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Dr. Xu Zhiyong, a legal rights activist and founder of the well-known civil rights group Gongmeng, or the Open Constitution Initiative, was taken from his home around 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a security guard who saw him whisked away by public security officers. Another Gongmeng employee, Zhuang Lu, has also been missing since Wednesday, the group said.
Apart from how to contact Xu and secure his release, his colleagues at Gongmeng – which offers volunteer legal services and has been involved in many key civil rights cases throughout the country – are facing another big problem. On July 14 the group received a notification accusing it of evading taxes to the tune of 180,000 yuan (US$26,000).
Adding fines imposed by both the Beijing Local Taxation Bureau and the Beijing branch of the State Administration of Taxation, the organization has been ordered to pay more than 1.42 million yuan (US$208,000).
Gongmeng has denied the allegations. The group is essentially a non-profit organization that provides legal aid to disadvantaged communities and conducts research on legal developments in the country. Its funds are from domestic and foreign individuals and institutes, and most of its researchers are unpaid volunteers.
Even so, Gongmeng had no choice but to register as a corporation due to China’s strict regulations on non-government organizations. It is nearly impossible for a group without official connections to register as an NGO with the Ministry of Civil Affairs or its local bureaus. In order to register, an NGO must have a government sponsor.
Therefore Gongmeng was required to pay corporate income tax – which, according to its staff, it did. However, the authorities are quibbling over a recent donation from one of the group’s researchers that they say was not reported in time. There is also the sticky issue of an advance payment from the Yale University Law School for a research project it is conducting with Gongmeng on the mainland’s household registration system.
On July 21, the landlord of the building where Gongmeng has its offices warned the group to move. Three days later, officials from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs and the police raided the offices. They declared the organization “illegal,” confiscated its documents, computers, furniture and all electronic equipment, and formally banned it.
But since the group is not registered with the bureau, it was unreasonable for MBCA officials to enforce the shutdown, Gongmeng insists.
“I regard this as a slap in the face of all civil society in China,” Xu said after the official raid. He told a group of foreign reporters that he and Gongmeng would not stop offering legal services and would keep walking the path to democracy, equality and the rule of law. A few days later he was detained.
A separate but similar incident also occurred on Wednesday morning when a Beijing police officer and two members of the Cultural Market Administrative Law Enforcement General Brigade raided an organization called the Yirenping Center, accusing it of illegal publishing activities.
The Yirenping Center offers legal aid to people suffering from hepatitis B and other health conditions who have faced discrimination in employment and education. It works to spread awareness of public health issues and of laws regarding discrimination. The group has contributed to national legislation and the revision of laws regarding public health issues.
About 100 copies of its publication, “China’s Anti-Discrimination Legal Action Newsletter,” were confiscated. The authorities proceeded to inspect the office and take photos, until the Yirenping lawyers found that one of the “inspectors” had no valid official ID and called local police.
The inspectors eventually left after ordering Lu Jun, the head of the center, to appear for further questioning on Aug. 4. Lu later sent a letter to the Beijing Municipal People’s Procuratorate charging the inspector, Zhao Guoming – whose ID had expired – with abuse of authority and conducting an illegal inspection.
Yirenping said the government should support groups that provide information to the public about health and legal issues. Although the Yirenping Center is also registered as a company, for similar reasons as Gongmeng, it provides its newsletter free of charge.
Some independent Chinese scholars and civil rights activists believe the action taken against Gongmeng and Yirenping are intended to intimidate everyone who promotes civil rights. They say the authorities are concerned about maintaining the semblance of social stability throughout the celebrations of the country’s 60th anniversary – even if it means locking away those who see things differently.
