To complain to central authorities in China about local inaction or abuse, petitioners may now need documents from provincial authorities that have little incentive to let the case move upward.
A new regulation is blocking petitioners from reaching Beijing unless they first obtain provincial paperwork, a requirement that complainants say traps grievances inside the same local systems they are trying to challenge.
The rule affects China’s “letters and visits” system, known as xinfang, a formal grievance channel that many Chinese citizens use as a last resort when courts, local agencies, or lower-level officials do not resolve their complaints.
The National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration issued the measure on June 25 and said it took effect July 1. Article 4 says people who bypass the agency or unit with direct authority over their case and travel to Beijing to visit the national petition office or central ministries “must” carry written or electronic materials issued by a provincial-level agency. Those who cannot provide such materials will not be registered and will be directed back to their home jurisdiction, according to the official text….
New Chinese Rule Blocks Last-Resort Appeals to Beijing, Petitioners Say
