Chinese Petitioners Request Congress Hearing about Forced Demolition in China

A Letter to US Lawmakers:
China’s mass demolition of private houses and lands violate human rights norms!

Dear US Senators and House Representatives:

I am writing to you about the forced demolition of civilian houses and the expropriation of private lands by the Chinese government, which is definitely a human right issue that have impacted 20 million Chinese people.

My name is Xiamin Zeng, now a resident in New York city. The Chinese government demolished my 7000 square feet of house and deprived my 3 acre of private lands without fair compensation. The Chinese government used my lands for the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway. My demolished house and expropriated lands in Shanghai have a market value of 0.5 billion USD, however, the Chinese government only offered $100,000 for compensation. I definitely refused the offer. In order to get fair compensation, I have exhausted almost every ways, including filing lawsuits, petition to the local and central government.. However, the Chinese officials not only used their powers over the courts to protect their turf, but also arrested me over 20 times and put me under house arrest over 200 days!

The Chinese government is so cruel during the demolition: two of my lovely dogs and a cat were buried to death, and my mother was almost buried in the ruin while she rushed to run out of the demolished house!

I have to say that I am not the only victim of the forced and illegal demolition in China. In fact, there are more than 20 million victims are still trying hard for petitioning (Shang Fang) for their demolished houses or deprived lands, but very few got fair compensation. Many people have become despondent after failing to find proper channels to address their injustices. The demolition, eviction, and expropriation have also resulted in a spate of suicides and attempt of suicide, often in public. In the worst case, for those who are leaders in the petition movement would be murdered by the related developers or local government agents.

One well known case is the death of Mr. Qian Yunhui, who was the head of the Zaiqiao village in Zhejiang province. Some of their lands were expropriated by the government without fair compensation. Mr. Qian led the peasants to appeal for justice. However, he was repeatedly arrested and beaten. He was beheaded under a huge truck of the developers’ on the Christmas Eve of 2009. Witnesses of Mr. Qian’s death were arrested and jailed by the Chinese government.

Another well known case is the death of Mr. You JiAn, the head of the Foguang village in Hunan province. He tried to petition for the demolished houses and expropriated lands of his villages. However, he was killed right in the government building of the Xinhua county, while he did his last petition visitation there on June 8th, 2011. The security tapes showed that Mr. You JiAn’s corpse was moved from the government building into the trunk of a car by 6 security agents led by Mr. Yang Haidan, the security head for the government. Five days later, Mr. You JiAn’s corpse was found in a river, while the police claimed that Mr. You JiAn committed suicide.

A more recent case is the death of Mr. Hang Hongqi, who was also a victim of the forced demolition and a closed friend of mine. It is on October 12th, 2011, the Chinese local government beaten Mr. Hang to death for his repeated petition, and for retaliation of me. After Mr. Hang’s death, the local officials in Jiangqiao town, my home town, has openly threatened my neighbors: “For those who want to follow Zeng Xiamin to petition again, Mr. Hang would be your example.”: It is clearly a threaten to me and other petitioners in China.

Representing thousands of Chinese victims of forced demolition, I am asking for your helps. I request a congress hearing to listen to the voices of our Chinese petitioners, who have petitioned almost all government agents in China. Petition in China rarely works. Very few of our petitioners could get fair compensation. Now, I come to you for petition. Hope you could help us to reach justice. I have to say that it would be very helpful if you can openly criticize the forced demolition in China. As you might know that the Chinese officials would never listen to Chinese people, but they would listen carefully to your voices, especially the voices of US lawmakers.

More details can be found in the following links:

Give me back my house, or give me death!
http://kqch.blogspot.com/2011/11/blog-post.html

Our official website for the “Victims of forced demolition”:
http://kqch.blogspot.com

Thank you for your time and consideration. I am looking forward to receiving your response.

Sincerely,
Xiamin Zeng

Flushing, NY 11354

Email: ask4un@gmail.com
November 8, 2011


References:



Mr. Hang Hongqi, my neighbor and a petitioner for his demolished house, was killed by the government agents on October 12th, 2011. People were gathering at his home to protest the ruel activities of the Chinese government.