The Chinese internet reacted with outrage Monday at a Beijing News report showing two officials smirking and mugging for the camera alongside a man they detained before he could petition the central government.
As has been written on this site before, China's petitioning system is hopelessly broken, in main part because officials' performance records are influenced by the amount of petitions filed against them in Beijing. Rather than create an incentive for regional officials to solve problems at a local level, which was presumably the intention of the policy, this has led to a minor industry of "interceptors", who detain aggrieved citizens before they can reach the capital or file their petition.
In the photo, two officials from Linli, Hunan province pose having caught petitioner Duan Xinde and prevented him from letting the central government know what utterly terrible government employees they truly are.
Duan, who suffers from cancer, claims he was beaten by workers of an unidentified company and wants compensation, a claim he has been prevented from pursuing in Hunan. The photo was taken by his wife, who told reporters that she was sobbing and begging the officials to let her husband go before she tried to use the threat of a photo against them, only to have the two smile and flick teenage girl-style peace-signs at the camera.
Since the initial report was published, the two officials – Li Guilin and Huang Yufang – have been suspended. Linli authorities are investigating Duan's case.
[Image via Sohu]
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