Authorities have officially launched security measures for China’s National People’s Congress, which will be held next week. All mail and express mail entering Beijing will be subject to “secondary security checks. Foreigners without Beijing residence permits will be banned from entering the city, and Harbin visitors have already been stopped on their way. Another Beijing dissident was “put on duty”.
The 13th session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) will be held in Beijing next Thursday (4) and Friday, respectively. Beijing authorities launched security measures on Monday and mobilized hundreds of thousands of people on patrol to ensure that no major incidents occur during the meetings.
Li Li, a Beijing resident, told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday that the areas around Beijing have been tightened to block visitors or foreigners without residence permits from entering the city during the sessions: “Beijing has activated a ‘moat’ defense line for the sessions, like the one around Beijing in Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. In order to hold the two sessions, Beijing has activated a ‘moat’ line of defense, such as Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia around Beijing, to prevent people from entering from other provinces. Today I went to a hospital and found that there were very few people making appointments. I was quite surprised and asked some people to know that foreigners are not allowed to enter Beijing. It was particularly obvious that the situation was tense.”
It is difficult for foreigners to enter Beijing, and mail must be checked twice
China’s State Postal Bureau issued an announcement that from February 25 to the next day after the closing of the two sessions, the Beijing Municipal Postal Administration to fully implement the mail courier into Beijing before delivery “secondary security checks”, no security markings of mail courier returned, not transit delivery.
The announcement also said that if irregularities are found in the receipt of prohibited items, to the relevant postal administration departments to transfer the case clues; postal administration 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 in violation of mail delivery safety “three systems” behavior.
Beijing resident Zhang Xuemei told reporters that the authorities have deployed street staff to “maintain stability”, Shenyang, Harbin and other places of the petitioners, when entering Beijing this week was prevented by public security: “Now to the two sessions, the petitioners can not reach Beijing, Liaoning Fuxin, there is a Ma Sanjia (women’s re-Education through labor camp) sister, she took a private car to Beijing Tongzhou was She 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.”
A video provided by Zhang Xuemei shows the person in question questioning why the police prevented her from going to Beijing, and the two sides argued.
Government officials “on duty” in front of petitioners’ homes
Lu Jianrong, a rights activist in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, told reporters that government officials have recently been posted at the gates of some of the visitors’ homes: “Five or six people come to the visitors’ homes to guard them and prevent them from going out. We have a visitor in Taixing City who is being guarded and can’t leave. During the two sessions, they (government officials) would call me and say not to post anything on the Internet. Don’t forward posts that affect the image of the government, etc. Then there are the particularly sensitive figures, the State Security will restrict their freedom of movement in the name of tourism, like taking you out on a trip.”
The recent notice from China’s State Postal Administration also said that it is necessary to indeed maintain the stability of the grassroots network and the rights and interests of couriers, and to increase law enforcement inspections and accountability. Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Liaoning provinces (regions, cities) Postal Administration to strengthen information interoperability and coordination and linkage, and strive to build the ring Beijing mail delivery safety “moat” defense line.
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