Wang Gang is the Director of the General Office of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee. He is the CCP’s highest-ranking official in charge of handling letters and complaints.
In his speech in the 2006 National Conference for Directors of Letters and Complaints Bureau, he said, “Handling letters and complaints well is good for safeguarding the people’s interests, maintaining the stability and unity of society, and stimulating vitality and creativity in all aspects. We must put more efforts in solving people’s problems, stop people from appealing again through solving their reasonable complaints.”
Ms. Zhong Yuhuan, a 54-years-old appellant from Ningyang County, Shandong Province of China, waited a week for an opportunity to deliver appeals letters to Wang Gang. During her wait, she risked being arrested while her personal health deteriorated to due lack of sleep and food. On October 4, she and another appellant handed their letters of appeals to Wang as his limo passed by.
According to Ms. Zhong, the letters were immediately tossed out as the limo drove away. She said, “Since Wang Gang is close to president Hu Jintao, we hoped that if he read our letters, he could raise our issues to president Hu. Who would have thought Wang would have tossed out our letters before his car even completely drove away? If the official in charge of handling letters and complaints acts like this, how much worse are those lesser-ranked officials?”
Ms. Zhong has been sent to mental hospitals and detained on more than one occasion for appealing to the Chinese communist regime. She began to travel to Beijing to appeal in 2002. She expressed that it is virtually impossible to enter the appeals office. Police are known to stop, arrest and even beat people as they try to enter the building. Some appellants’ whereabouts have even become unknown after their appealing attempt.
Newly issued regulations stipulate that anyone who stops an official’s vehicle will be arrested and sent to prison. Appellants believe that if there is no change in the overall environment to better this situation, everyone’s problems will remain unresolved.
