Facebook
Digg
del.icio.us
StumbleUpon
A senior regime official was quoted in Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly stating that liaison offices at the county and municipal level in Beijing will be closing within the next six months. The news is prompting speculation about how the reorganization will affect regime functions.
The article states that there are currently over 10,000 liaison offices within Beijing that absorb more than ten billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) of the country’s annual spending budget. With the exception of the first-level offices from provinces, directly administered municipalities, autonomous regions, and special economic zones, all others will be closed.
A director from the Henan Provincial Appeals Office in Beijing confirmed to RFA that thousands of liaison offices in Beijing will be closed, though he had not yet received an official notice. When asked about speculation as to whether the offices will continue to exist, he replied, “Perhaps they will become covert or changed to a different title. It’s hard to say.”
Human rights activist Liu Anjun thinks the liaison offices have served as “platforms for under-the-table operations.” He says they function to cover up scandals, such as how local officials suppress citizens and how they collude with local interest groups. “They [also] serve as a liaison for local officials to bribe central government officials in order to get promotions,” Liu said.
The Outlook Weekly report did not mention the alleged human rights violations committed by liaison offices such as assaulting petitioners and building “black jails.” Intercepting petitioners who come to Beijing to appeal for justice and sending them back to their areas is referred to as “stability maintenance.”
Last August, Li Ruirui, a 21-year-old female petitioner from Anhui Province went to Beijing to file a complaint. She was stopped by the Anhui Liaison Office staff and detained in a “black jail” in a hotel, where she was reportedly raped by a security guard.
Liaison offices get a lot of funding for this “stability maintenance.” Thus, “in reality, petitioners have become a means for local officials to make money,” Liu said.
Beijing petitioner Yang Qiuyu said that when police apprehend petitioners, they secretly hand them over to liaison offices. Police ignore complaints of illegal conduct by the liaison offices, since the offices bribe them, according to Yang.
Attorney Dr. Teng Biao thinks the offices will continue to exist, though their outward form may change. “As long as petitioners exist, the practice of interception will continue,” he said.
Outlook Weekly exposed corruption-related offenses within liaison offices in an article published on July 23, 2005 and titled, “Liaison Offices in Beijing: the Second Local Administrative Center?”
Read the original Chinese article.
January 31, 2010
-
北京撤销驻京办 学者指将隐
在北京的访民，只要提起驻京办，便会联想到关押他们的黑监狱。图为两名露宿街头的访民。（rfa）北京撤销驻京办 学者指将隐蔽存在 [Beijing Liaison Offices Slated to Close]【大纪元1月26日讯】（自由亚洲电台）官方《了望》周刊星期六引述中共高层人士表示，除省级以下的信访办，其余县市级都将撤销。虽然舆论叫好，但学者和信访官员对本台表示，问题远非一撤了事，可能会隐蔽存在。
在北京的访民，只要提起驻京办，便会联想到关押他们的黑监狱。图为两名露宿街头的访民。（维权人士 /乔龙提供）
农历新年将近，又是中国各地驻京办每年一度的“跑步钱进”的时机，官方新华社最新一期《了望》新闻周刊，引述来自中共高层消息指，主管部门刚出台一个关于加强和规范各地政府驻京办事机构管理的红头文件。信息显示，在未来的6个月内，除保留省、直辖市、自治区、新疆生产建设兵团、经济特区一级驻京办外，数千家驻京办将被撤销完毕。撤销范围涉及：各地方政府职能部门、各开发区管委会以及其他行使政府管理职能单位和以各种名义设立的驻京办。报导还称，目前省级驻京办有 52个，市级驻京办 520个，县级驻京办逾 5000个，加上其他职能部门、协会、国企和大学联络处，驻京办超过一万个，一年经费超过 100亿元人民币。
不过，报导并没有提及驻京办人员涉嫌殴打访民，私设“黑监狱”等严重侵犯人权的事实。去年 8月，安徽 21岁女访民李蕊蕊到京告状，遭地方驻京办人员关到私设的“黑监狱”聚源宾馆，并在深夜遭保安员徐建强奸。
北京的法学博士滕彪认为：“驻京办即使撤销了，他可能也会以其他方式存在，因为驻京办他有不少职能，其中一项跟人权有关的就是他对各地来北京上访的访民，截访遣送，只要上访这个问题存在，各地到北京截访的现象也会存在”。
事实上，网民对于撤销驻京办，也不乐观。有分析认为，驻京办问题远非一撤了之那么简单，如果根本性问题没有解决，它还会以各种形式隐性存在。
关注访民的北京维权人士刘安军表示，驻京办另外的作用包括掩盖丑闻：“是为了当地这些官员贿赂中央这些当官的，买官卖官，这是驻京办的第一个职能，第二个职能是掩盖他们当地（官员）迫害老百姓，利益集团犯罪事实”。刘安军说，这些驻京办可能以其他形式出现：“也可能又弄出别的名目来，所以，要想取消他，从根子上是不可能的，只是走一种形式，驻京办是黑色交易的一个平台”。
北京访民杨秋雨说，公安抓到上访者，通常会私下交给驻京办，还涉嫌权钱交易：“北京的派出所一听说是驻京办的事他也不管，他们（驻京办）就直接行贿”。
据了解，各省驻京办的职能是接待地方高官进京开会，后演变为地方政府打通中央部委、争取利益的机构，即所谓“跑部钱进”（跑步前进即：升官），升官发财。最近二十年，驻京办泛滥，各县市，甚至一些小区大镇也搞驻京办，拉关系，权钱交易。
对于驻京办撤离，湖北潜江市驻京办一位官员表示：“啊，不太清楚，不好意思”。而河南省驻京信访处的一名处长星期一接受本台采访时称：“保留省一级还有市一级（直辖市）的驻京办，其他都要撤，有几千家”。
处长：有没有正式下文件，目前没有接到文件，我们这儿也接不到这个文件。
记者：您觉得真的可以做到吗？
处长：如果国家规定的时候应该吧。
记者：会不会以其他形式存在？
处长：也许可能隐藏，或者是改换门庭；或者是，这都很难说，中国的情况就是这样。
该处长将截访称为“维护稳定”：“不光是维稳这一块，一个信访，一个政府驻京办，现在保留的是政府驻京办，不包括我们这一块（信访）”。
刘安军认为，从目前情况看，各地信访办在拦截访民过程中，可获得“维稳”资金，有很大的经济利益：“实际上访民已经成了当地（官员）获取钱财的手段，访民这个团体也养活了截访者”。
2005年7月23日的《了望》周刊发表《“驻京办”：地方第二行政中心？》一文，揭开了“驻京办”存在的腐败沉痾，在社会上引起强烈反响，也引起高层关注。此后，该周刊一直关注驻京办问题。美东时间: 2010-01-25 16:02:02 PM 【万年历】
本文网址：http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/10/1/26/n2799190.htmBeijing Liaison Offices Slated to Close
