China: Hu Jia's family become human “state secrets”

And likely very skinny ones at this point, having been locked away from journalists and lawyers and bringers of milk formula for over a month now.

Since AIDS activist-turned house arrested blogger Hu Jia's arrest, he's been described as a one-man human rights organization, that bloggers like him are the kind The Party fears most, and that for every Hu Jia silenced, ten more bloggers like him will pop up to take his place; shame, say some, and smooth move others. With Hu's wife Zeng Jinyan and their 2-month-old daughter Hu Qianci having been under house arrest for over a month now and in effect having been made state secrets of themselves, even more are saying now is the crucial time to be blogging about them.


Hu Qianci, China's youngest political prisoner

If the state subversion charge was supposed to scare the other monkeys at the keyboards, it doesn't seem to have had the desired effect. Yet, director of Sun Yat-sen University's Genders BBS Ai Xiaoming has a long essay floating around in which she assumes, as others have, that Hu won't be getting out any time soon, and notes that ten years divided by 1,200 of Hu's supporters means just three days of prison time each.

Others weren't satisfied with just signing the petition, though, and put their blogging skills to use. Bloggers from different parts of the country started talking about a milk powder delivery mission, and now the exact location Zeng's home in BOBO Freedom City is neatly marked on Google Maps, with notes of where to watch out for the secret police. If you don't want to risk going in, word is Zeng can be seen clearly in her window from the grassy patch across the road:


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On the information front, while Zeng's old blog has been blocked, there's now a copycat Zeng fansite which hasn't; Hu's blog has been blocked, though now the couple has their own spirit site, also blocked. Zeng's new blog has of course been blocked since Hu's arrest, yet somehow keeps updating itself.

And then there's the Free Hu Jia Facebook group.

Hu and Zeng found life under house arrest and those enforcing it interesting enough to make a short documentary called “Prisoners in Freedom City” which can not only be viewed on YouTube in seven parts (without Hu and Zeng's permission, as it says), but in one go and even downloadable if you have VeohTV.

Keep a blogger locked up at home long enough with nothing but Chinese state TV and an internet connection to keep them occupied and they're bound to subvert something eventually. What exactly Hu Jia did to warrant the charge, though, isn't exactly known and possibly never will be. What is known is that when he got busted he was in the middle of a Skype conversation, and chances are it was about to become the next of his e-mail podcasts which now too have all been posted online and can be found at the 2008: Year of the Rats blog by Rat Master Flash, who with a name like that should try writing Hu a song and plugging it on MySpace.cn:

