Recipients of the 2010 Fund to Assist the Children of June Fourth Prisoners Award

Recipients of the 2010
“Fund to Assist the Children of June Fourth Prisoners” Award
Established by the Support Network for the Persecuted in China

(See below for the list of recipients.)

On June 16, 2010, to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the June Fourth crackdown on the 1989 Democracy Movement, the Support Network for the Persecuted in China announced the establishment of the Fund to Assist the Children of June Fourth Prisoners, beginning in 2010, to provide tuition assistance and scholarships to the children of people who are still imprisoned for their June Fourth activities and those experiencing economic hardships after their release. The Evaluation Committee received 19 applications before the deadline of July 31. Following a review, seven children were awarded tuition assistance and two were awarded scholarships. As Beijing was the area most affected by the June Fourth crackdown, the Support Network decided to give encouragement prizes to five children (preschoolers) living in extreme hardship in Beijing. The Evaluation Committee sent its letters of regret to the applicants whom the Fund was unable to assist. The scholarships, tuition assistance, and encouragement prizes have already been issued in full.

The list of the recipients is set out below:

I. Tuition Assistance Recipients (AU$1,000 each)

1. Song XX (Son of Mr. Song Shihui [宋士辉]; first-year elementary school student in Beijing)
2. Mao XX (Daughter of Mr. Mao Guoliang [毛国良]; third-year middle school student in Zhejiang)
3. Wang X (Daughter of Mr. Wang Yonglu [汪永禄]; fifth-year elementary school student in Beijing)
4. Zhang X (Daughter of Mr. Zhang Fukun [张福坤]; second-year high school student in Beijing)
5. Zhang X (Son of Mr. Zhang Mingxian [张明先]; fourth-year elementary school student in Sichuan)
6. Sun XX (Daughter of Mr. Sun Yancai [孙彦财]; third-year elementary school student in Beijing)
7. Shao XX (Son of Mr. Shao Lingcai [邵凌才]; university student)

II. Scholarship Recipients (AU$1,500 each)

1. Ma X (Daughter of Mr. Ma Guochun [马国春]; second-year elementary school student in Beijing)
2. Jiang XX (Son of Mr. Jiang Chunyuan [姜春元]; university student)

III. Background of the Parents of the Tuition Assistance and Scholarship Recipients

1. Song Shihui (b. 1970): From Beijing. Unemployed at time of arrest. On June 4, 1989, Song and several hundred others protesting the June Fourth Massacre blocked a police car at the intersection near the art museum in Beijing’s Dongcheng District and seized an electric baton. He was arrested on June 14, 1989, and sentenced to 11 years in prison the following November on charges of “hooliganism” and “theft.” He was released on January 15, 1998, and has been unemployed; the family has experienced great hardships.

2. Mao Guoliang (b. 1959): From Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. At the time of his arrest, he was a student at Zhejiang Education Institute. Mao actively participated in the 1989 Democracy Movement and protested the June Fourth Massacre. On June 18, 1989, he was arrested at his university commencement exercise and was later sentenced to seven years in prison for “counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement.” He was released in early 1993 during China's bid for the Olympics. Mao has taught for a living in the ten years since his release. He has been dismissed from various jobs for political reasons and does not have a stable livelihood.

3. Wang Yonglu (b. 1968): From Beijing. Unemployed at time of arrest. At 11:00 p.m. on June 4, 1989, Wang and his friends intercepted a truck belonging to martial law troops near the Red Temple in Chaoyang District, Beijing. They seized four 54-caliber guns and also 22 rounds of machine-gun bullets from a tank. He was arrested on June 15, 1989, and sentenced in September that year to 11 years in prison for “stealing firearms and ammunition.” He was released in March 1998 and has been unemployed since. Life is extremely difficult for his family of three, who rely solely on his wife's monthly salary of 1,000 yuan.

4. Zhang Fukun (b. 1959): From Beijing. Unemployed at time of arrest. Around 2:00 a.m. on June 4, 1989, at an intersection at Chegongzhuang Street in Beijing's Xicheng District, Zhang and many other Beijingers intercepted several trucks belonging to martial law troops and set fire to one of them. He was arrested on June 18, 1989, and sentenced to life in prison for “arson.” He was released in 2006 and has been unemployed since. His wife was recently laid off, and the family has been living in extreme poverty. 

5. Zhang Ming (b. 1969): From Chengdu, Sichuan Province. At the time of his arrest, he was a student of Chinese literature at Northwest University. Zhang actively participated in the 1989 Democracy Movement. Following the June Fourth Massacre, he formed a political organization and continued to engage in resistance activities. He was arrested in March 1990 and sentenced to ten years in prison for “[organizing or leading or actively participating in a] counterrevolutionary group.” Since his release in 1998 he has held many jobs, including working as a street peddler and an unlicensed taxi driver. Currently, he is barely able to make ends meet working as a writer. 

