NTD reported this week, Qu Huaqiang, a disabled petitioner from Shandong province, detonated an explosive in front of the town government building, injuring 6 and killing himself, because his petition hadn’t been handled over a long period of time. The homemade explosive was strapped to his body. It was the second time in a week that petitioners attempted to bomb CCP officials.
Qu Huaqiang, a 49 year-old petitioner, went to the Tengjia Township government on Tuesday. When the CCP's Vice Secretary of the town and the director of the police station came out of the building, he detonated a homemade explosive.
He died immediately and 6 officials were injured.
Why did Qu Huaqiang choose to end his life this way?
Seventeen articles published on his blog between June 2007 and February 2008 speak of his efforts to petition authorities because of having been crippled, his feelings of helplessness and being forced to sign a disability agreement. And he said that he wanted to use a bomb to ask for justice.
In China's central Hunan province, only one week before, a retired employee of the local water company used a container of gasoline to kill three managers. Then she committed suicide.
In some cases, petitioners use killing and suicide to seek revenge for perceived injustices. Some scholars say that while not condoning the methods, it reveals the level of suppression and difficulty many people in Chinese society live with day in and day out.
Ma Xiaoming, the former editor of Shaanxi TV has been following the stories of petitioners for a long time. He said that most petitioners’ issues are directly related to the corruption of CCP officials. Some are due to the fact that public security departments broke the law in seizing people’s assets. In addition, the officials who handle petitions treat petitioners very badly, including challenging, provoking, teasing and even putting them into jail. That's why petitioners often call them criminals.
[Ma Xiaoming]:
"These are warnings to the CCP regime, to the CCP’s dictatorship. People keep on sending clear, strong signals to the regime. The way that people use to protect their rights is changing and accelerating: from a few individuals to a large group of people; from sending letters and telling their stories to demonstrating; from turning over police cars to destroying government buildings; up to now, and the killing of police and corrupt officials. They use their life to die together with these corrupt officials.”
Hu Jun, founder of Rights Movement, said in China today, the relationship between officials and people is extremely antagonistic. The CCP is eager for power, and in its suppression of people, it has caused many big conflicts in society.
[Hu Jun]:
"The antagonistic level between people and the government is very intense, and very tragic. The CCP hasn’t reflected on it. [For example], now they have tightened security for the 18th Party Congress. Under this banner to suppress people further, the CCP is breaking its whole system by itself and disintegrating itself. It’s a result of its own mis-deeds."
Hu Jun pointed out that the only solution is for CCP officials to return power to the people and take the road of democratic constitutionalism. This is the only way to save themselves and release the Chinese people from such misery.
It has been reported that almost 5,000 petitioners were arrested for going to the National Petition Office on September 3. And more than 2,000 other petitioners were prevented from entering the Office by police.
It has been reported that many petitioners have arrived in the outlying areas of Beijing. They are waiting there for the 18th Party Congress, and looking for chances to enter the city when the meeting starts.
NTDTV Reports
