China has shut down a popular internet website which helped members of the public report complaints to government authorities, local media reports said on Thursday.
Jiang Huanwen, founder of China Reporting Net, was notified by authorities in northeastern Liaoning province that his website would be shut because it breached ”relevant laws” by passing on complaint e-mail letters to government departments.
The Huashang Morning Post report did not specify the law to which authorities were referring.
The Shenyang-based www.jubao007.com website -‒ the first of its kind in China — had received more than 400 e-mails during its brief 38 days of operation, reports said. It could not be viewed on Thursday.
Jiang told the paper he was ”very upset” because he only wanted to help people air their grievances by lodging complaints with relevant government authorities.
Many local government offices in charge of receiving public complaints often withhold letters instead of passing them to the proper authorities.
Most grievances expressed by the Chinese public are linked to rampant corruption, often relating to the forced requisitioning of land by local governments or unfair court decisions. ‒ Sapa-AFP