Author: ASEAN Tribune

Chinese writer Gu Xiao fully expects her son, the veteran pro-democracy activist Guo Quan, recently stood trial for “subversion,” to go to prison, but told RFA in a recent interview that she enjoyed watching him defend himself in court.

A former ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda official in the Jiangsu provincial government, Gu graduated from Nanjing Normal University, where Guo later lectured, in the 1960s.

As a writer, Gu has remained firmly a part of the CCP establishment. A member of the Jiangsu Provincial Writers’ Association, she once netted a “Golden Eagle” award for a television screenplay.

Her loyalty to the system she was raised in means she feels scant sympathy for Guo, a former judge, as he stood trial on Sept. 9, 2021 by video call at the Xuzhou Intermediate People’s Court, pleading not guilty and defending himself vigorously in terms of free speech protections enshrined in the Chinese constitution.

“Of course I don’t have much empathy … I think it would have been better if my son had never done these things, and had just been an ordinary person like me,” Gu said. “I’m not the kind of person who likes to get involved in politics.”

Nonetheless, Gu said she enjoyed watching her son’s defense by video link from Nanjing’s Jiangning District Detention Center, and was proud of his eloquence.

“I was happy seeing him there on the screen, talking and arguing in his own defense,” she said. “You could tell that he used to be a university professor.”

In a trial that lasted more than five hours, Guo, now 53, addressed the court for nearly two hours, engaging in a systematic legal defense of the articles he published online that were submitted in evidence by the state prosecutor’s office, his attorney said.

‘He has ruined my old age’

He told the court that he wasn’t guilty, but understood that the court could decide to convict him anyway. Gu said she agreed with him.

“I watched it for two hours, and actually I really got the impression that my son hadn’t committed any crime,” she said. “My friends were saying that my son would be home with me in no time, but I told them they’d got it wrong.”

“I have no hope of that. We all have our fate, and I think mine is to spend my old age alone,” she said.

Gu said she stopped short of feelings of pride for Guo.

“I’m not proud of him; he has brought me too much suffering,” she said. “He has ruined my old age; what is there to be proud of?”

Gu said she is lonely sometimes, but also relishes the peace that solitude brings.

“I watch TV or read the newspaper here on my own at home,” she said. “It’s nice and peaceful.”

“Solitude has its advantages. It’s nice not to be disturbed,” Gu said. “That way, I can forget everything, listen to my music, watch my shows, and it all suddenly fades into oblivion.”

“I live alone all year round. I have a domestic helper who comes in the mornings; the food I ate today [for Mid-Autumn Festival] was made by her the day before,” she said.

Critic of Wuhan response

“So I’m alone. I’ve gotten used to it,” she said. “I don’t feel lonely on my own at home, and I’m not scared of anything.”

“Sometimes I feel that solitude is something to enjoy, though it’s fashionable to talk about loneliness,” she said. “Wherever he is, in prison or wherever, my son will probably be thinking about his mom at home all by herself.”

“But I’ve also had enough of living on my own. I have to keep going for my son,” she said.

Guo was detained by Nanjing police on Jan. 31, 2020 and held at the Nanjing No. 2 Detention Center on charges that were unknown at the time.

He had been writing online about the COVID-19 outbreak in China and had criticized the government’s response, according to the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network.

His family were informed on Feb. 26, 2020 of his formal arrest for “incitement to subvert state power.”

Held incommunicado for much of his pretrial detention, Guo finally received a visit from defense attorney Si Weijiang in the Nanjing No. 2 Detention Center on Oct. 12, 2020, CHRD said.

A former associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, Guo had previously served a 10-year jail term from 2009 on the same charge after he set up the China New People’s Party in 2007.

Gu said it was a struggle to get through that decade.

“I made it through those 10 years — I had to be my own hero,” she said. “I just lived for his return, and then, after just over a year, he was detained again.

“Imagine what that felt like, as his mother, for him to be away for so long, and then be suddenly taken away again after such a short time,” Gu said.

“But most people don’t know how things are going for me. The lady who comes to take care of me can’t tell how I’m feeling; she just thinks about my physical health,” she said.

The trial ended with a verdict and sentencing to be announced “at a later date.”

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon—once a bustling metropolis—has become a relative ghost town amid a heavy security lockdown and a declaration of war on the ruling military junta by the country’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), according to residents.

