From Reuters, via the Standard: The mainland has defended a revised set of rules on petitioning the central government that it says are designed to give people with complaints more rights and make local authorities more accountable. Some scholars have criticised the new regulations, which come into effect Sunday, as an attempt to prevent a […]
As the Chinese government plans to reform the shangfang, or petition, system, some experts believe that, despite the system’s failings, it is still necessary as the legal system cannot withstand the high levels of discontent among the population. The South China Morning Post (via China Study Group) quotes a Qinghua scholar: “”Let’s look at the […]
Philip Pan profiles Liu Yu, a taxi driver from Dazhou, who traveled to Beijing with her colleagues to protest against new permit requirements for cab drivers in her city: “‘We carried great hope in our hearts,” she said, recalling that day in December 2003. “We believed that the central government would help us, that the […]
A WSJ article (November 10, 2004) reports that, in an attempt to deal with the increasing numbers of Chinese who are swarming government offices to demand their rights, Chinese legislators are considering banning public gatherings outside state buildings. This short-sighted response fails to address the root cause of the protests, which have been increasing in […]
Southern Weekend has published a survey of “petitioners” in China, as the government debates whether or not to reform the system. From IPS today: “As China considers doing away with one of its unique communist vestiges, the ‘shangfang’ – or the system of petitioning the government – there are fears that scrapping the only channel […]
ESWN has posted a number of documents about petitioners who travel to Beijing to air their grievances to the central government. One internal document, cited by Dajiyuan, said 3.1 million people petitioned in the month of September alone. While this number may not be accurate, it is clear that huge numbers of people feel this […]
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