Chinese petitioners who traveled to Beijing from Fujian Province have described being forcibly removed from the capital and detailed during the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) recent Fifth Plenum.
The accounts highlight how local officials restrict petitioners’ movements during politically sensitive periods, as authorities intensified their security measures during the major political meeting. The Fifth Plenum Central Committee meeting was held Oct. 26 to 29.
Petitioning is an administrative procedure in China to seek the redress of grievances through China’s legal and administrative systems. However, in practice, petitioners are often targeted and repressed by the regime.
During the plenum, regime authorities targeted residents staying in Dadong Village in Beijing’s Fangshan District, a relatively inexpensive rental area that has become a temporary home for petitioners and migrant workers.
The village has repeatedly been subjected to what residents describe as mass clearance operations during major political meetings, when local governments send personnel to locate and return petitioners to their hometowns.
Petitioner Removed From Beijing
Wang Xiuying, a petitioner from Fujian who has been petitioning in Beijing for some months, told The Epoch Times that local officials and police came to her rental apartment on Oct. 26 to inform her that her presence in the capital was not permitted during the meeting.
Wang, who has spent more than 20 years seeking a resolution to a land dispute in her hometown, said this was her first time in Beijing to petition the central government. She said she had observed two officials from her hometown being stationed in Beijing for the past five months to monitor her.
She said she had exhausted the available judicial procedures in the dispute without obtaining a resolution. Local authorities eventually advised her to seek help from a “competent authority,” prompting her to travel to Beijing to file a petition. During the day, she took temporary jobs to support herself and returned to Dadong Village at night.
“I don’t disturb the public, and I haven’t broken the law,” Wang said. “Then, during the Fifth Plenum, local officials came to find me and said: ‘It’s a sensitive period. Go back first.’”
She questioned why a political meeting should affect her ability to seek redress for her grievances.
“The country is holding a meeting, and it has nothing to do with me. Why does holding a meeting make it a ‘sensitive period?'” she asked. “If local governments describe the country’s meeting dates and schedule as a sensitive period, then the people creating this ‘sensitivity’ are the country’s top leaders—not those of us who have been denied justice for 20 years.”
Wang said local officials took her to Jinan, Shandong Province, on the afternoon of Oct. 26. She was allowed to return to Beijing only after the plenum had ended, at around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 29.
On her way back to Beijing at Jinan’s high-speed railway station, she saw a heavy police presence and two rounds of security screening for passengers traveling to Beijing. She then discovered that her national identification card had been flagged with a label identifying her as a petitioner, making it difficult for her to pass security checks.
She was eventually allowed to enter the subway station after a state security officer accompanying her presented his police identification and provided his telephone number to authorities.
“I only began petitioning in Beijing this year. Yet, they have already placed a label on my ID,” Wang said. “The government seizes people’s property, courts issue unjust rulings, and procuratorates fail to fulfill their supervisory duties. When people turn to state authorities to report these problems, they are given a ‘petitioner’ label, making them outcasts.”
Second Petitioner Alleges Beating, Detention
A second case involving Fujian petitioners was revealed to The Epoch Times by a source familiar with the matter who does not wish to be identified out of fear of reprisal.
The case involves Zhang Hua, another Fujian petitioner in Beijing’s Dadong Village. He was allegedly forcibly detained along with his wife, Chen Yikun, on the night of Oct. 23.
According to the source, Fuzhou officials forcibly broke down the door of the couple’s rental home without presenting any legal documentation. The officials allegedly seized their mobile phones and ID cards, cutting off their ability to contact people for assistance.
The couple was then sent to Fujian Province and held separately at the Hongrui Hotel in Fuzhou, the source said.
During the detention, Zhang sustained a hand injury after being cut by glass, with fragments remaining in the wound. He repeatedly requested medical treatment but was denied access. He was also allegedly deprived of food on two occasions.
Zhang eventually managed to escape from the hotel and went to a hospital in Fuzhou, where he underwent surgery to treat the injury. He has since returned home, but local government personnel have been stationed outside his home to monitor him.
Chen also attempted to escape during the detention but was caught, according to the source. She was allegedly restrained with a belt and forcibly dragged back to detention.
Chen regained her freedom and returned home on Oct. 30. That afternoon, the personnel involved returned the couple’s two mobile phones and Zhang’s ID card. However, the SIM cards had been removed from both phones, the source said.
Li Xi contributed to this report.
