IN TERMINAL STAY-Chinese human rights lawyer, Feng Shenghu, has been living in the arrivals hall at Tokyo's Narita Airport since Nov. 4 because the Chinese regime will not let him return home. (Cindy Drukier/The Epoch Times)

TOKYO—Living on a 6-foot plastic bench in the sterile arrivals hall at Narita Airport has become “normal” for Feng Shenghu. It’s been over two months and he’s still there, existing in a carpeted hallway stretching from the arrivals gates to the immigration counters. There are no shops, no restaurants, and no showers. In one spot there are a couple of plants and a window looking out to the tarmac where the sun streams in for a short period every day.

Feng has one simple wish: to go home. Yet Chinese officials will not let this Chinese citizen return to his country.

“That's the most basic right a human has—to return home. That's not just a Chinese issue. It's the same worldwide. That's my wish. I want to return to my home and my country,” said Feng.

Feng’s plight has become an emblem for attempting to hold Chinese officials accountable to their own laws.

In China, Feng published a magazine called Corruption Watch to monitor corruption among officials and the courts, particularly in his home of Shanghai. He taught himself law and helped Chinese petitioners fighting for their rights after being forcibly evicted and their homes demolished. Before that, he was a student activist in the 1989 democracy movement that was squelched when the tanks rolled over Tiananmen Square.

Feng said the regime is keeping him out of China to silence him. “They didn't have a legitimate reason or excuse to arrest me … So they used a different method and forced me out of China. After they force you out, you have no choice but to leave. It has happened to many people over the years they use the same method. All you can do is protest a little. So the method they use, to them, is a very successful method.”

So, this is Feng’s protest.

AWARDED-Feng Shenghu shows the Freedom Pioneer Award, which the U.S.-based Chinese pro-democracy magazine, Beijing Spring, presented to him at his plastic-bench 'home' in Narita Airport on Jan. 4. (Cindy Drukier/The Epoch Times)

Feng’s airport incarceration began on Nov. 4, though his Dorothy-like quest to return home began on June 7. That was the first time Shanghai authorities denied him entry into China after a two-month trip to Japan. Seven more times he tried, either being prevented from boarding the plane or from entering his country. On his last attempt, Nov. 3, he made it to China but was physically forced back on the plane by Shanghai police and All Nippon crew. Since then he has remained in terminal purgatory.

He has a valid work visa and could enter Japan, but does not. Feng thinks the Japanese government should pressure China to accept their own citizen but they haven’t done that, so that is part of his protest message too.

“I have no hope for the Japanese government. This is happening in Japan, and it's still happening," said Feng. "Even if I've been here for two days, they should have expressed something to China.”

“I believe that the Japanese government is trying to get closer and friendly to China,” he added, remarking that many Japanese reporters have asked him about this too.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees suggested he apply for refugee status, but he refused the offer. Feng is looking not for a comfortable night’s rest, but for justice.

According to the materials he offers travelers as they pass him in the customs hall, the refusnik refugee told the UNHCR, “I have my own country, and China is my home country. I am a Chinese, and also a Chinese intellectual. I bear an obligation to my country … The Chinese authorities not only have violated the U.N. Charter and the international treaties on human rights in prohibiting a Chinese citizen from going back to China, but also have violated the Chinese Constitution and laws. I understand that I would be subject to suffering in China, but I still want to go back to my home country.”

Feng's mission in Narita Terminal 1 is about encouraging Chinese people to work to solve China's problems.

“I try not to rely on pity from the Chinese people. Throughout history, the Chinese people have suffered a lot. I want to show the world that Chinese people are able to solve our problems. I don't want other countries to think that the Chinese are a burden and try to help solve our problems when those countries have their own things to deal with.

“The Chinese need to stand up and solve these problems ourselves,” said Feng.

Feng has supporters in China and around the world. He’s busy every day working on his computer, sending tweets in Chinese to his legion of Twitter followers and taking phone calls.

“A lot of media around the world and newspapers, TV, and radio interview me. I have a specific interview time,” said Feng, describing his busy daily schedule.

He said he’s now gotten used to sleeping in the perpetual glow of the florescent lights and can even stay tucked in his sleeping bag—a big improvement from the jacket he used to sleep under—past 6 a.m. when the staff starts to arrive. His 'work' day starts around 8:30 a.m. and he tucks in for the night about midnight.

A couple of Japanese flight attendants walked by, greeting him with a cheery, familiar “Ohiyo gozaimasu”—good morning—as they would other co-workers.

“Around noon, I rest a little. I found a place where there's sunlight, so I go there to soak up the sun,” described the dissident, sitting on his hands, looking a little gaunt, but rational and resolute.

“My life here has become rather normal,” he said.

Feng subsists on donations of dried goods from supporters, or friends of supporters, who pass through the airport. His fare is limited to what is permitted in carry-on luggage. Occasionally, Taiwanese flight attendants give him something fresh to eat. With no way to a shower, he's "careful" about hygiene.

But Feng doesn’t want to dwell on the difficulties of life on a plastic bench. He says he’s endured a lot worse in China, spending time in labor camps, being arrested, kidnapped, and tortured.

“The things that happened to Gao [Zhisheng] have happened to me as well. In jail, I have endured a lot of hardship and pain. So now, compared to an average person, my endurance level is higher. I try to live a normal life here.”

Feng's reference to Gao Zhisheng is chilling. Gao is the Chinese activist lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee who wrote in detail of a gruesome 50-day torture session he endured while in custody in China. In February 2009 Gao was again abducted from his home by police and hasn't been seen since.

Despite the international media coverage of Feng's situation and support from well-wishers, there appears to be little movement toward resolving his unusual displacement. But Feng is undaunted.

“My mental state is very stable. From the first day here to now, there hasn't been any change. I know what I'm doing and I know what's going on so I look at this very logically and rationally,” he said.

“I don’t tell others how hard it is to live here. I want to show them that under pressure, we are able to stand calmly and steadily. It gives others hope as well,” said Feng as a parting thought.