news focus piece on the hard life experienced by the children of chinese dissidents

1. A4 Saturday, June 4, 2011
FOCUS
Illustration: Stephen Case
Today, as Hongkongers remember the brutal
crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing
22 years ago, people’s thoughts are with
prominent dissidents like Liu Xiaobo and Ai
Weiwei. But few are aware of the plight suffered
by the children of mainland dissidents and the
price they have paid over the years.
Daughter of
Suffer journalist in
‘lingering
shadow’
......................................................
the little children
Verna Yu
For Dai Weiwei , the taste of
being a child of an “anti-party and
anti-revolutionary rightist” came be-
fore she was even born.
While pregnant with her in 1963,
her mother, a cashier at a paint fac-
tory, was sent to work in the work-
shop where toxic chemicals were
used as a punishment for being the
wife of Dai Huang , a Xinhua
journalist branded as a “rightist” for
doubting the supreme leadership of
Mao Zedong .
Five days before she was born, her
father was sent to do forced labour in
...................................................... move from a flat opposite. Police come very sensitive,” Jin said. “She crackdown on dissent, including the countryside. She was able to see
Verna Yu
even moved into their home for a listens in when I talk to others and Jiang, have ceased talking to the press her father only once every few
time. On occasion, Grace and her asks questions like: ‘Are they after my and commenting online. months. He was not released until
Grace Geng used to be a cheerful, mother were beaten by police. dad again?’ ” “One of the most civilised devel- she was 14.
outgoing girl, but now, aged 18, in- Grace’s every move at school was Dr Eric Chui, at the Department opments in the 20th century was for Even when she was as young as
stead of dreaming about what life monitored by half a dozen security of Social Work and Social Admin- the Chinese government to end col- three, she already sensed that her
might hold for her, she is suffering agents and her friends started dis- istration of University of Hong lective punishment. But what these kindergarten teachers were particu-
from depression and is constantly tancing themselves from her. Kong, said children of political people have done is bring it back – larly cool to her because her father
anxious about her missing father. “The teacher said whoever spoke prisoners can be devastated by not in principle but in practice,” Co- had been branded as a “rightist” – a
Gao Zhisheng , a high- to me would be regarded as a political their parents’ incarceration, hen said. blanket term for intellectuals who
profile rights lawyer who ran foul of criminal, so I became an outcast,” she and their frustrations are often “It’s all de facto – they don’t sen- were critical of the Communist
the mainland government after reminisced from the United States, manifested in self-harm and even tence people but they punish them.” Party’s far left policies and ideology of
openly accusing it of persecuting where she now lives. mental illness. Beijing-based historian Zhang Li- the time.
members of the banned Falun Gong Grace inflicted wounds on herself The youngsters often cannot un- fan – who was forced to de- “I was one of those cursed ‘off-
sect and underground Christians, with a knife several times and was derstand why their fathers, whom nounce his cabinet minister father, spring of rightist dogs’. When there
has not been heard from for more constantly tormented by nightmares. they adore, are seen as criminals by Zhang Naiqi , in the anti- were arguments between playmates,
than a year. “I just didn’t want to live, but I had the authorities just for voicing their rightist movement in 1957 when he people would insult you with those
This is not the first time he has no choice but to carry on,” she said, beliefs. was seven – said the persecution of terms,” said the younger Dai, now 47.
been in trouble. In recent years, he her sense of despair and helplessness “Often subject to fear, suspicion, family members “is a continuation of She was ostracised at school: she
has been periodically and arbitrarily still palpable in her voice. “I felt hope- social isolation and immense stress, the mentality of the Chinese auto- was not allowed to join her class-
detained by police for long periods of less.” these children would be particularly cratic system”. mates in performances, was forbid-
time, and has said he has suffered tor- Her mother, Geng He, and the traumatised,” Chui said. “Sometimes the psychological den to become a junior red guard and
ture while incarcerated. children fled China in January 2009 “They find it hard to trust others damage is beyond repair,” said was not allowed to be a class captain.
And his wife and two children and sought asylum in the United and are often confused about moral Zhang, who was jailed at age 19 for When she was older, teachers only
have suffered with him. States. A month later, Gao disap- rights and wrongs … Some may har- nine years for doubting Mao Ze- grudgingly agreed to let her join the
In 2005, the authorities revoked peared after being dragged away by bour feelings of resentment towards dong’s supremacy. party’s Young Pioneers group, after
his lawyer’s licence and placed the police. He re-emerged in March last society.” And a similar fate for her children saying she didn’t really qualify be-
family under 24-hour surveillance. year and phoned his family, but dis- Historians and legal experts say is indeed Gao’s wife’s worst fear. cause of her family background.
Policemen started following appeared again a few weeks later. that zhu lian – the implication by as- Their children are now aged 18 and “When the children in my class
Grace to school – she was only 12. Grace is just one of dozens of chil- sociation of family members of politi- eight. went on stage, I wasn’t allowed to join
They detained Gao the following dren of mainland dissidents and cal criminals – is deeply ingrained in Last year, Grace wrote a letter to them. There were rows of empty
summer, and he was given a rights advocates who struggle to Chinese culture. US President Barack Obama, plead- chairs, and just me sitting there,” she
suspended three-year sentence in overcome their fears over their par- In the Ming and Qing dynasties, ing him to bring up her father’s case said.
December 2006 for “inciting subver- ents’ sudden disappearances and known for the harsh suppression of with President Hu Jintao . And no matter how hard she
sion of state power”. He was allowed long absences. They also have to cope a sense of hatred [towards society],” police stormed into their home in the government critics, even distant rela- “I’m old enough to understand worked at school, she never got any
to return home – but the whole family with the immense pressure and hu- she said. middle of a night in February. The girl tives of political criminals could be that it might be better for my father to words of praise from her teachers.
was placed under house arrest. miliation in a society in which their Initially, she asked a friend living awoke and was terrified to see them persecuted and put to death. be dead than for him to undergo “I gave up trying eventually, be-
Security personnel guarded their parents are considered enemies of in the US to write him letters, pre- searching through the flat and re- More recently, during the Cultural more unspeakable torture,” she cause I knew that no matter how well
front door and watched their every the state. tending to be his dad. Later, Guo sent moving her father’s possessions. Revolution, children or spouses of wrote. “But for my brother, Peter, I did, it would do me no good,” she
The spouse, often the mother, his son letters from prison, painting a “She was sitting on the bed, trem- people belonging to the “black five who is only seven, not knowing said.
often tries to hide from the children vivid picture of a happy life abroad. bling, and she feared that I would also categories” – landlords, rich peas- whether our father is alive or dead is The trauma of long-term social
that their fathers are incarcerated for “He writes about his walks in the be taken away,” Jiang’s wife, Jin Bian- ants, counter-revolutionaries, “bad an unfathomable cruelty.” exclusion and isolation has had a
expressing their political convictions, hills, his new life teaching children ling , said before her husband elements” and rightists – were often Peter, who burst into tears when lasting effect on Dai. The sense of in-
fearing that would trouble them even Chinese,” Li said. “But I can’t look at was released in April. persecuted just because of the family he saw policemen as a toddler, gets justice, humiliation and loneliness
The teacher said more. those letters. It upsets me.” When she was seven, she wit- link. upset when he sees his classmates from years of being ostracised as a so-
Li Jing – the wife of univer- Often, the terror caused by a par- nessed her father being dragged away Veteran Chinese law expert Pro- picked up at school by their fathers. cial outcast still haunted her to this
whoever spoke to sity lecturer Guo Quan , who ent’s jailing casts a long shadow over by police and her mother thrown to fessor Jerome Cohen of New York Grace, who still suffers depres- day, she said.
me would be was jailed for 10 years in 2009 on sub-
version charges – told their 10-year-
the children’s lives and leaves
indelible scars, their mothers say.
the ground. Later, police came to her
school to interrogate her and made
University said threats of punish-
ment against family members were
sion, says she finds it hard to trust
others.
“Because of our background, I am
not very keen on socialising because I
regarded as a old son his father had gone to the The eight-year-old daughter of her sign a testimonial. often effective in silencing critics of “It’s no fault of the children’s … tend not to trust people,” she said.
political criminal United States.
“It’s just too difficult to explain
Jiang Tianyong , another
rights lawyer who disappeared for
Since then, she has found it hard
to concentrate in class, and suffers
the government.
Almost all of the once-outspoken
when I see them like this I feel dread-
ful,” Geng said tearfully.
“We’re always on the margins of soci-
ety, observing it from a distance.
why his dad is a good person but had two months after being taken away constantly from anxiety and some- rights lawyers released after being de- “The shadows will never go “The lingering shadow is some-
GRACE, DAUGHTER OF GAO ZHISHENG to go to jail … I don’t want him to have by police, shook like a leaf when times outright terror. “She has be- tained for two months in the recent away.” thing you can never get rid of.”
