Hunan Walk-in: Tiananmen Era Protestor's Ideals

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 021650 SIPDIS C O N F I D E N T I A L SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/16 TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI CH SUBJECT: Hunan Walk-in: Tiananmen Era Protestor's Ideals Intact Despite Harassment REF: A) Guangzhou 14013 ¶1. (U) Classified by Acting Consul General William Martin. Reason 1.4 (d). Summary -------------- ¶2. (C) A former imprisoned protestor from the Tiananmen Square era recently approached the Consulate with information of his personal history and continued harassment from the Chinese government. The man, a middle- school teacher from Hunan province, told Congenoffs of his imprisonment from 1989-1991 following dissident activities related to the Tiananmen Square incident and of later detainments in 2004 and 2006 around the anniversary of June ¶4. The visitor briefly described the fate of other known Tiananmen protestors in Hunan province and of pro- democracy activities in Hunan and Hubei. His story is a useful example of the continued difficulties former Tiananmen protestors face today. End summary. ¶3. (C) On July 11, Hunan resident Zheng Shihe, called Post's Consular section, asking to speak with a Consulate officer. Later that day, RSO, Econoff, Poloff and Econ/Pol FSN met with Zheng, whose main objective was to seek Post's help in securing a job with a U.S. company in China. During the meeting, Zheng gave Congenoffs copies of the official government documents that described the details of his arrest and imprisonment. Biographical Background -------------- ¶4. (C) Zheng Shihe, 42 years old, a resident of Yunzhou city in Hunan province, currently works as a Chinese language teacher at the Yunzhou No. 3 middle school. According to the documents Zheng showed Congenoffs, on March 24, 1989, while working at the Yunzhou No. 1 School (a prestigious provincial-level school),Zheng was arrested, along with two other men, for "attacking the Central Leaders and the People's Liberation Army (PLA)" through dissident activities in connection with the Tiananmen democracy protests. The activities in question included "organizing young teachers for illegal demonstrations" and "writing, printing and posting banners and slogans that humiliate the Communist Party and State leaders." Zheng said more specifically that his dissident activities included writing disparaging remarks about Deng Xiaoping in a prominent location at his school, distributing 200 copies of a pamphlet he had written entitled "Revolutionary Family Bible", and organizing protests and briefings about the latest events occurring at Tiananmen. Zheng, who is an avid listener of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, said he learned about the Tiananmen Square events through these and other sources and wanted to share his knowledge with his town. Zheng and the other two men were put in the Lingling Labor Reform camp in Hunan province for two years. Zheng said that during his prison sentence, he suffered various forms of physical and psychological ill-treatment including forced, hard labor, beatings and ideological reporting on a regular basis. Because of Zheng's good behavior, his sentence was shortened by 275 days and he was released on June 9, 1991. After Prison - Continued Harassment -------------- ¶5. (C) Since being released from prison, Zheng claimed he has not been left alone. Similar to tactics used by the Communist Party Discipline Committee, Zheng has been required to follow "shuanggui" ("double rules": announcing time and place). In other words, at a certain, especially during important anniversaries such as June 4 and July 1 (the birthdate of the Chinese Communist Party),Zheng said he is required to report his location to the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) and is "not allowed to go outside." Typically, if the PSB has a known dissident in the area, they will find a designated individual from the dissident's "danwei" (work unit) to be responsible for the dissident's actions. In Zheng's case this was boss, the principal at his middle school. Zheng complained of "endless instruction" from the principal of his middle school and by the Educational Bureau director. Zheng described how the principal and director were told by the local PSB to keep close control over him. He also said that if he causes GUANGZHOU 00021650 002 OF 003 trouble, the principal and director will be punished as well. ¶6. (C) In May 2004, one month before the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen incident, Zheng claimed that the local PSB called him and asked him to stay at home. On June 1, however, Zheng decided to go to Beijing for what he called "tourism" (Comment: Given the sensitive time period around his planned "tourism", we can assume his goal included some sort of protest or political element to it. End comment). The principal of Zheng's middle school, however, found out about his plan and personally detained him in a hotel run by the local Education Bureau. In June 2006, Zheng again attempted some limited political activity. On June 4, 2006 Zheng sent a mobile phone text message to the director of the Education Bureau and principal of his school, passing on his condolences for those who suffered during the Tiananmen incident. Consequently, the school principal decided to personally detain Zheng for one day in the principal's home. ¶7. (C) Zheng described some of the professional setbacks he has suffered since 1989. Before his arrest, he claims he was a highly respected teacher, working at a prestigious school in Yanzhou. After his arrest he lost his position at the school as well as his professional title (which are important for advancement). Over the past 15 years he has worked his way back up to a municipal-level school. Despite his many years of experience, his salary has not increased and he has been disqualified from any further professional titles. Zheng also claims that his mobile phone is tapped during sensitive national holidays. He explained that he knows this because of the background static he can hear on the phone and comments made by the school principal that reflect an awareness of Zheng's phone conversations. Fate of Other Tiananmen Protestors -------------- ¶8. (C) Zheng said he personally knows of 12 other men from Hunan who were active during the Tiananmen period. He said that of them, only two are living "decent" lives without significant problems with the Government. Six others, he said, were in a "really bad situation", unable to successfully integrate into society. Zheng did not explain the details of each of the individuals, but said they had suffered professional setbacks similar to his own. Two others are "mentally unstable," which Zheng surmised stems from Government pressure along the same lines as what he himself has experienced over the years. Some of the men recently reunited to attend a wedding. At the wedding the former protestors made a vow that if any one of the 12 were detained again in the future, all of them would go to Beijing and inform foreign embassies or the "Tiananmen Mothers" group of the situation. Current Political Activities - Hunan Democracy Party -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) Because of the police surveillance around him, Zheng said he is currently not very politically active. He admitted that he occasionally uses the Chinese language courses he teaches at the middle school as a platform for expressing his political views to China's next generation. Zheng also briefly mentioned knowledge of a "Democratic Party" in Hunan and Hubei, with former Tiananmen protestors as members, although his details about the group were very vague. According to Zheng, the group manages to avoid being detained because they use "one-way contact", where the leaders only contact the followers. The Democracy Party has tried to contact Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng, but was unsuccessful. Zheng was unaware of the "Rights Protection Movement" (weiquan yundong),which is led by Gao (reftel). The group also tried to join a one day hunger strike for Gao, but the local PSB stopped the event after they learned about it through the internet, according to Zheng. Seeking U.S. Help -------------- ¶10. (C) Zheng's primary reasons for approaching the Consulate were both psychological and professional. Because of the harassment he has received over the years, he was looking for people with whom he could share his GUANGZHOU 00021650 003 OF 003 experiences. Moreover, he was hoping the Consulate could help him secure a job with a U.S. company, which might be more sympathetic to a democratically-minded Chinese national. Comment -------------- ¶11. (C) Zheng's experiences are consistent with those of dissidents nationwide whose activities are monitored and whose movements are limited around sensitive anniversaries. Nonetheless, his frustrations and disappointments are not uncommon for a generation of Tiananmen-era idealists, some of whom went to prison for their beliefs, who are entering middle age. They are finding it as difficult as ever to voice their views in a system that considers vocal dissent a threat to social stability -- and to Party rule. MARTIN