There is a saying among petitioners that if your problem cannot be solved before the Olympics, it will be even harder after the Games.
- Petitioner Liu Feiyue
The strength of this belief reminds me of the mythologies and stories told by other groups in a state of severe disempowerment, like street children. These stories are used like maps in a hostile terrain in which recognisable, ‘normal’ human meaning systems (eg: children will be cared for; the judicial system will mostly apply the law) have completely broken down. I suppose I think this because from where I’m sitting, petitioners look equally unlikely to get what they are looking for on either side of the Olympics. The following is a digest of recent reporting on petitioners and blogger activists by RFA’s Mandarin service, translated by Chen Ping:
RFA Hong Kong Ding Xiao reports on Monday, March 3, 2008
Hu Jia’s wife Zeng Jinyan told RFA recently that due to long-time in-door confinement, Hu Jia’s three-month old infant daughter is having calcium deficiency symptoms. Monday in Beijig, petitioner Zhou Li with her own child went to Hu’s home, trying to deliver calcium-enriched baby formula to Zeng. Zhou Li told RFA that “Police stopped me before Hu Jia’s door and checked my ID. After denying me entrance, he said that you might want to come again after a while and then you can get in freely. I asked the officer that is this related to the annual sessions of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress? He answered that you shouldn’t ask any more questions, I have already told you too much. Then the police repeated again that after a while you can come to visit freely. I tried to call Zeng Jinyan but there was no answer, probably because her phone was cut off.”
RFA cannot explain what the police meant. But Hu Jia’s friends are cautious at the news that police might end the house arrest of Zeng Jinyan after a while. Hu Jia’s friend Liu Anjun told RFA that “China is under high international and domestic pressure after Hu Jia’s arrest. So it might be a misleading rumor from police that he might be released, as an effort to prevent people from visiting his family.”
At the same time, the authorities in China continue crackdown on rights activists. This is evidenced by the fact that several police cars and officers were closely monitoring Liu Anjun while he was talking to RFA.
Last Friday, police in Ji County of Hebei arrested Zheng Mingfang, another rights activist frequently calling for Hu Jia’s release. Her husband told RFA Monday that police didn’t show arrest warrant when taken his wife away. “I cannot expect to see her before the Olympic Games.”
RFA Washington Han Qing reports on Monday, March 3, 2008
According to 64tianwang.com, Huang Caipiao, a petitioner from southern Chinese province Fujian, was intercepted by Beijing police Monday when he was heading for the Supreme Procurator’s Office. Police sent him to Majialou, a temporary detention center for petitioners and others. Mr. Huang told RFA Monday that “there were about more than a thousand petitioners from across the country in Majialou. There was no one hearing you plight there.” Huang said he is currently held in a Beijing hotel by police from his hometown and might be sent back to Lianjiang, Fujian next day.
Mr. Huang is a shrimp farmer who has been seeking justice for damages to his business wrought by forced relocation. His 15 petition trips to Beijing yielded nothing but rather his imprisonment for one year. “Now I lost all hopes.” Huang said.
Lin Xiuli, a petitioner from eastern Qingdao City, was caught by interceptors from her hometown Monday in Beijing when she tried to petition the Supreme Court. She was immediately sent back to Qingdao and now is held at a “study class for petitioners.”
“My mishaps happened in 2003,” Ms. Lin told RFA Monday. “I was pushed off from the sixth floor of a building. But the perpetrators were acquitted by the Court.” “China’s law proclaims human rights, freedom and equality before the law. But why have the perpetrators not been brought to justice? Why there has been no trial for them? Why they still hold me now? ”
Huang Qi, manager of 64tianwang.com told RFA that “Number of petitioners to Beijing has drastically increased this year, and so have been the means to intercept them by the authorities.”
RFA Hong Kong Yan Xiu reports on Tuesday, March 4, 2008
In Beijing, police detained Li Jinping, a bodyguard for the late reformist Chinese Communist chief Zhao Ziyang. Mr. Li planned to demonstrate at Tiananmen Square calling for redress of Zhao’s case on Monday when the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference opened its annual session in Beijing. Mr. Li has been confined in a hotel by police by Tuesday.
Another petitioner Zhang Shufeng has been kept at her own home since last Saturday. Monday a police beat up her husband, a disabled person. Zhang told RFA that “I said to police you monitor petitioners and beat up the disabled. What kind of activities are you committed? The police said if you get out of your home we will jail you.”
Dissident Liu Feiyue told RFA Tuesday that the reason for the sudden surge of petitioner numbers is that there is a saying among petitioners that if your problem cannot be solved before the Olympics, it will be even harder after the Games. But in the past two days I heard they say that some petitioners were detained and sent home, and they might be released after the Games.
