The wife of prominent jailed Chinese rights activist Hu Jia (胡佳), who is due to be released later this month, said yesterday authorities in the south were trying to evict her and her young daughter.
Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕) said that she moved from Beijing to the city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, in April, in an effort to avoid house arrest and enjoy a semblance of freedom following her husband’s scheduled release on June 26.
Hu, 37, became one of China’s most high-profile activists through years of work campaigning for civil rights, environmental protection and the plight of China’s -marginalized AIDS sufferers.
He was jailed in April 2008 for three-and-a-half years on subversion charges after he used blogs, e-mails and interviews with foreign reporters to highlight rights abuses in China.
His conviction was widely seen as an attempt by the Chinese government to silence him ahead of and during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“Right now, it looks like there is no way I can stay here, but I told [the landlord] that there is no way that I can leave immediately and that I need some time to find another place,” Zeng said by telephone. “There is no question that the authorities are doing this — they have contacted the housing management to come and check on me.”
Since moving to Shenzhen, Zeng said she has enjoyed relative freedom and has not been subject to the heavy police surveillance and restrictions on her movements that were enforced at her Beijing home after Hu’s conviction.
Police in Beijing told Zeng that Hu was not likely to enjoy a “normal” life after his release, remarks she interpreted to mean he would likely be placed under house arrest like numerous dissidents upon completing their prison terms.
“I will return to Beijing to welcome Hu Jia home, but whether he will move or not depends on the situation, but first I want to arrange something for my daughter so that she is not put under house arrest with me,” Zeng said. “I don’t think anything good will happen [upon his release] — I can only try my best to avoid arrest or detention.”
On Wednesday, European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek expressed dismay at threats of “forceful eviction” against Zeng and her daughter.
“I learned today that human rights defender Ms Zeng Jinyan may face forceful eviction from her apartment ... together with her three-year-old daughter,” said Buzek, a former Polish premier and Solidarity activist. “Reports concur that this is happening under the pressure of local authorities.”
Buzek, who recalled meeting Zeng during a visit to China last year, said: “Expelling Ms Zeng from her apartment for no apparent reason would be unjust and completely unfounded. In case of a forceful eviction, I expect an open and independent investigation by the Chinese authorities into this case.”
Zeng has used her blog and Twitter — which is officially blocked in China, but accessible to users via virtual private networks — to challenge China over the detentions and imprisonment of her husband.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of