FEW PETITIONERS AT BEIJING CALLS AND LETTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003240 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2033 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KOLY SOCI CH SUBJECT: FEW PETITIONERS AT BEIJING CALLS AND LETTERS BUREAU; MANY OUT-OF-PROVINCE POLICE PATROLING AREA REF: A. BEIJING 3118 ¶B. BEIJING 3005 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson for reasons 1.4 b,d. Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) During an August 20 reconnoiter of Beijing's State Bureau for Letters and Calls (where petitioners from across China submit petitions to seek redress for grievances), PolOff observed a heavy security presence but few petitioners. PolOff witnessed security guards dragging a woman away from the entrance of the office and a plain-clothed policeman checking a man's ID card. Around the Bureau and nearby Dong Zhuang neighborhood, which until late 2007 was home to Beijing's "petitioner village," PolOff observed Public Security Bureau (PSB) vehicles from nine different provinces. One contact in Dong Zhuang said the out-of-province PSB officials are responsible for rounding up and returning petitioners to their hometowns. The heavy police presence appears to be keeping petitioners away from the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, but perhaps only temporarily. End Summary. Calls and Letters Office Open but Unwelcoming -------------- ¶2. (C) PolOff observed a heavy police presence outside the State Bureau for Letters and Calls August 20. The Bureau is located in southwest Beijing and is where petitioners from across China submit petitions to seek redress for grievances. One petitioner previously told PolOff that petitioners are avoiding the Bureau during the Olympics for fear of arrest (ref A). At the Letters and Calls office, PolOff witnessed numerous Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers and security guards, but few petitioners. As PolOff's taxi entered the alley where the Letters and Calls Bureau is located, he witnessed security guards dragging a woman away from the office's entrance. PolOff also witnessed two plain-clothed officers checking a man's national identification card. Security guards at the alley entrance appeared alarmed to see a foreigner and took down the taxi's license plate number. PSB from Near and Far -------------- ¶3. (C) Around the State Bureau for Letters and Calls and the nearby Dong Zhuang neighborhood, which until late 2007 was the site of the "petitioners village," PolOff observed numerous PSB vehicles from outside provinces including Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei, Guangxi and Gansu. The parking lot of the Tai Chang Hotel, which sits across the Taoran Bridge from the Letters and Calls office, was filled with approximately 20 out-of-province police vehicles. The hotel appeared closed to the public, and guards were stationed at entrances to the parking lot. Wang Fei (protect),a cab driver and 30-year resident of Dong Zhuang, told PolOff the entire hotel was reserved for use by out-of-town PSB officers in Beijing to round up petitioners from their jurisdictions. Locals Praise Destruction of Petitioner Village -------------- -- ¶4. (C) In Dong Zhuang, PolOff toured the site of the former "petitioners village," which is now a series of rubble-strewn lots. Plastic sheeting printed with nature scenes surrounded the site, apparently part of the city-wide Olympics beautification campaign. (Note: Dong Zhuang was once home to hundreds of petitioners who gravitated to the neighborhood because of its cheap accommodations and proximity to both the Beijing South Train Station and the State Bureau for Letters and Calls. Beijing officials demolished the old, one-story structures that housed the petitioners in 2007.) Wang Fei said he feels sympathy for the petitioners, but said the area improved greatly in terms of cleanliness and "order" after authorities drove out the petitioners. Other Dong Zhuang residents with whom PolOff spoke likewise voiced support for evicting the petitioners. ¶5. (C) The heavy police presence appears to be keeping petitioners away from the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, but perhaps only temporarily. Our contacts say that while local PSB officials have forcibly returned many petitioners to their hometowns, other petitioners are lying low until the Olympics are over. (Note: The Paralympics run September 6-17, and many Chinese Olympics-related restrictions and policies are supposed to be in place at least through those BEIJING 00003240 002 OF 002 dates.) Around Dong Zhuang, PolOff observed dozens of freshly posted signs advertising rooms for rent on a daily or weekly basis, an indication that those who rent rooms hope petitioners will at some point return in more normal numbers to the capital. RANDT