A senior justice official in Inner Mongolia caused public outrage after he was heard ordering public security officers to beat up pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses in an audio clip that has leaked online

Dong Shimin, the party chief and minister for the public complaints bureau in the Inner Mongolian city of Hulunbuir at the time, was recorded lecturing officers for failing to suppress demonstrations organized by local residents.

“Some [officers] have been finding f------ excuses for their failures. They said they couldn’t hit the elderly, they couldn’t hit those with diabetes, those with high blood pressure or pregnant women,” Dong could be heard saying in the audio clip, purportedly recorded in Aug. 2019 during a meeting on maintaining social stability.

“You must hit them as if you are killing them. I will shoulder the responsibility for the deaths,” he said.

Dong also stressed that demonstrators must be arrested and detained in custody, and steps must be taken to ensure they write confession letters. Public security officers must not allow any deaths in jail, however, because that would create trouble for senior officials, he said.

Dong, who was promoted to justice minister in Hulunbuir last March, denied having made the remarks and said the clip was fabricated.

The audio clip has caused an outcry and came about a week after Henan province’s party chief, Zhang Zhanwei, was revealed to have slapped his subordinate in the face at a canteen.

Mainland internet users expressed shock at Dong’s “horrifying” and apparently illegal orders. “With such an official leading the justice ministry, there cannot be any hopes for progress in the rule of law,” one wrote in a comment.

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