Poliken (Danish Newspaper): In China's Clutches

September 292002

Falun Gong practitioner Zhao Ming went into the communist lair to appeal about the way Falun Gong is treated in China. He first came out again two years later after Chinese daily torture, beatings and attempts of brainwashing of labour camps.

There is a building left empty in the Chinese Tuanhe labour camp, so that no one nearby can hear what's going on. Zhao Ming knows very well what's going to happen as he enters the room. Six police officers stand in front of him, each with a 24-inch long stick that gives a severe electric shock. On the grey concrete floor lies a board where the head, hands, feet and hip can be strapped. It is night and Zhao Ming has been kept awake for two days with beatings, kicking and cold water.

The room is filled with loud cracks from the electric batons, when the voltage between the electric poles sparks off against Zhao Ming's head, neck, shoulders, stomach and legs. But no sound comes from Zhao Ming, who has decided to meet the hour long of evilness with as much calm as possible.

"One of the officers was very 'clever'. He could control two electric batons over my chest, so everything almost exploded and felt electrified. I became dry in my mouth, my breathing became very fast and one leg went into spasm. I thought that if I could die, everything would be better. It would be easier than experiencing this" says Zhao Ming.

That was seven months ago. Now the 31-year old Chinese is in Copenhagen telling about his 22 months long stay in Chinese labour camps. The torture has lit a spark to throw light on the human rights violations which Falun Gong practitioners in China are exposed to. Last weeks ASEM meeting between the European and Asian countries was an obvious place.

Actually Zhao Ming just likes to live his life as a good person, and he took up the fight with the Chinese system, because Falun Gong is the most important in his life.

"Falun Gong is the truth in life for me. We try to be good people - Falun Gong has no political message. We live according to principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance" he says.

Handing over his passport

Zhao Ming was born and raised in the city of Changchun, 850 kilometers northwest of Beijing. He did well in school and at the age of 22 graduated from one of China's finest universities with a degree in computer science. After this he spent five years in a software company, before he went to Ireland in March 1999 to continue his studies at an Irish university.

It was during a Christmas holiday in 1999 that he entered the lair of communism and filed his complaint against the authorities. He walked into one of the official "appeal offices" in Beijing, where Chinese can complain to the state about the way they are treated. Zhao Ming entered to complain that Falun Gong was outlawed in May 1999, [Editor's note: It was actually July 1999] and the authorities since then had persecuted practitioners of the meditation movement.

He voluntarily handed over his passport and ID card in order to get the complaint forms.

After a few hours he was sent to interrogation, where he for the first time tasted what he would experience for the next couple of years. He was beaten on the head and thrown around by the police officers, who were very agitated.

"All the time I tried to explain that I hadn't done anything illegal, and that they where the ones committing a crime by beating me, but it didn't help of course," says Zhao Ming.

After the interrogation he was put on a train to his hometown. Here more interrogations followed before he was released without his passport. Now he could not leave for Ireland, and ended up going to Beijing, where he handed out flyers about Falun Gong in the streets.

Never Having a Trial

He continued to do so, until the night of May 13, 2000, where he was is sitting with four other Falun Gong practitioners in a college room. Suddenly eight police officers rushed into the room and took each person into a different police car. At the station he was told that he was arrested for "disturbing social order."

A number of brutal interrogations followed, and after a month, when Zhao Ming went on a hunger strike for 18 days, he was told that he would be sent to a labour camp. There was no trial or conviction. According to Zhao Ming sending people to labour camps in China is an administrative decision.

He ended up in Tuanhe labour camp, which is notorious for brainwashing programs. The camp that contains about 1000 prisoners is located in one of Beijing's suburbs. Zhao Ming was forced to participate in the camp's "teaching" of Falun Gong prisoners. They must watch anti Falun Gong videos and read aloud anti Falun Gong books, which would be discussed with the guards. Often this would last until 2 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning, which meant that Zhao Ming only got few hours of sleep at night for long periods of time.

The brainwashing was followed by episodes where Zhao Ming, on request from the guards, was beaten up by the inmates. He was once beaten by ten inmates, so he could not walk for five days. He was also forced to stand for 20 hours some days or squat for many hours. This, as well as the electrical torture, has lead to permanent injuries. His legs are numb from the hips down, and he cannot feel whether he is wearing shoes or socks.

Mental Prisoner

In Ireland there was a growing attention of his case, and Zhao Ming was released in March this year after international pressure from, among others, the Irish Prime Minister. Shortly after he was back in Ireland, even though he was physically free, he was still mentally captured. During the electrical torture in the empty building in Tuanhe in March 2002 Zhao Ming broke down and signed papers that denounce Falun Gong.

"I regret now, but I couldn't think clearly and felt that I wouldn't survive the torture much longer. It was mental rape to make me sign. Actually it is worse than the physical violence, because I now live with the awareness, that I have signed something I didn't mean. My soul will not become whole, before these papers are gone," says Zhao Ming, who hopes the Danes will have an understanding for Falun Gong.

"In the West some people think that we get treated badly in China, because we have done something wrong. It doesn't seem rational, that I have been subjected to torture for nothing. But the Chinese system is not rational."