Filed under: China | Tagged: 2008olympics, 2008_olympics, beijing_2008, beijing_olympics, bloggers, blogging, china_civilrights, china_civil_rights, china_graft, china_health, china_internet, china_law, china_media, china_mentalhealth, china_petitioners, china_property, china_rights, china_unrest, citizenjournalism, commentary, East Asia, east_asia, environment, freespeech, GFW, governance, guangdong, guangxi, heilongjiang, human_rights, jiangsu, jiangxi, labor, media, nailhouse, olympics_2008, olympic_games, one_world_one_dream, qingdao, shandong, tianjin, xinjiang, yunnan
RFA News in English
China: Petitioner belief prompts pre-Olympic rush on capital
The strength of this belief reminds me of the mythologies and stories told by other groups in a state of severe disempowerment, like street children. These stories are used like maps in a hostile terrain in which recognisable, ‘normal’ human meaning systems (eg: children will be cared for; the judicial system will mostly apply the law) have completely broken down. I suppose I think this because from where I’m sitting, petitioners look equally unlikely to get what they are looking for on either side of the Olympics. The following is a digest of recent reporting on petitioners and blogger activists by RFA’s Mandarin service, translated by Chen Ping:
RFA Hong Kong Ding Xiao reports on Monday, March 3, 2008
Hu Jia’s wife Zeng Jinyan told RFA recently that due to long-time in-door confinement, Hu Jia’s three-month old infant daughter is having calcium deficiency symptoms. Monday in Beijig, petitioner Zhou Li with her own child went to Hu’s home, trying to deliver calcium-enriched baby formula to Zeng. Zhou Li told RFA that “Police stopped me before Hu Jia’s door and checked my ID. After denying me entrance, he said that you might want to come again after a while and then you can get in freely. I asked the officer that is this related to the annual sessions of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress? He answered that you shouldn’t ask any more questions, I have already told you too much. Then the police repeated again that after a while you can come to visit freely. I tried to call Zeng Jinyan but there was no answer, probably because her phone was cut off.”
RFA cannot explain what the police meant. But Hu Jia’s friends are cautious at the news that police might end the house arrest of Zeng Jinyan after a while. Hu Jia’s friend Liu Anjun told RFA that “China is under high international and domestic pressure after Hu Jia’s arrest. So it might be a misleading rumor from police that he might be released, as an effort to prevent people from visiting his family.”
At the same time, the authorities in China continue crackdown on rights activists. This is evidenced by the fact that several police cars and officers were closely monitoring Liu Anjun while he was talking to RFA.
Last Friday, police in Ji County of Hebei arrested Zheng Mingfang, another rights activist frequently calling for Hu Jia’s release. Her husband told RFA Monday that police didn’t show arrest warrant when taken his wife away. “I cannot expect to see her before the Olympic Games.”
RFA Washington Han Qing reports on Monday, March 3, 2008
According to 64tianwang.com, Huang Caipiao, a petitioner from southern Chinese province Fujian, was intercepted by Beijing police Monday when he was heading for the Supreme Procurator’s Office. Police sent him to Majialou, a temporary detention center for petitioners and others. Mr. Huang told RFA Monday that “there were about more than a thousand petitioners from across the country in Majialou. There was no one hearing you plight there.” Huang said he is currently held in a Beijing hotel by police from his hometown and might be sent back to Lianjiang, Fujian next day.
Mr. Huang is a shrimp farmer who has been seeking justice for damages to his business wrought by forced relocation. His 15 petition trips to Beijing yielded nothing but rather his imprisonment for one year. “Now I lost all hopes.” Huang said.
Lin Xiuli, a petitioner from eastern Qingdao City, was caught by interceptors from her hometown Monday in Beijing when she tried to petition the Supreme Court. She was immediately sent back to Qingdao and now is held at a “study class for petitioners.”
“My mishaps happened in 2003,” Ms. Lin told RFA Monday. “I was pushed off from the sixth floor of a building. But the perpetrators were acquitted by the Court.” “China’s law proclaims human rights, freedom and equality before the law. But why have the perpetrators not been brought to justice? Why there has been no trial for them? Why they still hold me now? ”
Huang Qi, manager of 64tianwang.com told RFA that “Number of petitioners to Beijing has drastically increased this year, and so have been the means to intercept them by the authorities.”
RFA Hong Kong Yan Xiu reports on Tuesday, March 4, 2008
In Beijing, police detained Li Jinping, a bodyguard for the late reformist Chinese Communist chief Zhao Ziyang. Mr. Li planned to demonstrate at Tiananmen Square calling for redress of Zhao’s case on Monday when the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference opened its annual session in Beijing. Mr. Li has been confined in a hotel by police by Tuesday.
Another petitioner Zhang Shufeng has been kept at her own home since last Saturday. Monday a police beat up her husband, a disabled person. Zhang told RFA that “I said to police you monitor petitioners and beat up the disabled. What kind of activities are you committed? The police said if you get out of your home we will jail you.”
Dissident Liu Feiyue told RFA Tuesday that the reason for the sudden surge of petitioner numbers is that there is a saying among petitioners that if your problem cannot be solved before the Olympics, it will be even harder after the Games. But in the past two days I heard they say that some petitioners were detained and sent home, and they might be released after the Games.
Filed under: China | Tagged: 2008olympics, 2008_olympics, beijing_2008, beijing_olympics, bloggers, blogging, china_civilrights, china_civil_rights, china_graft, china_health, china_internet, china_law, china_media, china_mentalhealth, china_petitioners, china_property, china_rights, china_unrest, citizenjournalism, commentary, East Asia, east_asia, environment, freespeech, GFW, governance, guangdong, guangxi, heilongjiang, human_rights, jiangsu, jiangxi, labor, media, nailhouse, olympics_2008, olympic_games, one_world_one_dream, qingdao, shandong, tianjin, xinjiang, yunnan