Two Henan Province natives filed a lawsuit against the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau on April 15 because one of its police stations posted a banner suggesting that many people from Henan are involved in crime.

The banner offered a reward to anyone who could help police break up a "Henan racketeering gang," even though the police had no particular evidence against people from the province.

This is the first discrimination case of its kind in the country, according to Gao Xiaoming, a judge with the People's Court at Zhengzhou High and New Technology Development Zone in Henan.

Ren Chengyu and Li Dongzhao, two legal professionals, allege in their lawsuit that Shenzhen's Longgang District Police Substation violated the constitutional principle of equity by posting the banner. They are seeking an apology broadcast on the national media.

The complaint states that Longgang District police violated the rights, damaged the reputations and affected the mental health of the plaintiffs by hanging a banner attacking Henanese people last month.

They claim that on March 30, a large red banner was hung in a street saying, "Resolutely strike at the Henan racketeering gang." It offered a 500-yuan (US$60) reward for anyone who informed on, or helped bring a case against, the gang.

The act immediately drew an outcry for its apparent discrimination against Henan people.

Police in Longgang explained that the purpose of the banner was to remind local residents to take care of their property and to deter criminals. They say their accusations against Henan-born criminals were largely based on the fact that there is a large proportion of Henan people living in that area.

The police admitted that they have no evidence to show that criminals are mostly from a Henanese gang, according to reports in the Southern Metropolis News.

Police removed the banner one day after putting it up because of the complaints they received. They also apologized to Henanese residents of their jurisdiction.

But one 50-year-old resident said that as a Henan native living legally in Shenzhen, he felt extremely angry and insulted after learning the banner had been put up.

"This is not an isolated case," he said. "For many years I have experienced humiliation during my trips outside Henan. I think Henan people deserve equal fairness and justice with citizens in other places."

Du Yanzhi, a lawyer with the Shenzhen Jingtian Law Firm, said the method of attacking criminals based on where they come from constitutes regional discrimination.

Li Minghui, a 25-year-old Henanese worker in Longgang District, said the banner has left an even worse impression of Henan natives working in Shenzhen, particularly when many local companies are already prejudiced against people from the province.

"Regional discrimination against Henan people has been widespread in China in recent years, stereotyping Henan people with an extremely negative image," said Zhou Xiaozheng, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing.

He attributed the phenomenon to negative media coverage of situations such as the high incidence of HIV/AIDS resulting from illegal blood collection schemes in the 1990s, and some sensational crimes that occurred in the province.

(China Daily April 19, 2005)