Rescue Alliance for Zhou Yongjun
FREE Zhou Yongjun!
- Tiananmen Square's first student leader is now
a political prisoner for the third time -
Zhou's early distinctions
In the pro-democracy uprising at Tiananmen Square in 1989, Zhou Yongjun was notable for three early distinctions.
On April 17, 1989, he led the first march from his campus, the University of Politics and Law in Beijing, to Tiananmen Square. The students from the Politics and Law school actually arrived before Beijing University. Within hours, about one dozen colleges and universities had a presence in the Square, but the march led by Majer Zhou (the English name for Zhou Yongjun) was first.
On April 22, 1989, it was the state funeral for Hu Yaobang, the reform-minded Communist leader whom the students were honoring. A small handful of student leaders appeared on the steps of the Great Hall of the People, clutching their petition for Chinese reform. They knelt down on the steps in the classic Chinese tradition of waiting for the emperor to receive their petition.
- This moment became an iconic photo of the Tiananmen Square protests -
At picture right, it's Zhou Yongjun on the steps of the Great Hall of the People on April 22, 1989. Zhou is flanking Guo Haifeng, who is holding a scroll with the students' demands to reform China.
On April 23, 1989, Zhou was elected the first President of the Autonomous Students Federation of Beijing Universities. The students had decided that they needed a central organization to speak for the whole array of Beijing schools that were represented in Tiananmen Square.
Zhou's first two jail terms
Zhou was captured by authorities soon after the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre. Intense international pressure for human rights led to his release in 1991.
He made his way to the United States, where he became a legal permanent resident under U.S. law.
In 1998, he attempted a return to China and was captured by authorities and sentenced to three years in a labor camp. International pressure for human rights again led to his release - just in time to appease the International Olympic Committee. Zhou was released shortly before their vote in 2001. He returned to the U.S. in 2002.
Zhou's time in United States freedom
Zhou appeared and spoke at a human rights rally in 2002, held outside the U.S. Supreme Court.
Zhou met with revered Chinese journalist, the late Liu Binyan, in 2005.
At the National Press Club, Zhou held a press conference in 2005, with moderator John Kusumi from the China Support Network which co-sponsored. The European Union was cautioned against lifting its embargo on military sales to Communist China. Later, under pressure, the EU dropped the idea of lifting the arms embargo.
Zhou's third time as a political prisoner
In mid-2008, a strong earthquake ravaged Zhou's hometown in Sichuan province. Zhou was also aware that his aging parents were in declining health. In September 2008, Zhou travelled on a false passport to Macao, and from there tried to enter Hong Kong.
Hong Kong authorities investigated him, saying that Wang Xingxiang -- the false name on Zhou's Malaysian passport -- had written a letter to defraud Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong. Those Hong Kong authorities concluded that Zhou was not their man.
However, the police handed Zhou back to the immigration authorities, who kept him waiting at the border for two days.
Then, normal procedures were completely violated. Zhou should have been sent back to Macao or the United States -- or, if they believed that he was from Malaysia, he should have been sent to Malaysia. Instead, with no due process nor legal proceedings whatsoever, Zhou was turned over to authorities of Mainland China.
The authorities of Mainland China violated their own laws by not notifying the prisoner's family for seven months. Rumors of Zhou's captivity began to leak out to the internet in December, 2008. The China Support Network publicly posted the story in April, 2009, and then the Chinese goverment and newswires confirmed the story in May, 2009.
In the time since then, the China Support Network has co-founded RAZY, the Rescue Alliance for Zhou Yongjun. You are reading the RAZY page at the CSN website. RAZY has submitted Zhou's case to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
However, Hong Kong performed the arbitrary arrest, and then Mainland China has performed the arbitrary detention. That means that we face two abuses from two governments, with a secret rendition between them.
New York Press Conference of RAZY
At the National Arts Club, RAZY held a press conference on Sept. 18, 2009, with moderator John Kusumi from the China Support Network. One can read a related article, 'News conference scolds China and Hong Kong' in prior CSN news.
Hong Kong Press Conference of RAZY
In Hong Kong, RAZY held a press conference on Oct. 12, 2009. This time, Hong Kong legislator Albert Ho got involved. Ho is Chairman of the Democratic Party, and longtime leader of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, an organization with similar aims as the China Support Network.
More from RAZY
For more video coverage of recent RAZY activities, the following link will run a Google search.
More actions and coverage will follow. While we are thinking of it, now is an excellent time to make a donation to the China Support Network; it will help to support activities as above, and similar expenses.
At a Washington, DC rally in July, 2009, CSN President John Kusumi
displays a sign to demand the release of Zhou Yongjun.