TENSIONS RISE IN CHINA
By Cecilia Yu;
View photos of Tiananmen Square 20th Anniv

Quick Note: Majer Zhou (Yongjun) is one of the student activist leaders from the pro-democracy student massacre that happened just 20 years ago at Tiananmen Square . He was recently captured. Chinese activits are calling for international help.

What did Majer Zhou (Yongjun) do that was so terrible that he was re-arrested last week on the border of Hong kong and Mainland China in Shenzhen?

I don't know. History will decide whether what he did was right or wrong. As a teenager he did what pretty much 5 generations of my family did as educated chinese, they protested about something. I don't know why his fellow students deserved to get Tanked by the chinese government on 4th June 1989 or why later on in 2000 he was sent to hard labour camp by the chinese government, even though he travelled as an American citizen.

I don't know what he did this time that was so terrible. Since my great great grandfather was involved in Chinese protest in San Francisco and there was violence and altercations but no one got tanked. My great grandfather protested against the english occupation of Hong Kong and their unfair taxes and there were fights & riots, but no on got tanked. My grandmother's generation protested against what will later turn into the Cultural revolution in China and yes, it caused a huge fight between my great grandfather and my great uncle (generation gap & ideological differences) but NO one got tanked nor sent to hard labour death camps. In fact my parents generation also protested wanting British law reforms and in Bruce lee style kick-assed with forcing more chinese representation in the then Hong kong British colony. No one got tanked. 

When I was Majer Zhou's age and I protested against sexist judgements made by an Australian county court judge against lighter sentencing for the rape of a prostitute, I did not get tanked.

According to China , Majer Zhou had committed a terrible "crime of treason against National security". Really? So that's okay to run a tank through a bunch of teenagers who were trying to exercise a basic human right to free speech and to express themselves as pretty much all University students in the 1st world do. We protested and we got together with our friends and we talked about how to change the world, if we can. That is part of a normal University teenage experience. 

Even if he served his sentence for this alleged crime in 2000. Why is he arrested once again with trumped up charges of "fraud"? Why was his f ami ly not notified of his arrest? Did Hong Kong authority passively assist in his arrest in Mainland China ?

I don't know. But like an educated individual who has known for generations what this thing called Freedom of expression in a Democracy (no matter how flawed it is), I did what any normal person would do. I asked the politicians that was elected by the people and asked them what all this is about. I did it through facebook. I asked Cyd Ho and I asked Audrey Eu.

Cyd Ho Sau-lan ( traditional Chinese ,  Hong Kong constituency. Cyd Ho is a founding member of The Frontier , a local pro-democracy political group , and since 2006, founding councillor of the World Future Council .

She has garnered a reputation for promoting universal suffrage, rule of law, human rights, and equal opportunity, as well as advancement in the interests of women, homosexuals and other minority groups.World Future Council since May 2007.

Audrey Eu - Chinese , LLB , LLM , SC , JP , is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and is currently the party leader of the Civic Party. She specializes in civil law. Before her entrance into politics, Eu was the chairlady of the Hong Kong Bar Association . She shot to prominence on the right of abode issue , at the time of the transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997, she held a firm stance against the interpretation of the Hong Kong Basic Law by the National People's Congress .

Both Cyd & Audrey have been rallying me and countless others through facebook to join the peaceful protest against what in chinese we call the event of 64 ( Tienanmen Massacre of Pro-democracy students in Beijing in 1989). I can only share their responses as I pose on their wall repeatedly my questions about Hong Kong 's role in the arrest of Majer Zhou:

On each page I asked a simple question: Did Hong Kong authority passively participated in the unlawful arrest of Zhou at Hong kong-Shenzhen border? Then I put the link of various news reports from Australia , UK , USA and EU about the Majer Zhou's arrest.

From Cyd Ho: 

Dear Cecilia,

On the arrest of the former students movement leader, it was reported that he was arrested when he crossed the border from HK to Shenzhen. It's yet to be clarified if he was turned in by HK Immigration, which was probably not the case if HK admitted him to the city at the first instance of entry, or he was arrested by Shenzhen Immigration when he tried to enter the Mainland. I meant to say "it is unfair to conclude that...(HK participated in his arrest)." I would re-post the message to your facebook. It would be outrageous if HK turned him in, but it is yet to be clarified. And I would be glad to check it out with the HK Immigration. If Zhou or his f ami ly could tell what really happened when he crossed the border, that would be most accurate. Any message released on the facebook is public information. You are welcome to relay the message. Reportedly, the former sutdent leader was arrested when he tried to enter the mainland. It is unfair to conclude that Hong Kong helped arrest the student leader. We have a notorious record of rejecting entry to Wang Dang, other student leaders and the Danish sculptor. That drew harsh criticism from local and overseas. I believe if Zhou Yongjun was turned in by the Hong Kong Immigration, the press will not miss this crucial point, because it will be big outrageous news.

