European Commission President von der Leyen and European Council President Michel will visit China on July 24th. On July 23rd, Shanghai residents Guo Ping, Hu Jianguo, Liu Dongbao, Yang Yonglan, Zhao Dadi, Cui Shiyinzi, and Yu Zhonghuan made banners to welcome their visit, while also calling attention to the appalling human rights conditions in China.
Yu Zhonghuan told a reporter, “The Chinese Communist government not only fails to comply with the protection of human rights as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, civil and political rights, International Human Rights Covenants, and the United Nations Charter, but instead brazenly tramples upon them.”
“We are Shanghai residents and petitioners. Our homes have all been illegally demolished by the Chinese Communist Party. For over a decade or even longer, we have not only been unable to resolve these issues but have also been continuously persecuted by the CCP.”
Guo Ping’s house was unlawfully demolished by the Changning District government in Shanghai in 2001. His parents were forced to death in a nursing home as they were not compensated with housing. When Guo Ping rented a house elsewhere, his Burmese wood furniture was destroyed, valuable paintings and appliances were stolen, and his two-wheel motorcycle was confiscated. During his rights defense process, he was arrested six times, sentenced to one and a half years in prison, spent half a year in a black jail, and suffered four broken ribs.
Hu Jianguo’s father, a retired soldier, never received benefits for retired soldiers until his death, nor did he receive the proper treatment for retired cadres. His mother, who was named a model laborer in 1959, also did not receive the expected treatment. Hu Jianguo’s petitioning activities include intercepting the cars of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission secretary three times in Beijing, intercepting the cars of party representatives and National People’s Congress members eight times, throwing materials at Zhongnanhai seven times, being detained nine times, undergoing forced labor reeducation once, and sentenced once.
Liu Dongbao’s house has been forcibly demolished for over thirty years without any resettlement housing. The furniture in his rented house was taken away by urban management officers without any legal procedures and he was also physically assaulted. When he went to Beijing to petition, he was detained each time he was sent back to Shanghai, and in the past two years, he has been detained nine times for a total of 270 days. His wife, Yang Yonglan, had her house and land taken away with no resolution after thirty-five years of petitioning.
Zhao Dadi’s house has been demolished by the Changning District government for twenty years, with no compensation or resettlement provided to date.
Yu Zhonghuan’s house was illegally demolished by the Pudong New Area government over thirty years ago and he has not received any compensation or resettlement. He has also been kidnapped, tortured, and abused by the Jin qiao Town government multiple times, with his mobile phone, house keys, cash, and other belongings stolen. Officials, including Zheng Daorong from the petition office, used stolen keys to break into Yu Zhonghuan’s home, stealing his critically ill daughter Yingzi’s medical treatment money of 20,000 yuan, computer, SD card, and kidnapping her, preventing her from receiving medical treatment, leading to her severe physical impairment, including the inability to walk and serious heart and kidney complications.