On October 20, the Fourth Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing. Two weeks prior, various provinces and cities across the country had begun stability maintenance measures. Many petitioners reported being intercepted, kidnapped, and subjected to round-the-clock surveillance while traveling.
Jiang Jiawen, a petitioner from Dandong City, Liaoning Province, has been subjected to restrictions on his personal freedom in recent years. On October 21, he was once again under house arrest in a hotel with four black security guards closely monitoring him.
Jiang Jiawen told reporters, “Petitioners from across the country are being tightly controlled while Beijing holds a meeting, indicating its importance to the Chinese Communist authorities.”
In the early morning of October 21, Suzhou petitioner Wu Qihe was chased by his black security guards near his residential area, causing him to fall and fracture a bone. He is currently receiving treatment in the hospital and due to the severity of his injuries, doctors have advised him to be hospitalized for a month.
According to information provided by Shanghai’s black jail list publisher and rights activist Song Jiahong, on October 20, Shanghai petitioner Luo Xianhui went to Beijing. He first went to the Great Hall of the People and was then taken to Jiujing Zhuang in Fengtai District, Beijing. The next day, he was escorted back to Shanghai by personnel from the petition office in Hongkou District and then taken to a black jail in Shanghai.
Song Jiahong remarked, “Even petitioners have to go through several security checks to enter Beijing. Those who view petitioners as ‘hostile forces’ can only be described as paranoid.”
Xu Yizhen, a petitioner from Gedian Development Zone in Hubei Province, flew from Jiaozhou, Qingdao to Beijing on October 20. Around 10:40 PM at Beijing Daxing Airport, he was kidnapped, assaulted, and had his freedom restricted by four unidentified individuals. Later that night, he was abandoned in a desolate wilderness.
Wang Fengxiang, a petitioner from Hebei, was detained at the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing on October 20. The Ministry of Public Security notified the Ma Jiabao Police Station in Fengtai District, Beijing to bring him to the station, claiming that he was on the run online. Wang Fengxiang stated that his phone was on 24 hours a day and he did not understand why he was labelled a fugitive. Subsequently, the police station informed Wang Fengxiang’s hometown to come and take him back.
On the same day, Shanghai petitioner Yao Yuping was intercepted on the streets of Beijing by the police and sent back. Upon arrival in Shanghai, she was taken to the police station for questioning and a medical examination, and then placed under administrative detention for a month.
On the night of October 19, Zhao Weiping, a petitioner from Changning District in Shanghai, stayed overnight outside the National Petition Bureau, but when she failed to make it through in the morning, she went to register at the National People’s Congress and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. On the evening of October 20, she continued to line up outside the National Petition Bureau and was later taken to Jiujing Zhuang by the Beijing authorities. In the early hours of the 21st, she was sent back to Shanghai by the Beijing Office.
On October 19, Henan petitioner Wang Demin flew to Beijing and checked into a hotel in Mentougou at around 8:00 PM. In the early hours, the police knocked on the door requesting to see her identification. When Wang Demin did not open the door, over a dozen police officers forcefully entered the room and took her away.
Wang Demin was escorted back to her residence in Baowangti Community by a black car. En route, she saw community stability maintenance personnel taking photos, with the deputy secretary, assistant secretary, and other staff waiting at the entrance. The deputy secretary asked the driver to fill out a form and handed over money.
On October 19, Shenyang petitioner Lin Mingjie was taken away by unidentified individuals after getting off the high-speed train at Guangyang Station, and her whereabouts remain unknown.
Currently under house arrest in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, petitioner Yu Zhonghuan expressed, “I have been trapped at home for 13 days, with no medicine, food, or money delivered to me. But the cost of the stability maintenance imposed on me may amount to tens of thousands of yuan.”
He posted on X platform, “Please have the internet police, political security personnel, and national security personnel report corrupt officials to the discipline inspection department. I previously reported to the city discipline inspection commission and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, but my report was redirected to the person being reported, resulting in even more intense retaliation and persecution.”