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    NEWS

    Party Constitution Copying Protest Backfires for Organizer

    Woman at center of legal row over land detained for ‘disturbing order.’

    A woman was sentenced to 10 days detention after organizing a protest against alleged official corruption on Monday morning in the eastern province of Jiangxi, local media outlet Jiangxi News reported on Tuesday.

    The protest, which took place on Monday, was unusual in form — more than a dozen men and women set up desks in front of the Jiangxi High Court, sat down, and copied out the Communist Party constitution by hand.

    The act of copying the party constitution is at the heart of a 100-day campaign, promoted by party newspaper People’s Daily, which encourages Chinese party members to write by hand the party constitution as an exercise in studying its values.

    The campaign attracted the attention of both Chinese social media and international media earlier in May when one newlywed couple was photographed undertaking the task on their wedding night, in all their bridal finery.

    Photos circulating online showed a group of people in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, sitting at desks in front of a large, red banner that proclaimed: “Copy the Party Constitution 100 Days — Urge Vice President Guo Bin [sic] to Become a Qualified Communist.”

    The organizer of the protest, Min Saifeng, is the general manager and major shareholder of Jiangxi Ganpo Real Estate Co. Ltd. In a written statement Min sent to Sixth Tone on Monday, she claims that Guo Bing, vice president of the Jiangxi High Court, had “illegally auctioned” the company’s land after a “phony lawsuit.”

    Min called Guo’s actions out of line with the party constitution and said he should study it more closely.

    In the Tuesday news report, local authorities told reporters that not only was the court’s conduct lawful, but that Jiangxi Ganpo had repeatedly interfered with the court’s duties in regard to the sale. The article said that local police found Min had hired the protestors from the local labor market, and that Min and another person had now been sentenced to 10 days’ detention for disturbing the order of public institutions.

    The 100-day campaign began on March 1 and will continue until June 8. So far, the topic about the campaign on microblogging site Sina Weibo has garnered more than 3 million views.  

    With contributions from Qian Jinghua and Peng Wei.

    (Header image: A group of people copy the Party Constitution at the entrance to the Jiangxi High Court, Nanchang, Jiangxi province, May 23, 2016. Courtesy of Min Qilong)