Published: May 6, 2015
Below are excerpts of the letters they posted following their release on April 13, 2015.
Wei Tingting (韦婷婷), April 17, 2015
Wei Tingting. Photo: http://bigeese.com/archives/26569
Since the first day home, I have been constantly trying to make up for what I missed during the detention, reading your articles, tracking your chats, browsing through various reports from various venues, and then allowing tears to flow. I am moved and excited each day by your spirit, bravery and love, so much so that I can hardly sleep at the night. Having too much to say and too much to write about, I do not know how to start, overwhelmed by waves of feelings.
On the way back, I got to know the various voices of support from all over the world. I shed tears when I read how Po Po cried when she took out my clothes to dry on the line. I shed tears when I read how Xiao Tie prepared for me a T shirt/poster of the handsome Esther Eng. [Esther Eng was a Chinese–American film director and the first female to direct Chinese-language films in the United States.”] I shed tears when I read, one after another, articles posted in the two public [WeChat] accounts.
I saw the protest photos you took and loved especially the one featuring two half-naked girls. I saw your declaration that the feminist activist group (女权行动派) would never die, and there are too many of us to be all put in jail. My tears swelled uncontrollably when I saw you walking in cities wearing our photos as masks, so cute yet so determined, so warm to the heart. I already shed a flood of tears when Lawyer Wang, on his visit, told me about the mask protest for our loss of freedom. I was about to shed tears again when S said that those outside were, in fact, suffering more than those inside [the jail].
A few hours ago, Huang Ye said she was so concerned that she wanted to help find psychological assistance for me. So many people have called to inquire after me since I was released, and so long was the list of friends who want to take me out for dinner to comfort me. Even more touchingly, some of my college alumni had spoken up on my behalf, and a younger male alumni had written an article about me. Isn’t this what motivated us to do what we did from the very beginning: to let more people understand gender equality and to become one of those who make a difference?
Our faces have turned up in different countries. Because three of us are lesbians, All Out have collected over 100,000 signatures, promising they will help whenever we are in need of support. Upon hearing that my cellphone and computer were taken away, some friends wanted to bring me new ones. Friends in the gay/lesbian circle started posting my earlier articles, speeches, calling gays and lesbians to support the feminists. I was nominated for the Asian LGBT Milestone Award. Now I believe that, whether they like feminism or not, they understand that this is not just about women, or sexual harassment; the issues of the disadvantaged are always interconnected.
All of these have filled my heart with love, hope, and courage, inspiring me to go forward with surer steps.
I was disheartened at first, thinking this would be the end of the young feminist activists. But what each of you did has ushered in a new era of magnificent and persistent feminist activism, which shall live on, which cannot be locked up or shut down. You have also managed to bring the young feminist activists beyond China, and onto the international stage. As Sile (赵思乐) puts it: Whether or not we will be able to continue all depends on ourselves as a group. When some of us got into trouble and are imprisoned, the others did not disperse in fear. Instead, we overcame our fear and took action.
Although we cannot meet at the moment, I feel we are closely and profoundly united. I feel blessed to share such a bond with you, and I love you more than ever.
I’m in my hometown recovering now. So far so good. I shall take this experience as part of life’s trials and tribulations. The only regret I have is that, for the time being, I cannot leave here to hug you all. We of this generation love freedom. Cheers for freedom. A cup of wine until we see each other. Love you.
Li Tingting (李婷婷, a.k.a. Maizi), April 20, 2015
Li Tingting (left) and Xia La. Photo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinese-feminist-tells-of-ordeal-in-detention-vows-to-continue-advocacy/2015/04/21/00d0ffc6-ae95-4495-82a1-19e26c0b82a7_story.html?postshare=6161430234050125
Thank you for your support, my friends in China, including my feminist allies, LGBT comrades, college alumni, close friends and netizens who care for me. Thank you for your help. In a domestic situation as critical at it is now, you have great power to speak up for justice and truth regardless of the cost. It was just for your efforts that I could walk out of the house of detention and see the smog of the capital city again.
Thank you for your support, lawyer Yan Xin, Xu Rong, and Wang Yu. You have never stopped providing me with strong support when I was illegally detained or since I was released on bail. Thank you for stepping out to represent me. Your timely visits and legal efforts helped make it possible to defend my legitimate rights, your effective communication and constant encouragement helped instill confidence in me that I’m innocent when I was interrogated and faced the pressure of self-incrimination.
Thank you, friends from all over the world, I may or may not know you but you are our allies and fellow-travelers. Your concern for our case and your demand for our freedom enabled more people to know us, to understand us, and you have made China and the world witness the strength and power of the young feminist activists. If we eventually achieve the dignity and freedom we deserve, you will be among those whose contribution is indelible.
Thank you, my family. You have fought fearlessly in the face of danger. You pushed back the pressure and refused to write a letter to persuade me to confess to a crime that I had not committed. You have been my most solid backer and my safe haven, and you have freed me from all family concerns.
Thank you, my girlfriend. In face of hardship, you endured insult and humiliation to secure the best outcome for me. Today, you are still doing everything you can to handle issues after my release. Xiao La (小辣), I’m sorry to put you through all this.
There are more feelings in me than I can express in words. There is so much to thank. I hope to have a chance to thank each of you in person. Our struggle has yet to succeed, and there is still hard work ahead. I will continue to fight for my innocence and freedom, and I will keep up the pursuit of justice. My belief in feminism has become only stronger after this episode. Thank you all again.
Wang Man (王曼), April 20, 2015
Wang Man. Photo: http://bigeese.com/archives/26569
Hi, my caring and loving friends:
It’s been a full week since I came out of the Haidian Detention Center. Encouraged by friends and loved ones, I have been recovering. Please be assured that I am all right now.
