Nearly 10 private entrepreneurs in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, were dispersed by local police during a dinner gathering at a restaurant on Tongle Street in the city. All of them were taken to the police station for questioning until 2 a.m. the next day, and were released after explaining their reasons.
During the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial celebration, police around the country are highly vigilant about people gathering for dinner and parties, arresting people at every turn and taking them to police stations for questioning. Guangzhou dissident Wang Aizhong tweeted on Friday that he was invited to a dinner with some local entrepreneurs in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, but was banned by the authorities and could not attend. In the evening, while they were eating, nearly 20 police officers rushed in and took all the partygoers to the police station.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia on Friday (7), Wang said the entrepreneurs who attended the dinner had not participated in activities banned by the authorities and did not talk about politics, and were so-called proper businessmen.
“Some of the local entrepreneurs are very proper business people, they never get involved in some other affairs. And some of them are doing great business in the area. The night before yesterday (5th), seven or eight of them, there was a gathering of less than ten people. After eating until after 7 p.m., more than 20 police officers rushed in and took them all to the local police station.”
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Do not talk about politics and timely matters also can not get together
The entrepreneurs met at the “Original Full Taste Restaurant” on Zhongshan’s Tongle Street, where they did not set a topic of conversation for the dinner. Wang Aizhong said that the diner did not discuss current affairs news, but was taken to the police station, these private entrepreneurs were taken statements, very late to be released: “questioning, make a statement, very late.
“Questioning, taking statements, almost one o’clock, some to (the next day) more than two in the morning before they were released home. I myself was invited, but then the state security authorities in Guangzhou did not allow me to go. So I wasn’t able to attend.”
Wang Aizhong believes that Guangdong has always been considered the most open place in the country, and that a group of entrepreneurs who were just having a meal together were taken to the police station for no reason. He said.
“Guangdong’s rapid economic development is inseparable from its openness, and I didn’t expect that a group of entrepreneurs who were considered the most open place in the country would now be taken to the police station just for having a meal together. The fact that some of them were roughly frightened (by the police) really didn’t occur to anyone.”
Sui Muqing, a human rights lawyer in Guangzhou, told the station that from a legal perspective, it is not illegal for people to get together and party, but many times they are banned. He said.
“There is no such thing as an illegal gathering, there is no such thing as an illegal gathering if the gathering is in a non-public place. It’s just a political choice by the authorities, and he suspects that you have a political agenda, so he comes and shocks you. This kind of gathering may make them think that there may be sensitive people in it.”
As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100th anniversary, the authorities, in addition to exercising total control over public opinion, are also taking strict precautions against small gatherings of people. Everything the government does revolves around the so-called stability of social security in an orderly manner. Mr. Li, a resident of Huizhou, Guangdong Province, said the police naturally ban all kinds of civil gatherings in order to eliminate criticism of the government or complaints from the public.
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