Prominent Chinese dissident Hu Jia (胡佳) said he wants to resume his activism, but was weighing the impact on his family, in his first reported comments after being released from prison at the weekend.
During a telephone interview with Hong Kong’s Cable TV, Hu stressed the importance of “loyalty to morality, loyalty to the rights of citizens.”
“You should be loyal to your conscience,” he said in comments broadcast late on Sunday.
One of China’s leading rights activists and government critics, Hu returned to his Beijing home early on Sunday, his wife Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕) said on Twitter, after completing a more than three-year sentence for subversion.
Hu’s release came just days after outspoken artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) returned to his Beijing home after nearly three months in police custody.
Hu, 37, was jailed in April 2008, just ahead of the Beijing Olympics, after angering the Chinese Communist Party through years of bold campaigning for civil rights, the environment and AIDS sufferers.
He won the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament’s highest human rights honor, later that year while in prison.
Hu now faces one year of “deprivation of political rights” — essentially a ban on political activities that typically includes not talking to the media.
Chinese police have blocked access to his Beijing home, suggesting he may have been placed under some form of house arrest.
Hu said in the interview that his family was pressuring him to stay out of trouble.
“They have told me: ‘Live an -ordinary life and don’t clash with the regime because this regime is very cruel and it arbitrarily violates the dignity of its citizens,’” Hu said.
“I must try to console my parents and do what I can to console them ... but I can only tell them I’ll be careful,” he added, in a strong indication he would like to return to activism.
Hu is widely expected to be hit with the same strict curbs as those apparently applied to Ai and a range of other activists and rights lawyers, who seem to have been ordered to keep quiet after their release from custody.
On her Twitter page yesterday, Zeng said well-wishers hoping to visit Hu would not be allowed in, apparently referring to the police surrounding their apartment.
“I’m slowly reintroducing him into society and arranging his life and work. I don’t think it is necessary to say anything more.”
Last week, Zeng said her husband needed treatment for cirrhosis of the liver, a disease that worsened while he was in prison as a result of inadequate medical care.
An editorial in yesterday’s -English-language Global Times, which is published for foreign consumption, complained that the support Hu enjoys in the West was linked to a Western bias against China’s government.
“Hu and other people win Western applause not because of what they have done for Chinese society and world peace, but simply because they are anti-Chinese government,” the editorial said, in the only mention of Hu in state media.
“Mr. Hu had better keep a sober mind in the face of Western praise, just as China should keep its eye on the various comments coming from the West,” it added.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS