Li Guosheng posted this to his Sina Weibo on January 8 with an image of the letter to the Kaifu Discipline and Inspection Commission. The message was reposted 420 times and received 98 comments. Li’s Weibo account no longer exists, but his Sina blog is still online (last updated November 18 2011). Read the original weibo here.
@Journalist Li Guosheng: Hunan Provincial Discipline and Inspection Commission Order to Detain Petitioner: Li Xiang is from Kaifu District in Changsha. In 2006, her village land was reclaimed and her house was demolished. She then began to petition. In July of 2011, she once again petitioned the Hunan Provincial Discipline and Inspection Commission. Shockingly, the provincial Discipline and Inspection Commission’s petitioning office sent the following letter to the Kaifu District Discipline and Inspection Commission: “If she goes to Beijing to petition, you may detain her.” After this news got on the web, the head of the petitioning office found Li Xiang and implored her to delete the post, saying, “I’m begging you.”1
Translation by Harriet Xu.
1 Literally “I’m calling you Grandma and Grandpa.” To be a “grandchild” is to humble yourself before your elder. It implies kneeling to someone in supplication.