Beijing authorities destroyed the home of leading rights activist Ni Yulan (倪玉蘭) yesterday as her distraught husband pleaded with the government to release her from jail.
Up to 200 police surrounded the home of the activist lawyer Ni and her husband Dong Jiqin (董繼勤) as a bulldozer demolished the rest of the central Beijing courtyard home that Dong’s parents purchased in 1951.
Authorities had already razed much of it in April.
“The home is not so important, what is important is that Ni Yulan should be released from jail,” a visibly shaken and tearful Dong said as he watched the razing of the home where he was born. “She was illegally arrested, beaten, jailed and illegally threatened to agree with this demolition.”
Workers came knocking on the door early yesterday morning, while police blocked both ends of the road leading to the home, refusing entry to those without proper identification.
Dong, 56, was able to only grab a plastic bag of legal documents before he was escorted out of the home.
Ni is a long-time campaigner against government-backed land grabs and has organized evicted residents to protest what they have alleged were government backed “illegal forceful eviction and demolition of homes.”
The issue is one of the most sensitive social problems in China, with ordinary residents nationwide accusing local government officials of enriching themselves through collusion with developers in lucrative real estate deals.
Ni, 47, who has worked with other leading activists or “rights defenders” like Hu Jia (胡佳) and Gao Zhisheng (高智晟), was arrested and charged with “obstructing official business” in April after wrecking teams destroyed most of the home.
Hu was sentenced to prison earlier this year, while Gao has disappeared and is believed to be in police custody.
Ni previously served a year in prison in 2002 for opposing evictions in Beijing.
“Who told you Ni Yulan has been jailed? I have never heard of this,” said an official with Beijing’s Xicheng government who refused to identify himself. “This home is being forcibly demolished in accordance with the law.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese