Inside China Today

Inside China Today – Thursday 29th October

Falun Gong practitioner, Zhang Ying was detained and tortured at a local police station for a 'confession'.

- Shanghai Falun Gong practitioner tortured and force-fed;

- Concerned netizens mapping pollution in China;

- 1,000 sacked bank protest in Beijing;

- Made in China segment.

******************

Shanghai Falun Gong practitioner tortured and force-fed
(0:58)

In Shanghai, 39 year old Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Ying has been kidnapped by the Public Security Bureau of Changning District. She was taken to the Xianxia Street Police Station where she was tortured, and was later force-fed in hospital after going on hunger strike.

Zhang Ying’s lawyer, Zhang Chuanli visited her last September and found her weak and unable to walk properly. Chuanli had applied to Court for bail so Ms. Zhang could receive medical treatment, his application was denied.

Zhang Chuanli told SOH:
(Recording) “On September 22nd, when I saw Zhang Ying in the prison hospital in Shanghai, she had to be supported when walking towards me. She’s unable to walk by herself and her health is very weak. According to Chinese law, the Public Security Bureau is still carrying out its investigation. Zhang Ying said she was tortured for a confession, which is why I have brought an action against the police on her behalf. Further, on September 30th, the security bureau told me Zhang Ying was formally under arrest. After that, as her lawyer, I made an application for bail, but it was refused.”

Zhang Ying’s mother, Ms Chu told SOH that Ms. Zhang was arrested by local police last month. Ms Chu and her husband have asked the security bureau’s Petitions Office about Zhang Ying.

Ms Chu told SOH:
(Recording) “The police illegally beat and arrest people. Zhang Ying was suspended and beaten by three officers. She lost consciousness soon after and her blood pressure was over 200 degrees. She was sent to hospital and we were told we couldn’t visit her for at least a month. It is now close to two months. The police told us to sue them. We only went to ask about her situation and instead they quarrelled with us, elderly people. You see how bad we feel, we can’t even sleep at night.”

According to Minghui.net, the officer in charge was Wei Liguang who had ordered three officers: Chen Ying, Zhu Fengming and Qian Jun to carry out the act.

Zhang Ying’s grandmother, Ms Zhou said after Zhang Ying was kidnapped and tortured, she went on hunger strike and was sent to hospital.

Ms Zhou said:
(Recording) “On September 8th, Zhang Ying came back from shopping when she was kidnapped by plainclothes police in front of our house. They didn’t show identification. She was sent to a detention centre where she was shackled and hung. She lost consciousness. After that she didn’t eat anything for many days and they sent her to the hospital to force-feed her. Now, we don’t know what her situation is and it has nearly been two months.”

Ms Zhou also said Zhang Ying had benefitted from Falun Gong. She told SOH:
(Recording) “She should have freedom of belief shouldn’t she? Actually, we better not talk about this here…After she started practicing, she became very healthy and kind to others. She respected the elderly. The police arrested her many times, and this is the fourth time. We call upon the international community to help rescue her.”

Chris Thomas; Lin Li; and Wang Zhen of the SOH Radio Network.

*****************

Concerned netizens mapping pollution in China
(5:12)

Pictures taken by award-winning Chinese photographer Lu Guang entitled “Pollution in China” has helped inspire Chinese netizen Guo Baofeng of Fujian. Mr Guo, who has always been concerned about the environment, recently initiated a plan to map the pollution levels within China and the resulting map included dozens of severely polluted sites, which has since caught the attention of the outside world.

According to a report by Radio Free Asia, Mr Guo told reporters (recording):
“When I saw the pictures by Lu Guang, I was shocked; those pictures earned him the Oxford Smith Humanitarian Photography award. I was so impressed by that and had the idea of mapping those polluted sites on map, according to what he photographed. Another Internet friend of mine, Shuang Ye, also did something similar, in mapping cancer villages of China on a map. In fact, what I then did was to superimpose the two maps, and the geographic locations of the cancer villages and that of pollution seem to be very close to each other. It looks like that there are some connections between the two in China, in those most polluted areas.”

Rapid economic development has led to heavy environmental pollution in many parts of China, and environmentalists are unsatisfied with the official explanation that environment is the necessary cost of economic development. There have been several attempts by citizens of China to promote environmental protection, but their actions were suppressed by the authority. Last May, about 200 people staged a protest march against a large petrochemical project in Chengdu, Sichuan province, because of the severe, potential air and water pollutions by the plant. The authorities however, cracked down on the protestors and Mr. Chen Yunfei, a leading organiser, was arrested and tortured during his detention.

Since traditional ways of protecting citizens’ rights may lead to crackdown by the authority, Guo Baofeng and his friends initiated the idea of pollution mapping, in hope of getting more attentions from the outside world. Their map include investment projects in industrial parks in Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia; chemical waste in Taixing industrial park in Jiangsu province; Fanjiazhuang steel mill in Henan province, where “iron rain” falls everyday on the villagers; industrial waste water from Xiaoshan, Zhejiang province; petrochemical waste from Ma Anshan, Anhui province; industrial waste water from Zeng Miao, Inner Mongolia, and petrochemical waste water from Haimen, Jiangsu province.

Perry Luo; and He Wen of the SOH Radio Network.

*******************

1,000 sacked bank protest in Beijing
(8:32)

On October 26th, at approximately 8am, 1,000 former bank employees gathered for a protest in Beijing. The protesters were staff members who were made redundant with very little financial compensation, from four major banks in China, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the China Construction Bank. The gathering took place, in Beijing’s Xicheng county, at the International Convention Center Square.

According to witnesses, approximately 1,000 workers held banners, while they sang songs and shouted slogans. They protest attracted crowds of onlookers, who took photos. A witness told SOH, “There were about 1,000 people on the square, they sang international songs and so forth. Those people were from Shanghai, Liaoning, and Jilin, from everywhere. The onlookers all crowded up and many people photographed the scene”

Another witness said, “The banners read, ‘redundant workers strongly demand the government provides financial compensation’”.

Hundreds of officers from the General Security Division of the Beijing Police Department rushed to the scene, with a number of passenger buses, as well as Iveco police cars. Officers kidnapped and brutally beat the protesters, in attempt to disperse the crowd by force.

A witness said, “It was the police department and public security officers, on the first wave they took away six bus loads of protesters. At around 10am, they began to push people into the vehicles by brute force. They had two Iveco police vehicles, and two other police vehicles of another brand, that drove around the scene. After the first wave of people were taken away, the officers dispersed the crowd by force. ”

A witness also reported, “There were 7 or 8 officers, pulling and dragging people to the vehicles. They did not allow the people to speak, and those who refused to get in were pushed in before they suffered further beatings. It was open kidnapping, if they refused to get on the vehicle, they were just dragged and beaten. I say what kind of police is this? I think they act like thugs. Six of those big vehicles were completely filled. Some people fled, while the police chased them down like dogs.”

SOH reporters telephoned the General Security Division of the Beijing Police Department to inquire about the situation, but the officer on duty refused to make any adequate response. SOH recorded the telephone conversation with him, “I cannot answer your questions about this issue with the people.”

These workers were mostly 40 to 50 years of age. Made redundant after long service terms without medical insurance, pensioner’s funds and some were dismissed by force without any compensation. Dismissed bank staff from around the country have had numerous gatherings in Beijing in recent years, to request for their issues to be dealt with. However to date, they have received no reply from government departments or officials.

Caden Pearson; and Tian Xi of the SOH Radio Network.

*******************