An open letter, a petition supported by ten thousand retired, high-ranking military officers in China has been posted on the website, Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD). It expresses dissatisfaction over the regime's apparent unwillingness to resolve issues on their behalf, which include housing and medical benefits.
The letter explains that the retired senior military cadres have appealed many times to Chinese premier Hu Jintao. (Hu is also the Chair of the Central Military Commission.) They have never received a response. It also exposes corruption in the lives of current leaders of the Military Commission.
Entitled “The Second Petition from 10,000 Senior Cadres,” the document was posted on Sept. 11 over the CHRD website (crd-net.org). It has support of retired high ranking officers from the four military headquarters—the General Political Department, the General Staff Department, The General Logistics Department, General Armament Department and the eight major military command areas.
The retired officers express their resentment and humiliation over the regime's unfair treatment in the letter, over benefits the government had stipulated it would provide.
It states that the military has failed to provide the retired officers with the housing dimensions originally agreed upon. The petitioners claim that the amenities and standards in their buildings are "terrible". Among other things, the facilities are not equipped with elevators, which makes their lives difficult. The building construction is sub-standard, due to the fact that the construction is not strong enough to withstand earthquakes.
The corruption in the lives of the leaders of the Military Commission is also addressed, elaborating that leaders of the four Headquarters also built for themselves quality, luxurious apartments that are spacious and resistant to earthquakes.
The letter goes on to express that while people in Sichuan were suffering from the devastating effects of the recent earthquake, the commissioners were also building for themselves shock-resistant villas in the most scenic spot in all of Beijing--the area west of Diaoyutai and north of Yuyuantan Park. The buildings are surrounded by trees and overlook a lake. The villas' backyards were later expanded, and illegally encroach upon land belonging to the Navy General Hospital.
The retired officers also provided pictures of the villas of current military commissioners, and questioned the reason for building the custom villas, since the commission leaders already have spacious and luxurious apartments to reside in.
Read the original Chinese article.
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