With less than ten days left before the CCP’s “September 3rd” military parade, the security in Beijing has been upgraded comprehensively, creating a tense atmosphere on the streets. A large number of petitioners from various places have been driven away and arrested, leaving many with nowhere to go, forcing them to sleep on the streets, with some even resorting to drastic measures like jumping into rivers.
Li Yun, a victim of the rural bank in Henan province (alias), revealed that another victim of the rural bank crisis in Shanghai, named Ba Zhongjun, traveled to Beijing in mid-August but faced numerous obstacles upon arrival. Both hotels and guesthouses refused to accommodate petitioners, becoming part of the official “clearing out” operation.
According to Li Yun, once a petitioner’s ID information is uploaded into the hotel system, Beijing police are immediately informed, prompting them to call the hotel owner to reject the petitioner’s stay. Sometimes, the police directly call the petitioners to force them to leave, leaving them homeless on the streets.
Li Yun disclosed that representatives from the Shanghai Petition Office, community committees, and the police were tracking Ba Zhongjun in Beijing. They even threatened Ba Zhongjun at the high court, stating that if he did not cooperate in returning to Shanghai, he would face severe punishment.
Ba Zhongjun is one of the victims of the rural bank crisis in Henan province. The incident shook the nation in 2022 when hundreds of millions of yuan were frozen, affecting hundreds of thousands of depositors and plunging many families into hardship. Ba Zhongjun’s family of four elderly members, all farmers, saw their hard-earned 2 million yuan savings frozen overnight. His mother is seriously ill and needs medical treatment, while both Ba Zhongjun and his wife are unemployed, putting them in financial distress. Despite their repeated petitions for rights protection, they faced suppression and have yet to retrieve their savings.
Li Yun stated that Beijing police and local intercept personnel explicitly stated that the authorities attach great importance to the September 3rd military parade, hence the need to thoroughly clear the area before the event. During their more than ten days in Beijing, they witnessed petitioners being forcibly dragged away on the street every day.
He described how the arrest personnel, mostly young men, would drive black business cars, not wearing police or uniform, and swiftly grab petitioners on the street, physically forcing them into vehicles. This kind of scene played out daily on the streets of Beijing.
Another petitioner, Guo Zhong (alias), due to being unable to register at a guest house, had to sleep under a bridge near the petition bureau. He mentioned that hundreds of petitioners stayed there every night but were cleared out daily. The police were harsh and resorted to forcibly arresting people. “They sweep every day, but the number of petitioners is too large. No matter how much they sweep, they can’t clean it all. It’s very pathetic, and some even jump into rivers.”
Petitioner Gao Peng (alias) was almost arrested when he visited the Beijing High Court for the petition. Inside the court, he witnessed petitioners being taken away.
He told Epoch Times that despite efforts from various places to block and intercept petitioners, a large number of oppressed citizens still poured into Beijing. Outside the National Petition Bureau, hundreds of people line up every day.
“With so many oppressed citizens, the police are chasing people away and not allowing them to gather on the streets. But even if they are driven away, it’s useless because once they leave the street where the National Petition Bureau is located, they will move to other streets.”
Gao Peng believed that the long-term suppression of petitioner’s demands by the authorities will inevitably lead to serious consequences. “If this continues, people’s grievances will deepen, leading to social unrest, even attacking officials. In this country, there is no way out.”