Beijing has issued a new regulation threatening to punish the large numbers of people flocking to the city to petition the government over social injustices, state media reported yesterday.
Shouting slogans, stopping government vehicles and surrounding offices of the Communist Party and the government are now considered illegal and punishable, the Xinhua news agency cited the regulation saying.
And in an indication of growing alarm over a recent spate of suicides and attempted suicides by petitioners who lose hope, the government said those people would also be punished.
"Anyone who seriously violates social order by committing suicide, self-immolation and other extreme activities such as harming themselves should be stopped by public security officers and should be subject to legal responsibilities," Xinhua cited the regulation saying.
Beijing authorities are increasing alarmed over the rising numbers of petitioners coming to the city, some of whom have set themselves on fire in central Tiananmen Square.
Previously, police handled petitioners by keeping a close eye on them or discouraging them from lingering in the capital after submitting their petitions to offices handling complaints.
The latest move backs up a leading human rights group's claim that authorities are taking a harder line against the increasing number of people travelling to the capital to petition the government over social injustices.
Many of the complaints involve forced evictions, which have become common throughout China as local officials cash in on a property boom by evicting millions of residents to sell the land to rich developers.
New York-based Human Rights in China has documented about a dozen people who recently were sent to detention halls or labor camps for up to two and a half years by Shanghai city.
Local governments rarely address people's complaints about wrongdoing by local officials.
Courts are controlled by the government, leaving people with grievances no choice but to travel to Beijing to seek help -- a tradition dating back centuries when Chinese journeyed to the capital believing the emperor's court was the last hope.
The Xinhua report said the number of social problems has risen with China's economic reform and development, and therefore the number of petitioners increased.
The regulation says police should stop petitioners who stage protests and if persuading does not work, forcefully take them away.
Such people should then be sent back where they came from to be "educated and dealt with" by the local Communist Party committee and government.
Last month during an annual parliament meeting, thousands of petitioners were rounded up and kept in a gymnasium in Beijing.
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