By: Bi Shiqiang
On June 9, carrying a large photo of her late father, Xu Xiaoqi, Beijing resident and retired official reporter, walked to the office of the State Bureau for Letters and Calls accompanied by her mother in a wheelchair. They submitted a petition against their forced eviction, part of the Sparrow Initiative’s protest against the Chinese government’s policy of forced evictions.
A founding major general of the People’s Libration Army Xu’s father was a vice president of the Seventh Research Institute of the Defense Ministry. Beginning in 2006, the Seventh Research Institute and Chinese Ship Industry Corporation ordered the eviction of Xu and her mother with what Xu considers unfair compensation. Refusing to move, Xu has been beaten, harassed, and threatened. Her sewage pipe was cut, the high-voltage lines above their house were peeled, and the television cable line was cut as well.
Accompanying Xu and her mother to the office of the State Bureau of Letters and Calls was Mr. Li Weiping, member of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and son of Li Jian, former officer of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC. In doing so he openly supported Xu and expressed his indignation over her mistreatment.
Mr. Yang, a reporter working for magazine “Democracy and Rule of Law” was not allowed to enter the office.
Initiatives for China president, Dr. Yang Jianli will soon submit a petition on behalf of Xu Xiaoqi to the United Nations.