Prior to the spread of the coronavirus and the military takeover, tens of thousands of people would gather on religious holidays at the sacred Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar’s most populous city, which is home to more than 7 million residents.

However, on Sept. 20 this year—a day that would normally see multitudes marking the full moon—only a few hundred pilgrims made the trip to pay homage at the holy site, also popular with tourists, where uniformed and plain-clothed security forces stood guard at its four gateways.

Yangon resident Su Su told RFA’s Myanmar Service that it had been ages since she was able to visit Shwedagon Pagoda.

“I visited famous sites like Shwedagon, as well as Sule and Kaba Aye Pagodas, quite frequently in the past, but I haven’t been there for more than two years due to the surge of COVID-19 cases and the military coup,” she said.

“Now, it seems like there is an entire army battalion on the pagoda. When you visit, the first thing you see is the soldiers, and we had no interest in meeting with them. You can never tell what might happen.”

Other residents told RFA that the streets of downtown Yangon, which used to be constantly congested with traffic and pedestrians, are free of crowds during the day and eerily silent at night.

Myanmar’s military overthrew the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government on Feb. 1, claiming the party had stolen the country’s November 2020 ballot through voter fraud.

The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently repressed anti-coup protests, killing at least 1,120 people and arresting 6,698 others, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). More than 1,700 have been arrested in the Yangon region, which was once the epicenter of demonstrations against the coup.

According to reporting by RFA, police killed at least 134 people in Yangon alone between Feb. 1 and Sept. 21 as the result of crackdowns, arbitrary arrests, and torture. The city was the stage for weeks of huge mass protests in the wake of the coup that tapered off as repression intensified.

Center of resistance

On Sept. 7, Duwa Lashi La, interim president of the five-month-old NUG, declared a nationwide state of emergency and called for open rebellion against junta rule, prompting an escalation of attacks on military targets by various allied pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs).

Residents said that since the NUG announcement, Yangon has become one of the most dangerous cities for those who resist the military regime.

Dora, a 30-year-old woman from Yangon’s Bahan township, said she had to even be careful about what she wears when she leaves her home.

“I live in fear. When I go out, I cannot wear a black shirt or a black mask, as black indicates mourning [junta rule],” she said.

“I cannot carelessly take out my phone. If there are any photos or posts related to the anti-junta movement or protests, they must be deleted.”

A 42-year-old woman in Yangon’s South Dagon township, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that she lives in fear that her son will be arrested or killed in a bomb blast while doing his job as a garbage collector.

“I have to pray that nothing is happening to my son because there are regular explosions around the city,” she said, adding that he is the family’s primary breadwinner.

“I want to go out on my own and earn some money, but I have an illness. I can’t do anything with my two other children at home.”

According to RFA’s records, there have been 22 bomb blasts in Yangon since July, including in the townships of South Okkalapa, North Okkalapa, Twantay, North Dagon, Shwe Pyi Thar, Pazundaung, Hlaing, Bahan, Mayangone, Thanlyin and Kayan.

Ma Nyo, a woman in Thaketa township, said she personally transports her 16-year-old son back and forth from his job an electronics salesman each day.

“There is no security outside, and I am always worried,” she said.

“When my son goes to work, I have to send him and pick him up myself. But I’m always worried until he gets home.”

Ma Nyo noted that every time a bomb goes off in the city, security forces conduct random searches and raid nearby homes.

‘No rule of law’

Kyaw Gyi, a taxi driver in Tamway township, said he is constantly on the lookout for danger from passengers in his car as a result of the frequent inspections.

“I have to be careful when people stop me on the road, and when my passengers exit, I need to check what is left behind, because you don’t want to get injured or killed if something is left in the car,” he said.

“I dare not speak freely because I have no idea who the passenger might be.”

A 20-year-old man from South Dagon township said he lives in fear of the military’s daily arrests.

“The soldiers can arrest anyone they want—if you are a suspect, there is nothing you can do because you will be dragged away and beaten,” said the man, who declined to be named.

Residents told RFA that most inspections and arrests take place at night, when authorities suddenly force open locks and enter homes.

“I think this is the worst time we have seen in Yangon,” said Nang Lin, a leader of the University Old Students Movement.

“The nearly 7 million residents of the city are feeling insecure and helpless and are living in constant anxiety because there is no way to protect their lives or property,” he said.

“There is no rule of law, as the laws will not protect us from anything.”

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.