleeing, creating a scene akin to a mass exodus. Various petitioners from different regions shared on social media, including WeChat groups, information about being forcibly repatriated in Beijing for various reasons, with distress calls flooding the feeds.
Miao Heping, a seriously ill petitioner from Hongkou District in Shanghai, was forcefully taken back by Shanghai authorities under the guise of not being a petitioner while seeking medical treatment in Beijing on July 29. Due to his extremely weak physical condition, he was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment upon returning to Shanghai. He took the opportunity to escape from the hospital, but was later captured by stability maintenance personnel and sent to a dark prison, with his current whereabouts unknown.
Shanghai rights activist Gu Guoping told a reporter from Dajiyuan, “Miao Heping was a relocated resident. In 1991, the Shanghai government gave Miao’s parents two pounds of rotten oranges, deceiving them into signing what they claimed was a welfare form from the street office, but was actually a contractual agreement for relocation. The elderly couple, illiterate and suffering from a stroke, had their house demolished through this deceitful act.”
Jie Qingguo, a rights activist from Putuo District in Shanghai, was controlled in a dark prison on July 29 by local street authorities. He resisted and fought with the dark security guards, leading to being taken to Baiyu Police Station for interrogation before being sent back to the dark prison.
A banner in Shanghai calls on the President of the European Commission to pay attention to China’s deteriorating human rights situation. Yu Zhonghuan and Liu Dongbao, who went missing after being summoned by the police, were informed on July 29 by Liu Dongbao’s sister that he had been taken to a dark prison in Chongming District.
Gu Guoping stated, “Yu Zhonghuan’s whereabouts are currently unknown. On July 29, a petitioner went to the Jing’an District detention center to deposit money for him. The security guard did not allow entry, stating that a rescue form was required to gain access. Thus, no information about Yu Zhonghuan has been obtained, and it is uncertain whether he has been detained in a dark prison or under arrest currently.”
On the night of July 25, Shenyang petitioner Fu Youling and her husband Yang Zhongqing, who work in long-distance freight, stayed at the Chunqiu Hotel in Xuchang, Henan, after unloading goods. Around 10 p.m., three plainclothes individuals stormed in, claiming that Fu Youling was a “fugitive” and demanded to take her away. Fu Youling, who suffers from heart disease, became agitated and had a heart attack on the spot, prompting her to be taken to Xuchang Central Hospital. The doctors strongly recommended hospitalization, but the plainclothes individuals ignored the advice, claiming they had their own doctors, and forcibly took the unwell Fu Youling away in a private car with plate number Yu K176K1.
Yang Zhongqing said that throughout the process, he repeatedly asked for the presentation of police credentials, with only one briefly shown, while the other two individuals failed to provide any valid identification. His repeated calls for help and complaints went unanswered.
On July 26, Yang Zhongqing received a call asking for medication (18637462050) and learned that Fu Youling was being detained at the Xuchang Public Security Bureau Special Police Affairs Branch Investigation Center— the so-called “doctor” and “medication” were all lies, and the ailing Fu Youling received no treatment at the center. According to the investigators, Shenyang police might come for the handover, and Fu Youling might be sent to a local detention center by the Xuchang police.
Yang Zhongqing mentioned that everything was normal before getting into the car, with the only “unusual” action being registering a petition according to the law. On June 23, Fu Youling, while delivering goods in Beijing, registered petitions about her own matters and the illegal detention by Xinmin City Public Security Bureau separately at the National Bureau of Letters and Calls’ reception department and the Public Security Bureau’s Letters and Visitors Reception Department. He questioned whether legitimate petitioning acts by citizens would be criminalized and labeled as online fugitives, urging the media to intervene, uncover the truth of the events, and review the legality of law enforcement procedures.