A former Chinese human rights lawyer now based in the United States Twitter campaign The situation of political prisoners in China draws international attention after the brutal prison raid and death of the father of the “ink girl” known for inking Xi Jinping’s public posters.
Lawyer Wang Qingpeng told the Epoch Times on October 1 that after learning of Mr. Dong’s sudden death, she and her friends took to Twitter to say that the outside world was worried about Mr. Dong after he was arrested. He said he realized he had stopped following the situation. She believes this is why the authorities so recklessly dared to retaliate against him.
According to various international media reports, “ink girl” Dong Yaoqiang’s father, Dong Jianbao, was beaten to death at Chaling Prison in Hunan Province on September 23. Her body was cremated the next day.
Later, a citizen of Hunan Province named Chen Siming was arrested for sharing the news of Dong’s passing on Twitter. Hunan journalist Fu Jianlue was also arrested for attending Dong’s funeral.
In 2018, Dong Yaoqiong posted videos on Chinese social media criticizing the Chinese Communist Party regime and splashing ink on a portrait of regime leader Xi Jinping in Shanghai. In response, authorities detained her three times in a psychiatric hospital and injected her with an unknown drug that changed her behavior. Her whereabouts are currently unknown. Her father, who was a miner, has been trying to find and rescue her, calling the outside world’s attention to her situation.
Local authorities will arrest him in 2021.
The power of international attention
Attorney Wang told the Epoch Times: Therefore, I posted a letter on Twitter calling on the international community to pay attention to the detention situation of political prisoners in China. did.
This appeal was well received by many Twitter users, was forwarded, and has been viewed 130,000 times. “Five days after posting the appeal, more than 20 people have signed up,” Wang said. We are in the group and several others are in contact with prisoners, their families and lawyers.”
China without political prisoners
Currently, the work is mainly focused on detained political prisoners who have spoken out for human rights, Wang said. “Our goal is to have no more political prisoners in China, let everyone speak freely, and have a government that is legally overseen by the people,” she said. said.
Wang also added, “Yesterday, my Twitter friend Esme Chen told me that paying attention to political prisoners is not only good for them, but also for ourselves and future generations. If the policy spreads all over the world, flight from the CCP will become meaningless.Currently, the CCP authorities have deleted and silenced all dissident voices that have a backbone, making them indifferent and insensitive. Leaving only abusive posts on the internet to make the world think that we Chinese are all like this, in fact these political prisoners and people in Twitter groups following their situation is a true representative of the Chinese people.”
If the CCP’s policies spread all over the world, it will make no sense to escape from the CCP.
Chinese Human Rights Lawyer
“Esme Chen is now posting the case of Wang Linlin, a political prisoner in custody. , Li Qiaochu, Zhang Weiping, Xuehei and others are tweeting about the incident,” Wang said.
Ji Xiaolong was arrested for the second time by authorities on Sept. 23 for opposing the COVID-19 lockdown. Ji was released in February after serving three and a half years in prison for openly criticizing the regime. A Twitter focus group said there were concerns over Zee’s health in prison as he has yet to recover from his previous detention.
Li Xi contributed to this report.
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Alex Wu is a US-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on Chinese society, Chinese culture, human rights and international relations.