Since the first phone call I answered upon my release, what I have wanted to say the most is simply thank you all – my family, friends, and lovers of justice in China and abroad, whom we may or may not know, who voiced their support. Without you, we might still be in prison enduring brutalities.
I want to thank Ms. Zhao Xia, my lawyer. The moment I saw her, I was reassured by her succinct and powerful remarks, which strengthened my belief in my innocence and informed me of the support in China and beyond.
I want to thank my four “co-offenders.” Their singing, which soared above the barbed wire walls, and their firm glances helped me to hold back tears.
I want to thank my fellow inmates (I hope they will see these words when they are freed). They did chores and duties for me, and they gave me the corner, the best spot in the cell, to me so that I could rest better, encouraging me to “get recharged and persevere to the end.”
I want to thank my friends, my elders, my lawyers and media friends for their rescue efforts on our behalf. They have embraced personal risks when they campaigned for us. Whether they carried it on or were forced underground, I imagine you have endured no less than I did.
I want to thank various women’s rights groups and people from all walks of life inside and outside China. Loud and clear, you supported us, strangers and ordinary people tens of thousands miles away, and your voices from beyond the national boundaries have impressed me profoundly.
The 38 days behind bars have strengthened me. We have yet to regain our rightful freedom and justice, we shall continue to demand them, and we appreciate your continuing support.
Thank you again!
Zheng Churan (郑楚然, a. k. a. Datu)
Zheng Churan. Photo: online.
I thought I would cry only when I was detained, and I thought I would stop crying once released. No, not at all. I am still crying. As I browsed through the multitude of voices of support posted in the past 38 days, I was shaken from head to toe! During my only meeting with the lawyer, I was moved when Mr. Hu said “many people are campaigning for you, international, domestic, and especially from Sun Yat-san University,” but I had no idea that the campaign was so large, so earth-shaking, so beyond what I had ever seen. I was so moved, so flabbergasted that I did not know what to say but let tears flow.
Using a borrowed cellphone, I browsed articles that had not yet been censored (of course, most WeChat posts had been deleted with a big red exclamation mark in their places), crying as I read. My heart thumped when I saw photos of the five of us being carried from city to city around the world. I couldn’t stop crying when I learned that my schoolmates in Sun Yat-san University were summoned by police, warned by school administrators, and the campus was being “interrogated.” I can’t tell you how proud I am of my alumni and friends from other university campuses for their moral clarity.
Belatedly I received greetings from almost all corners of the world. I saw feminism being widely discussed. Feminists, women’s rights activists, LGBTQIA supporters, NGOers, our lawyers, legal professionals, citizens, my factory worker friends, students, scholars, researchers, media friends, and everyone else……I browsed through the posts of the friend circle, and I’m still reading it today, still crying now and then. And I read over and over again articles by teachers and mentors who I had always admired.
How vulnerable I was when I was cut off from information, and how my self-confidence and self-esteem ebbed in isolation. Once out of jail, I realized all the worries I had about you all while I was in detention were completely unnecessary—you are braver and stronger than I had thought and you are my pride. Your posts in the friend circle helped me to restore my confidence. Reading those legal analyses of this case, I saw that I was innocent (I will start reading the criminal law and the criminal procedural law). Law is not a doll to be dressed by someone at will; it is based on reason. Oh, I digressed.
Thanks to all of you, thanks for everything you are, past, present, and future.
Wu Rongrong, April 18, 2015
Wu Rongrong. Photo: http://bigeese.com/archives/26569
With your caring thoughts and well-wishing over the last few days, Rongrong has been slowly reviving, finding again her inner strength.
The night I was released, my husband choked several times telling me what had happened while I was in jail. I felt inspired as never before. As Teacher Wang Zheng put it, this is a world-wide women’s rights movement.
I have been catching up for the past few days, reading once and again some articles. The love and care emitting from those pages gives me the strength to start anew. I saw the signatures of my Hepatitis B friends; I saw the signature campaign launched by the lawyers; I saw feminist sisters inside China and abroad wearing masks of our photos; I saw people tirelessly passing on information and speaking out for the sake of justice; I saw photos of Big Sis Ye Jinghuan being taken away by police as she showed up in the detention center to bring me medicines; I saw the nursery rhymes professor Ai Xiaoming wrote and the letter from Professor Wang Zheng. Indeed, help and concern came from many and from all over the places. I feel love and strength.
On behalf of my family, I thank you all. While in custody, I had a dream one night. I dreamed of a roomful of balloons and smiles. And I believe I felt then the power of your support. It will accompany me wherever I go.
I look forward to seeing you again one day, when we will talk and cheer.
————
Related:
Detention of Five Chinese Feminist Activists at the Juncture of Beijing+20 – An Interview with Gender Scholar Wang Zheng, April 12, 2015.
Meet the 5 Female Activists China Has Detained, April 6, 2015.
Wu Rongrong: How I Became a Women’s Rights Advocate, April 27, 2015
The Education of Detained Chinese Feminist Li Tingting, an Excerpt from “China’s Millennials: The Want Generation” by Eric Fish.
Taking Feminist Battle to China’s Streets, and Landing in Jail, April 5th, 2015.
Supporters of Detained Feminists in China Petition for Their Release, April 1, 2015.
Lawyer’s Account of Second Meeting with Li Tingting, March 25, 2015
(Translated by Li Sumiao)
Reblogged this on tarasherab.
I am sending the five of you my happiest best wishes from Canada upon hearing that you have been released.
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