News: A list aids China’s political prisoners

Zhong Guo

I was at dinner three weeks ago and someone said, "I think the way China goes about opening up is the right way." I felt so angry but I didn’t say a word. I don’t know why I didn’t say "Oh, putting thousands of people in jail for speaking their thoughts is the "right way," putting someone like me in jail would be the "right way?" "Does that mean you’re willing to sacrifice me so China can keep doing it "the right way" and you’re supposed to be my friend."

It’s been bugging me for weeks but I don’t know why I just let it eat me up like that. I don’t know why I didn’t just speak my mind at the dinner table or bring it up again later but have let it fester the way it has. Maybe it’s really easy to turn a blind eye to things when you’re are making money. I mean it’s that easy even for me to keep my mouth shut over food, just to keep it nice and avoid confrontation when maybe it was more important to let my views known. It’s just too easy to be quiet.

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BEIJING AND SAN FRANCISCO – In prisons across China, inmates languish
for committing "political crime" – anything from starting an illegal
newspaper, trade union, or unofficial religious church, or speaking a
democracy slogan in public.

What’s remarkable is that such cases are known at all, say China
experts. In fact, more than 4,000 political prisoners have been saved
from obscurity by the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco. Their names
go on lists shared with Western officials and presented to Chinese
authorities, for better treatment and early release.

As China gains greater international standing and market leverage,
"there doesn’t seem to be any discussion between China and the US
regarding concrete prisoner release cases," says Joshua Rosenzweig,
head of research at Dui Hua, which means "dialogue."

Political crime is 1 percent of all crime in China. But authorities in
the party state view it as the most essential to stamp out, notes Mr.
Cohen.

"The police spend as much time and energy solving 1 percent of
political cases as all other categories of crime combined," Kamm says.

For example, in the case of an illegal democracy poster put up
near a city hall, local police investigated until they found the
suspect. Neighborhood handwriting samples were conducted in a wide area
around the poster. Some 200 or 300 agents were dispatched.

Dui Hua’s work has brought new insights into China’s state
security. Political criminals are investigated, arrested, and
prosecuted through a special branch called "the first section," Dui
Hua. The section has motivated and disciplined police with authority to
look into all aspects of society. The first section has its own lists –
including Chinese monitored outside jail. These are "targeted people."
Any Chinese picked up for political crimes, and those later released,
are watched. The list also includes "suspicious foreigners," and Kamm
tells foreign correspondents they are almost certainly on first-section
lists.

No figures are available on China’s total political crime
population. Kamm estimates he knows about 10 percent of those now in
jail. He counts about 3,500 core political prisoners. Separately, the

Falun Gong spiritual movement, brutally shut down four years ago, has 2,015 prisoners.

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