Guo Feixiong detained in Shanghai for visiting his sick wife

Rescue Guo Feixiong’s hunger strike relay social network

Guo Feixiong, a prominent human rights activist in China, was scheduled to go to the United States on the evening of the 28th to care for his cancer-stricken wife, but after passing through security at Shanghai Pudong Airport, he was prevented from leaving the country by the Chinese border control desk on suspicion of endangering national security, and Guo announced an indefinite hunger strike, but he has since lost contact.

The U.S. Department of State said on 29th of July that it was disturbed by reports that Guo Feixiong had been prevented by the Chinese authorities from leaving the country to care for his sick wife, and was closely monitoring the case. Yang Zili, a friend of Guo Feixiong’s Family who lives in Maryland, told The Apple that he appreciates the U.S. government’s concern for human rights in China, but that the authorities are less aware of Guo’s situation because he has indicated that he will go on an indefinite hunger strike after being barred from leaving the country. remaining 51 kilograms, “it would be better if the U.S. government could show the message that he will be released.”

According to Apple Daily, Guo Feixiong’s last message to a Voice of America reporter on his cell phone before he was lost on the night of the 28th was, “Please ask the U.S. government for urgent help, I appreciate it.” His final message to the Apple reporter, on the other hand, was, “I am on an indefinite hunger strike at Pudong Airport from now on, and I ask the Chinese people and the governments and people of the world to help me urgently.”

Yang Zili said he visited Guo Feixiong’s wife, Zhang Qing, the day before, saying, “When she found out that Guo Feixiong could not come and that his condition had worsened a bit …… his sister told me that Zhang Qing could still walk in the morning, but when she heard the news that Guo Feixiong could not come, she had been resting in bed. ” He pointed out that Zhang Qing’s cancer tumor has spread, but also to receive chemotherapy and the 2nd surgery. He also mentioned that Guo’s children certainly want their father to come to the United States, “but a long Time no reunion with Dad, his youngest son from more than 4 years old did not meet with Dad, certainly the impression is more rusty.” Guo Feixiong was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 40,000 yuan (about HK$48,000) by a Guangzhou court in 2007 for “illegal business operation” after he helped defend the rights of Taishi village in Guangzhou’s Panyu district.

“There are some people who feel that Guo Feixiong’s presence in the country is causing them more trouble and want him to go out. But I think there may be some hardliners at the top of the Communist Party who want Guo Feixiong to make some concessions, sign some agreements and agree to some conditions before they can let him out. Yang Zili said that Guo Feixiong had expressed concern to him that he might step on the rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng completely lost contact with the outside world, completely controlled without any news, and “he (Guo Feixiong) is not a legal problem at all”, I believe will not be charged with any crime. At the moment, the number of signatures launched by overseas Chinese to support Guo Feixiong has broken through to hundreds, and it is believed that more actions will be taken in the future.

“We are troubled by reports that authorities in the People’s Republic of China have prevented Guo from leaving the country to care for his wife, who is seriously ill in the United States.” A State Department spokesperson said, “The Biden administration is committed to placing our democratic values at the center of our foreign policy and defending democracy, human rights, and human dignity. We continue to stand with all human rights defenders around the world, including Guo, who seek to express themselves freely and without fear of persecution or violence.”

Guo Feixiong, who participated in the 1989 academic movement and worked 20 years ago to promote grassroots democracy and human rights in China, was sentenced to five years in prison for “illegal business operations” in retaliation for the authorities. He was sentenced to six years in prison for “gathering a crowd to disturb the order of a public place” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” as a key participant in the “Southern Street Movement”. After his release from prison, he gave interviews to the media urging Xi Jinping to carry out political reforms, and has been under surveillance by state security since then. The Public Security Bureau said last year that Guo Feixiong would need approval from the bureau if he wanted to exercise his right to travel abroad.

His wife, Zhang Qing, went to live in the U.S. with their children in 2009 and has just had major surgery to remove colon cancer and liver metastases, and Guo was originally granted permission by the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau and the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau to leave the country, but was eventually blocked by the Ministry of Public Security.