In September, Beijing will host the China-Africa Summit, and various regions in China have launched a new round of stability maintenance actions targeting petitioners. In Shanghai, some petitioners who protested during the Third Plenum are still not free, risking being detained until the end of the China-Africa Summit or even longer.
The 2024 China-Africa Forum Summit is scheduled to take place in Beijing from September 4th to 6th. Petitioners from Shanghai who recently went to Beijing have been mostly sent back and had their freedom restricted upon returning home. Some petitioners have been locked up in black jails.
According to information provided by several petitioners in Shanghai, Chen Zhenli, a resident of the Huangpu District in Bund Street, disappeared after being intercepted and sent back to Beijing on September 1st. Chen Meihua, a forcibly relocated resident of Dongbaikai in Jing’an District, disappeared after seeking medical treatment on August 28th.
Those who have been restricted at home after being sent back include: Fan Wenzhu from Hongkou District, who petitioned due to a wrongful court ruling; Wan Wenying from Hongkou District, who advocated for the rights of non-local daughters-in-law affected by urban demolition; Chen Guoying, Li Shujie, Zhang Yanhong, Chen Liwen, Zhu Xinmu, Sun Hongqin from Jing’an District, Wei Yuhua from Pudong New Area, Gong Chen from Changning District, Wu Baolin from Baoshan District, who petitioned for the rights related to urban demolition and relocation.
Chen Meihua from Jing’an District is being detained in the Shimen Er Road Subdistrict. Ding Juying from Pudong New Area, who petitioned for the resolution of a dispute over building a house on a homestead, is currently held in the black jail on Chongming Island.
A reporter from The Epoch Times reached Ding Juying by phone, and she said she was sent straight to the black jail in the rural homestay on Chongming Island after being intercepted on August 13th. She doesn’t know how long she will be detained, but based on past experience, they usually release people in December. Because of the upcoming summit in September and another meeting in October.
Hongqin Sun, who is restricted at home after returning from Beijing on August 20th, said to The Epoch Times, “I have been confined at home and not allowed to return to Beijing. I can only write complaint letters at home now. The policies issued by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Supreme People’s Court are beneficial to petitioners, but local authorities do not implement them. When we report issues, they say it’s not their responsibility. We have no legal weapons and no power, which is very helpless.”
Sun Hongqin continued, “Whenever we publish information on safeguarding rights, the government blocks our Weibo, WeChat, and Douyin accounts. It shows that media attention is effective. We hope you can continue to pay attention to us petitioners.”
Rights activist Song Jiahong in Shanghai told The Epoch Times that the Shanghai government is striving for “zero petitions,” but many petitioners from the Third Plenum are still held in black jails in Shanghai without release. With an international summit in Beijing in September, many petitioners intercepted on their way back are either confined at home or locked up in black jails.
He revealed that those still detained include: Wu Shihao from Hongkou District, a returnee from Northwest China, who petitioned for rights related to urban demolition and relocation; Wang Lanying from Songjiang District, a returnee from Xinjiang and former educated youth in Shanghai, who petitioned due to a dispute over the demolition of her son’s homestead married house; Wu Ruixia, a non-local daughter-in-law who petitioned for her legitimate rights related to urban demolition and relocation; and Liu Jiemei from Hongkou District, who petitioned against a development company unlawfully exchanging her old family house under the guise of the government.
Song Jiahong stated, “Illegally restricting petitioners’ personal freedom is unconstitutional, and even holding ‘study sessions’ as an excuse is also illegal.”