Case still open for petitioners
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Some out-of-town petitioners who met with Premier Wen Jiabao during a widely publicized surprise visit to the country's top clearinghouse for grievances are now wondering what all the fuss was about.
They have complained that despite their face-to-face chat with the Premier, local authorities are refusing to solve their grievance and one even described complaint as groundless.
The Premier visited the State Bureau for Letters and Calls on Monday, the first time a Chinese Premier spoke directly with petitioners in Beijing, since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Wen met with eight petitioners in the bureau, listened intently to their complaints on topics such as unpaid salary, land expropriation, housing demolitions and labor disputes.
While some of the petitioners have reason to expect a positive ending to their complaints, others are still on edge.
Xu Guiqin from Shulan, Jilin Province, told the Global Times Thursday that his local government told her that the forced demolition complaint she discussed with the Premier was groundless and refused to do anything.
The local government even told the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post that the demolition is to remove safety risks.
They also said a public meeting will be held to discuss the issue and hear from landlords.
"Almost every local resident cried when they heard I had met with Premier Wen," Xu told the Global Times.
"They could prove that the forced demolition is illegal and that the government is lying." Xu said.
Calls to the Shulan government office went unanswered Thursday.
Guo Shunmin, another petitioner from Shanxi, told the Global Times that no officials reached out to him since the famous encounter with Wen. He intends to keep up his fight if his problem is not addressed.
Guo, a coal miner, was fired last year, but the company did not provide him with his pension.
Experts said flaws in the current petition system are to blame for the lack of response from some local authorities.
Some other local governments responded promptly.
Sida Construction and Decoration Company in Tianjin, which was accused of not paying wages on time, promised Wednesday to pay migrant workers by next week, people. com.cn reported.
Hu Xingdou of the Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Global Times that Wen's meeting with petitioners was a strong signal that the central government attaches importance to the grievances of normal people.
However, he added that it is not the top leader's job to personally resolve all such problems.
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