Shanghai University Retired Teacher Gu Guoping Arrested, Lawyer Exposes Stability Maintenance Secrets

The Chinese Communist Party’s “Two Sessions” have ended, but its repression of the people has not. Recently, retired Shanghai University professor Gu Guoping went to Beijing to petition and was arrested on a bus, then sent back and criminally detained. This case, with multiple suspicious points, has raised concerns from the public.

On March 19, Gu Guoping and petitioner Wang Huifang went to Beijing to petition. Around 5 p.m., as they were on Bus 14 after coming out from the Ministry of Public Security, they were stopped by several police and security guards at Liuli Chang Station, forcibly taken off the bus, and put into a police car. On the 21st, Gu Guoping was brought back to Changning District Public Security Office in Shanghai, and in the evening, the Changning District Public Security Sub-Bureau approved the detention warrant. Gu Guoping was taken to the hospital for a check-up before being sent to Changning District Detention Center in Shanghai.

Mr. Yu from Shanghai recently detailed Gu Guoping’s situation after being arrested.

He said that on the Bus 14 in Beijing, when they passed Liuli Chang Station, not reaching any sensitive area, several security guards and police suddenly got on and forcibly took them off the bus. They were transferred to Six Departments Petitioners’ Transfer Center, then to Jiujingzhuang Petitioners’ Concentration Camp, before being escorted to the Black Prison set up by Shanghai’s office in Beijing, which is a transit hub for petitioners.

Yesterday (20), at noon, Gu Guoping was escorted back to Shanghai on Train 1461, arriving in Shanghai this morning (21). He was taken to the police station, accused of provocation.

“He did not provoke anything, just on the bus. They want to detain him. Gu Guoping has cancer, severe late-stage diabetes, and advanced cancer. Yet, they still don’t spare him, saying ‘Even if you have cancer, we will still send you in.’ Gu Guoping mentioned needing chemotherapy, but the police said ‘You can undergo chemotherapy in detention center as well, or even in prison.’ At that time, Gu Guoping’s blood pressure was over 200 (218mmHg), diastolic at 130, all high-risk, but they kept pushing him,” Mr. Yu said.

After five o’clock, Gu Guoping was brought to Changning District Central Hospital for a check-up where his blood pressure was 226. They administered heart-strengthening blood pressure medicine, but even after that, his blood pressure remained at 212. Despite Gu Guoping’s severe health condition, the police took him back to the police station and refused to let him go.

“Gu Guoping is nearly 70 years old, with such severe health issues, yet they are tormenting him like this,” as per Mr. Yu. The police claimed they had no choice and were following orders to send him to the detention center.

Originally a professor at Shanghai University of Engineering and Technology, Gu Guoping embarked on the path of defending his rights after his family’s house was forcibly demolished. During the petition process, he was sentenced, jailed in a black prison, and in 2019, four of his ribs were broken by black security guards, which led him to continuously sue the Shanghai authorities. In September 2019, he was detained for a month for supporting the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement on international media, and has been a key target under strict control by the Shanghai authorities.

Mr. Yu expressed great concern that Gu Guoping’s health would deteriorate further if he were held in the detention center. “After being detained in Beijing overnight, on the 20th, he took the train, without a sleeper berth but a hard seat, enduring a day and a night. For a high-risk patient, an elderly person, can he endure this? Upon arriving at the police station, he could only lean on a chair, saying he couldn’t bear it.”

“This has already far exceeded the law and even crossed moral boundaries. Legally, a critically ill person like him should not be treated this way; morally, one should not torment an elderly person with late-stage cancer and such high blood pressure,” Mr. Yu added.

Former Shanghai human rights lawyer Wu Shaoping, in an interview with The Epoch Times, stated that Professor Gu Guoping’s trip to the administrative center of their country, known as the capital, was not illegal. Going to Beijing does not violate the law just because he was labeled as a sensitive figure or a petitioner; the arrest in such circumstances is unlawful.