Remembering Tiananmen: My wish is that the
tragedy that shaped a nation June 4 issue be
resolved – the pain
Hopes for a democratic China have never looked more injured in the 1989 crackdown. The
of losing my child
distant two decades after crackdown, say critics
retired university professor said the will remain for the
government was so afraid of a repeat
......................................................
of the Tiananmen pro-democracy rest of my life
Two mothers whose sons were movement that it launched the
Verna Yu and Ada Lee ZHANG XIANLING, VICTIM’S MOTHER
killed in Tiananmen Square yester- harshest action in more than two
verna.yu@scmp.com
day said the muffling of the young decades to silence its critics.
people’s voices in 1989 paved the way Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu
Twenty-two years ago today, hun- for today’s repression. was jailed on subversion charges for chairman, said the book brought out
dreds of young lives were brutally “From the heavy sentencing of 11 years in 2009, and Ai, an artist, has mixed feelings in him.
crushed in a military crackdown on [dissident] Liu Xiaobo to [artist] Ai been detained for two months. “When I read the book, I some-
the Tiananmen pro-democracy Weiwei’s detention, [we can see that] “No one has forgotten June 4, 1989 times feel angry, sometimes happy
movement – a tragedy that would the human rights situation has seri- – the regime in particular. Why would and sometimes nostalgic. This book
shape the country’s politics for the ously deteriorated,” said 74-year-old a Jasmine revolution make them so shows how important Uncle Wah is
next two decades. Ding Zilin, the founder of the Tianan- nervous?” she said by phone, con- to the democratic movement in
As Hong Kong today holds its an- men Mothers, a support group of 127 fined to her home by security agents. Hong Kong.
nual commemoration, critics say family members of those killed and She believed it was the govern- “It’s the first time the vigil will be
hopes for a democratic China have ment’s anxiety over rising social dis- Members of the Democratic Party helped compile a book about the late democratic leader Szeto Wah. Copies will be held without Uncle Wah, but his spir-
never looked more distant. content that prompted it to approach on sale at tonight’s candle-light vigil to remember the victims in Tiananmen Square. Photo: David Wong it will be with us,” he said.
The crackdown brought the the family of a Tiananmen victim An exhibition of Wah’s callig-
country’s nascent political reforms to twice this year to offer them money. raphy is also being held in Shek Kip
a standstill and shored up authoritar- The visits were the first official res- cause victims’ families remained mands by conducting an impartial In Hong Kong, this year’s event Mei until the end of this month.
ian rule. No one has ponse since Ding’s group started ap- closely watched by the authorities, investigation into the crackdown, ac- has an added poignancy as many Separately, about 200 members of
Unnerved by anonymous online pealing to the government to admit particularly around politically sensi- count for each victim’s case and people see it as a chance to pay trib- pan-democratic faction People Pow-
calls in February urging people to forgotten June 4, its mistake in 1995, but no apology tive dates. compensate all the victims’ families. ute to the late democratic leader, er took part in a march from Western
emulate the revolts against authori-
tarian regimes in the Arab world, the
1989 … why would was offered.
“This shows that [resolving June
Ding was ordered to stay home
last night to stop her from paying res-
The government has never re-
leased an official death toll – although
Szeto Wah – who had been the heart
and soul of the city’s annual June 4
Police Station to the central govern-
ment’s liaison office in Sheung Wan
authorities launched its harshest a Jasmine 4] is more urgent for the authorities pects to her son near where he was rights groups’ estimates range from gathering over the previous 21 years. last night.
crackdown on dissent for years. Doz- than for us,” said Ding, whose killed. several hundred to several thousand. Copies of a book about Wah, pre- They surrounded the office and
ens of rights lawyers, activists and revolution make then-17-year-old son was fatally shot Zhang, the mother of a 19-year- “My wish is that the June 4 issue pared by fellow Democratic Party tied jasmine flowers – a reference to
bloggers were detained while others
went missing after being taken away
them so nervous? during the crackdown.
Zhang Xianling, 74, said she
old student shot dead near Tianan-
men Square, said she hoped the gov-
be resolved – even so, the pain of los-
ing my child will remain for the rest of
members and friends, will be sold at
today’s candlelight vigil.
recent uprisings in the Middle East –
to the gates as a sign of mourning for
by police. DING ZILIN OF TIANANMEN MOTHERS doubted the authorities’ sincerity be- ernment would satisfy their de- my life,” she said. Albert Ho Chun-yan, the party’s the dead students.