UK: Zheng Xujun Is Suffering Persecution after His Return to China

Since the Jiang regime began to viciously persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, many overseas Chinese practitioners have suffered because of their belief after returning to China. According to reliable information, Mr. Zheng Xujun, a visiting scholar at Liverpool University, was arrested in September 2001 and is now imprisoned at the Tuanhe Labour Camp in Beijing. Recently, Zheng’s friends were interviewed about his current situation.

With a noble character and outstanding academic achievements, Zheng Xujun went abroad to pursue further studies

Interviewer: Could you please tell us when you first met Zheng Xujun?

Zheng’s friend: A long time ago - in 1993 I think. We were classmates. He did very well in his studies. Before attending a graduate institute, he obtained two-years work experience. So his abilities in scientific research were outstanding. He was also very easy-going. Whenever we asked him some questions, he patiently helped us find the answers. Because of this, we called him “Old Zheng.” He started practising Falun Gong in 1996. I felt that he was very strict with himself in many aspects. Often, some students put leftovers down the sink and blocked the drain of the dorm, but Xujun always took the initiative to clear out the drain. Usually the dorm stairs were not cleaned over the weekend and he often cleaned them. On the snowy days in winter he would get up early to dig out the snow and leave a path for everyone. During one winter, the heating system in my dorm was out of order, and he happened to have a new quilt, which he gave to me to use. Because we were all poor students at that time, his kindness left a deep impression on me. As a graduate student of the scientific research department, our thesis was supposed to be combined with scientific research. Around 1997, he was on a business trip in southern China. The assignment was difficult and tiring, but he still made an effort to finish it and the customer was so satisfied with his work that he insisted on sending him a camera as a gift. Unable to turn down the gift, he brought the camera back to the work unit. The head of our unit also felt that this kind of person was very rarely found in modern society. His scientific research was outstanding and his university recognised his academic achievements. Because of his outstanding academic performance, he was given the chance to be a visiting scholar at Liverpool University in 1999.

Interviewer: Do you know how he got on in Britain?

Zheng’s friend: I am not very familiar with his time in Britain. I only know that he explained the facts of Falun Gong to the Chinese embassy in 1999.

Interviewer: How do you know that?

Zheng’s friend: This is an important factor that leads to his persecution. After his return to China, he still worked in the same unit. But after the persecution of Falun Gong began, he was regarded as someone that needed re-education and was thus repeatedly harassed.

On April 25 1999, Zheng went to the Chinese Embassy in Britain to appeal for Falun Gong and was arrested on July 20 1999 after he returned to China and went to appeal there

Interviewer: Nice to meet you, Mr. Shao. Did you go to the Chinese Embassy on April 25 1999?

Mr. Shao: No. But at that time many Falun Gong practitioners visited the Chinese Embassy to tell the Chinese government representatives the facts about Falun Gong. I remember that Zheng Xujun used to send information about Falun Gong to the Chinese Embassy via e-mail, faxes, and phone calls. One thing that particularly touched me was that he still made up his mind to go back to China in July 1999 after the situation there had already become very tense. Then on July 20 1999, when China launched its crackdown on Falun Gong, he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and Miss Wang encountered Zheng at that time.

Interviewer: Thanks, Mr. Shao. Miss Wang, how did you come to know Mr. Zheng?

Miss Wang: The first time I met him was when we visited a fellow practitioner in London during the 1999 Easter vacation. As I came out of the tube station, I noticed that he was wearing a plain grey suit jacket, which looked very scholarly. I heard from fellow practitioners that he maintained the exercise practice site at Liverpool University very skillfully, even though his English wasn’t so great. He was a very responsible person. Seeing his sense of responsibility encouraged me a great deal.

Interviewer: Mr. Shao just said that you encountered Mr. Zheng on July 20 1999?

Miss Wang: Yes. I was in Beijing visiting a relative of mine at the time. When I heard that the Jiang regime was going to outlaw Falun Gong, I went to the State Appeals Office. After arriving at Fuyou Street near Zhongnanhai, I saw many policemen blocking off the roads. I ran into Zheng and his wife. They told me that the police blocked many of the roads and it took a lot of effort to get there. When the police heard that we came to appeal, they took us to the Tiananmen Police Station. There the police lied to us, and told us that there was a new office set up to handle Falun Gong issues and they offered to take us in their car. We all decided to go. The police searched our bags before we got into their car and they forcefully took away Mrs. Zheng’s copy of Zhuan Falun [the main text of Falun Gong]. She tried to get it back, but the police beat her.

