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