“Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi, and Wu Ge Jianxiong, three members of Changsha Founeng.
Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi and Wu Ge Jianxiong, three members of the mainland NGO “Changsha Founeng”, have been detained by the authorities for 20 months. It is reported that the trial was held in secret several months ago, but the families of the defendants know nothing about the trial. In addition, the mayor of New Haven sent a letter to the mayor of Changsha, urging the release of the arrested men.
On the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, Justin Elicker, mayor of the City of New Haven, sent a letter to the mayor of his “sister city” Changsha, Zheng Jianxin, demanding the release of three public service workers who were arrested by Changsha authorities. A few weeks ago, San Francisco City Councilmember Ma Jianxin sent a letter to the mayor of his “sister city,” Changsha. A few weeks ago, San Francisco City Councilman Gordon Mar sent a letter suggesting that the mayor of San Francisco consider ending the “sister city” relationship with Changsha.
In a New Year’s Eve interview, Wu Youshui, the father of Wu Ge Jianxiong and a human rights lawyer, said, “I would like to thank the Mayor of New Haven for taking an interest in the case of my son, the three Changsha public interest groups, and sending a letter to the Mayor of Changsha before the Chinese New Year. But will this effort produce the results we hope for? I have some doubts.”
Wu Youshui, who has made several trips to Changsha to learn about his son’s case to no avail, is disappointed. He said, “Because, in the view of the Chinese Communist Party, when they need to use the law, they will claim that ‘so-and-so what is not outside the law,’ and when they themselves violate the law, they will say something like ‘the law is not a shield ‘. So they’re using a double standard to approach the world.”
The mayor’s letter: release or not is a matter of “sister city” relationship assessment
Wu Youshui (right), father of Wu Ge Jianxiong, and Shi Minglei, wife of Cheng Yuan, at the entrance of the Hunan Provincial Security Department detention center. (Courtesy of volunteer/reporter Qiao Long)
In a letter to Changsha Mayor Zheng Jianxin last week, Justin Alick expressed “close concern” about the arrests of mainland public-spirited individuals Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi and Wu Ge Jianxiong in Changsha. The letter mentions that the three arrested individuals and the organization they work for, Changsha Fu Neng, work to eliminate discrimination against the most vulnerable in Chinese society. Changsha officials held the three men for more than a year without allowing them to contact their families or lawyers. Between August and September 2020, the three men were tried in court without their families being notified. Many articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were violated.
“Yang Zhanqing, co-founder of Changsha Fu Neng, expressed his gratitude to the U.S. mayor for his concern for Chinese public service workers. He told the station, “I am very pleased that the mayor of New Haven has taken note of the arbitrary detention and secret trial of three of my colleagues by the authorities in Changsha, our ‘sister city’. For the past year or so, the domestic and international community has also been continuously concerned and appealing, but Changsha has never responded or revealed any status of the trial to the Family. This Time, the mayor of a ‘sister city’ with which Changsha has friendly relations sent a letter, and I hope that Changsha will seriously consider the suggestions made by the mayor of New Haven in his open letter, so that the ‘Changsha Pro Bono Three’ can receive the services of the lawyers entrusted by their families, be released at an early date, and be reunited with their family reunion.”
Several U.S. Mayors Concerned About Cheng Yuan and Other Arrestees
Lu Jun, co-founder of the Beijing Yiren Ping Center, an anti-discrimination charity, said, “Over the past 100 years, the city of New Haven and its citizens have made tremendous contributions to Darren’s Education and medical care, a friendship that has spanned the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China, the War of Resistance, the Cultural Revolution and Reform and Opening, etc. It can be said that New Haven is one of Changsha’s and the mainland’s most loyal friends. This letter from New Haven’s mayor reflects New Haven’s adherence to its values on the one hand, and an earnest expectation of more civilized progress on the mainland on the other. I hope the Changsha side will not simply and habitually use ‘interference in internal affairs’ as an excuse and a smear.”
In the letter, Mayor Justin asked Changsha Mayor Zheng Jianxin to ensure the immediate release of the three members of Changsha Fu Neng, to ensure that the three are treated with due process, and to ensure that the three have the right to legal services and to family visits. A few weeks ago, San Francisco City Councilmember Gordon Mar sent a letter to San Francisco Mayor London Breed, suggesting that the “Changsha Public Interest Trio” be taken into account and that the mayor consider ending the “sister city” relationship with Changsha. “.
On July 22, 2019, Cheng Yuan and three other public advocates were detained by Changsha’s State Security Bureau on “suspicion of subversion of state power,” and they have not been able to see their family-appointed lawyers for 20 months.
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