On December 14, 2024, Shanghai retired university teacher Gu Guoping, who has been persistently defending his rights after being forcibly demolished, went to Beijing with a large group of petitioners before and after International Human Rights Day. Gu Guoping revealed to Epoch Times that after being sent back to Shanghai, he was maliciously treated by the police and narrowly escaped being murdered.
Gu Guoping told Epoch Times reporters on December 14 that over 40 petitioners from Shanghai went to Beijing on December 10, which was International Human Rights Day. Gu Guoping joined them on the 9th. On the 12th, they were sent back by the police to Shanghai Jiufu Village Road No. 500, the management service center for the reception of petitioners in Shanghai (petitioners transfer station set up within the center), and then taken away by the petition offices and police from various towns and streets. In the end, only Gu Guoping was left without anyone coming to pick him up.
Gu Guoping suffers from late-stage prostate cancer, severe (extremely dangerous) hypertension, advanced heart disease, diabetes complications, and has been issued critical illness notifications three times by Shanghai Sixth Hospital. After more than 20 hours of travel and transfers, he felt extremely unbearable. At noon on the 12th, he finally couldn’t hold on anymore and collapsed, but the officials present only came over to take a look before leaving. Over half an hour later, the supervising police called emergency services, and when medical personnel measured Gu Guoping’s blood pressure, it was found to have risen to 213. Gu Guoping was carried into the emergency medical service ambulance to be taken to a municipal hospital, but the police ordered him to be taken to a district-level hospital instead – Changning District Central Hospital (Tongren Hospital).
While Gu Guoping was receiving intravenous fluids in the hospital, police officers from Changning District Zhoujiaqiao Police Station, the jurisdiction where his home was being demolished, arrived and ordered the doctor to stop the infusion so they could conduct a physical examination before taking him into custody. The doctor once again measured Gu Guoping’s blood pressure immediately. It was at 212 at the time, and the police ordered the doctor to switch arms and measure again, this time reaching 213. The doctor stated that with a blood pressure over 180, he should not leave the hospital, but the police still forcefully put Gu Guoping into the police car without even removing the needle.
Gu Guoping said that after being taken to Zhoujiaqiao Police Station, he requested to have lunch, but the police claimed it was already past lunchtime. In the afternoon, he was fingerprinted and interrogated, not allowed to rest. It wasn’t until the evening that they bought him a plain steamed bun.
The police also forcibly took Gu Guoping’s phone and demanded that he delete his videos and posts on X (original Twitter) about “exposing the human rights conditions of Chinese people, which are five times better than those in the United States”. This documented the situation when 40 petitioners from Shanghai were repatriated from Beijing, sleeping overnight in the dining car of the train No. 1461. Gu Guoping believed that the video depicted real scenes and posting it online did not violate any laws, so he refused to delete it.
The station chief threatened Gu Guoping, saying, “Do you think that having cancer and undergoing chemotherapy means we can’t do anything to you? Can’t we detain you? Let me tell you, you can also check online. Shanghai has now established the Shanghai Public Security Emergency Medical Center. If the detention center refuses to take you, this emergency center will, and you can still be detained.” The chief repeatedly warned Gu Guoping not to go to Beijing for petitioning.
All this hassle caused Gu Guoping to pass out, and when he woke up, they made him lie on a cement slab. Refusing to do so, he insisted on lying on a table until the police finally took him back home that evening.
Gu Guoping stated that the police’s actions were playing with people’s lives, blatant murder, and such circumstances were despairing.
On December 13, Gu Guoping called the public security inspectorate, procuratorate, and citizen hotline to complain but was evaded and perfunctory responses. When he called the citizen hotline and mentioned the issues with Shanghai police to the public security supervision, they did nothing; the hotline staff only said they would investigate. When Gu Guoping called the police’s hotline for complaints, he was told to call another number.
In 2001, Gu Guoping’s whole family of three members, including his parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew with their spouses, a total of four households and nine people, had their legal private property forcibly demolished without any legal procedures. Since then, he has gone from being a university teacher to a petitioner fighting for their rights everywhere. Over 20 years have passed, and he still hasn’t received a penny in compensation or housing arrangements.
In 2002, Gu Guoping first went through the judicial process and was unjustly ruled by Changning Court, depriving his family of the legitimate resettlement compensation that they relied on for survival. The following year, while representing the legitimate rights of the four households, he went to Beijing to petition, but was met with joint retaliation from the Shanghai Changning government, courts, and police.
After petitioning for over 20 years, both of Gu Guoping’s parents were forced to death in nursing homes, and not only did his issues remain unresolved, but he was also injured six times by government employees; one of the incidents left him bedridden for six months. He was detained in black jails, administratively detained, and criminally detained six times, falsely sentenced to one year and six months in 2015 for provocation and troublemaking. In 2019, he had four ribs broken by black security guards in a black jail, and despite repeatedly reporting it, when he reached the Ministry of Public Security, he was told that the Shanghai Public Security had concluded that Gu Guoping broke someone else’s four ribs and was sentenced to one year and six months in prison. Gu Guoping unequivocally stated, “This falsification is outrageous!”
Gu Guoping expressed that the operation of the Chinese Communist Party in such extremely heinous cases has malfunctioned, and even the public prosecution and judiciary have colluded in false cases, which is the cause of despair among the Chinese people.
Continuously petitioning in Beijing over the years and dealing with public, prosecution, judicial processes, Gu Guoping has seen the dark side of the CCP system. He has also used his self-studied legal knowledge to help other petitioners write complaints, fight lawsuits, expose corruption, and participate in various rights-protected activities. He was also the first mainland Chinese to publicly support the Hong Kong people in the 2019 anti-extradition movement. In February 2021, he was arbitrarily detained for 30 days, then released on bail for a year. His personal experience in defending his rights has been confirmed by overseas human rights organizations and groups advocating for Chinese political prisoners, and he has been assigned the number 00311.
The documents provided by Gu Guoping to Epoch Times show that this time he was put under bail pending trial on charges of provocation and troublemaking starting from November 25, 2024.
On December 14, Epoch Times reporters called the two phone numbers listed for Zhoujiaqiao Police Station online, but they were either non-existent or could not be reached.