May 9, 2007 4:16

Hope of the Hopeless

Posted by Simon Elegant | Comments (27) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

Peter Parks / AFP / Getty

Our office received a visit today from 杜斌/ Du Pin a Chinese photographer who has spent much of his time in recent years recording the lives and suffering of China's millions of petitioners. These are individuals who have exhausted their formal legal avenues of redress and are obliged to resort to an ancient system of appeal that is almost as old as China itself. (We've written here and here and elsewhere about the subject before) Most often these cases have to do with local authorities behaving badly, seizing land illegally, falsely accusing people of various crimes, forcing women to be sterilized or have abortions etc etc. (官逼民反. guanbiminfan, the equally ancient Chinese expression goes, "Officials oppress, the people rebel") In theory, the petitioning system allows those with such grievances to appeal all the way to Beijing. But out of the roughly 12 million who lodge cases every year only a few succeed and even then the instruction from the central government (usually merely asking the local officials to reconsider the case) is often ignored.

And still they come in their tens of thousands to Beijing. Du's visit (he's given us permission to scan some of the photos from his book The Petitioner -- published in Hong Kong by Ming Pao-- and we'll post some later when we get out techie hats on; meanwhile the photo above was taken at around the same time I made the trip described below) reminded me of when I visited Beijing's main petitioning office in March. It should be a required stop for all visitors who leave China bedazzled by the shiny skyscrapers and the overwhelming sense of optimism and frenetic energy that they encounter in the business world. Neither of course represents the full reality of what is happening in China--what could?--but both are useful tools to understanding and only seeing one without the other is a severe handicap. Very few foreigners make it to this dilapidated corner of south Beijing and if they do they are almost immediately picked up by the police and politely asked what they are doing. This happened to me when I wandered down the alley that leads to the courtyard that is the Reception for the Office of Letters and Visits (Xinfang Jiedai Bangongshi, 信访接待办公室). A couple of polite officers took me into the police station and there I had to go through the usual routine of hanging around for various higher ups to appear ask me the same questions, examine my press card, take a photograph and finally escort me out another door pointing out that I couldn't actually come down the alley as it was part of the Xinfang office and off limits to anybody who wasn't there to present a petition.

I had walked briskly on the way in, avoiding eye contact, conscious of how conspicuous I was. But once back on the street, knots of grimy, desperate eyed petitioners began to approach me, murmuring at first, then tugging at my clothes and shouting to be heard, shoving their thick piles of papers (usually accumulated over year or even decades of fruitless petitioning) at me. Finally, inevitably, a group of plainclothes policemen appeared and broke up the crowd. I went through the same routine as before, tho these tough looking gentlemen were all business, no smiles, just questions, the photograph and "on your way please." I'd known that this would likely happen but had wanted to see the place myself. I walked slowly back though the urine-stinking alleys, a diminishing group of hard core petitioners tagging along behind, still trying to get me to read their papers. Eventually the most persistent lady finally gave up, and I was on my own. All the buildings seemed half in ruins and it was clear that many people were living rough, coming up from the country, submitting their appeals, sleeping in a corner of some abandoned building, then leaving. Some stayed for longer and brought their families but were constantly on the run from the police, who seemed to favor conducting their raids at night. There were kids bundled into their padded clothes, beseeching eyes turned up but strangely mute, red cheeks hidden behind a layer of dirt, their parents often huddled , scrawny bundles asleep next to them, in front a pile of old shoes and second hand clothes spread out for sale on a blanket.One man who lay snoring in the middle of the lane, reeking of baijiu, rotgut spirits, a dark circle staining the crotch of his pants. As I turned the corner and saw him, another figure was bent over him, rooting through his pockets, starting up and flitting away through a broken wall as soon as I appeared.

A sad, sad spot, full of desperate, hopeless hope. The photographer Du says the place has been cleaned out now and most of the petitioners chased away, but they'll be back. Most of them have nothing else.

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Reader Comments (27)

Grass:

Coming from a rural village of china , i have really experienced and understood the life of the poor . In fact ,we have enhanced the life level dramactically over the last decades .We have been enjoying the colourful material life beyond many fathers's imagination .But ,in many feild ,especially the mental part , we still stand in a huge desert. Ironically , not only our gonvernment but also the citizen, suffring a lot from the society , pay a little attention to the problem .Sometimes ,i really tend to do something to alert the attitude of my friends .However ,what is waiting for me is laughing ,indifference.

Posted by Grass | May 9, 2007 7:17 AM

Sed:

The petition system is out dated in a rule of law society. Although China is not totally ruled by law, far from it, at least she is transitioning to it. Therefore, nowsdays, a court judicated case has least and least chance gets reversed in the petition route, especially in civil cases. Reversal of a case could be unfair to the other party of the case as well as undermine the rule of law China is trying to establish.

Therefore the petition system raise false hope in people who use it. The better to forward for China is to abolish it and at the same time improve the legal system itself.

Posted by Sed | May 9, 2007 7:59 AM

John Smith:

The petition system is a Chinese tradition and people use it as the last ditch method to get some attention, may be resolution, to their problem with local officials. If there are ways for Chinese to resolve problems justly and fairly, through normal channels, they won't use the petition system.

