The ongoing 2025 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing have been met with a number of reports circulating on social media about petitioners going missing after arriving in the capital. These petitioners claim that incidents like these happen every year during the two sessions, leading to a human rights disaster.
On March 7th, three petitioners from Shanghai heading to Beijing were intercepted by Beijing police at a checkpoint in Daxing District, and Shanghai’s Beijing office was notified to pick them up. Around 10 cars from the Beijing office arrived, and petitioners Lu Fuzhong from Jing’an District, Wang Ronghua from Hongkou District, and Zhang Hongmei from Minhang District were handed over to their respective district authorities to be taken back to Shanghai.
Wang Ronghua sent a message stating that she left Shanghai Railway Station at 11 a.m. on March 8th, and since then, other petitioners have been unable to contact her. A petitioner using the online pseudonym “Wandering Warrior” expressed concern about Wang Ronghua’s health, citing her multiple health issues, including recurrent strokes and diabetes, and urged both petitioners and domestic and foreign media to urgently pay attention to her safety.
When a reporter from Dajiyuan attempted to call Wang Ronghua’s phone, the voice prompt indicated that the phone was turned off.
Another petitioner from Jinshan District in Shanghai, Shao Min, was intercepted by four unidentified individuals on her way to the National Petition Office after dinner on March 6th. She was forcibly taken to the Yado Hotel in Panjiayuan near the Muxiyuan Bridge station. She was dragged to a room on the 5th floor where several unidentified individuals threatened to kill her in a room without surveillance cameras. She managed to escape to the bathroom when someone else arrived and called the police, later posting a message on WeChat saying, “I was forcibly taken to the Yado Hotel in Beijing. Inside, there is the director of the petition office, the director of the neighborhood committee, and several people I don’t know. The drivers were two out-of-towners, most likely government-contracted thugs. If I don’t make any updates on WeChat after returning, please help me report to the police.”
When a reporter from Dajiyuan tried to call the phone number left by Shao Min, the voice prompt indicated that the phone was turned off.
Jiang Honghai, a 74-year-old privately-owned entrepreneur from Qingpu District in Shanghai, faced an illegal forced demolition of his private residence. He traveled to Beijing during the two sessions to seek justice but was intercepted by Shanghai’s Beijing office. There is currently no information on whether he has been sent back to Shanghai.
Another petitioner, Chen Xuedian from Putian City, Fujian Province, was kidnapped on February 28th around noon in Daxing District by several unidentified men who took her phone and held her captive in Fengtai District. She was forcibly detained in an unlicensed dark Buick seven-seater vehicle for 37 hours. During this time, she was guarded by six people, denied food and water, and access to the restroom. She lost valuables worth thousands of dollars, including all identification documents, and was threatened with violence if she resisted. Later, she was transferred to another vehicle with license plate number “冀R81CWI.” Currently, she is unlawfully detained in the phase 2 of Shangye Cheng in Hanjiang District, Putian City (opposite Tianfu Mingcha).
Chen Xuedian issued a distress call: “Please help me by reporting to the police!”
“Wandering Warrior” urged everyone to strongly condemn the illegal interception, abduction, and violence against petitioners and called for social attention on this issue.