(Xinjiang) Zhang Haitao, a dissident detained in Xinjiang, was finally allowed to meet his older sister via video chat after almost five years.
Four years and 10 months
Zhang Haitao’s older sister, Zhang Qingzhen, posted on the Chinese social media WeChat: “After four years and 10 months, I finally met my younger brother Zhang Haitao through video conference.”
19-year sentence
Public security officer arrested Zhang Haito in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi on June 26, 2015. They convicted him of “inciting subversion of state power” and “providing intelligence overseas” because he criticized the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs. The Court sent Zhang to Shaya County Prison in Aksu Prefecture to serve his 19-year sentence.
Their first visit
Zhang Qingzhen said that her family visited Zhang Haitao in prison on April 26, 2018. After that, she wrote letters to the relevant authorities without interruption to apply for another meeting or video meeting or phone call. She continued to plead for more than four years without results.
The most recent attempt
She reported her attempt this time around in a recent WeChat post:
On January 30, 2023, I came to Urumqi, Xinjiang, from Henan. On February 1, I submitted an application to petition the Office of the Prison Administration Bureau of the Autonomous Region for a face-to-face meeting. Under my relentless urging, on February 28, 2023, the relevant departments in Xinjiang finally had a video meeting with Zhang Haitao at a judicial office in Urumqi… Zhang Haitao was much thinner than when I first saw him in 2018, but he is still in a good state of mind.
Zhang Haito’s older sister was grateful to overseas friends who care about and love her brother.
Sparse details
ChinaAid speculates that Zhang Qingzhen did not disclose the content of the 30-minute video chat to avoid conflict with the authorities. She did not include photos of the call because authorities did not allow her to bring her mobile phone into the Urumqi Zhongya South Road Judicial Administration Office, where the meeting was held.
Zhang Haitao’s family in the US
Li Aijie, the wife of Zhang Haitao who currently lives in California, tweeted about the visit on March 1: “After a long journey of waiting for visitation, which lasted 4 years and 10 months, the older sister finally met her brother Zhang Haitao who she deeply misses day and night.”
Before the video conference, Li Aijie did not believe that the meeting would be successful. She expressed gratitude to Zhang Qingzhen for her efforts after the successful visit.
His Wife’s response to the visit
In an interview with ChinaAid, she expressed:
I am extremely grateful to his older sister. She was exceedingly determined this time. The older sister lived in Urumqi, Xinjiang, for a month. She worked especially hard to negotiate with various departments. The older sister told the staff of the judicial department that if she does not let her meet her younger brother, she will not leave Xinjiang; she will keep living there until she sees her younger brother. She was finally allowed to meet Zhang Haitao via the format of video chat.
A message to her husband
Li Aijie asked Qingzhen to convey her greetings to her husband Zhang Haitao:
Haitao, take care of your health and keep holding onto hope in your heart. Everything is fine with our son and I. Do not worry. I will try my best to raise our child. Please rest assured. Keep looking up to God and keep praying. Write a letter to your family every month to let everyone know that you are safe.
Twelve years left
Zhang Haitao, the imprisoned pro-democracy activist, still has 12 years left in his sentence. On June 26, 2015, police from the Zhongya South Road Police Station in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, raided his home and detained him on suspicion of “inciting ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination.”
Our Statement
Li Aijie and their son arrived in the United States on December 23, 2017, with the help of ChinaAid and Bob Fu. ChinaAid will continue its coverage of Zhang Haitao in Xinjiang, urging the local judicial department in Urumqi to safeguard Mr. Zhang Haitao’s right to meet with his family. We call on the authorities to release Zhang Haitao so that he may regain his freedom based on the constitutional freedom of speech.
~Gao Zhensai, Special Correspondent of ChinaAid
