Rights lawyer Tang Jitian petitioned for a visit to his daughter in Japan; Japanese friends of the Chinese Embassy in Japan petitioned for solidarity

Chinese rights lawyer Tang Jitian, who has been banned from leaving the country and is unable to visit his seriously ill daughter in Japan, went to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau’s petition reception office on the morning of July 8 to ask the authorities to lift the border control order against him and allow him to travel to Tokyo to accompany his daughter. However, according to Tang Jitian’s online posting on the same day, the letter and visit reception office turned him away and did not accept his materials.

Tang Jitian’s lawyer daughter has been studying in Japan in recent years. This year4 was seriously ill in hospital and has been in an unconscious state. When Tang Jitian learned the news, he immediately applied to the authorities to lift the restriction on his departure and allow him to go to Japan to take care of his daughter. On May 23, nearly 100 experts and scholars from around the world signed a letter of solidarity calling on the Chinese government to release him in a spirit of humanity, but the authorities were unmoved. On July 8, Tang Jitian, who was unable to leave the country, decided to petition, but was denied access to the petition office.

Tang’s inability to leave the country to take care of his daughter also triggered sympathy and support from his Japanese friends. Tomoko Agu, a professor at the University of Tokyo, went to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on the morning of the 8th, together with the wife of Tang Yoshida’s lawyer, to express her demands and submit a joint letter. Tomoko Agu told the story in an interview with our reporter Yang Mei.

Tomoko Agu: We didn’t make an appointment with them in advance. I don’t think we could get an appointment in advance. So we went straight there. There were a lot of Japanese police at the entrance. The Japanese police wanted to protect the embassy because the relationship between China and Japan is tense and sometimes right-wing activists come to protest, so Japan wants to “maintain stability” and protect the Chinese embassy. The Japanese police asked us a lot of questions, and then they walked us to the embassy gate. We rang the doorbell hoping that someone would come out and say something to us, but no one came out. We then put the signed book in their mailbox.

FW: Didn’t see anyone?

Tomoko Agu: No. But there were reporters who came with us, so they would have reported it.

FH: What did the Japanese media and public opinion think of this?

Tomoko Agu: Of course, Xiao Tang (Tang Yoshida’s daughter) got the disease from studying in Japan. And, it’s very sad, I didn’t think TB would become so serious. His father is the one who is trying to do something for the underprivileged. We really can’t understand: this dad wants to see his daughter, why should he be banned from leaving the country?!

It’s simple: we talk about human rights issues, and human rights are actually issues of our life ˎlife. We don’t need to talk about big issues. Many of the issues raised by the Chinese government also concern our lives and livelihoods. That’s why I want to emphasize this point. The media is also very concerned. This is an issue that ordinary people will also be concerned about.