When the Shenyang street vendor Xia Junfeng was executed on Sept. 25, he left behind a wife, Li Jing, and a 13-year-old son, Xia Jianqiang. Xia Junfeng had been arrested for the murder of two Chengguan, an act he insisted was in self-defense, as these urban police were beating him.
Xia Jianqiang likes to paint, and his paintings have been admired by professional artists, who helped the family publish a collection of his paintings. The proceeds from the book are designated for the families of the two Chengguan killed by Xia Junfeng, and for his own family.
The Taiwanese singer and actress Annie Yi adopted Xia Jianqiang, known as Qiang Qiang, as her godson, in part in hopes of nurturing his talent as a painter.
Xia Junfeng was arrested when Qiang Qiang was nine, and the paintings often have images of the absent father.
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