The clampdown on citizens who flocked to the Chinese capital seeking justice for a wide range of grievances intensified over the past two weeks.
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of China’s petitioning system, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) escalated efforts to intercept petitioners arriving in Beijing.
Dozens of Chinese citizens who flocked to the Chinese capital seeking justice for a wide range of grievances over the past two weeks were rounded up or detained by police as they made their way to the central petitioning office, according to activists.
The Chinese regime set up its petition system decades ago, inviting citizens to directly address with central authorities issues or injustices caused by local officials. Numerous people from across the country travel to Beijing each year to file their petitions, especially before major political meetings or anniversaries. During these times, with more officials gathered in the capital, petitioners believe that they have a better chance of having their grievance heard and corrected by someone in authority.
In response, the CCP typically ramps up its already stringent security measures ahead of dates deemed sensitive, stopping petitioners and preventing any potential escalation into protests at the nation’s political center.
One of the latest petitioners to be targeted was Gu Guoping, a retired university lecturer from Shanghai, who was intercepted on April 27 near the central petitioning office. Gu had traveled to Beijing to submit complaints about previous unlawful detentions, alongside five other petitioners who were there to submit separate complaints.
“Our demand is for the Chinese communist government to honor international treaties, respect the human rights of Chinese citizens, and resolve long-ignored grievances from victims of rights violations,” Gu told The Epoch Times.
The Chinese regime published its Regulations on Letters and Visits (“petitioning regulations”) in January 2005, and they became effective on May 1 that year. Bureaus and offices were set up at various levels of the government as an alternative to formal Chinese legal channels, allowing Chinese nationals to seek to redress their grievances. These Chinese citizens are called “petitioners” in China.
After the petitioning regulations took effect, in the first quarter of 2005 written complaints to the State Council Petitions Bureau in Beijing surged by 99.4 percent and in-person visits rose by 94.9 percent year over year, according to Human Rights Watch, a nongovernmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights globally.
Beijing hosts the central office for Letters and Visits, where petitioners go to file their complaints seeking justice.
Their efforts are frequently met with violence, and many are kept in mass detention sites, or “black jails,” waiting to be sent back to their hometowns.
By Sophia Lam
