The Communist Party of China will hold its 19th Congress in the second half of 2017. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Communist Party of China will be holding the 19th CPC Congress. Protesters, also known as petitioners, are banned from holding protests in Beijing.
Foreign media outlets have been banned from covering stories on the plight of the petitioners. The BBC released an expose on the harassment that they received prior to an interview with Yang Linghua, a petitioner demanding justice for the death of her father.
Her father was beaten to death by local officials over a land dispute.
Yang was planning a trip to Beijing in time for the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China but was barred by local police.
The BBC was supposed to hold an interview with Yang in her village when the media crew was attacked by local police. Various video equipment were destroyed.
The media personnel were then asked to sign a document stating that the interview was "illegal." Yang was then detained.
The congress of the Communist Party will be convened on Sunday to discuss major reshuffling of key cadres and officials. The meeting is also a time that petitioners use to air all their concerns.
However, provincial officers take this as a time to block out any form of protest.
A spokesman for the Central Organization Department said that the new officials should "firmly insist on the ideals of communism, and have self-confidence in the Chinese socialist path and theories."
He added that the officials "must firmly implement the policies of the party . . . and remain highly consistent with the party's central leadership with comrade Xi Jinping as the core in mind and action."
There will be 2,300 delegates who will be elected to 40 positions spread across the country. These positions will take charge of state-owned enterprises and the military.
These elected officials will then vote for officers who will form the Politburo.
