During the Olympics, protesters in Shanghai were either taken into custody or placed under house arrest. Some went on a hunger strike to protest the intensified persecution against them during this time.
On August 16, Radio Free Asia (RFA) called Shanghai appellant Zhu Libin’s wife. Zhu is currently locked in an unused public bathroom; he was kidnapped by a small group of unidentified people when he went to the Shanghai City Appeal Office on August 6. Zhu’s wife said Zhu has been on a hunger strike since July 31.
“I have been unable to get a hold of him since the evening of August 7,” said Zhu’s wife. “They took away his phone. I went to reason with them but they wouldn’t tell me anything. They told me nothing will change and asked me to cooperate.”
Zhu’s wife fears for his safety and wants him back soon. “They told me it will be after the Olympics, which is a long time from now,” she said.
Zhu’s family used to live nearby Shanghai’s No. 8 line subway project, but not in the relocation area. Nevertheless, local authorities still evicted his family by force. Zhu has been appealing for six years. The Chinese authorities refuse to give him back his property, and have detained Zhu and beaten him many times. In June 2007, Zhu signed the public petition “We Want Human Rights, Not Olympics” along with 800 Shanghai residents.
Another appellant Bi Heyings had her house ‘forcefully demolished', and she has been appealing for the past two years. On August 7, she went to appeal in Beijing, but was taken back to Shanghai by people hired by the government to stop petitioners.
Bi said, “They kidnapped me on the second floor of the State Department at 10:30 a.m. and dragged me out from the back door. I went on a hunger strike after they locked me up in Shanghai. On August 11, they took me to the Putuo Hospital to receive an IV injection for three days. They said they would leave me alone as long as I don’t appeal. They followed me everywhere.”
Cai Wenjun has been appealing for nine years. She was sent to a forced labor camp twice. Cai told RFA over the phone that Chinese officials have been monitoring her around the clock during the Olympics, and she has lost all her hope in the authorities.
Cai said, “I am under house arrest and monitored around the clock. I appealed for my rights, and the government treated me like an enemy. The Olympics have nothing to do with me, but I lost my freedom because of it. I don’t know what I did wrong. I am falsely accused over and over again. I have lost my hope in the government.”
