Yunnan police detained Chinese poet as crackdown on civil society continues in China

Chinese poet Wang Zang was detained for nine months in 2014 when he organized a poetry recitation event in support of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. On May 30, he was again arrested by police in front of his family, with the charge of “inciting subversion of state.” He has been missing for more than 12 days, and in order to secure his release, his wife created an account on Twitter and called on the international community to pay attention to Wang Zang’s case.

Since being taken away by police in Yunnan Province, Chinese poet Wang Zang has been missing for more than 12 days now. His family doesn’t have much information regarding his whereabouts, and in order to seek support from the international community, his wife Wang Li registered an account on Twitter. She has been tweeting about the details of his arrest for the last 10 days, and she confirmed in an interview that he has been charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” However, she doesn’t know his whereabouts.

In an open letter that she shared on Twitter, Wang Li wrote that her husband was taken away by 40 to 50 police at around 4:30 pm on May 30. According to her, the police didn’t show her any ID or paperwork to justify the arrest.

“20 to 30 guys were guarding the entrance to my house downstairs while around 20 guys stormed my home and pushed my husband to the ground,” Wang Li said. “They put handcuffs and a balaclava over his head while forcing me, my four kids and my mother-in-law to the ground. They took me and my husband away in the end.”

Wang Li said she was interrogated for more than 12 hours at the police station, and the police only let her go home after midnight on May 31. Additionally, the police also took her husband’s younger brother, and several cousins to their house, putting them under house arrest.

“The following two days, the police sent people to stay at my house and their excuse was they wanted to ‘help take care of the kids,’” Wang said. “Since then, they stationed police at the entrance of my house as well as the entrance of our community. They were there to monitor me and my family.”

Wang tried to get herself a new cellphone number on June 1, but as soon as the police learned about it, they asked her and her husband’s brother to go to the police station again. Once she arrived, the police asked her to hand over her new phone and the new cellphone number. Despite some resistance, seven to eight police were sent to her house and found her new phone. They confiscated her phone and cancelled her phone number.

“At the police station, they kept forcing me to share the password of my phone with them, and they also asked if anyone in Beijing has been in contact with us,” Wang recalled. “After being intensely interrogated for a few hours, I passed out in the police station. Now they have cancelled my cellphone number, but also cancelled my WeChat account. They prevent me from getting new cellphone numbers, and wherever I try to go now, they will be closely following me.”

After Wang Zang was taken away, the principal at his children’s school and the police have been forcefully taking them to school. Additionally, Wang Li said the police had threatened to lock up her and Wang Zang’s brother if they don’t cooperate. She said the police warned that her kids could be sent to orphanages if she didn’t cooperate.

In a video published on June 8th, Wang Zang’s four kids called on the international community to pay attention to his arrest. “Today’s the seventh day since my father was illegally detained by the Yunnan police,” said Wang’s oldest son. “They have not shared any procedures or notification with us. Instead, they have confiscated our cellphone, restrict our freedom of movement and cancelled our phone numbers. All the uncles and aunties around the world, please pay attention to my father’s case. Thank you.”

Apart from closely monitoring her family’s movement, Wang Li said the police has also been banning relatives from visiting them. The police would ask any relative who wish to bring food to the family to put down their names, and the police would also perform search on them as well as looking into their phones. Once they were cleared by the police, they would be allowed to visit the family.

“The police warned our relatives not to talk about any important matters with us, and when our relatives were leaving, the police would also ask them to share the content of our conversation with them. They are not only restricting my family’s freedom of movement, they are also controlling my relatives’ freedom, making it difficult for them to visit us.”

While the police has not stopped oppressing Wang Zang, his wife thinks the charge that he has been given this time, which is “inciting subversion of state power,” might have something to do with Wang’s insistence to keep commenting on sensitive topics online.

“He has not stopped publishing comments on sensitive topics on platforms like Twitter, and even after receiving warning from local police in Yunnan, he continued to do so,” said Wang Li. “As a result of this, I think the local police decided to charge him for ‘inciting subversion of state power’ as a retribution to his refusal to comply with their warnings.”

When she tried to inquire about her husband’s whereabouts, local police was only willing to tell her that Wang Zang has broken the law and when they were ready to notify the family, the family would receive more information. They refused to disclose more details about Wang’s case, including his whereabouts. “I want to ask the Yunnan police to stop persecuting my family and also want to ask them to release Wang Zang immediately,” Wang Li said.

On Thursday, local police once again confiscated a package sent to Wang Li by her sister in Shanghai. According to Wang, the package contains a cellphone and a SIM card that her sister was trying to send to her. Additionally, her mother-in-law suffered bruise and scratch during the process.

According to Leo Lan, the Research and Advocacy Consultant for Chinese Human Rights Defenders, while the real cause of Wang Zang’s arrest has yet to be determined, the incident reflects the Chinese government’s inability to tolerate a poet expressing his views with poems. “We can just see how much the regime is afraid of any forms of criticism,” said Lan.

“Despite Beijing’s attempt to silence all dissidents, many activists are still bravely expressing their views. It has proved that no matter how strong an authoritarian regime is, it simply can’t silence all.”

The article was first published in Mandarin on DW’s Chinese website.