As the upcoming September 3rd military parade organized by the Chinese Communist Party draws near, a large number of security personnel have been deployed in Beijing. Starting from August 23rd, several subway stations in Beijing have been closed for two consecutive days in preparation for the event. Recently, petitioners from various regions have faced various restrictions on their movements, being prohibited from leaving their residential towns.
Ma Bo, a petitioner from Heilongjiang who resides in Beidaihe, booked a ticket online on August 22nd to travel to Beijing on the 27th, but the authorities in Jiamusi immediately notified her to cancel the ticket. Ma Bo told a reporter, “After I booked the ticket yesterday (August 22nd), the local authorities found out and asked me to cancel it. If I don’t cancel the ticket and go to Beijing, they may forcibly take me back to Jiamusi from Beijing. I am now trying to change the date of my trip to Beijing, but after checking, all the train tickets are sold out.”
On August 22nd, Huang, a retired professor from Guizhou University who has been under long-term surveillance and travel restrictions, tried to go to the Central Inspection Team but was stopped. She said, “They wouldn’t let me go. Seven or eight young people were guarding me, I couldn’t break free, so I couldn’t go!”
In Chongqing’s Jiulongpo District, Peng Zhirong, a resident whose compensation for the demolition of her 570-square-meter house has been embezzled by local government officials, has not been returned to her. On August 18th, after submitting materials to the Central Inspection Team, she was followed and monitored upon leaving.
Peng Zhirong told a reporter, “Whenever I go out now, they are following me in secret. If we leave Chongqing, they will take forcible action to prevent us from leaving Chongqing because they are afraid we will go to Beijing to report them.”
Jiang Jiawen, a petitioner from Liaoning, was intercepted and brought back to Dandong while trying to go to Beijing on August 21st. He was then under surveillance. He said, “As the military parade approaches, and the period is sensitive, the stability maintenance has escalated. Sun Dayong, the deputy director of the local Qidao Police Station, led a team of four police officers, and 24 auxiliary police officers to closely monitor me, making it difficult to break free.”
Wu Lijuan, a laid-off worker from Qianjiang Industrial and Commercial Bank in Hubei, has been advocating for her rights for 21 years due to being laid off without compensation. She was forced to get off the train at Xuchang Station on August 20th. She said if her phone is unreachable, please ask friends from all walks of life to report it to the police.
Around 10 a.m. on August 21st, Li Dan, a petitioner from Hubei, who was hospitalized in Beijing, was about to be discharged but was kidnapped by a black car hired by the Hubei Provincial Office in Beijing and taken back to Wuhan.
Li Dan posted on social media that in the black car, he was dragged around by three gangsters, injured his waist, unable to walk, in pain every time he moved, and was not allowed to seek medical help. They forcibly took him to Wuhan’s Qiaokou District for questioning. He was later taken to Wuhan Tongji Hospital for treatment and refused by the hospital. On the morning of August 22nd, he was abandoned at the gate of Tongji Hospital by the security guards and police from Qiaokou Police Station, without any concern.
On August 19th, Liu Lin, a rights activist from Chongqing, was intercepted and kidnapped by people dressed in black claiming to be part of the public security team while he was out looking for a job in Langfang City, Hebei Province. These unidentified individuals did not show any identification.
Liu Lin sent a distress call, saying, “Their reason was that due to the special circumstances at the time, I couldn’t appear in that special place. They took me back to the Lijia Police Station in Chongqing. No matter how I explained, whether I had a job or could afford to eat, it had nothing to do with them. I hope fellow petitioners pay attention.”
On August 19th, Gu Shujuan, a second-level disabled petitioner, made an appointment with a lawyer in Beijing to sign documents. At around 7:30 a.m. that day, she was forcefully lifted into a car (license plate number Jing AL9005) by unknown individuals at the south square of Beijing West Station, leading to a sudden illness, and she was urgently taken to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine for treatment.
In the morning of August 15th, Yang Ziyao, a veteran from Yubei District in Chongqing, was intercepted and sent to Jiujing Zhuang for facial recognition at the National Petition Bureau security checkpoint in Xicheng District, Beijing. He was escorted out by the Beijing Office on August 18th, and on August 21st, he was sent back to Chongqing by the office. His current situation is unknown.
Zhao Weizhi, a visually impaired petitioner from Banan District, Chongqing, has been petitioning for land compensation for 13 years. On August 14th, police officers from Songzhuang Police Station in Tongzhou District of Beijing went to his rental house in Beijing to check his identity. On August 15th, individuals surnamed Qiao and Guo claiming to be from the Beijing Office, and Xie Hu from Lianhua Street, forcefully took him from his rental place. At around 7 p.m. that evening, he was arranged to take a flight back to Chongqing, and upon landing, he was asked to undergo interrogation by the Lianshi Police Station citing “disruption of unit order.”
Zhao Weizhi said, “During my time in Beijing, I did not engage in any misconduct; petitioning is a lawful right of every citizen. I am worried about my situation, if I should become unreachable later on, please complain to the Songzhuang Police Station and Lianshi Police Station. I am just an ordinary citizen, but it is extremely difficult for me to uphold my rights in accordance with the law. I sincerely hope that the relevant departments will take my experience seriously, thoroughly investigate the matter, handle it fairly, restore my rightful rights, and allow me to live in a legal environment.”