Chinese authorities prevented dissidents and activists from attending a speech by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday at a university in Sichuan province where he pushed Beijing to allow "greater openness" in the world's most populous nation.
Petitioners appealing to the government against injustices and potential protesters were detained or warned to stay at home by officials, who feared they would approach Biden on the last day of his visit to China, rights activists said.
“On this visit by the U.S. Vice President, the type of measures of control that the authorities employed against petitioners and dissidents reveals the oppression and controlling thought that the Chinese government has used for a long time," said Huang Qi, a veteran dissident released from jail in June after serving a three-year prison term for his activism.
"We hope that the Chinese government will give up oppressive thinking and pay greater attention to the improvement of civil rights and people’s livelihoods in China," said Huang.
Huang, who heads the Tianwang Human Rights Center which campaigns to free detained dissidents, petitioners, and rights advocates, said many volunteers from his group and petitioners had been held by the authorities.
Villagers blocked, led away
A number of villagers who had lost their land tried to enter Sichuan University in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, but were blocked by public security officers, with some led away.
Biden used his speech at the university to push for greater human rights in China, whose leaders have stepped up a crackdown against dissent this year amid online calls for a "Jasmine" revolution by Chinese groups inspired by the wave of popular uprisings sweeping the Middle East.
The U.S. leader rejected any notion that American calls for greater human rights would threaten the sovereignty of China or dampen its rapid economic growth.
"I recognize that many of you in this auditorium see our advocacy of human rights as, at best, an intrusion and, at worst, an assault on your sovereignty," Biden said.
"I know that some in China believe that greater freedom could threaten economic progress by undermining social stability."
"I believe history has shown the opposite to be true: that in the long run, greater openness is a source of stability and a sign of strength."
Biden had raised human rights concerns at his meetings last week with Chinese leaders, U.S. officials said, without giving details.
Appeal for rights lawyer
Before the visit, Washington appealed to China to free rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has not been heard from since last year, and to restore the rights of dissident writer Ran Yunfei, released from detention earlier this month.
Despite the clampdown on dissent during Biden's visit to Sichuan University, some activists and petitioners managed to sneak through to hear his speech.
Hu Jinqiong, a villager who broke free from the public security, told RFA she saw a number of villagers led away by officials.
"Those from Shuangliu County Public Security Bureau brought them to the police car... I took advantage of a moment when they would not notice and ran away. All we wanted was just to listen,” she said.
Wang Hui, a villager from Huangshui township who managed to escape the police dragnet, said she saw a petitioner bundled away in a police car.
“We heard that the U.S. Vice President Biden was coming, and everybody wanted to go listen and learn a little about human rights,” she said.
Biden also visited a high school close to Dujiangyan, a small city near Chengdu badly hit by the May 12, 2008 earthquake that devastated parts of Sichuan.
In the quake, some 87,000 people were dead or missing, most likely dead, including thousands of children who were killed when school buildings collapsed on them.
Parents who lost children and several other groups have claimed that many of the schools were poorly built, because of corruption and lax standards.
Activist Huang was jailed for campaigning on the issue.
"We hope that the American government will pay greater attention to the Chinese people’s human rights," he said.
Reported by RFA's Mandarin service. Translated by Rachel Vandenbrink. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink and Parameswaran Ponnudurai.