Zhou Minzhu, living on the streets, cooking, before her death. The graffiti behind her says "Relocations of the 21st century making new refugees." (Courtesy of subject's family)
In the days that followed, inmates forced Ms. Zhou to take a handful of pills four times a day, under order from the guards, telling her it was for her high blood pressure.
When she was released a month later in April this year, she told Mr. Tang Chuanhai about her ordeal. The 52-year-old had lost 10kg, her skin had wrinkled, and half her body was paralyzed.
Yesterday she died.
This evening Mr. Tang came to The Epoch Times Sydney office with unanswered questions about Ms. Zhou’s death.
“She never had any health problems,” said Mr. Tang. “Why was she locked up and forced to take medicine for a month? And why did she die?
“We want to know in that month, what kind of medicine were they giving her? And why did her lungs shut down?”
Both Mr. Tang and Ms. Zhou are members of the Chinese League of Victims, a Hong-Kong-registered society of people with grievances against the Chinese authorities. They are among countless petitioners in China, often victims of forced eviction, who protest and register complaints by day, and live under bridges by night. They are an unsightly stain on the country’s projected image, and regularly face arrest and torture by the authorities.
Zhou Minzhu in front of the neighbourhood commitee office after being allegedly beaten by Public Security Bureau officers for petitioning. (Courtesy of subject's family)
Ms. Zhou’s house was demolished four years ago, marking the beginning of years of living on the streets, petitioning the authorities for adequate compensation. She travelled to Hong Kong in January this year to register the organization Chinese League of Victims, and both she and Mr. Tang signed its membership list using their real names. Ms. Zhou was the organization’s publicity officer.
She was arrested shortly after returning and taken to Shanghai’s Huangpu District Detention Centre, where she was told that if she didn’t withdraw from the Chinese League of Victims, she would be sent to a labor camp.
After her release she had nowhere to go, so the authorities dropped her at the door of her ex-husband, Mr. Zhu Peifu. He told The Epoch Times by phone that he was shocked at her condition.
“Her health was very bad and she was extremely weak,” he said. “She was held for a month and she lost some 10kg, she was a little chubby before. After she came out her skin looked like an old lady’s, it was all wrinkled. One of her hands and one of her legs couldn’t move, she was half paralyzed.”
Mr. Zhu took her in, but life was tough. She was receiving 400RMB a month pension from her local government office on Ban Song Yuan Rd, about US$60, and he had to look after her daughter and his own two children as well.
Within a month of her release, the family came down with a cold. Mr. Zhu and the children all got it, but recovered as normal. But when Ms. Zhou came down with it, her health steadily deteriorated.
They checked her into hospital and she went into a coma for seven days, one of her lungs had shut down. She underwent an operation and was lucid for two days, before she finally passed away.
Mr. Zhu said the whole saga broke his heart, and now he has three children to look after. He said that after Ms. Zhou’s house was demolished, her mother shortly died from stress and grief.
“It was so unjust, her mother also died in terror and hardship,” he said. “I feel so sorry for her, she was treated so unfairly, it shouldn’t have happened, and she even lost her life.”
Tang Chuanhai wouldn’t be led to say she was murdered, but he called her death “very suspicious.”
“The key point is she was held at this place and made to take medicine,” he said. “What kind of medicine was it and what heath problem was it addressing?”
He cited the case of petitioner Chen Sen, who organized a group of petitioners to shout “down with the Communist Party” in Shanghai. In April this year Mr. Chen came down with a minor illness and went to the hospital. He was given an injection and died three days later. Mr. Tang, a friend of Mr. Chen’s, believes the authorities organized to have him poisoned.
Mr Tang at The Epoch Times office in Sydney, raising the allegation that Mr Zhou Minzhu, a member of the Chinese League of Victims, was poisoned. (Shar Adams/The Epoch Times)
“He was given an injection and he felt very wrong after that,” Mr. Tang said. “He said he believed he would die very soon, and he did.”
Mr. Tang said formerly petitioners would call on the government to provide them with medicine, but afterwards they no longer dared to tell the authorities if they were sick.
Mr. Tang said he once owned a restaurant and a supermarket, but they were shut down by the authorities after he started petitioning. He was first arrested and detained in 2002.
He came to Australia on August six, and is currently applying for a protection visa.
Ben Hurley is a Sydney-based journalist.
Correction: Due to an editing error, the photo caption of Mr Tang at The Epoch Times office in Sydney indicated that Mr Tang was the husband of Ms Zhou. This is not correct - Mr Tang and Ms Zhou were both members of the Chinese League of Victims.