When we arrived at the Shijingshan Stadium, many practitioners had already been arrested and detained there. No one came to hear our appeals, but instead we were told that we would be sent away. In the afternoon, I saw Zheng again. When he learned that I had not eaten all day, he insisted on giving me 100 Yuan [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China]. He said that we should endure until the end; if we weren’t able to see any appeals officers today, we would go again the next day; we couldn’t give up until the issue was resolved. He wanted me to accept his money because I might need it. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring and I couldn’t refuse him, so I accepted the money. Then the armed police forced us out of Shijingshan Stadium. Since then, I have not heard anything from Zheng Xujun.

After his return to China, Zheng was persecuted and imprisoned

Interviewer: Do you know what happened to Mr. Zheng after July 20 1999?

Zheng’s friend: His work unit helped him to return to work, but the head of the unit kept questioning him. After the Cultural Revolution, Chinese people seem to be very sensitive to politics. Particularly in that situation, there were some people who intended to gain politically through the crackdown on Falun Gong. Because of Xujun’s noble character and his abilities in scientific research, many of his classmates and teachers were worried about him. At the end of 1999, [state-controlled newspaper] “The People’s Daily” published news that Committee members of the Chinese Communist Party at Tsinghua University received awards [for helping to persecute practitioners]. Some in the Electric Power Scientific Research Institute also wanted to gain popularity by taking advantage of Xujun. Therefore, he was under a lot of pressure.

Interviewer: Could you give more details about the news from Tsinghua University?

Zheng’s friend: Lee Yihsiang, one of the students in the fifth doctoral class of the Tsinghua Department of Electrical Engineering, was forced out of school and detained. For over four months, he was forced to read and listen to materials against Falun Gong. After his re-education, he published an article entitled “The Separation of One Doctoral Student from Falun Gong” in “The People’s Daily”. The involved members of the committee were thus rewarded.

Interviewer: What happened next?

Zheng’s friend: In December 1999, the National Electric Power Department demanded that all employees who were Falun Gong practitioners must be re-educated. If the unit could not handle the re-education, the practitioners would be sent to elsewhere for re-education. Because Xujun was listed as the most stubborn member, he was forced out of school and sent to the re-education class.

Interviewer: Do you know anything about the re-education class?

Zheng’s friend: One method used there is forcing people to watch videos defaming Falun Gong for 8 hours a day, to read articles attacking Falun Gong, and also to talk about their own thoughts. Every day he/she has to write down his viewpoints and understanding. He/she is allowed to take a breakfrom the brainwashing only on Sunday afternoon. Also relatives will be found to help with the re-education. To sum up, all possible means of persecution are used.

Interviewer: What was Mr Zheng’s attitude towards re-education?

Zheng’s friend: He resisted the re-education and did not alter his belief in Falun Gong. He did nothing wrong and, on the contrary, he did everything very well. In fact, re-education just means repeated brainwashing, spiritual torturing, and continual threats. One is threatened that if they are to die in the labour camp, no one will care. Then, because the Chinese New Year was approaching and no expected goal was achieved, Xujun was allowed to go back to school to continue his important research work and studies. But the Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of Tsinghua University continued to harass him. In March 2000, he was detained for almost one month because he mailed Falun Gong truth materials. Members of the committee once said, “Let him suffer and he will not be so stubborn.” After he was freed, he was harassed more by the committee members and the police, and was frequently asked to write reports about his thoughts and understanding of Falun Gong. When some sensitive occasions were approaching, he was not allowed to leave the unit and was monitored to ensure that he stayed in his dorm at night. His life and work were greatly interfered with. In November, 2000, he was again forced out of school and sent back to his hometown because he posted Falun Gong materials. From then on, he became homeless and worked part-time to earn a living. I then lost contact with him. A long time after that, I was told that he was arrested in September 2001. Meanwhile, his wife, Su Nan, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, was sentenced to three years in prison because she distributed Falun Gong materials. His sister was also sent to a labour camp because she practised Falun Gong. His father, who was over 70 years old, went to Beijing from the countryside in Chekiang to ask where his son was and was told that he had been arrested because he practised Falun Gong. However, The police who arrested him said that they knew nothing about it. His old father went all over Beijing city to find his son, but had to return to the countryside in tears after not finding out anything. Half a year later, in March 2002, his parents were notified that Zheng Xujun was sentenced to two years in a labour camp, and was to be transferred to Tuanhe Labour Camp in Beijing. To date, he is being imprisoned there. I heard that he has signed some guarantee not to practise Falun Gong, but I feel that he did not mean it. From the revealed brutality in Tuanhe Labour camp, you can see how brutal the persecution of Falun Gong is. I am very worried about him.

For background information on Zheng Xujun, please see http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200211/8186.html

Translated from Chinese at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200306/21229.html