Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Splattered Mao
Two of three Tiananmen protesters jailed for vandalizing Mao Zedong’s portrait 20 years ago have been granted political asylum in the United States. On May 23, 1989, Yu Dongyue, Yu Zhijian, and fellow activist Lu Decheng threw eggshells filled with red paint at a 30 ft. portrait of the late Communist leader hanging in Tiananmen Square. During his detention at Chishan Prison in Hunan province, Yu Dongyue was subjected to repeated beatings and electric shocks, and two years of solitary confinement, which family members believe are the cause of his current mental illness. They hope to obtain better medical treatment for him in the U.S.
Under international pressure, the Chinese government freed Yu Dongyue on February 22, 2006, after 17 years of imprisonment, the longest known political sentence following the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yu Zhijian, released in 2000, served 11 years and Lu Decheng, released in 1999, served 10 years behind bars. Yu Dongyue, with his sister Yu Rixia, fellow protester Yu Zhijian, and his wife, fled to Thailand. All have been granted asylum in the U.S., Although Lu Decheng received asylum in Canada, his wife and child remain in China.
In January 2009, China also released Liu Zhihua, supposedly the last activist still jailed for the 1989 pro-democracy movement. He had been sentenced to life in prison for organizing a strike at his factory and for “inciting crowds with anti-government speeches.” News of his release was confirmed just two weeks before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, still the cause of many headaches for the Chinese government.
-Vivian Kim
Mao Portrait Protesters Get Asylum (Radio Free Asia)
Mao Portrait Saboteurs Yu Dongyue and Yu Zhijian Granted Asylum in America (by Jane Macartney, Times of London)
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