For Kin Of Detained Lawyers, Another Lonely Dinner

As millions of Chinese families spend the eve of the Lunar New Year together having their traditional reunion dinners, for the kin of hundreds of detained mainland human rights lawyers, it is another day that reminds them of their separation.

Hundreds of lawyers and rights activists have been caught up in a crackdown by mainland authorities, and many remain in detention. Some of them have been found guilty of various charges and jailed while others remain in custody.

RTHK spoke to the families of three human rights lawyers who have been either jailed or detained to ask their thoughts on Lunar New Year's eve.

Lawyer Jiang Tianyong was arrested two years ago after he visited Changsha and met the family of human rights lawyer Xie Yang, who was detained in July 2015 during the central government action which later came to be known as the "709 crackdown".

Jiang was then sentenced to two years in jail for state subversion and the 48-year-old is expected to be released by the end of this month. His wife, Jin Bianling, said she's looking forward to that day.

But at the same time she's worried that her husband will disappear like another human rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, who went missing soon after his release.

"I have a worry ... when he's released, he will be forced into disappearance or go travelling for a period of time before he's allowed to come home. I will keep in touch with him every day in case he will be like Gao Zhisheng, who has disappeared," she said.

But she won't be there to see her husband's release. To avoid disturbance and threats, she left China with their daughter in 2013 and settled in the United States. For the past six spring festivals, the couple have remained apart.

This Lunar New Year, she only has one wish: "My new year's wish ... I really hope that he can come to the United States... come to see me and our daughter. She's going to graduate from high school next year. I hope he can come and spend some time with her."

Also in the United States is the wife of Guangzhou-based human rights lawyer Tang Jingling.

He had helped look into the cause of the suspicious death of dissident Li Wangyang in 2012. The lawyer was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to five years in jail for subversion.

He will finish serving his term in late April, but for his wife, Wang Yanfang, even one day is too long as she had waited "more than a thousand days" for his release.

"Days are like years ... when thinking of him alone, welcoming the new year in prison ... and this will be the fifth ... that doesn't feel easy at all. After being jailed, he has also been hospitalised. We are also worried about his health," she said.

Wang didn't plan to settle in the United States. She had gone there in 2016 to receive a democracy award on behalf of her husband.

But at that time, she heard that her family was interrogated by the authorities. Fearing that she would be arrested upon her return, she abruptly decided to stay in the States.

Without even a picture of her husband with her when she left China, she is still unsure when or whether they will have a reunion picture.

Xu Yan, the wife of human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng says she will stay strong until he comes home. He has been detained for a year on charges of inciting subversion. No trial date has been set for him.

He was repeatedly detained by authorities over his support for the Occupy protests in Hong Kong and his assistance to the lawyers who were arrested during the "709 crackdown".

Xu said she and their child will particularly miss him during the festive season.

"This year is the second lunar year that he's not at home. No matter all the hardship that I and our child have to go through, the person who's going through the roughest patch is Yu Wensheng. We will stay strong and brave for whatever may come."

She says she can only hope rule of law, fairness and justice will arrive some day for Yu and the family.