In early June, Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Fu Cong introduced a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly to designate June 10th each year as “International Day of Dialogue Among Civilizations.” However, this concept of “civilizational dialogue” has sparked backlash among domestic dissidents.
Shanghai human rights activist Song Jiahong told a reporter from The Epoch Times, “The logic behind Fu Cong’s speech is extremely simple: dialogue is better than confrontation, dialogue is better than conflict, and dialogue is better than war. Based on the same reasoning, what should be done internationally should also be carried out domestically. Civilization originates from the West, and the Chinese should learn a lesson from it. Falling behind is falling behind; pretending to be what one is not is not the solution.”
Song Jiahong expressed his firm support for “civilizational dialogue,” but the current situation in China has left him deeply pensive. In recent days, many petitioners from Shanghai traveling to Beijing have once again been abducted, intercepted, beaten, and thrown into secret black jails.
He emphasized that in order to engage in civilized dialogue, it is essential to abolish “stability maintenance,” dismantle government “security checks,” eliminate internet “monitoring,” and put an end to the construction of “black prisons” targeting petitioners. Only by doing so can true “civilizational dialogue” be achieved and progress be made in advancing the “rule of law in China.”
“Letter and visit” is a shortened term for China’s so-called “People’s Letters and Visits” system, commonly known as petitioning. Under the unique system of letter and visit in the Chinese Communist Party, governments at all levels have departments dedicated to handling petitions.
Outside the National Bureau for Letters and Calls in Beijing, on any given workday, the premises are always crowded with petitioners from all over the country. Meanwhile, authorities have set up a “relief service center” in Jujingzhuang and Majialou in the suburbs of Beijing to deal with petitioners coming to the capital. The existence of the “relief service center” is widely regarded as a de facto black jail approved by the central government of the CCP.
Faced with repeated suppression, control, detention, and imprisonment of petitioners traveling to Beijing from all over the country, video blogger “Find Bao Ren” recently produced a video titled “Shut Down the National Bureau for Letters and Calls,” which has been widely circulated among petitioners.
In the video, “Find Bao Ren” said, “Stop blaring the trumpet, stop deceiving and harming the common people. The path for petitioners is filled with traps. The National Bureau for Letters and Calls deliberately creates high-profile announcements every day, turning the letter and visit system into a joke.”
“If petitioners go from local to central levels to protect their legal rights, they are beaten, labeled as troublemakers, disruptors of organizational order, and troublemakers. Subsequently, the authorities scratch their heads on how to suppress, control, detain, and sentence them. Petitioning has become a corrupt official’s tool for colluding with the underworld to intercept and detain petitioners and extort money.”
The blogger went on to say, “If the National Bureau for Letters and Calls is afraid of petitioners registering, refuses to accept their registration, and only allows them to vocalize their grievances as a show for the masses, then the immediate action for the reception department of the bureau is better to close its doors early and stop deceiving and harming these petitioning common folk!”
“To the National Bureau for Letters and Calls, petitioners no longer trust, no longer blindly rush into danger, no longer spend money to seek wrongdoing. We will use our mobile phones to expose the criminal acts of corrupt officials. We strongly recommend shutting down the National Bureau for Letters and Calls!” he added.