Hu Zhihua’s heart feels heavy whenever he eats a nice meal. His younger brother does not have the same luxury. Imprisoned in a labor camp in China, Hu Zhiming refuses to eat—it is the only form of protest he has left.
Four years ago, someone told police that Zhiming was carrying six DVDs in his bicycle basket. The DVDs contained information about the Chinese regime’s persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong—of which Zhiming is a practitioner.
“There was no open trial for my brother,” said Zhihua, a U.S. resident since 1996. “No family was allowed at the trial.”
“They just assigned their official lawyer for my brother—the lawyer was not even trying to protect my brother.”
So began Zhiming’s second four-year stint in prisons and labor camps. The first four years had left him crippled, unable to walk. But he was so steadfast in his faith that he recovered quickly. Now, Zhihua doesn’t know how his brother is—the last he heard, he was languishing in bed all day, unable to walk once again.
Zhihua remembers the happy times when they were children. “From a young age we were always together,” he said. “We were in the same elementary school and because I am older, I always took care of my brothers when we were little kids.”
Four years ago, someone told police that Zhiming was carrying six DVDs in his bicycle basket. The DVDs contained information about the Chinese regime’s persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong—of which Zhiming is a practitioner.
“There was no open trial for my brother,” said Zhihua, a U.S. resident since 1996. “No family was allowed at the trial.”
“They just assigned their official lawyer for my brother—the lawyer was not even trying to protect my brother.”
So began Zhiming’s second four-year stint in prisons and labor camps. The first four years had left him crippled, unable to walk. But he was so steadfast in his faith that he recovered quickly. Now, Zhihua doesn’t know how his brother is—the last he heard, he was languishing in bed all day, unable to walk once again.
Zhihua remembers the happy times when they were children. “From a young age we were always together,” he said. “We were in the same elementary school and because I am older, I always took care of my brothers when we were little kids.”
The four boys had no toys nor books to read, and barely food to eat. “But we were very happy. It was always a very good time when we played outside, there was a river and a small mountain that we could play around.”
As adults, there wasn’t enough money for all the boys to attend college, so Zhiming chose the army college instead. Rising quickly through the ranks, he became a squadron leader and received many awards. In 1998, he started practicing Falun Gong, after learning about it from Zhihua.
“After I started practicing Falun Gong, I felt it is so good, the first thing I wanted to do was introduce it to my family members,” Zhihua said. Their peace was short-lived as the Chinese regime, led by Jiang Zemin, launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in 1999—rendering 100 million practitioners “criminals” overnight.
The U.S. State Department has reported that more than half of the detainees in forced labor camps are Falun Gong practitioners. Over two-thirds of torture in captivity cases reviewed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Torture are Falun Gong practitioners.
Zhiming endured months of daily brainwashing as officials tried to force him to renounce his belief. He refused, instead protesting with hunger strikes. Zhihua said that, like many other Falun Gong practitioners in China, his brother has suffered severe persecution over the past ten years.
His time in Tilanqiao Jail in Shanghai during his first imprisonment, was the most severe. Tilanqioa Jail, the central prison in Shanghai, specializes in incarcerating political prisoners, so-called anti-revolutionary members, spies, and criminals. Inside, the darkest cell, called the “Youth Experimental Team,” detains death sentence prisoners. Currently the “Youth Experimental Team” jails Falun Gong practitioners.
“My younger brother, they still try to stop him from practicing because he is still very steadfast,” said Zhihua. “The regime sometimes has the policy of not releasing the practitioners if they are steadfast, even if their jail term is up.”
Zhihua said the only reason his brother was released from Shanghai was because he was so weak from hunger striking that the guards did not want to take responsibility for him in case he died.
Zhihua has appealed to local and federal officials to help rescue his brother. He has also met with Amnesty International, been to Geneva during a United Nations human rights meeting, and spoken with many other rights organizations.
“I have tried everything I could,” Zhihua said. “But this time ... I don’t know. I don’t know what the regime will do. I want to get my brother out of China.”
Whenever he sits down to a good meal, Zhihua thinks of his brother, oceans apart and freedom revoked.
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