Jan. 17: Following sentencing, blind Chen Guangcheng has given power of attorney to his lawers
Jan. 23: Guo Feixiong case returned from Procuratorate to police for further investigation, Guangzhou police hand Guo Feixiong over to Liaoning police to be tried
Jan. 25: Yuan Weijing decides to purchase a digital camcorder and digital camera
Jan. 29: Chinese citizen Hu Jia's letter inviting Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao to personally monitor human rights
Jan. 28: Guo Feixiong, Jiang Wei and “Shenyang Political Earthquake”
Jan. 31: Li Xige: I followed the law and paid my Family Planning fine, but has the government followed the law in upholding the rights and interests of those with AIDS?
Feb. 2: Defence council for Guo Feixiong's case's legal recommendation to the Tian He District Procuratorate in Guangzhou
Feb. 4: Dr. Gao Yaojie illegally detained by Henan government, prevented from traveling to US to accept award
Feb. 7: Li Xige:Where are you, Dr. Gao?
Feb. 12: Dr. Gao Yaojie illegally detained for 12th day, Chinese government responding to inquiries from international society with lies
Feb. 15: Dr. Gao Yaojie forced to write letter of entrustment
Feb. 17: Chinese government obstructs Dr. Gao Yaojie from traveling to America to accept award
Feb. 22: Dr. Gao Yaojie arrives safely in Beijing
Feb. 25: Chen Guangcheng transferred by police, detention center refuses to tell where to
Feb. 26: Chen Guangcheng was arrested on Feb. 9, taken to carry out sentence in Lihang labor reform camp, Linyi City
Feb. 26: The judgement in Chen Guangcheng case
Feb. 27: Linyi prison in Shandong continues for no reason to block Chen Guangcheng's family from visiting him
March 1: Under Yuan Weijing's persistence, Shandong police today no long blocked family from visiting Guangcheng
March 22: Lawyer Li Jinsong will meet Chen Guangcheng at Linyi prison, Yuan Weijing remains under house arrest
April 4: Chen Guangcheng's wife, son and relatives once again deprived visitation rights
April 5: Commemorating Mr. Zhao Ziyang for Qingming Festival, crippled Tiananmen survivor Qi Zhiyong is arrested by police
April 5: He Tian: Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhiyong holds memorial service for Zhao Ziyang over Qingming Festival
April 7: Gao Zhisheng's lawyer breaks through information clampdown, speaks out for first time on the family's plight
April 11: Beijing Nailhouse—Brothers Ye Guozhu and Ye Guoqiang
April 12: Response: Sun Ailing, transfusion infectee, returned home yesterday from Henan Province #6 Hospital to Gongyi City
April 19: Yuan Weijing and Chen Guangfu both successfully visit Chen Guangcheng
April 19: The blind man with faith in rule of law
April 28: 4·27 Freedom Day
May 15: Prosecution procedures to begin shortly today in Guo Feixiong case
May 15: On his birthday, Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhiyong once again placed under illegal detention by state security police(SSP)
May 15: Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhihong's letter of thanks
May 21: Seeing wife out to buy food, met with violent beating and verbal abuse from undercover police from Beijing SSP squad
May 28: Yuan Weijing's 6 months of home stakeout are up, police continue to restrict her freedom of person
May 28: Under Yuan Weijing's stern negotiations, police have been forced to formally release her from “home stakeout”
June 2: Gao Zhisheng's lawyer once again beaten by Beijing SSP upon leaving prison
June 4: He Tian's Tiananmen Retrospection part 2
June 8: Chen Guangcheng makes his first phone call since beginning his sentence (6/8/07)
June 8: Focus on Guo Feixiong's case for the month of June
June 9: Tian He District Court in Guangzhou suggest possible delayed trial in Guo Feixiong case
June 11: Chen Guangcheng under arrest for one year today, Yuan Weijing once again cut off from all communication
June 15: Wife of June 4th victim writing on the 18th year since
June 17: Activist writer Xiao Qiao arrested by police in Shanghai
June 19: SSP arrest rights activist Liu Anjun, stealthily violate Olympic Games freedom to interview
June 19: Liu Anjun's cardiac disease recurs, family go to police station to deliver medication
June 21: Photos of petitioner rights activist Liu Anjun
June 23: Lawyer Tang Jingling receives summons, Liu Anjun removed from observation
June 25: Lawyer Li Jinsong arrives at Linyi prison, to meet Chen Guangcheng in afternoon
June 25: Linyi prison officials refust to let lawyer Li Jinsong see Chen Guangcheng
June 26: Lawyer Li Jinsong has decided he must see Chen Guangcheng this trip
June 26: Lawyer Li Jinsong enters prison grounds and will see Chen Guangcheng
June 27: Christian Xu Yonghai has been illegally detained by Beijing police
June 27: Lawyer Li Jinsong will meet with Chen Guangcheng to verify Guangcheng has been hurt
June 28: Guo Feixiong case to be further delayed, possibly until end of July
July 1: To prevent Gao Zhisheng from traveling to US to accept award, police again have taken him away
July 5: Chen Guangcheng's wife Yuan Weijing is at my home
July 6: Yuan Weijing to meet American embassy human righst officials, I was kept from going
July 9: Guo Feixiong's case opens today in court