As written in the previous post, we need to clarify. As a citizen of Hong Kong , I would not want HK government to take any part in the arrest of dissidents. We are proud to have Han Dong-fang here with us as a permanent resident.

From Audrey Eu:

"I have not responded to your inquiry as I have not read report that the arrest was assisted by Hk immigration. Can you kindly refer me to such report?"

To Audrey, I respond with: "Thank you for your request for reports of HK's role in Zhou Yong jun's arrest: I have posted 4 news reports on your page relating to the arrest made at custom as Zhou Yongjun was leaving HK custom immigration and entering Shenzhen from USA, UK & Europe & Australia's report on the events which led to Zhou's arrest. Zhou is a USA citizen, arrving in HK, arrested leaving HK!

Why did this arrest of a 64 Pro-democracy activists leader occur in Hong kong border at such a precipitous time?

Why didn't Hong KOng authority inform his f ami ly of his arrest at HK-Shenzhen border?

Why were other 64 activists asked to report to the police & harassed?

I know I can write a Doctoral thesis about incidents like this! Is Hong Kong regressing into a collaborating Feudal fiefdom to Mainland's Human rights track records?"

I noted that Audrey Eu did place a video of "Historic moments of what really happened in Tienanmen in 89" on her homepage with a youtube link of the then worldwide televised images. 

I know these communications do not amount to very much in the world of protest. I mean I'm not even standing on a street or anything. But what interested me was how tenuous and fragile Freedom of Expression is. On Hong Kong's side of an invisible ideological line, Cecilia Yu from 5 generations of protesting teenagers who did not get tanked, could pose questions & demand answers from her political representatives. I do not fear for being arrested for this. I am not in fear that by disagreeing with my politicians, I or members of my f ami ly would be charged with "treason". I can get on facebook or use whatever forms of communications I wish and simply ask my Politicians to be accountable for their actions towards others in my world.

Yet on the other side, on the Shenzhen (Republic of China) side, Majer Zhou Yongjun is falsely arrested and detained for the 3rd time for his alleged "treason". What did he do? As a teenager he protested and demanded something from his politicians and from his world. As an adult, he wrote books, gave speeches and wrote blogs about the brutality of the treatment of his fellow students and he continued to make demands on a political system. As an adult, he had already served 3 years hard labour in a Chinese prison and 20 years later, he crossed that invisible line between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Now he is locked up again.

The walk from the Subway to the train station, between Hong kong side and Shenzhen side is less than 10 meters. That invisible line and the ideological gap is boundless. For 5 generations in America , British Hong kong, in Australia , in Europe , members of my f ami ly, chose to protest as teenagers about something. Right or wrong, they protested. No one got tanked. No one got locked up in jail in hard labour. No one got arrested 20 years later for alleged Fraud with no due process. We lived out the years of our teenagehood and went on to different phases in our lives.

Just because Majer Zhou Yongjun was born on the other side of that invisible line between Hong Kong and Mainland China , he is once again arrested for something he did as a teenager at university.

I may not have cared very much about 64, in 89 because I was too young and too busy with student protest of my own, too busy writing in my own university newspaper, too busy going to parties, meeting new people and couldn't wait to travel the world. I may have been caught up in my career when he served his 3 years hard labour as an American citizen arrested in China in 2000. 

But this time, its just too petty for me to ignore. Why is the next supposed World superpower China , so intolerant of the simple acts of Teenage University protest? I don't know.

I may not have cared very much about 64, in 89 because I was too young and too busy with student protest of my own, too busy writing in my own university newspaper, too busy going to parties, meeting new people and couldn't wait to travel the world. I may have been caught up in my career when he served his 3 years hard labour as an American citizen arrested in China in 2000. 

But this time, its just too petty for me to ignore. Why is the next supposed World superpower China , so intolerant of the simple acts of Teenage University protest? I don't know.

What does concern me is that if Hong kong 's authority played a passive role in assisting this person's unlawful arrest, then I will keep pestering my politicians until he is released. Why? Because right or wrong, a teenage university student should be allowed to proetest without being tanked and hounded and unfairly arrested for his or her action 20 years later!

Luckily enough, I am born on the right side of the invisible line so that my politicians still feel they can't quite just ignore my questions and just tank me!

Majer Zhou Yongjun is an American citizen, isn't it time we all ask our Politicians to ask China to leave him alone now and stop looking like a Bully? It makes all chinese look bad to see this kind of bullying. 

THe irony is that, today in 2009, my best way of protesting events in Mainland China is to pose questions for Hong Kong 's Parliament and to vote with my Wallet. I've stopped buying Made in China product for two years now. My biggest regret in choosing to do so is a particularly gorgeous Ed Hardy Biker's leather jacket on massive discount I found in Melrose , Los Angelos about a few weeks ago; around the time when Majer Zhou Yongjun was once again arrested. 

On this side of the invisible ideological line, politicians can be questioned via facebook and my greatest protest regret is a fetching leather jacket. Now, that's food for thought...Why can't China just let people be people and teenagers be teenagers?

You can learn more about this current political situation here.