2015-08-17
A Chinese petitioner protesting about medical issues is detained by police outside on May 10, 2012.
AFP
The ruling Chinese Communist Party has thrown a tight security cordon around the country’s capital ahead of a massive military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, while a specially made propaganda film is drawing ridicule from netizens for rewriting history.
Beijing authorities have begun a city-wide security operation targeting ordinary Chinese who come to lodge complaints about ruling Chinese Communist Party and government officials with central government departments, ahead of the Sept. 3 celebration, petitioners and activists told RFA.
“Why are they detaining them? Because of the military parade,” Jiangsu petitioner Wu Jixin said. “They are oppressing the people … they are afraid they’ll make trouble in Beijing during the military parade, that’s why they’re detaining them.”
Petitioner Lin Xiuli said she had heard that the operation to remove petitioners will begin in earnest on Aug. 22.
“I saw a few more armed police than usual on duty at sentry posts when I got up this morning,” Lin said. “I heard that they will be rounding people up starting on Aug. 22, for example, petitioners.”
“They don’t want any of them to remain in Beijing.”
Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia said police are already checking all vehicles coming into the city, however.
“In some cases, they make all the passengers get out of the vehicle, and then they open up the trunk and go through their bags and everything,” Hu said.
“This really is a massive operation, in terms of scale, and how strict it is,” he said.
A petitioner from the central province of Hubei, who declined to be named, agreed. “All the roads leading into Beijing are jammed after you get to Hebei, where there are three or four police checkpoints,” he said. Hebei is the province surrounding Beijing.
“There are security checks at each checkpoint. Every passenger has to swipe their ID, and if they are [known to be] a petitioner, they’re not allowed through.”
Student enrollment postponed
Meanwhile, an employee at a Beijing university said students from the rest of China had had their enrollment date postponed to accommodate the police operation.
“All of the higher education institutions and schools have told students not to enroll until Sept. 7,” the employee said.
“Students from outside Beijing won’t be allowed into Beijing any earlier than that.”
Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, said ethnic minority groups like the mostly Muslim Uyghurs from the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang are also being targeted under special security measures ahead of the military parade.
“They are under coercive measures and surveillance right across the board, being taken back to Xinjiang and so on,” Raxit said. “It’s extremely serious.”