July 10: Court in Tian He, Guangzhou holds hearing shamelessly manipulated by Politics and Law Committee
July 10: Professor Jiang Yanyong is struggling for the right to leave the country
July 12: British diplomatic officials were successful in seeing Yuan Weijing, mother and daughter
July 18: Chen Guangcheng's family visit successful, but held under prison's heavy surveillance
July 20: Defence from Guo Feixiong's first hearing
July 25: Lawyer Zheng Enchong applies to be present at Zhou Zhengyi's trial, is placed under house arrest
July 29: Lawyer Zheng Enchong sees freedom of faith violated, launches hunger strike and silent sit-in protest aimed at SSP
July 30: Rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng once again besieged by police
July 31: Friends from afar—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (1)
Aug. 1: Beijing police seek to detain christian Xu Yonghai
Aug. 2: Fighting the tide and the future of the system—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (2)
Aug. 3: Democracy and peace are the the bridge across both sides of the strait—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (3)
Aug. 3: The voice of the plebes is more than a river—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (4)
Aug. 5: Christian Xu Yonghai welcomes illegal arrest with a fast and prayer
Aug. 5: Zheng Enchong barred from going to church, first aid applied
Aug. 8: Xu Yonghai detained by police, held at at police station for reasons related to Olympic celebration
Aug. 9: A June 4th cripple's first day in the countdown to the Olympic games
Aug. 13: Li Xige's open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao
Aug. 14: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing's open letter to Hu Jintao
Aug. 17: Yuan Weijing breaks out from house arrest for first time
Aug. 20: Yuan Weijing has decided to travel to the Philippines to accept award on behalf of husband Chen Guangcheng
Aug. 22: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing has sent Hu Jintao an open letter through the mail
Aug. 24: The PSB's SSP are making plans to obstruct Yuan Weijing
Aug. 24: Yuan Weijing and 2-year-old daughter Chen Kesi have been intercepted by SSP for third time
Aug. 27: Update on Yuan Weijing's situation
Aug. 28: Please honor your promise to the world and the country—An open letter to the Seventeenth Party Congress Regarding the Zhejiang PSB's criminal detention of Lu Gengsong
Aug. 28: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing continues enquiries, complaints see some headway
Sept. 3: Magsaysay award issued in absensce, Yuan Weijing violently kidnapped for second time this week
Sept. 5: Lawyers obstructed from seeing Yang Chunlin, Heilongjiang authorities up to their old tricks
Sept. 8: Qi Zhihong: Petitioner Village to be demolished
Sept. 11: The truth about China before the Olympics
Sept. 13: Prior to the Seventeenth National Party Congress, China's politics and law system creating an atmosphere of widespread terror
Sept. 20: Qi Zhihong: Petition Village is full of destitution, and the capital has become the tiger's mouth
Sept. 25: Beijing SSP have threatened to send rights activists to mental institution for duration of 17th National Party Congress
Sept. 25: Lawyer Gao Zhisheng is being illegally constrained by SSP secret police
Sept. 25: Li Xige placed under house arrest, mooncakes sent are being intercepted
Sept. 27: Human rights officials from American consulate in Shanghai meet with Lu Gengsong's family
Sept. 28: Yang Chunlin case transferred to Procuratorate, police revoke bail prior to trial
Sept. 30: Zhejiang writer Lu Gengsong formally arrested
Sept. 30: Beijing police arrest rights activist Ye Mingjun, Ye Guoqiang's whereabouts unknown
Oct. 1: Just who was it that kidnapped and beat up lawyer Li Heping?
Oct. 3: Notice regarding mailbox robbery and e-mail impersonation
Oct. 4: National Day and 17th National Party Congress approach, police continue to violate citizens’ rights
Oct. 6: Olympics prisoner Yang Chunlin being mistreated in Heitong Detention Center in Heilongjiang province
Oct. 10: Searching for missing Yao Lifa
Oct. 10: Please assist in the search for Yao Lifa and others
Oct. 10: Yang Chunli's case has been transferred to the Procuratorate, meeting with lawyer continues to be postponed
Oct. 11: Lu Gengong's wife's open letter to Mr. Hu Jintao
Oct. 12: Hua Huiqi loses consciousness following beating, police in Chongwen and Fengtai clash
Oct. 12: Yao Yao: Call for mainland friends to assist in search for missing Yao Lifa
Oct. 14: Injured christian Hua Huiqi's first phone call since recovering senses
Oct. 16: Recommendation to China's Communist Party to apply for several Guiness World Records
Oct. 16: Christian Hua Huiqi at 2pm on Oct. 16 to be forced out of hospital
Oct. 16: Police in Chongwen impersonate medical staff, lock Hua Huiqi in his hospital room
Oct. 17: Suggestions to PRC Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Liu Jianchao
Oct. 23: Chen Guangcheng's wife Zhang Qing barred from visiting husband
Oct. 24: A letter of thanks for the Dalai Lama given to German PM Ms. Merkel
Oct. 24: PSB strengthen case against Olympics prisoners Ye Guoqiang and Ye Mingjun
