There was (is?) a whole thing where local governments would kidnap people trying to petition the central government to crack down on some local government wrong

There was (is?) a whole thing where local governments would kidnap people trying to petition the central government to crack down on some local government wrongdoing. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/world/asia/chinese-petitioners-suffer-regular-abuse-group-says.html https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/world/asia/chinese-petiti...