Zhao, now 36 years old, was first arrested in June 1989 and detained for four months at Qincheng Prison, Beijing, for having organised a Students’ Autonomous Committee at the Shaanxi Normal University during the pro-democracy movement in May that year. He was arrested again in 1998 while teaching at a school affiliated with the Shaanxi Hanzhong Nuclear Industry Factory 813, after attempting to stand for election as a factory representative to the National People’s Congress and publicly criticising the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) for failing to defend workers interests. In an open letter to his fellow factory workers, dated 11 January 1998, Zhao wrote: “You should treasure your democratic rights. Even if I cannot run as a formal candidate, if you believe I am capable of representing you and of struggling for your interests, then I ask you to write in my name on the ballot. If elected, I will be worthy of your trust and will demonstrate my loyalty to you through my actions.” Before the workers’ ballots could be cast on January 14, Zhao was secretly detained by the police on suspicion of “endangering state security.” In July that year, he was tried at the Hanzhong City Intermediate People’s Court on charges of “subversion” and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. After his release, in early November 2002 Zhao drafted and circulated an open letter to the National People’s Congress demanding, among other things, an official reassessment of the 1989 pro-democracy movement and the release of all political prisoners. In due course, 192 other political dissidents signed the letter, thereby attracting widespread international attention to what was the most significant political action by Chinese dissidents in recent years. In December 2002, Zhao Changqing was arrested by police for the third time and was later sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment for “incitement to subvert state power”.
June 2005
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