Epoch Times between October 5-8, 2018 published three reports with embedded videos on the suppression of veterans in Pingdu City, Shandong Province. The veterans were protesting that they should receive a fair retirement settlement from the government. On October 4, officials from Pingdu City ordered the police to stop the veterans from traveling to Beijing to appeal. On October 6, the incident escalated and the local police dispatched thousands of police officers, including fully armed riot police, to suppress the veterans group. The veterans used wooden sticks and fire extinguishers to fight against the police. Nine veterans were injured, two of them seriously. Meanwhile Veterans from around the country took trains or buses to Pingdu to lend their support. The police managed to intercept many of them and temporarily closed the highways to Pingdu. On October 7, the police guarded the main intersections in Pingdu. The police drove anti-riot vehicles and armored vehicles to the scene and used pepper spray and batons to chase the veterans away. Between 500 and 600 veterans in Pingdu were arrested and detained at the nearby Primary School and Middle School. Some were sent home. According to Epoch Times, veterans from around the country decided to go to Beijing instead. It said a large number of veterans are expected to flood into Beijing in the next few days.
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