Oct. 25: Lawyer meets with Olympics prisoner Yang Chunli, police bar him from speaking of mistreatment
Oct. 25: Re: “SSP”
Oct. 29: Hubei police now searching through Yao Lifa's home
Oct. 29: Yao Lifa has been freed!
Oct. 30: Olympics prisoner Ye Mingjun has been released on bail and returned home to await trial
Nov. 3: Protest PSB and SSP preventing citizens from seeing deceased Bao Zunxin off
Nov. 3: Beijing SSP kidnap people commemorating Bao Zunxin
Nov. 4: Following 37 hours arrest for commemorating Bao Zunxin, Qi Zhihong returns home
Nov. 7: Chen Guangcheng's wife's letter to the All China Women's Federation calling for help
Nov. 9: Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhihong has once again been illegally prevented from leaving the country
Nov. 20: Police in Shangqiu, Henan province arrest peacefully petitioning blood transfusion AIDS victims
Nov. 21: Yuan Weijing once again obstructed during visit to husband Chen Guangcheng
Nov. 21: Henan blood transfusion AIDS victims leave for Beijing to petition at Health Bureau
Nov. 22: National Petition Office simply hands Henan blood transfusion AIDS victims over to thugs
Nov. 22: Chen Guangcheng's 4-year-old son cut off from seeing his mother for two months
Nov. 22: Portrait of Chen Guangcheng with wife and son
Nov. 23: Henan provincial governor Li Chengyu's gets involved in Ningling AIDS crisis
Nov. 23: Chen Guangcheng's wife Yuan Weijing letter to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao calling for help
Nov. 25: Beijing SSP once again illegally detain citizens for commemorating Mr. Bao Zunxin
Nov. 28: We are all Minjian
Nov. 29: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing's second open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao
Nov. 29: Repost: Urgent notice of situation of “Minjian” magazine editor Zhai Minglei
Nov. 29: PM Wen Jiabao to visit Henan AIDS village tomorrow
Nov. 30: Rights activist Zhang Wenhe illegally forced into police mental institution
Nov. 30: Lu Gengsong case transferred to Hangzhou Procuratorate on Nov. 28
Nov. 30: Wenlou AIDS village, Shangcai County, Henan resident Ma Shenyi and others have been placed under house arrest by government
Nov. 30: Chinese PM Wen Jiabao visits AIDS village in Henan, villagers express disappointment
Dec. 1: Feng Zhenghu: Recount from outside the court following the Zhou Zhengyi verdict
Dec. 3: Landless Fujin farmers divide up land today, call for widespread attention
Dec. 3: Cellphone video outside the court following a verdict in the Zhou Zhengyi case
Dec. 5: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing goes on hunger strike protest with open letter recounting injustice faced by imprisoned husband (1)
Dec. 7: Lawyer Mo Shaoping will meet with imprisoned writer Lu Gengsong
Dec. 7: Lu Gengsong: “Jailsong”
Dec. 7: Yang Chunlin case once again handed over to Procuratorate
Dec. 11: World Human Rights Day, Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing sends open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao (3)
Dec. 11: Peng Dingding: News from the Petition Office
Dec. 11: Henan government forging official letters, illegally held Li Xige from taking part in AIDS training
Dec. 12: Shanghai evictee rights activist Gong Haoming released on bail awaiting trail and returns home
Dec. 12: Ningling Deputy County Chief Li Ping refuses to recognize responsibility for Li Xige incident
Dec. 12: Qi Zhihong: Human Rights Day in the snow
Dec. 12: Text of Li Xige's planned speech at upcoming All China Women's Federation training session
Dec. 12: Zhang Qing has first meeting with Guo Feixiong in detention center
Dec. 12: Rights representative of landless farmers in Fujin, Heilongjiang Yu Changwu has been arrested
Dec. 13: Li Xige's husband Sun Jianfeng is being held at All China Women's Federation training sit
Dec. 13: Lawyers rush to training site to protect Li Xige's husband Sun Jianfeng's rights
Dec. 14: Fujin displaced farmers’ rights upholder representative Yu Changwu was been criminally detained
Dec. 19: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing sees off open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao with a hunger strike protest (4)
Dec. 19: Reposted: An article from Mr. Feng Zhenghu
Dec. 19: Independent Chinese Pen's Li Jianhong has been illegally detained by Shanghai SSP
Dec. 21: Calls to rescue lawyer Gao Zhisheng (English)
Dec. 21: Fine enforcement notice from Guo Feixiong case
Dec. 22: Lawyer Gao Zhisheng on probation, a year later
Dec. 22: Contact lost with house arrested Xiao Qiao, Beijing once again carries out group house arrest
Dec. 22: Winter Solstice: SSP strengthen their use of illegal detainment
Dec. 23: Qi Zhihong: One large coat
Dec. 23: A common story at Petition Village: A self-employed retired soldier shot and crippled for life, indifferent local government treats their duties like a soccer game
Dec. 23: Independent Chinese Pen's Li Jianhong has regained her freedom
Dec. 24: Shanghai residents efforts to uphold their rights
Dec. 25: Zhang Qing deduces that Guo Feixiong has gone on hunger strike, prepares to visit this week
Dec. 27: Guangzhou courts freeze and strip Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing's bank account clean of all assets

