A Little Girl Misses Her Father Who Is in a Forced Labour Camp

During a 20 minute visit, a father was separated from his wife and daughter by a glass wall. The communication line was cut before the child even got a chance to speak. After the visit, the little girl kept crying and asking her mother, "Why did daddy cut his hair so short? Why didn't he speak to me? Mum, could you make the glass go away?" Now she often cries out during nightmares, "Take the glass away! I want to talk to my daddy!"

The child is Wang Xiaoqing and her father is Wang Fangpu. Mr. Wang, a Falun Gong practitioner, is from Zhongluwan Village, Dongmao Town, Ci City, Hebei Province. He is a former physical therapist at the China Meteorological Administration Hospital. On the evening of September 15th, 2009, agents from the Ci City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and Haidian District 610 Office, along with officers from the Haidian District Domestic Security Division and the Dazhongsi Police Station, arrested Mr. Wang. They seized his two Falun Gong DVDs, a computer, and other property. His belongings have still not all been returned to him. Subsequently, Mr. Wang was sentenced to two and a half years of forced labour for practising Falun Gong--in official terms: "involvement in an illegal organisation and disturbing social order." Mr. Wang is now in the Fifth Division in the Chaoyang City Forced Labour Camp in Liaoning Province. He is forced to work nine hours a day making fireworks. He asked his family to send him protective gear such as rubber overshoes, gloves, and face masks.

On the day Mr. Wang was arrested, Xiaoqing was recovering from a very high fever she'd had for four days. After Mr. Wang was arrested, Xiaoqing kept asking her mother, "When will daddy come home? I miss him. I want him to read me stories and draw pictures..." When she eats, she reminds her mother to save some for Daddy. There is no concept of time in her little heart. She murmurs daily, "Daddy taught me to brush my teeth like this. Daddy taught me to wash my hands like this..."

In November 2009, Mr. Wang was transferred from the Haidian Detention Centre to the Dispatch Office of the Xinan Forced Labour Camp in the Daxing District. At 5:00 a.m. on November 16th, Xiaoqing's mother woke her and told her they were going to visit her father. She was on her best behaviour as she quickly got up. They went in a taxi without even having breakfast. It took them more than three hours to reach the camp. They waited for another hour before finally seeing Mr. Wang. Xiaoqing hardly recognised her father. His face was thin and pale, his hair was cut in a flattop, and his wrists were cut from wearing handcuffs. He wore very little, so his hands shivered in the cold winter air. Xiaoqing did not want to leave and kept asking her mother why her daddy could not go home with them.

The family was only allowed 20 minutes to visit, and Mr. Wang did not get a chance to talk to his daughter. When Mr. Wang's wife asked if she could leave winter clothing for him, she was told she would have to mail it to him. When she did mail the clothing, it was returned to her with a note saying he had been transferred.

The child often recalls the time that she played with her daddy and asks when he will come home. Sometimes when she sees her daddy's clothing, she asks sadly when he will be home. Every time she listens to music, Xiaoqing murmurs, "I want daddy. When will we visit daddy?"

Xiaoqing's mother is devastated and has done all she can. Mr. Wang was taken to Liaoning Province on November 19th, 2009. It is an 11 hour trip by train. The train arrives at night and she cannot take her daughter to see her father. When the little girl cries for her father, her mother tries to distract her, but Xiaoqing still cries. As she cries she asks, "Mum, could you wipe away my tears?"

After her husband was arrested, Ms. Wang appealed to many government offices. She finally got a reply from administrative reconsideration officers in the Beijing government: "It is not in my power to release him. I am only following the orders I am given." The case officers in the Legislative Affairs of the Haidian District Police Department told her that the government in Beijing was responsible for the sentencing and even the police department did not have the power to release him.

Mr. Wang's father, in his 80s, was shocked by the news of his son's arrest and died in November without being able to see his youngest son one last time. This separation has been a severe blow to the family, and they no longer have laughter in their lives.

Mr. Wang was arrested and tortured for four months in 2002 by officers from the Beijing Fengtai Police Department Domestic Security Division. Subsequently, he was subjected to forced labour for two years and four months. The case has been reported on the Clearwisdom website: (http://www.clearwisdom.net/articles/2010/1/16/113946.html).

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/4/6/221052.html