Recently, eight petitioners from Shanghai traveled to Beijing to present their grievances, only to be intercepted by Beijing police at the entrance and promptly reported to the Shanghai authorities. A plainclothes police officer from Shanghai then issued a chilling warning to the petitioners present, saying, “Be careful with your children.” This statement sent shivers down the spines of all present petitioners.
On the morning of September 27th at 8 o’clock, Shanghai petitioners Wu Bingqi, Yang Li, Li Lianggang, Chen Guoying, Zhang Ping, and Hu Wuming, among others, took a bus to Beijing. Upon their arrival at the entrance to Beijing, they were intercepted by Beijing police, who confiscated their identification documents and reported the incident to the Shanghai authorities.
Chen Guoying told a reporter, “At 8 o’clock on the 27th, we were traveling to Beijing by bus as usual when we were intercepted by Beijing police for questioning. At 13:15, two plainclothes Shanghai police officers arrived, and one of them directly threatened us, saying, ‘You need to be cautious about your children.'”
The petitioners were left feeling terrified by these words and demanded clarification from the Shanghai police in front of the Beijing authorities. The plainclothes officer who had made the threat changed his tune, stating, “What I meant was that we need to consider our actions and avoid causing any further trouble. Let’s just put an end to this.”
Shanghai human rights activist Song Jiahong remarked, “If Shanghai petitioners are exercising their legal right to petition in Beijing, then is it legal for this plainclothes officer to go to Beijing? The fact is, petitioning according to the law is already incredibly difficult, and we as activists must bear such a significant risk! I urge the petitioners not to forget this officer’s malicious behavior and to hold him accountable, either through legal action or by reporting him to the Beijing authorities until he admits his wrongdoing.”
After departing from the scene, the petitioners were detained again shortly at the Jianguomen Police Station. Fortunately, all eight petitioners returned home safely.
Shanghai petitioner Yu Zhonghuan, who frequently faces detention and imprisonment due to his petitioning activities, expressed how his disabled daughter also suffers consequences. Each time Yu attempts to bring his daughter to the hospital for treatment, he faces further harassment. Due to the lack of proper medical care, his daughter has developed high blood pressure at a young age, rendering her unable to walk, a situation that deeply pains Yu.
Yu Zhonghuan shared with a reporter, “Before my detention on July 26th, I had taken my daughter to the Jing’an District Central Hospital a few times for emergency treatment. Her blood pressure had reached over 180 mmHg, and the doctors couldn’t believe someone so young could have such high blood pressure. In addition to hypertension, she suffers from severe heart, kidney, and stomach issues. Just as she was about to be admitted for further treatment, I was detained for 30 days under the guise of ‘maintaining stability,’ and then spent another 11 days in a black prison. On the day of my detention, the police and community officials abducted my daughter and took her to a disabled care facility, depriving her of treatment and only providing her with some heart medication.”
It is widely known that the expenses allocated for maintaining stability by the Chinese Communist Party surpass military spending. Yu Zhonghuan raised doubts about where these funds truly go, suggesting that instead of benefiting petitioners, the stability funds are utilized to suppress them through methods like intercepting and abducting, hiring thugs or security personnel, and operating black prisons, with a portion of these funds potentially ending up lining the pockets of corrupt officials.
“Twenty years ago, the approved stability fund for a petitioner was 200,000 yuan, which was later raised to 500,000 yuan a decade ago,” Yu Zhonghuan commented. “However, most of this money is spent on intercepting, abducting, hiring underworld figures, and operating black prisons, with a considerable portion finding its way into the pockets of government officials through kickbacks. Only a few petitioners ever receive a meager portion of these funds.”
“On July 22nd before my detention, I was summoned to a discussion at the community committee where the head of the street petition office, Director Ni, Committee Secretary Ma, and two police officers were present to talk about the stability funds. I wished to secure more funds to treat my daughter’s illness. I explained that my family was in the direst need, with my daughter unable to walk due to her condition and urgently requiring medical attention. Director Ni agreed to provide only 5,000 yuan as stability funds, which I refused as it was clearly inadequate for medical treatment.”
Yu Zhonghuan was detained for 30 days on July 26th, and on the same day, his daughter was admitted to a disabled care facility. Not only did Yu receive no stability funds during this ordeal, but the subsidy intended for his daughter’s disability was also withheld.
Activist “Xiaohei” pointed out, “An official from a certain area in Beijing informed me that there was a petitioner in their region who had petitioned over 400 times for a 200,000 yuan economic dispute, resulting in over 5 million yuan being spent on stability measures. Officials at various levels derived profits from this spending, turning petitioners into a revenue stream for them. How could this method ever solve the underlying issues?”