Parents groups such as Zhao’s — whose members’ children were hurt or killed in various tragedies such as the milk scandal, the Sichuan earthquake and the Tiananmen Square massacre — have become an emerging political force. They pose a special challenge to the Chinese government, which has not been able to deal with the grieving parents in the same manner it has dealt with others who challenge its authority.
The parents, hugging pictures of their sick or deceased children, have captured the public’s empathy. Attempts to bully, bribe, harass or detain them have been met with harsh reprimands from ordinary citizens on Internet bulletin boards.
So the government has chosen, for the most part, to let the parents be — a significant concession for a government that has always been deeply suspicious of any group that it does not directly control.
While several parents said local officials regularly stop them from mounting public protests, holding large meetings and traveling to the capital to voice concerns, authorities have not jailed the parents on unrelated charges, a common tactic with other protesters. Parents also say government officials have been careful to show more deference and respect, both in public and in private, than they might with others.
Even so, there have been some pressures on them. Since he began coordinating with other parents in late September, Zhao said, he has been “interviewed” by police more than 20 times. His cellphone has been tapped, he said, and he is followed whenever he tries to meet with other parents.
After government officials told at least three corporations that were hosting the group’s Web site to shut it down, the parents found a company that would give it a home overseas for free and out of the reach of censors. Parents disseminate the address, which they change regularly, via e-mail or word of mouth. Zhao and other organizers coordinate through disposable phone cards that can’t be traced. When holding meetings or news conferences, they gather at safe houses rather than their homes.
The Communist party is experiencing the fruit of its one child policy, with its forced abortions, which, as has been said, makes parents treasure even more than usual the child they are allowed to have. And when, due to party government bungling, that child is taken away, the grief may turn into a human wave that might eventually sweep Communism away.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In