On a rainy day on September 25th, outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, the protest area was filled with Chinese protesters who had come from various places to voice their grievances. They came from different organizations and groups, as well as individuals seeking justice from Western free societies. Among them were three residents from Shanghai, who coincidentally arrived at the United Nations and met at the protest site.
One of them, Jiang Qin, living in the United States, shared her story of experiencing injustice in Shanghai’s Changning District. Her legally owned property was forcibly demolished by the local government without fair compensation or resettlement. Jiang Qin had returned to Shanghai multiple times to seek help from the local government, only to be met with bureaucratic runaround. As a result, not only was her problem left unresolved, she was also detained for a year and a half in Shanghai.
Jiang Qin explained that the house in Changning District was legally purchased in 1977 and expanded in 1990 with official approval. While she and her husband were visiting the U.S. in December 2009 to January 2010, their house was demolished. Despite receiving a notice from the Changning District notary office stating that they could witness the demolition with a notarized record if present, their property was still demolished without their consent.
“At that time, we were still living in Shanghai, and we didn’t move anything out of our house, but they still proceeded with the demolition. Now, when I request them to provide the demolition notarized records, they claim they have no such documents,” Jiang Qin said. She added that the Changning District knew they were not in Shanghai when the demolition took place.
“Afterwards, the size of my house was significantly reduced. The area stated on the property ownership certificate, land use rights certificate, and the housing registration book were all different. They also omitted the rights holder, which meant that we, the rights holders, could not be resettled or compensated. Therefore, our private property was forcibly demolished without any legal procedures,” she lamented.
“Now, 16 years have passed, and we have received no resettlement or compensation. My husband and I settled in the U.S. in 2012. In an attempt to resolve the issue, I took multiple leaves to go back to China. However, instead of resolving the problem, I was detained criminally five times in Changning District Detention Center and Xuhui District Detention Center, with three instances documented and two instances undocumented, essentially held in a black jail,” she disclosed.
“Once, before I planned to petition in Beijing, they intercepted me at the Shanghai train station upon noticing I had purchased a train ticket to Beijing. Another time, after my husband and I had already arrived in Beijing, they deceived us into returning to Shanghai to resolve the issue. However, upon our return to Shanghai, they separated my husband and me, detaining him for over ten hours and me for 34 days, a clear case of illegal detention with no charges until now,” she revealed.
“During 2018 and 2019, they confiscated my passport, detaining me in Shanghai for a year and a half, causing my husband and me to live apart,” she continued.
She further stated that earlier this year, they had engaged an attorney in Beijing to file a lawsuit, but the local government ignored their pleas, leaving them with no response. Despite following the legal procedures, the local government continues to evade responsibility and pass the buck.
Today, Jiang Qin said, “I am here to submit a petition to Premier Li Keqiang, aiming to make them aware of how our legal assets in China have been infringed upon and our legitimate demands. We are not causing trouble unreasonably; we simply want to reclaim our rightful property and receive resettlement compensation based on the past relocation policies.”
“I initially wanted to uphold the country’s image, but I have been left with no other choice but to come forward now. If this party truly served the people, incidents like ours would not have occurred,” she expressed.