On March 29, Gao Zhisheng and his companion, Ma Wendu, left Dingzhou City. They stayed in Taiyuan City for the night of March 30, and then drove 370 kilometers to arrive at Gao’s hometown, Shanbei, in Shanxi Province on the 31st. Gao plans to stay there for ten days to pay respect to his deceased grandmother and mother. Along with participants from 29 provinces across China, he will continue his human rights hunger strike on April 1.
Due to the high mobile phone costs incurred the previous day, attorney Gao stayed in a room with a telephone on the 30th. Although he did not see anyone following him, someone opened and went through two of his boxes of informational materials. They were in the trunk of his car parked outside the hotel’s main entrance, where there is 24 hour security.
During this time, attorney Gao received many calls from overseas. During the interview, calls came in non-stop. He apologized for taking a call. “It’s a call from an overseas friend. Many people are waiting to speak to me. Now all I need is time and energy.”
Along the way, Gao met many people who came to see him out of admiration. When he arrived in Taiyuan City on March 30, local residents rushed out to greet him. Along the way, Gao often stopped to chat with dozens of people and distributed information on his appeals for Falun Gong and human rights. When he talked about upholding human rights with non-violent, peaceful means, without bloodshed, people listened and wept.
Various people spoke up: Who is the leader of this human rights movement? When can we become a part of this non-violent movement? End the tyranny of this dictatorship! End the down-trodden life caused by the Communist Party! At present, we don’t need many instigators; everyone is waiting for an opportunity. The problem is how to go about doing it. We no longer need to listen to anybody’s argument as to whether to believe in the words of the Communist Party. For years, we have stopped believing in whatever the Communist Party has to say.
Gao Encounters Disheartened Masses Everywhere
Gao was forced to stay in Dingzhou City for several days because of his car accident on the Dingzhou highway. Yu Zhonghua, a man from Yangquan City, Shanxi Province, who is in the book printing business, came to see him.
Attorney Gao said, “When Yu Zhonghua came to see me today, his left hand had been cut off with only a piece of flesh that had been sewn on his arm. The tragedy of his experience was not just the fact that a citizen’s hand was cut off, but that after the incident in Dingzhou, the culprit was not punished. Yu Zhonghua spent over 30,000 yuan (US$3,742) in medical fees out of his own pocket. He was maimed, yet the culprit got off scot free and did not pay any compensation. The case was reported to the police, but his case was shuffled around because the culprit had some influence and connections with the police department.
