Crowded hospital halls, frantic doctors and nurses in protective suits, patients lying in the corridors, body bags piled up in a funeral van outside a hospital… In early February 2020, 57-year-old businessman Fang Bin drove around Wuhan and documented what he saw in five hospitals. The short videos he posted on social media gave a rare glimpse into what was happening in the epicentre of the pandemic under lockdown.
Mr Fang was detained by police briefly on 1 February 2020. In the next few days, he became more outspoken. Videos were widely shared on social media in which he commented that ‘tyranny lies at the root of this virus’. Then, on 9 February 2020, he vanished after calling ‘all citizens to resist’ tyranny and the government to ‘return the power to the people’ on YouTube, a platform banned in China.
The disappearances of Fang Bin, Zhang Zhan and at least two other citizen journalists drew the attention of world media. Although Mr Fang and his wife are known to the authorities as veteran Falun Gong activists, people who are familiar with him hesitated in mentioning his faith background when calling for his release. They may have been conscious of the social stigma attached to this belief group in China, or feared that he might be jailed not for his online speech but for his faith, or even that he might face mistreatment for it in police custody.
After all, that is what happened to his wife Feng Yunqing.
Ms Feng, who had a career in the internet industry starting in the 1990s, made videos about the government’s persecution of Falun Gong, Christian house churches and human rights activists with materials downloaded from the internet. Some of her videos were widely shared in groups on WeChat, China’s popular social media platform.
In May 2017, she was detained by police. However, she was not accused of disseminating information censored by the state: ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ would be the typical charge. Instead, she was convicted of ‘using a cult to undermine law enforcement’, an offense applied widely to Falun Gong followers under Article 300 of China’s Criminal Law. She was jailed for seven years and six months, and remains in Wuhan Women’s Prison today.
Little was known about Fang Bin’s situation until he was released from prison on 30 April 2023. He had been imprisoned for three years for ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’. Friends believe that it was thanks to the continuous international attention to his case that Fang Bin was not given a harsher sentence by the authorities, either under Article 300 or for ‘inciting subversion’, a more serious crime, and was able to return home in one piece at all.
Sadly, there isn’t a home for him anymore.
A family separated for decades
At this point Fang and Feng are no strangers to the persecution of the Chinese Communist Party. In July 1999, they were enjoying a comfortable life with their young son in a village called ‘Happiness’ in Beijing, each having a well-paid job. Then came the crackdown on Falun Gong.
When the Chinese Communist Party began its full-scale crackdown on Falun Gong, life was shattered for this family; all happiness was destroyed.
In August 1999, when their boy was only three, Ms Feng was detained for her faith for the first time. She was released after 15 days, but since then the family has suffered forced evictions, harassment, long periods of separation, and the couple has been subjected to repeated detention and incarceration ever since.
Mr Fang was twice sentenced to re-education through labour (in 2000 and 2004), totalling five years.
Before her detention in 2017, Ms Feng had been sentenced to re-education through labour three times (in 2001, 2003 and 2007), totalling eight years. What landed them in all this trouble? Meeting with other Falun Gong practitioners; possessing or sharing Falun Gong materials; writing articles for overseas media…
Their son was deprived of a normal childhood. With either or both parents locked up most of the time while growing up, he had to be looked after by relatives in Beijing.
A friend recalls: ‘When his mother was taken away in 2003, Liangliang, who was only seven, watched the horrific scene. The young boy blocked the door to prevent the police officers from entering. He was shouting and begging the men not to take away his mother. At such a young age, he had already witnessed the cruel reality of his father and mother being taken away from him so many times, causing great trauma to that little heart.’
Today, father, mother and son still live in three places, with little prospect of family reunion: Fang Bin remains under strict surveillance since his release from prison; his jailed wife has been denied family visits by the authorities.
‘This was our happy family life in Beijing. Now we have been forced to separate from each other. It’s even difficult for the three of us to meet up.’
Fang Bin, 27 August 2023
The double vulnerability of being a Falun Gong human rights defender
The sad story of Fang Bin and his family is one of suffering and struggles against the backdrop of decades-long state oppression of a religious group. They are not the only activists who have been punished particularly severely for peacefully defending basic human rights as well as practising Falun Gong. Artist Xu Na and her ten friends have been imprisoned after releasing photos that show scenes in Beijing under Zero-COVID policy since July 2020.
Many Falun Gong detainees have been denied access to legal counsel; on the other hand, some human rights lawyers have had their licenses revoked for representing Falun Gong clients, for instance, Liang Xiaojun and Ren Quanniu. There have also been far too many reports of jailed Falun Gong practitioners dying due to torture.
Some practitioners and Falun Gong sympathisers have observed improvement in their situation in the Chinese society, compared to two decades ago, as the public is now remarkably less hostile towards the spiritual movement. However, the Chinese government’s persecution of this group has not stopped; criminal charges are still being brought against Falun Gong followers, purely for practising their faith, on a daily basis.
We must continue to stand with all courageous human rights defenders in China, such as Fang Bin, Feng Yunqing and Zhang Zhan. We should also honour their endeavours by speaking truth and fighting propaganda including the CCP’s official narrative surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
The Chinese government must be held accountable for trampling on its citizens’ basic right to freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of opinion and expression.
By CSW’s China Team
FoRB in Full 