China’s National People’s Congress will be held next week, and authorities have officially launched security measures. All mail and express mail entering Beijing will be subject to “secondary security checks”. Foreigners will be banned from entering Beijing without a Beijing residence permit, and Harbin visitors have been stopped halfway. Another dissident was placed under 24-hour surveillance.
China’s 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and National People’s Congress will be held in Beijing next Thursday and Friday (March 4 and 5). Beijing authorities launched security measures on Monday (22nd) and mobilized hundreds of thousands of people on patrol to ensure that no major incidents occur during the meetings.
Foreigners have been denied access to Beijing for medical appeals
Beijing resident Li Li told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday that a lockdown has been tightened around Beijing to prevent visitors or foreigners without residence permits from entering the city during the two sessions.
Li Li said: Beijing has activated a “moat” defense line for the two sessions, and places like Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia around Beijing have set up a defense line to prevent outsiders from entering. Today I went to a hospital to see a doctor and found very few appointments. I was quite surprised and asked around to find out that foreigners were not allowed to enter Beijing. The situation is particularly tense.
Beijing resident Zhang Xuemei told reporters that authorities have deployed street workers to “maintain stability” and that visitors from Shenyang and Harbin were prevented from entering Beijing this week by public security officials.
Zhang Xuemei said: “Now that the two sessions are over, petitioners can’t get to Beijing. There is a sister from Fuxin, Liaoning Province, who took a private car to Tongzhou, Beijing, and her ID was checked. The police found out that she was a petitioner, so they wouldn’t let her go. Local people came and took her Home.
In a video provided by Zhang Xuemei, the person in question asks the police why they prevented her from going to Beijing, and the two sides argue about it.
A visitor from Harbin tried to enter Beijing and was intercepted by public security officials in her hometown. (Courtesy of volunteer/ date of filming unknown)
A petitioner’s home is under 24-hour surveillance by government officials
Lu Jianrong, a human rights activist in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, told reporters that government officials have recently placed 24-hour surveillance in front of the homes of some local petitioners.
Lu Jianrong said: the visitors home to five or six people, guarding them, not let them go out. We have a visitor inside Taixing City who is being watched and can’t leave. For us, during the two sessions, they (government officials) will call me and say not to post anything on the Internet. Don’t repost posts that affect the government’s image, etc. There are also particularly sensitive people, the national security will be in the name of travel, restrict their freedom of movement, such as taking you out to travel.
Mail must also be checked twice
In addition, China’s State Postal Bureau issued an announcement that from Thursday (25) to the next day after the closing of the two sessions, the Beijing Municipal Postal Administration to deploy enterprises in the processing center of mail express into Beijing to fully implement the “second security check” before delivery, no security mark mail express returned, not transit delivery.
The announcement also said that if irregularities are found in the receipt of prohibited items, to the relevant postal management departments to transfer the case clues; postal management departments at all levels to really increase the national two sessions during the safety supervision and law enforcement inspection, according to the law from the heavy and fast handling of administrative punishment cases, severe investigation and punishment of enterprises “violation of mail delivery safety” behavior.
The recent notice from the State Postal Administration of China also said that the stability of the grassroots network and the rights and interests of couriers should be maintained, and the enforcement and inspection efforts should be increased and accountability should be pursued. Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shandong and Liaoning provincial (district and city) postal administrations should strengthen information sharing and coordination to ensure the “safety” of Beijing.
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