12 comments

  • mehitabel

    Thank you for writing this. Hu is the one of most courageous people i have ever known. I do not think of him as an activist, but just another friend who is incredibly honest, kind, loyal and never afraid of speaking the truth.
    BTW, i thought their girl’s name is Hu Qianci?

  • ghost

    may be it has something we dont konow.
    in china,i have seen many critical articles,but those bloggers havent been locked.
    i want to get more informations about the two sides.
    after i know the reality,i can say somwthing.
    we can’t be stired by the media.

  • Susan Tomlinson

    Respect that most basic of human rights – freedom of speech. Please release Hu Jia immediately.

  • beijing girl in new york

    I agree with ghost. we need to see the two sides.
    besides, i want to question global voice’s channel to get those information, can it really reflect the chinese people’s voices? so far as i know, the information we gathered maybe only 0.01 percent of the whole china, or even less. and the funny thing is, we always stick to the 0.01 percent, and keep reporting those 0.01 percent, and seems that’s the 100 percent of china.

  • Wu Di

    @”beijing girl in new york”:

    Saying that you need to see the two sides seems like a cop-out to me. The information you desire is available (both in English and Chinese), but you need to be interested in actually looking for it, and willing to spend the time and effort necessary to assess it.

    I don’t think Global Voices aspires to be your all-encompassing source of information, but this doesn’t mean that their reporting is not based on confirmed information. Spending one minute to criticize them for taking sides is the easy way out. It would take you much longer to arrive at an informed and (possibly) balanced assessment. Do you care enough to try?

    (From my perspective, it is quite telling that the Chinese government is *not* making any specific accusations at this time.)

    Or, how about you come to Beijing and see for yourself?

  • JL

    Ghost and Beijing girl in NY: what exactly do you think is stopping you getting the Chinese government’s side of the story? It’s actually pretty easy to find out what the Chinese government thinks about things: that’s what Xinhua, CCTV, the China Daily etc. are for.

  • bai guo

    hi, wu di
    i’m not pointing to this piece of news about hu jia. i’m just questioning all the blogs here in GV, focusing on china, i’m interested in their sources.
    in addition, i’m not saying their sources are problematic, i’m just askining and that’s part of the ” trying to understand all the things here”

  • Wu Di

    bai guo, nihao!
    Sorry for misunderstanding your comment and wrongly accusing you. It’s totally okay to ask whether GV can really “reflect the Chinese people’s voices”! I would say it’s impossible for just one source to provide completely balanced reporting.

    I think the original post links up to quite a few interesting sources that go beyond but also allude to the partyline. Since you’re outside China, you may also want to check out
    http://www.1bao.org/
    http://www.hujiajinyan.wordpress.com
    http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/01/30/china-hu-jias-state-secrets/ (particularly the many comments)

    If you want to know what those 99.99 percent of Chinese people are thinking who are not actively sharing their views online, you may need to ask them in person. But please keep in mind that the majority of Chinese may not have access to information or the time to come to an informed assessment on the issue. And that the mainstream media in China are very silent on all issues concerned with activism of any kind.

  • Wu Di

    … and if you’re wondering whether you can trust those blogs GV is linking to, I cannot make this decision for you. It depends largely on your own assessment.

    Don’t make a leap of faith, slowly assess what they are saying and why they are saying it, and whether it makes sense and is rooted in reality or in wishful thinking, is agenda-driven or driven by a quest to reveal ‘the Truth’, and you can slowly build up trust towards some of those sources, while always remaining critical towards them.

    Anyway, that’s what I do.

  • […] in many countries activists fought bravely against repressive regimes–bloggers in China, lawyers in Pakistan, monks in Burma–these were not victories, but rather symptoms of a […]

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