NG HAN GUAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wang Xiuying, left, and Wu Dianyuan went to Chinese police five times to get a permit to protest during the Olympics in Beijing.
Elderly women face labor camp for asking to protest
Beijing officials accuse the pair of 'disturbing the public order'
By ARIANA EUNJUNG CHA Washington Post
Aug. 20, 2008, 10:03PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — Two elderly women were sentenced to a year of "re-education through labor" after they applied for permits to demonstrate during the Olympics, according to the son of one of the would-be protesters.
Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, went to police five times between Aug. 5 and Aug. 18 to seek approval to protest against officials who evicted them from their homes in 2001.
The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau did not approve or deny their applications during the first three visits. On the fourth visit, the women were told that they would receive a year's punishment, until July 29, 2009, for "disturbing the public order."
According to a written order they received, they would not have to immediately go to a re-education labor camp, but their movements would be restricted. If they violated various provisions or regulations, however, they could be sent to a labor camp.
Wu and Wang tried to return a fifth time to inquire about their protest application but they were told that their right to apply had been stripped.
"When I first heard about the possibility of being allowed to protest, I was very happy. My issue could be resolved. But it turned out all to be cheating ... I feel stuck in my heart," Wu said by telephone. Li Xuehui said his mother, Wu, and her friend are outraged.
Usually labor re-education is reserved for "prostitutes and thieves," Li said. "What the two old ladies did is nowhere near that." He pointed out that Wang is nearly blind.
"We are a Communist society, with the people the leaders and owners, but basic citizens' rights cannot even be realized today. How sad it is. The way things are is the opposite of the 'people-oriented' ideology of the country when it was founded," Li said.
In response to international pressure, China said it would allow protests in three parks during the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games. Earlier this week, the official New China News Service reported that police had received 77 applications but none has been approved.
Wang Wei, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, cast the empty protest zones in a positive light, telling reporters Wednesday that the disputes brought by would-be protesters had been resolved.
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