Beijing is taking new measures to prevent petitioners from traveling to the capital to air their grievances. From BBC:
Legal officials from Beijing will now visit people with complaints in the provinces in order to hear their cases.
Petitions can also be filed online and a response or solution is to be given within 60 days.
Officials have previously tried to stop the thousands who go to the capital with complaints about land grabs, police beatings and legal abuses.
It is the first time the highest level of the ruling Communist Party has taken such measures in order to deal with the issue.
Read more about recent investigations into the treatment of petitioners once they arrive in Beijing, here, here, and here. All of CDT’s coverage about petitioners can be found here.