Of course, I have to say that the petition system is used very rarely in China, may be just once, and that all US citizens have to resort to petition systems to resolve their problems, all the time, everyday. Otherwise, I will get 10 posts here saying that I am talking nonsense.

Posted by John Smith | May 9, 2007 9:42 AM

willklaus:

it's the goverment responsible for many evils and due to be condemed， but the fact is the government is run by people， or officials. Togather with the major population most of whom are tremendously short of qualified education or none at all whatsoever， the government， both central and provincial， is leading China and the nation to some crisis that was supposed to bring warns to Chinese citizens. There should be no such a government that could gratify the needs of people, even most of them, a government is born to be supervised, instructed and moved forward, until to its ultimate state-dismiss itself. picky citizens are the main power to drive an executive entity to become better to people who give up their power to the authority.
However, most civilian in China serious and genuinely believe that China and present Chinese govement and the party holding it are totally of no difference. it is a stupid idea acknowledged by only a pinch of college topnotchs. but they already have their own calculation, people as dull as I will never get it.
I don't love most of the people in the coutry but I do hope that some day down the future I would make a turnaround spontaneously. keep talk to myself, everything's gonna be fine and we are way away from irrecoverableness.
what I can do now and many youngsters alike is to "uplift" myself to someone who could convince the ignorant and innocent that we will never agree with the freedom, justice and democracy we are enjoying now and ever.

Posted by willklaus | May 9, 2007 10:29 AM

Yan Xishan:

Does this photographer have a photo blog or website?

Posted by Yan Xishan | May 9, 2007 11:01 AM

nanheyangrouchuan:

Since Chinese people have no real representation or clear means to have their "day in court", the ancient grievance system is all they've got. Before getting rid of that, how about doing some real reform of the CCP so that it is 100% accountable from village bosses on up to Hu himself.

Despite all of the babble about "China's reforms", if there was any meaningful reform, these people wouldn't be resorting to ancient methods.

False, bad China.

Posted by nanheyangrouchuan | May 9, 2007 11:16 AM

slkf:

Is it just me or does it give anybody else the creeps when they see comments from nanheyangrouchuan. He always ends his messages with "bad, bad China". Sounds like a line from a porno movie or that demon possessed doll Chucky. Maybe the IT folks at Time can add some cheesy music to his posts.

Posted by slkf | May 9, 2007 11:30 AM

LB:

slkf: No, you are not alone.

Posted by LB | May 9, 2007 12:20 PM

nanheyangrouchuan:

You'll have to sort through alot of China expats to get to me. Good luck trying.

Posted by nanheyangrouchuan | May 9, 2007 12:32 PM

BZ:

Alright! Finally, some real journalist work. No RFA this time? :)

China desperately needs a sound legal system, it doesn't even have enough laws to rule by, let alone rule of law. Until then, unfortunately this kind of thing will continue. What can the government do, let millions of petitioners overwhelm the capital city?

Here in America, a country of rule of law with a sound legal system, rich people get away with murder all the time. i.e. OJ, Robert Blake and Michael Jackson, just to name a few. I wonder how and where the families of the victims can get their final justice?

I thought I should throw that in just to put things in perspective.

Posted by BZ | May 9, 2007 2:01 PM

BZ:

And,

I remember I got goose bumps the first time I read "all men are created equal", but how did it take for the US to realize it's own constitution? 200 years?

Posted by BZ | May 9, 2007 2:34 PM

BZ:

And,

I remember I got goose bumps the first time I read "all men are created equal", but how long did it take for the US to realize it's own constitution? 200 years?

Posted by BZ | May 9, 2007 2:43 PM

nanheyangrouchuan:

BZ:

Yet you choose to live in the US instead of China.

And while the people you mentioned didn't get convicted, they all got sued for large amounts of money by their victims.

Posted by nanheyangrouchuan | May 9, 2007 4:07 PM

Ren Jie:

BZ: Michael Jackson was accused of murder? I thought it was just child molestation.

Posted by Ren Jie | May 9, 2007 5:56 PM

BZ:

Ren Jie,

Sorry, I meant "murder and crime"...

Posted by BZ | May 9, 2007 6:42 PM

nt0456:

As a young Chinese living in Beijing, I highly suspect about your report. That is why I searched the 'XINFANG JIEDAI BANGONGSHI 信访接待办公室' you said in your report. Here are the website links of Beijing and National petition offices,http://www.bjxfb.gov.cn/index.asp , http://www.gjxfj.gov.cn/, sadly they do not have a English version. According to their addree, it is very hard for me to imaging that their offices are located in the area you described as 'in a corner of some abandoned building' .

Since you've been living in China for such a long time, you should have know a old Chinese saying 'yan jian wei shi 眼见为实'. I would like to visit the 'sad sad spot' you have visited in March by myself. Could you please give me the office address? You can send E-mail here nt0456@hotmail.com

As you said in the end of your report, or 'Du says', maybe it is even harder for a local to find it out?

Posted by nt0456 | May 10, 2007 4:27 AM

Sed:

Mr. Elegant did not get the fact right? That is not the first time, or even the second time.

Posted by Sed | May 10, 2007 5:21 PM

Anonymous:

slkf: "Is it just me or does it give anybody else the creeps when they see comments from nanheyangrouchuan".

It is just you and a few others, who are so blind, that you can not accept other ideas than yours.

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