Stability measures tighten ahead of Fifth Plenum: Gao Yu reports guards 'posted' outside her home; Ye Hongxia, Lin Chunfen and Zhao Yonghong report blockades and confinement

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Background: The Fifth Plenum of the 20th CCP Central Committee will be held in Beijing on October 26-29. Beijing residents told MNewsTV that this year's stability-maintenance operation began early and is markedly stronger, with rights defenders generally facing blockades, surveillance and travel restrictions. [2]

Gao Yu: Beijing independent journalist Gao Yu said on October 13 that, since the end of the National Day holiday, people have been posted near her home, with monitors working outdoor shifts and even having meals delivered to them. Reports describe this practice — personnel stationed near a residence to restrict or monitor a specific individual — as what those targeted call 'being posted' (上岗). [1]

Ye Hongxia, Lin Chunfen and Zhao Yonghong: According to MNewsTV's October 16 report, the three were roughly intercepted by government personnel and security guards outside Zhao Yonghong's residence on October 13; Zhao said no detention paperwork was shown and that she was told to isolate at home solely on 'leadership instructions.' The October 19 roundup adds Zhao's account that she and her parents, both in their eighties, had been restricted to their home since October 12, were intercepted again when going out on October 13, that security staff at one point failed to deliver meals on time, that repeated calls to police brought no effective response, and that she finally opened a window and shouted for help. The October 16 report also says that on October 14 Zhao and her parents were confined at home by the Enjizhuang police station and could not eat normally; late at night she called out from the window in protest against illegal detention, raising three demands: end the illegal detention, hold the police accountable, and pay compensation. [1][2]

Lin Chunfen: She reportedly faces strict monitoring and long-term restrictions on going out, with police and security guards following her whenever she leaves. On September 22, when she went to register a case at the Beijing High Court, she was beaten and injured by security guards of the Xiaohongmen police station; her police report was not accepted for filing. Late on September 28 she tried to slip out through a third-floor window and hid beneath the Second Ring Road bridge; the chief of the Zhongguancun police station led more than twenty people to search her friends' homes and the 'petitioners' village,' eventually finding her in a wooded area. Lin says she was violently treated by three deputy station chiefs and a leader from the Haidian branch bureau. [2] The October 19 roundup states that Lin was beaten by security guards when registering her case at the Beijing High Court and that reporting it to police did not bring the handling she had expected. [1]

Yu Kai: Shandong lawyer Yu Kai submitted a 'Proposal on establishing free medical coverage for major illnesses and progressively advancing universal basic free medical care' to the National Healthcare Security Administration on October 14, recommending stronger cost protection first for major-illness patients and financially struggling groups before gradually expanding coverage (as reported by Rights Defense Network and other outlets). Yu had earlier joined a legislative proposal to abolish the crime of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble'; in 2024 the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Justice suspended his practice for one year for 'improperly hyping cases' and ordered his law firm to halt operations for six months for rectification. After resuming practice in 2025, he continued to put forward public-policy proposals. [1]

Zhaoqing fire compensation and wage arrears: On October 12, workers and factory operators from the Zhaoxing Electroplating Upgraded Environmental Industrial Park in Jinli Town, Gaoyao District, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, gathered in front of the township government demanding resolution of fire compensation and unpaid wages. According to the labor outlet Gonglaowang (工劳网), a fire on August 15, 2025 severely damaged multiple factories in the park. Affected operators hold that the enterprise where the fire started had problems in hazardous-chemical storage and emergency response, and that the park may bear responsibility in planning, construction, fire safety and daily management. MNewsTV notes these are allegations by the affected parties, that specific responsibility awaits the fire investigation, accident appraisal and related legal procedures, and that with compensation responsibility undetermined for over a year, affected businesses cannot resume operations and workers have fallen into hardship over unpaid wages — turning what began as accident-liability and civil-compensation questions into collective petitioning of the government. [1]

Verification note: The content of this record comes mainly from the individuals' own accounts, relayed by MNewsTV's October 16 and October 19 reports (the People's Daily-style outlet Renminbao carried a similar account on October 18). MNewsTV states explicitly in its roundup that the details come mainly from the parties' statements and related media reports and that not every allegation can be regarded as independently investigated and confirmed. As of this record, no public response from Chinese officials on these cases has been seen, and this site cannot independently verify the specifics of the home watches, interceptions and confinements. Following this site's attribution principle for allegations, this record documents only the fact that named individuals publicly reported these experiences and makes no judgment on the truth of individual claims; it is graded 'under ongoing verification' and will follow developments during and after the Plenum. [1][2]