Inside China Today

Inside China Today – Friday 19th February

- Liaoning authorities search for organizers of ‘Petitioners New Year
- Regime blocking the rights of lawyers
- Chinese Communist Party sues victims of toxic milk

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Liaoning authorities search for organizers of ‘Petitioners New Year’

Over 60 homeless petitioners held the Inaugural Petitioners’ Chinese New Year Gala on February 5th. The gala was held at a simple location in Beijing and was broadcast over the internet. During the 90 minute performance, petitioners from different provinces poured their grievances and heart-felt feelings through singing. The gala was uploaded online soon after. Chinese Communist authorities have begun a massive search for the organizers and participants.

Liu Chunbao was an organiser of the Chinese New Year Gala. On February 14th, Liaoning police came to arrest him at his Shoubao Village home in Beijing at around 11am. Fortunately, Liu was not home.

Petitioner Jiang Jiawen was kidnapped by the police. Another organiser named Luan Qinyang, a 22-year-old petitioner from Liaoning province, continues to elude police.
Reporters from Sound of Hope were able to phone Luan Qinyang on February 14th. He confirmed Jiang Jiawen was kidnapped by Liaoning police.

He said (recording):
“I do not dare go home. They’re trying to arrest me. I’ve done nothing wrong. People from our Municipal government and from the provincial levels have come looking for me, on New Year’s Eve, and on New Year’s Day. They monitored the place we used to live for a whole night yesterday. They started searching our apartment at around 11am in the morning today. I wasn’t home. So they arrested Jiang Jiawen instead.”
Song Yujie, a petitioner from Liaoning, had earlier been searching for Luan Qinyang since he went into hiding on New Years Eve. He later found Mr. Luan under a bridge. He was very ill when he found him.

Mr. Song told reporters (recording):
“They sent out police to search for him and planned to charge him with ‘threatening the government.’ They’ve been looking for him everywhere since Chinese New Year’s Eve. I have been looking for him. Through someone’s help, I finally found him. When I met him, he had a high fever and was very ill. He doesn’t dare to go to a public hospital; instead, he goes to a private clinic for injections. Tell me, what is this? This lad can’t even celebrate the New Year. That is the situation we petitioners face. We planned to hold an informal concert (to celebrate the New Year). We simply wanted to get together and alleviate the pain we petitioners suffer. What is wrong with us getting together and singing a few songs?”

He went on to state the Chinese authorities weren’t trying to resolve social issues. On the contrary, the authorities make the problems worse.

He said (recording):
“I simply don’t understand it. (They claim and advocate) harmony. Can this be called harmony? Petitioners don’t carry weapons. Do we pose any threat to the government? Why do you send out the police to deal with us? Why do you fear petitioners to such an extent? If you haven’t done anything that makes you feel guilty, what is it you’re afraid of, to the extent where you would send out police to arrest unarmed petitioners?”

Liu Qingzhen, a petitioner from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, said Liaoning authorities dispatched several police cars and over ten policemen to the concert.

Huang Guangyu, a petitioner from Hunan province who hid under a bridge with Mr. Luan said (recording):
“Where are the human rights in our country? There isn’t even a mention of basic humanity. They won’t even let him go and keep searching for him! We aren’t just disappointed at the state government, we’re in total despair.”

Fu Ming and Mi Lan of the SOH Radio Network.

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Regime blocking the rights of lawyers

In 2009 the Chinese Communist Regime began targeting human rights lawyers in China in an effort to silence their efforts. A range of tactics are used including threats, kidnappings and the denial of licenses to practice law. Lawyer Tong Chaoping from the Anhui Law Firm in Beijing claims his firm has also faced persecution from authorities, especially for taking up politically sensitive cases involving human rights or religious freedom.

Tong Chaoping spoke to SOH (recording):
“The government usually interferes when we fight for the rights of farmers. Do you have the courage to uphold China’s laws and human rights? Our difficulty isn’t related to our work but is because we can’t get a license to practice. Our lawyers are met with various restrictions. At the end of last year, we submitted an application to renew our license with judicial departments. For no reason, they withheld the license. If you accuse them of violating the law, they will turn a deaf ear. This is a major issue for us.”

He continued (recording):
“Disadvantaged people desperately need legal representation. Take farmers as an example. After a farmer is deprived of his land illegally and ruthlessly, it is very difficult for him to maintain his livelihood. For example, ten thousand farmers from Yanjia Street in Taoshou District, Chongqing, need to fight for their rights. When you take care of them, one farmer pays you 100 Yuan and ten thousand can pay you a million.”

