In 1993, the Shanghai municipal government initiated a large-scale demolition project – Chengdu Road viaduct (now the North-South viaduct), resulting in the demolition of 100,000 households. This relocation led to a large number of petitioners, who have long been advocating for their rights, but due to the inaction of the petition department, the issues remain unresolved to this day.
Many affected residents, including Song Jiahong, initiated a protest against the government’s inaction on petitions. Song Jiahong, encouraged by the support of the “Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly,” urged petitioners over the age of 70 to join this large-scale protest activity to identify the primary responsible party for illegal demolition and solve the housing issues of the affected residents.
According to Song Jiahong, he personally faced issues with the illegal demolition of his old house at 888 Chengdu North Road in the Huangpu District, including the expropriation of housing at 218 Shanhaiguan Road, causing him to be homeless in his old age. Despite sending a 154-day unanswered letter to Xu Huili, the district mayor of Huangpu District in Shanghai, there was no response even after numerous attempts to contact her. Despite repeated directives from the central government emphasizing “people’s livelihood matters” and “bottom-line guarantee,” the Shanghai government has turned a deaf ear, showing no regard for the petitioners as human beings.
Feeling that the petition route has been blocked and the petition office is unresponsive, Song Jiahong believes that it is time for petitioners to transcend and rethink their petition strategies. He aims to transform the inaction on petitions into action, as merely writing letters is not effective anymore given the chronic inaction on petitions.
Identifying the lack of finding the “primary responsible person” as the biggest flaw in the petition system, Song Jiahong proposed following the example of the “May 30th Movement” in Shanghai Nanjing Road and using petition protests to combat the inaction on petitions.
The protest will include signs of protest, sit-in protests, and procession protests, all of which are rights granted to citizens by the Constitution. The protest, tentatively named “Shanghai Protest by Elderly (Demolition Affected) Over 70,” will take place along Nanjing East Road pedestrian street. The goal of the protest is to seek accountability for illegal demolition and to identify the primary responsible person.
Song Jiahong plans to follow the necessary application procedures, persisting through multiple attempts if needed, believing that unity and determination will eventually lead to success. He will also mail the protest application letter to Xu Huili, the district mayor. He emphasized that the protest is not a choice but a necessity when the government oppresses the people, leading them to have no other option but to rise against it.
Gu Guoping, a retired professor from Shanghai University and a rights activist, also an affected resident of the demolition, shares the sentiment of supporting the protest against the inaction on petitions. However, he expressed concerns that the application may not be approved and could even face retaliatory actions.
On November 10, 1993, the then Mayor of Shanghai, Huang Ju, issued Order No. 4 of the municipal government, ordering the demolition of 100,000 residential houses in the original center of Shanghai in 45 days to make way for his image project – Chengdu Road viaduct (now North-South viaduct). Song Jiahong’s house was forcibly demolished in this large-scale demolition, and the issues surrounding his rights have remained unsolved for the past 32 years.