More than 30,000 petitioners -- many of whom were brutally beaten and herded into a gymnasium -- have been detained in Beijing before a major meeting of the Chinese Communist Party, a human-rights group and witnesses said yesterday.
Some 36,000 people have been rounded up during the past week in an apparent move to ensure public order before the fourth plenary session of the party's elite 198-member Central Committee, New York-based Human Rights in China (HRIC) said.
Citing unnamed sources, it said police had been seen storming into petitioner settlements and breaking down makeshift structures, confiscating and destroying personal belongings.
"Many of them were brutally beaten or otherwise abused," the rights groups said. "Some of the abuses reported to HRIC include sustained beating and kicking of detainees, and prodding in the face with high-voltage electric batons."
Du Mingrong, 52, from Jilin Province, said that on Sept. 2, police vans surrounded a squatter area in southern Beijing where people stay as they try to lodge petitions against injustices with the government.
She said police arrested dozens of people, including an old man who was shoved to the ground and beaten for refusing to get into a police van.
"Those who refused to get into the vans were all beaten before being dragged into the vans," said Du, who claimed police had beaten her several times during the past months, including once with an electric baton.
Police had earlier stormed into the petitioners' makeshift homes, smashing windows, bowls and plates and scattering food on the floor, she said.
"They have no compassion at all, they are arresting people day and night," Du said.
Those not detained were too afraid to return to the village during daylight and only sneak back after dark to sleep.
Many petitioners, mostly detained without legal warrants, were taken to what HRIC described as a "concentration camp" in the basement of the Shijingshan Gymnasium in western Beijing. It was built for the Asian Games in 1992.
At the gymnasium on Tuesday, security guards were ordering onlookers away. Police vans and cars surrounded the building.
"Starting from Saturday or Sunday until today [Tuesday], bus after bus has been coming to the stadium, it is hard to say how many people they have brought in," one worker at the facility said.
After identifying the petitioners, police were handing them over to officials from the provinces where they came from, petitioners said.
Petitioners from all over China -- many of whom have suffered injustice at the hands of corrupt officials -- traditionally head to Beijing before major national events to try and make their voices heard.
Many were urging the release of Ye Guozhu (
"The right to petition is guaran-teed in China's Constitution, with no exceptions made for major events," HRIC president Liu Qing (劉青) said. "The central government should show its respect for the Constitution by taking whatever means are necessary to redress the injustice these people have suffered, rather than to add to their oppression."
Police could not immediately be reached for comment.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS