Statement by leftist student Yang Shuhan on her kidnapping yesterday

I am Yang Shuhan, I was forcibly kidnapped and taken back to my home last night. My personal freedoms are still being limited.

I purchased a train ticket from Qunming to Beijing a month ago. I arrived at the Qunming station yesterday as planned and was about to return to Beijing via the train. No one mentioned my personal freedoms are to be limited during this process. However, a group of unknown personnel appeared when I was going through security and stopped me. I asked them repeatedly about their identity, whether they had working IDs, why were they doing this, and according to what reason did they do this, but didn’t receive any response from them at the scene before they confiscated my phone. My phone was nowhere to be found after it went through the hands of several of them.

I condemned their criminal activities and demanded to have my phone back. They never returned it to me.

Afterwards, I went to the police station to ask whether the police is to intervene. Several policemen responded that this is beyond their control while sitting comfortably on the sofa. I was forced to return to the hall and ask the unknown personnel surrounding me about their reason of trying to abduct me. They couldn’t give a reason. In the end, they revealed themselves to be from the police department, and forcibly took me to a hotel in Anning, Qunming with two uniformed policemen.

After I was took to the hotel, they claimed that they were “persuading” me instead of kidnapping me because teachers and parents were present. Likewise, I asked again why they stopped me from going to Beijing, and they listed the following reasons:

The first reason is the China-Africa Summit is being held in Beijing and the college informed all students to not return before the term starts. I asked, whether rules like this were ever explicitly stipulated by my school (People’s University) or the ministry of education. He was wordless.

The second reason is I was indirectly in contact with foreign media agencies. I asked him whether he has any evidence to prove that I was indirectly in contact with foreign media agencies, and, if not, how can they stop me using this excuse? He was wordless again.

[He] mentioned a third reason which is I took part in solidarity actions with the Jasic workers. That is the reason for them to, in their words, stop me only out of the thousands of people travelling to Beijing. I asked them what laws did I break and what crimes did I commit? Why do they stop me using this excuse? I have always believed what I did is just, legal, and legitimate. Can you consciously violate the law with excuses like this and try to stop me? Why isn’t this matter decided through legal means instead of kidnapping me in secret?

They provided reasons such as “they want to educate me” or “they want to help me”. I am, however, unable to understand this. As a result, I was forcibly taken home, and my personal freedoms as well as my freedom of movement are being limited. I strongly protest this.

I believe that showing solidarity with the Jasic workers in Pingshan is justified and not wrong and I will continue to fight and struggle for this cause. Also, what I’ve seen for the past days is that my personal rights are constantly being violated as functionaries without documentation are allowed to violate the laws consciously. When I was detained by them in Pingshan Elementary School, these functionaries have repeatedly told me that they will not limit my personal freedoms when I get back and will not continue to track me. However, when I returned from Pingshan, my movements are still being tracked and limited until yesterday, when they openly abducted me like this.

In this case, I will protest through going on a hunger strike. I will not stop this as long as they limit my movement and block me from returning to Beijing. I want to reiterate and emphasize that showing solidarity with the Jasic workers is a just and righteous cause. I will firmly fight to the end on this matter.

Yang Shuhan
September 1, 2018