HK Prisoners in China Part 3

HK   Prisoners   in   China   Part   3

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It   was   through   such   a   group   that   members   of   Liu   Sanqing's   family   found   out   he   had   been   detained.   In   that   instance   the   Government   acted   only   as   a   go   between   for   inquiries   between   the   British   Embassy   in   Peking   and   the   Chinese   authorities.  

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The   group   was   informed   in   a   letter   from   the   Canton   People's   Court   that   Mr.   Liu   has   been   tried   and   convicted   for   conspiring   to   overthrow   the   Government   and   sentenced   to   10   years.  

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What   makes   the   ordeal   unbearable   for   many   families   is   the   months   spent   not   knowing   what   has   happened   to   missing   people.   There   are   no   late-night   phone   calls.  

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"We've   received   letters   from   distressed   relatives   and   friends   of   people   who   went   to   China   and   simply   disappeared,"   said   Mr.   Francis   Lau,   who   set   up   a   committee   to   help   rescue   Mr.   Liu   shortly   after   his   1981   disappearance   in   Canton.  

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The   one-time   student   activist   and   teacher   said   former   political   prisoners   now   consider   him   a   Samaritan.  

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One   young   man   came   to   see   him   after   his   release   from   a   five-year   jail   sentence   for   tearing   a   page   out   of   a   literary   magazine   that   was   meant   for   circulation   inside   China   only.  

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In   another   case,   a   youth   active   in   the   student   movement   locally   had   gone   on   a   pleasure   trip   to   China   and   disappeared.   He   surfaced   in   Hongkong   five   years   later.   When   he   came   to   see   me,   he   refused   to   say   anything   about   his   experience   or   why   he   was   jailed,"   said   Mr.   Lau,   who   feels   many   are   reluctant   to   provide   details   of   their   experiences   for   fear   of   reprisals   against   relatives   still   in   China.  

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He   says   the   tendency   to   keep   quiet   extends   to   families   trying   to   get   incarcerated   relatives   out.   The   fear   is   that   any   publicity   or   pressure   from   human   rights   groups   might   hurt   their   chances,   or,   worse,   result   in   retaliation.  

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Such   a   case   was   the   imprisonment   of   Mr.   Liu,   around   whom   most   of   Mr.   Lau's   human   rights   work   is   centered.  

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Mr.   Lau   believes   Mr.   Liu   was   guilty   of   no   more   than   having   the   courage   of   his   convictions   and   was   simply   a   victim   of   overzealous   idealism   during   the   victim's   student   days.  

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"If   he   were   here   now,   he'd   probably   be   supporting   the   district   board   elections,"   he   said.   He   added   that   Mr.   Liu's   father   at   first   worked   actively   through   Mr.   Lau's   committee   for   his   son's   release.   Now   however,   after   two   years,   he   has   virtually   severed   links   with   the   group.  

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"I   think   he   felt   it   was   better   to   try   and   deal   with   the   Chinese   directly,"   says   Mr.   Lau.   While   the   elder   Mr.   Liu   (60)   acknowledges   he   has   been   in   touch   with   the   Canton   authorities,   he   scoffs   at   the   suggestion   that   he   has   tried   to   make   any   deals.   "It's   been   three   years   since   my   son   was   jailed   and   it'll   be   at   least   another   seven   before   he   gets   out,"   said   the   metal   worker,   who   has   apparently   accepted   nothing   can   be   done   to   secure   his   son's   early   release.  

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It   will   be   an   even   longer   wait   for   Mrs.   Huang   Yeung-yee,   whose   son   Hanson   (33)   is   serving   a   15-year   prison   term   on   espionage   charges.   Mr.   Huang   vanished   in   January   1982   and   was   later   tried   and   convicted   of   possessing   secret   "internal"   material   on   China's   nuclear   energy   programme   and   intending   to   pass   it   on   to   the   Americans.  

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Mr.   Huang's   background   is   far   from   that   of   a   criminal.   Hongkong-born   and   raised,   he   studied   in   the   United   States   where   he   graduated   from   Harvard   law   school   in   1976.   He   worked   in   the   United   States   for   the   prominent   law   firm   of   Baker   and   McKenzie,   but   in   1979   took   leave   to   teach   law   at   the   Foreign   Trade   Institute   in   Peking.  

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"Hanson   always   wanted   to   do   something   for   China,   even   as   a   kid   and   teaching   law   to   Chinese   students   was   his   way   of   contributing   to   China,"   a   former   classmate   said.

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