Friday 18 July 2008
07/10/2007 / CHINA
Chinese petitioners, driven out of Beijing, take refuge online
Material compiled by Zhang, our editor for the Chinese region
For hundreds of years the central authority in China has allowed citizens to file a petition if they feel a local official has wronged them. The citizen must go to Peking to ask for reparations related to expropriation, police brutality, and unjust verdicts, or to denounce corruption. Over the years, these thousands of dissatisfied people have formed a village in an area south of the capital, where they live sparsely, while waiting their case to be heard by the petition office. Some people have been waiting for over ten years. However, the day before the seventeenth congress of the Communist Party, the authorities decided to get rid of the petitioners. On 12 October, police forces entered the petitioner village and expelled all its inhabitants. Now, keeping in mind the ancestral tradition of petitions, some petitioners use the Internet to air their grievances. For example...
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Worker expelled from the village of petitioners
On this video, an inhabitant of the petitioner village talks about how he was expelled from the house he has lived in for the past 30 years. The police officers, who compensated him only 70 yuans (€6.50) per square meter, did not even show any documents. They simply explained to him that the zone was to become a park. Now this man is homeless.
This video was originally posted on Youmaker.
Petitioners and foreign journalists
The petitioners gather around foreign journalists in front of the superior court of Peking. They have gone to Peking to file their petitions near the central authority, but also in the hope of telling their story to the Chinese and foreign media.
Petition of over 10,000 presented at the 17th congress of the CPC
In this video, a woman presents a petition signed by over 10,000 people and submitted to the 12th congress. The signatories assert their right to freedom of expression, the right of association and ask for the introduction of an independent judiciary, among other things. These rights are recognized by the Chinese constitution, but are never applied.
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The power of the internet and the upcoming Olympics
Submitted by Anonyme (not verified) on Fri, 04/01/2008 - 05:00.I still recall watching that sole Chinese homeowner holding out to not sell his home in some part of China.
That was remarkable with all those high skyscrapers encompassing that house situated on a hill.
Could the removal of those petitioner been pre-Olympics "cleaning" up for the view from the world?
Sometimes,i wonder whether China truly had chosen the correct path for its society.
Rural husbands departing families within the inner China to the big cities for higher wages to assist the progress of their families.
Remaining away from their families for long periods of time.
This is not how I envisioned China locating progress.
This shall dismantle society
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