The night from 3. to 4. June 1989 was reasonably peaceful for Wang Wanxing. He was sitting at home with his wife when tanks crushed the democracy movement in the centre of Beijing. But three years later, these bloody events would make their indelible mark on the Wang family. Wang Wanxing did not come home on 3. June, 1992.

“I found a note from my husband on my bed -- a small, ripped piece of paper. It said: ‘Look after our child,’“ remembers his wife Wang Junying.

Wang had chosen to make a brave step. He had decided to commemorate the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square. “Before going to the square, I told an American journalist called Tyler Lee about my intentions and gave him some material. I also sent texts to other journalists. They knew I was planning something and were on the square ready. I rolled out my banner on 3. June at 1.40 p.m. on the dot.”

Accused of drawing negative attention to China

After finding her husband’s note, Wang Junying was very worried. She mobilised her relatives and friends to find out what had happened.

“Through contacts, I was able to access a low cadre of the Beijing police. He said: ‘Listen, your husband went to the square and unrolled a banner. He had a tape and a letter in his hand. He let himself be photographed by all these foreign journalists. He attracted totally negative attention to our country! You’re a member of our party. You have to work with us.’”

In 1992, China had made a bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games. It had a good chance of winning but it needed the world community to look upon it favourably.

“I knew that all the policemen on Tiananmen Square were extremely nervous because of the bloody crackdown on the democracy movement three years earlier,” recalls Wang Wanxing. “So I prayed to God that I would be able to leave the square alive in order to tell the world about my opinion. And I did leave the square alive. Never in my dreams had I thought they would put me in psychiatric care.“

13 years of psychiatric care without justification

He was kept in a mental home for 13 years -- without medical justification -- and given psycho-drugs by force.

Once, he was able to give his wife a letter secretly. “In July, in the holidays, I visited him in the clinic,” his wife explains. “He gave me a letter that I passed on to a foreign journalist. A few days later, on 1. August, the police came to my house. They reprimanded me, asking me how come foreigners had information about my husband yet again. They said it all this was giving China a bad reputation. They warned me never to make contact with journalists again, never to pass on any letters.”

There were also attempts to intimidate Wang Wangxing. The head doctor himself exercised massive pressure, Wang recalls: “He summoned me. There was also an officer from the ministry of police or from the secret police. He looked very serious and warned me: ‘If you do something like this again we will make sure you get a fatal injection, do you understand?’”

Because of huge pressure from the German foreign office, the Wang family was able to emigrate. They settled in Frankfurt. Wang became involved with the International Society for Human Rights. He is interested especially in drawing international attention to the widespread abuse of psychiatry in China, where dissidents are often incarcerated in mental hospitals.

Author: Shi Ming/Anne Thomas
Editor: Disha Uppal