Two Henan
residents yesterday rejected an apology by a Shenzhen police
official published in local newspapers for allegedly discriminating
against people from the central Chinese province.
Li Dongzhao and Ren Chengyu filed a discrimination
case against Longgang police sub-station after hearing reports of a
banner put up in early March offering a 500 yuan (US$60) reward to
anyone who could help nab a ‘Henan gang.’
Liu Kuanzhi, director of the police sub-station,
was reported yesterday as saying, "The banner targeting
Henan-native gangs has hurt people from Henan Province and we
sincerely apologize to them."
The condition the plaintiffs have set for settling
out of court is for a printed apology to appear in the national
media. Li said, "I haven't received any message from Shenzhen so
far and a verbal apology is far from enough to make up for the
nationwide negative impact brought about by the banner."
After media exposure led to a public outcry, police
said they had gone door to door in the district involved, where
many people from Henan live, to apologize. They had removed the
banner at the end of last month after initial complaints
On April 15, Li and Ren filed a lawsuit from Henan
against the sub-station claiming it had violated the principle of
equity enshrined in the constitution. They said the police action
infringed the rights of Henan people, damaged their reputation and
caused mental distress.
Li hoped the lawsuit would prompt legislators to
enact a law on regional discrimination since there is no such
explicit legislation at present.
Wu Zhouwei, spokesperson for Longgang sub-station,
said the banner had been put up by a patrol officer on his own
initiative with no sanction from Shenzhen Public Security Bureau,
and that the officer has been suspended.
He added that, in the first three months of this
year, the community police station caught 17 suspects from five
racketeering gangs, all of whom were from Henan. It was unclear
whether he thought this justified the banner or not.
Liu Zhongguo, from Shenzhen Cultural Studies
Center, said the case reflected widespread discrimination against
Henan natives.
Dramatically illustrating such behavior was Wang
Lei, a 45-year-old businessperson who moved to Shenzhen from Henan
in 1993 but has told few people of her ancestry.
"I am afraid that once I tell them where I am from,
they won't conduct business with me any more," said Wang, adding
that she had even told her daughter to keep it a secret.
(China Daily April 26, 2005)