Recently in Shanghai, three petitioners, Chen Tinglan, Zhang Jinhua, and Zheng Jinggen, were sent to Chongming Island’s black prison for over a month as part of the authorities’ efforts to maintain stability during the “September 3 Parade.” It was originally agreed that they would be released after the parade ended, but on September 5, the authorities did not release them as promised. In response, the three individuals staged a protest by threatening to cause an explosion using gas canisters. Police cars and fire trucks were dispatched to the scene, and water hoses were brought out in preparation.
In a message on September 5 noon, Chen Tinglan (online alias: Qiu Mingze) stated that she and other petitioners from Jing’an District had been held at a farmhouse in North Gang No.4 Road, Xiannan Village, Xianghua Town, Chongming District in Shanghai for over a month. They were supposed to be released on September 5 following the “September 3 Parade,” but the government had reneged on their promise.
According to a video shared by the petitioners on site, Chen Tinglan, Zhang Jinhua, and Zheng Jinggen resorted to threatening to detonate gas canisters as a form of protest, indicating their readiness to resort to drastic measures. Police cars and fire trucks arrived on the scene along with the deployment of water hoses. The video abruptly cuts off, and the current situation remains unknown.
Many petitioners in Shanghai attempted to contact Chen Tinglan, Zhang Jinhua, and Zheng Jinggen but found that their phones were all switched off, rendering the three individuals unreachable.
When contacted by a reporter from Dajiyuan, Chen Tinglan did not answer the phone or respond to any messages left for her.
Song Jiahong, the individual who released the “Shanghai Black Prison List,” expressed to a reporter from Dajiyuan, “The aforementioned act of resistance indicates that the petitioners have reached a breaking point. When inquiring about their current status with the local Xianghua police station, the response received was that they were taken away by Jing’an District authorities.”
He remarked, “From a criminal standpoint, the black prison’s actions were illegal from the start, and the petitioners’ resistance to persecution can be considered legitimate self-defense.”
Song Jiahong himself is a victim of the black prison system. Recently, he faced police warnings for exposing how the Shanghai municipal government implemented special security measures targeting petitioners in response to the “September 3 Parade,” resulting in numerous petitioners being monitored as hostile forces and detained in black prisons. He estimated that Shanghai spends up to 1 billion yuan annually on maintaining stability across 216 grassroots units in the city.
Due to his oversight of the Shanghai government’s oppression and persecution of petitioners, Song Jiahong frequently faces warnings and pressure from the police. Around 8:30 am on September 6, officers from the Songjiang Sub-bureau visited his residence once again.
Song Jiahong recounted, “The individual claimed to be from the Songjiang Sub-bureau police but refused to disclose their name or badge number. Upon opening the door, he immediately said, ‘I need to inform you according to the law: ‘You, Song Jiahong, have violated the law by providing information to overseas media.'”
“I asked him again, ‘If you ring my doorbell, firstly, you have to provide your badge number and name as a police officer. You don’t even know how to do that as a police officer?’ He did not directly respond and continued, ‘Chinese citizens must love their country.’ I questioned him, ‘Where am I lacking in patriotism?’ Still, he remained silent.”
“I said, ‘If you don’t understand the Police Law, how can you talk about patriotism? What constitutes foreign and domestic? Please take a seat and recompose before continuing speaking!’ Finally, I told him, ‘If you don’t reveal your badge number, I will report you!'”
Song Jiahong emphasized that as a petitioner of 30 years, exercising rights such as petitioning, supervising, and freedom of speech has never been construed as illegal in his view. “The internet represents a free world and is a boon given to the world’s people by the internet. My use of the internet to monitor corrupt officials will not cease.”