A Chinese journalist freed nearly 17 years after he was jailed for splattering ink on Mao Zedong's (毛澤東) portrait during the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement has gone insane, his father said yesterday.
"He is suffering from mental illness ... he gives few responses and has not said anything," said Yu Yingkui, the father of 38-year old Yu Dongyue (俞東嶽), who was released on Wednesday.
"Of course we're happy he's back ... now that he's back we have to try ways to cure his illness," Yu Yingkui said.
Yu Dongyue, 38, had returned to his family home in Shegang, Hunan Province, his brother and father said.
Yu, a journalist and art critic with Liuyang News, was arrested in May 1989 during the Tiananmen student protests after he and two friends had hurled eggs filled with red paint at the famous painting of Mao that hangs above the entrance to the Forbidden City. Yu was convicted of "sabotage" and "counter-revolutionary propaganda" and jailed for 20 years.
"He no longer recognizes me," said Yu Xiyue, a younger brother who made a prison visit last year.
In 2004, Reporters Without Borders, the journalism advocacy group, said Yu had gone insane as a result of being tortured in prison.
Human-rights groups have long made Yu's release a priority.
John Kamm, the human-rights campaigner who had long lobbied on behalf of Yu, stopped short of giving China credit for leniency. He said Yu's original 20-year sentence -- which had twice been reduced -- concluded on Feb. 21.
"It's an early release only in the sense that he was originally sentenced to 20 years," said Kamm, whose San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation serves as an advocate for the release of Chinese political prisoners. "Frankly, I was hoping they would commute. In my opinion, this is a fairly minor gesture, if one at all."
In 2004, Lu Decheng (
Yu had "a totally dull look in his eyes, kept repeating words over and over as if he was chanting a mantra," Lu said. "He had a big scar on the right side of his head. A fellow prisoner said Yu had been tied to an electricity pole and left out in the hot sun for several days. He was also kept in solitary confinement for two years and that was what broke him."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source