And finally he said (recording):
“All we ask for is they follow the law and give us the license. If they allowed us to follow China’s laws, we wouldn’t face any financial difficulties when representing the under-privileged. We have more cases than we can handle – countless victims need to see us about forced relocations and land rights.”

The targeting of human rights lawyers by the regime has been widespread. Renowned lawyer Gao Zhisheng was taken by police on February 4th 2009, his whereabouts has largely been unknown. Recent reports suggest he may now be residing in Urumqi of Xinjiang Province. Wang Yonghang from Dalian, Liaoning was taken by Public Security officers on July 4th 2009; he was interrogated secretly and sentenced to seven years prison. Many lawyers face kidnappings, beatings, and even torture by officials, when they take on human rights cases. Experts believe these lawyers should be praised for upholding the rights of citizens under Chinese law. Ironically, the rights of these lawyers are often compromised.

Li Yifei and Yu Liang of the SOH Radio Network.

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Chinese Communist Party sues victims of toxic milk

Authorities are charging a man for allegedly ‘interfering with social order’ in China for his continued investigation into 2008’s melamine toxic milk powder scandal. Zhao Lianhai is the founder of the Chinese non-profit group, “Home for Kidney Stone Babies.” Parents of babies who suffered as a result of the toxic milk powder say it is part of a suppression and persecution of the victims parents, whom Zhao represents.

Zhao met with his attorney, Peng Jian, on February 10. According to Jian, Zhao maintains his innocence. Peng said,
“Zhao believes he is innocent, and he wants to be defended as such, and that is exactly what I intend to do.”

Zhao was arrested for allegedly organising parents of the baby milk powder victims to go to Shijiazhuang and Beijing to protest in front of the court house. He was also alleged to have told media outlets about Li Ruirui, a young woman from Anhui province allegedly raped by police while in prison. Also for subsequently organising a protest outside of Beijing’s Public Security Bureau in an effort to rescue Li Ruirui.

Liu Dejun was present with Zhao outside the Public Security Bureau. Liu says everything he did was within the law and his arrest was groundless.

Liu said, “It’s very normal to protest for the parents of the baby [milk] powder victims in front of the court house for their babies were the ones being hurt. Zhao was not even present. Li Ruirui’s rape case is also very well known; the whole world knows. Li was raped while in prison and many [people] reported the case to the police. Appellants then thought they might not be able to do it, because if they went to the police station to report the rape, they could be arrested and sent back home. Therefore they asked reporters to alert the public. They did so out of fear of the justice system. There was nothing like “interference with social order”. Back then [during the protest], we were on the sidewalk, to the east of the Public Security building. Not in front of the entrance, so there was no “interference with social order”.

Liu believes the suit against Zhao is a suppression of civil rights, for the parents of babies poisoned by the toxic milk powder in 2008.

Liu said,
“I think he is being charged because of his investigation into the poisonous baby milk powder. There are rumours of strong backing behind the milk powder manufacturer, Sanlu. I think it is because he kept going on with his investigation and never stopped, and this was against the interests of the supporters.”

Zhou Jin, whose baby was poisoned by the Sanlu milk powder shares Liu’s opinion. Zhou said, “They tried everything, used all means to stop us from seeking justice for the children.” Zhou Jin emphasized that the charges against Zhao Lianhai were also like charges against all the victimised children and their parents. Zhou Jin said if Zhao Lianhai is found guilty many parents will go to Beijing to turn themselves in with their children.

Zhou said,
“Everything he did was rational, and he never went beyond the boundary of the law. I can’t imagine this *** government would treat him like this. Bringing charges against him, bringing charges against the parents of the baby milk powder victims. Whatever Zhao did is something those parents are doing as well. If he is guilty, then we are all guilty, even the children are guilty.”

Zhao’s case will be heard in the second half of February. The Ministry of Public Health has recently published a notice that three kinds of poisonous baby powder are now on sale in Canton. Senior analyst of the dairy industry, Wang Dingmian, estimated that there is about 100,000 tonnes of poisonous baby milk powder that has not been destroyed. The Ministry of Public Health of Liaoning province also revealed that poisonous ice cream bars with excessive amounts of melamine has been found in Liaoyang, a city in the province.

Caden Pearson, Fu Ming and Yu Xin of SOH Radio Network.

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