Protecting one’s rights and interests is a matter of course, but in mainland China, the road to safeguarding rights and interests is fraught with obstacles and dangers. Rights defenders not only face harassment and physical violence but also the risk of losing their freedom.
Wang Fuqing, a small business owner from Dalian, Liaoning Province, has firsthand experience in this regard. He has fought for the rights of his parents and friends, but after helping a friend, he had to quickly flee China.
Wang Fuqing obtained a degree in graphic design in 2006. After graduating from university, he started his own private publishing company before transitioning to designing books for major publishing houses. Due to his work, he often accessed blocked information online, where he first encountered a wealth of historical truths not visible within the country.
“What shocked me the most was watching a three-hour documentary on the Tiananmen Square incident,” Wang Fuqing said. “I had never heard about this during my school days.” He also read Yang Jisheng’s book “Tombstone,” which detailed the Great Chinese Famine. Reading about how Communist militias guarded the streets, preventing hungry citizens from seeking food outside, resulting in millions of Chinese starving to death and even cases of cannibalism, left him speechless with shock.
“I felt at that time that the Communist Party should not continue to exist in China,” Wang Fuqing said. He shared the books with his friends, who were scared and warned him not to distribute them randomly, as they were considered banned books.
Unwilling to only share articles, Wang Fuqing began actively participating in offline rights defense activities.
In 2009, the nationwide sensational Deng Yujiao incident occurred. Deng Yujiao, a waitress, killed a grassroots Communist official who tried to sexually assault her and was subsequently arrested. Many justice seekers from all over the country rushed to Badong, Sichuan, to show support for Deng Yujiao, including Wang Fuqing. He met Xu Zhiyong, Wu Gan, and others there, and did his best to raise funds for legal fees. This donation attracted the attention of the Communist Party’s police force.
Following the Deng Yujiao incident that year, the influential Gongmeng Legal Advisory Center was raided by the Communist Party. A few days later, Wang Fuqing, living in Dalian, was suddenly visited by several police officers who came to check his temporary residence permit. It was evident that they were targeting him, as he was the only one being investigated in the building. This was the first time Wang Fuqing experienced a terrifying threat firsthand.
What truly made Wang Fuqing understand the helplessness and despair of rights defenders was when he faced threats and obstacles while fighting for justice for his own family.
Wang Fuqing’s parents leased over ten acres of lotus ponds in Shandong, from which they earned hundreds of thousands of yuan annually. However, one day, all the lotus in the pond suddenly died, and even dozens of large trees on the bank withered. After an investigation, Wang’s family discovered that a nearby food company had secretly discharged a sewage pipe into the pond. While the local environmental protection department investigated the matter, they inexplicably did not file a case for unknown reasons.
“A case must be established for further investigation, but the environmental protection bureau continuously found reasons to avoid filing a case,” Wang Fuqing’s parents were agitated and fell ill. Wang Fuqing returned to Shandong from Dalian to assist in the investigation and took videos as evidence. When the head of the environmental protection law enforcement team noticed, he immediately threatened Wang, saying, “If you record another video, we’ll have the police arrest you!”
Wang Fuqing began helping his parents lodge complaints to the Dezhou Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau and the Shandong Provincial Department of Environmental Protection. From then on, he began to experience the pressure only complainants would understand. “Local government officials kept calling, even showing up at our door to threaten us,” he said. “Wherever I went, they immediately knew and warned me, ‘Escalating complaints is a violation of the law, and we can have you arrested.'”
Afterwards, Wang Fuqing learned that the polluting company had connections with local officials, causing the environmental protection department to avoid filing a case. Over the years, with no progress made, the family felt hopeless.
Around 2022, while Wang Fuqing was filing complaints, he met a fellow complainant who had been in a legal battle for three years and lost against an opponent with official background. Wang Fuqing helped edit and produce a video for him, which was shared on various major video platforms in China, attracting high views and many comments, causing what the Communist Party called “public opinion.” The police soon discovered that Wang Fuqing had produced the video.
On February 21st last year, Wang Fuqing vividly remembered being at home browsing foreign websites when the police knocked on his door. He opened the door unguarded, and four police officers suddenly rushed in. One of them said he was under investigation for a significant case, while another prepared to check his computer, where recordings of the Tiananmen Square incident, “The Beginning of History,” “Tombstone,” and other banned videos and books were stored. They dismantled his computer, handcuffed him, beat him in the car, and then took him to the police station.
Upon entering the police station, Wang Fuqing was told to squat by the police, but he refused. Before he could finish speaking, one officer physically assaulted him, causing severe head injuries and continued headaches to this day. The police then questioned him about the videos he produced for his friends. Since the material was on his computer, he had no choice but to admit. After the interrogation, the police allowed him to return home and wait for further questioning.
Recalling the situation, Wang Fuqing believed that the police let him go home to wait after seeing he was in poor physical condition after being beaten twice or perhaps because they were overconfident, thinking they could arrest him at any time. Back home, growing more fearful, he and his wife decided to leave quickly. Two days later, the family began to hide and move around.
“My computer contained too much anti-Communist material. Also, I have had many interactions with several well-known rights defenders, one of whom was sentenced to eight years in prison,” Wang Fuqing feared being charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” He did not want his child to lose his father and decided to escape China.
With no time to process visas, a month later, he, his wife, and their young son joined the wave of people leaving. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, the protests in front of the Chinese Consulate often featured Wang Fuqing.
Life across the ocean brought unparalleled relaxation to the family. The couple planning their American dream even welcomed a new baby.
Reflecting on his journey, Wang Fuqing is grateful that he accessed real information by circumventing online censorship. He is more convinced than ever that, “The Communist Party must be eradicated for China to have a chance.” ◇