[Press Release] Announcement by the Foundation for Democracy in the 21st Century Concerning the Bestowing of the Third "Victims' Family Member Award" on Ms. Jia Jianying

Foundation for China in the 21st Century

October 7, 2005

On October 6 , 2005, The Foundation for Democracy in the 21st Century offered the third "Victims' Family Member Award" to Ms. Jia Jianying. This will not only give honor and dignity to the recipient who so richly deserves this award, but also honor the Foundation for Democracy in the 21st Century. It is one of the missions of the "Victims' Family Member Award" to bring public attention and respect to those who have been denied their right to speak in today's China where the moral heroes are eclipsed by those in the political and entertainment circles. There are very few "conscience heroes" on our radar screen who are as little-known and yet morally powerful as Ms. Jia Jianying.

A native of Beijing, Ms. Jia Jianying was born on October 31, 1958. Her husband He Depu was born on January 28, 1956 and also a native of Beijing. In 2003, He Depu was sentenced to eight years in imprisonment by the Chinese government on charge of subversion of the state power. For years, Ms. Jia Jianying has tried to seek to clear her husband's name and secure his release under indescribable pressure and hardships and yet her efforts were little known by the outside world. Her tragic experience surpassed the tragic experiences of so many other spouses of political prisoners; it represents the dark and difficult life of so many ordinary Chinese daughters, wives and mothers under the oppressive political system in China since 1949. And yet, her defiant way of existence in a regime where totalitarian and dictatorial tyrannies rule convincingly demonstrates that moral power and human conscience remain the highest form of spiritual power.

Ms. Jia Jianying's experience is the experience of contemporary Chinese history and her perseverance helps write the history of the Chinese conscience. Back in the dark ages of the Cultural Revolution when Ms. Jia Jianying was just a little girl, her grandfather was arrested as a "historical counterrevolutionary." She was only nine years old when her father was arrested by the government as an "active counterrevolutionary." In those years, Ms. Jia Jianying went through an extraordinarily hard childhood.

Ms. Jia's hard life seemed to be over when He Depu entered her life and brought her the love and warmth that she had little experienced before. However, those who persecuted her grandfather and father returned and her new life was shattered by the state. On November 14, 2002, police came to her home and arrested her husband. Ms. Jia Jianying recalled, "They were gone, my husband was gone and so was my heart. Looking at the room ransacked by the police, and the look on the faces of the old and young in the family, I decided that I cannot afford to just cry and collapse. No matter how hard it is, I cannot let it be shown. From then no, I became their spiritual and material support. They need this little woman to keep the family going."

This "little woman" has kept her word and managed to survive all those difficult years. During the two years when her husband was incarcerated, she wrote to President Bush three times asking for his support for the release of her husband by the Chinese government. On December 22, 2002, she wrote an open letter to the Beijing Police Bureau to find out what has happened to her husband and asked for his release. In January 2003, she wrote to the Chairman of the United Nations' Human Rights Commission to bring to their attention her plight. On July 25, 2003, she wrote to the Highest People's Court of the PRC to protest against the illegal additional detention of her husband. In November 2003, she again protested publicly concerning her husband's writing in court "Five-Minute Verdict." And in 2004 and 2005, she wrote to the People's Congress of the PRC to protest against the government's violation of law. On April 10, 2004, she once again wrote to the Chairman of UN Human Rights Commission to inform them about China's lack of freedom and to seek their help for the release of political prisoners. In order to improve her husband's living condition in the prison, she wrote to the Prison Administration of Beijing and Beijing Second Prison to report the problems in the prison.

Since her husband was twice severely beaten by prison guards, she brought this to the attention of the Beijing Prison Administration. After her husband's incarceration, she went to the petition office of the Beijing Public Security Bureau to find out what had happened to her husband. She even went to the Highest People's Court, CCP's Discipline Commission, Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing Prison Bureau, and Beijing Public Security Bureau to present her case against the detention of her husband. Meanwhile, her own life was closely monitored by the police and the terror of the state was present in every aspect of her life.

Hardships followed her too. In 2003, she had to come up with 12,000 RMB for her son's college tuition, fees, and supplies. In addition to the 9,000 RMB required for her husband, she also must pay 10,000 legal expenses. All these numbers are just astronomical for her, forcing her to go so far as to ask a friend in Hong Kong to run an advertisement in newspapers and on the Internet for the sale of one of her kidneys in exchange for money to solve her immediate problems….

Yet, in the face of such nearly insurmountable difficulties, this spouse of a political prisoner shook the world with her laughter in a Chinese court. Ms. Jia recalled, "The entire trial of my husband lasted only five minutes. There were no prosecutors present and yet the verdict was read upon us entering the court. It was just such a farce that I burst out laughing. Ms. Jia Jianying's laughter formed a unique style of protest in the face of an oppressive government and its apparatus.

Because of what Ms. Jia has endured and accomplished, we are honored to stand by the Jia Jianyings of this world through this Award. In so doing, we stand by the side of moral power and conscience of this country. We encourage all the victims and their family members to continue their quiet and yet heroic cause in the corrupt and absurd environment they live in.