He said, “Has Beijing become its own ‘country within a country’? Now it has turned Beijing into a ‘country within a country,’ a gray area where Chinese citizens cannot enter. Who is allowed in? Who is not? Some people cannot even get near Tiananmen Square. So for Professor Gu Guoping to be arrested, it simply means that he entered this ‘country within a country,’ is it considered as ‘illegal entry’? The logic of the Chinese Communist Party is absurd.”

“In addition, sending a person with multiple illnesses, late-stage cancer, and in need of close monitoring to prison where medical conditions are very poor poses a great risk to his life, completely disregarding his well-being,” Wu Shaoping remarked.

“This is clearly illegal because he does not meet the conditions for detention. Even if he is suspected of some sort of crime, he meets the conditions for bail pending trial. He shouldn’t be detained in a place where medical care is unavailable,” Wu Shaoping emphasized.

Mr. Yu revealed that this incident has had a significant impact among petitioners. They analyzed that Bus 14 in Beijing is sensitive as it’s two stops away from Zhongnanhai West Gate. There are surveillance cameras on buses, and nowadays, all public surveillance cameras are connected to facial recognition technology. Surveillance methods have become more sophisticated, targeting petitioners. There have been cases where petitioners were walking on the street, identified by facial recognition technology, leading to police apprehension.

Responding to this, Wu Shaoping pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance of the common people is becoming increasingly stringent. They have been developing facial recognition technology for many years, starting with implementing it in major cities at subway stations and on the streets, and later in public transport systems. These data are directly linked to the police database, making surveillance pervasive.

He cited an instance during his study session at Shanghai High People’s Court, where the President Cui Yadong lectured more on stability maintenance rather than legal expertise. Cui Yadong, a former Chief of Police in Guizhou Province, utilized cellphone signal triangulation during the Weng’an incident, where a high school girl was unjustly killed due to police brutality, causing locals to set fire to the county government building.

At that time, the police closely monitored the entire Weng’an area. Although facial recognition was not prevalent then, cellphone signal tracing was employed. When all cell and network terminal signals converged in one direction, it indicated a gathering of people, and the police were preemptively deployed to the location.

“Today, the Chinese Communist Party’s use of modern technology for surveillance on the common people is pervasive. There are various methods – from facial recognition, tracking your movements to utilizing WeChat, phone tracking, they have numerous ways to locate you. In essence, every Chinese citizen is under constant surveillance, devoid of privacy,” Wu Shaoping remarked.

It is worth noting that in the past, when governments intercepted or deported petitioners visiting Beijing, they were usually provided special vehicles or even flown back. Surprisingly, the relevant Shanghai authorities used a regular train this time, with a journey lasting about 18-19 hours.

A former student, Yue Kai’an from Guangling College of Yangzhou University, who was persecuted and fled to Guangxi, was once deported via airplane (from Nanning Wuxu International Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport) with five political security officers escorting him.

Public records indicate Train 1461 operates between the capital, Beijing, and the municipality of Shanghai as an ordinary express train, departing from Beijing at 12:10 and arriving at Shanghai at 06:45 the following day, with a travel time of 18 hours and 35 minutes.

Wu Shaoping believes that the circumstances surrounding Gu Guoping clearly indicate a decrease in the level of stability maintenance, illustrating financial issues. Through such a detail, it can be seen that the Chinese Communist Party’s stability maintenance efforts are beginning to encounter problems. Stability maintenance incurs significant national finances annually, and various indications suggest the diminishing effectiveness of these efforts as China’s economic condition deteriorates.

“If this is the situation for stability maintenance, I believe those involved have lost enthusiasm since they can’t make extra profits or benefit financially, yet they have to carry out such senseless deeds. It could possibly lead to the gradual collapse of the stability maintenance system,” Wu Shaoping noted.

“Even the reduction of stability maintenance expenses in a place like Shanghai hints at a contraction, and if so in other regions, it can be more easily imagined. I believe that with increasing social tensions in China, inadequate stability maintenance funds, and escalating pressures, the regime is edging closer to the brink of collapse,” Wu Shaoping concluded.