6. Sun Yancai (b. 1966): From Beijing. At the time of his arrest, he was a peasant in Jiugong Village, Jiugong Township, Daxing County, Beijing. Around 11:00 p.m. on June 3, 1989, Sun, along with many other peasants, blocked an armored vehicle (with 12 people inside) belonging to martial law troops on the highway northwest of Jixian Village, Jiugong Township, and smashed the exterior of the vehicle. He was arrested in the early hours of June 4, 1989, and sentenced in December that year to life in prison for “robbery.” He was released in 2006 and works at odd jobs on occasion. His wife is unemployed, and his family lives in extreme poverty. 

7. Shao Lingcai (b. 1962): From Zou County, Shandong Province. At the time of his arrest, he was a teacher at the Engineering School in the Education Department of the Jinan No. 1 Machine Tool Factory in Shandong Province. On June 6, 1989, Shao joined in the public demonstrations protesting the June Fourth Massacre with thousands of others in Jinan. He was arrested on June 19, 1989. In early 1990, he was sentenced to four years in prison for “gathering crowds to disturb public order.” He was released in 1993, and can only do odd jobs as he is officially banned from teaching again. It is difficult for him to support his family. He nearly lost his sight due to severe eye illness several years ago. His wife worked in Jinan's textile industry, but was forced to retire as her company was on the verge of collapsing. Their family currently lives on his wife’s monthly stipend of only 300 yuan, and is in great hardship.

8. Ma Guochun (b. 1959): From Beijing. At the time of his arrest, he was employed by the No. 2 Construction Company of Shoudu Iron and Steel Group. At 7:00 a.m. on June 4, 1989, Ma and many others obstructed a military vehicle full of weapons at Muxidi on West Chang’an Avenue, in the area most heavily affected in the crackdown. They then destroyed the weapons on the vehicle. After Ma took three cans of tear gas from the vehicle, he continued west to the intersection at Gongzhufen, where he saw a military vehicle full of martial law forces heading toward Tiananmen [Square]. Fearing for the safety of the students in Tiananmen Square, he ignited the three cans of tear gas and threw them at the vehicle, and was then arrested on the spot. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison in September 1989 for “hooliganism” and “robbery.” He was released in 1999 and has since made his living doing odd jobs. His wife is unemployed, and his family lives in extreme poverty.

9. Jiang Chunyuan (b. 1958): From Qingdao, Shandong Province. At the time of his arrest, Jiang was working in an MSG factory in Qingdao. During the 1989 Democracy Movement, Jiang made speeches before the Qingdao government offices and in the busy downtown areas. After the June Fourth Massacre, he went to Ocean University to speak about ways to fight tyranny. He was captured by the gate guards and arrested. He was sentenced to five years in prison for “counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement” and incarcerated in Beishu Prison in Laixi, Shandong Province. He has held many jobs since his release at the end of 1992. Currently Jiang has no source of income, and his family is experiencing severe hardships.

IV. Encouragement Prize Recipients (5)

The Support Network decided to award encouragement prizes of AU$500 to five Beijing children (preschoolers) due to their extremely difficult living circumstances.

Encouragement Prize Recipients and Background of Parents:

1. Daughter (age 2) of Mr. Zhang Qun (张群)
Zhang Qun (b. 1970): At the time of his arrest, he was a temporary worker at a frozen foods factory in Beijing. In 1989, following the June Fourth Incident, he was sentenced to life in prison for “arson.” He was released in April 2003 and married in 2005. Currently his family of three relies only on his wife's monthly salary of 1,000 yuan, and they live in extreme poverty.
 
2. Daughter (age 6) of Mr. Zhang Baoqun (张保群)
Zhang Baoqun (b. 1966): At the time of his arrest, he was employed at the Beijing No. 1 Leather Shoe Factory. On August 23, 1989, Zhang was sentenced to life in prison for “arson.” He was released on April 25, 2003, and married in 2004. His daughter was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease shortly after her birth and had surgery in 2008. His wife stays home to look after their daughter and Zhang is only able to work odd jobs. Their monthly income is 600-700 yuan, and their lives are very difficult.
 
3. Daughter (age 4) of Mr. Yu Wen (于文)
Yu Wen (b. 1967): Unemployed at the time of arrest. Yu was arrested on June 9, 1989, and sentenced to 12 years in prison for “hooliganism.” He was released on June 8, 2000, and married in 2005. The family lives in poverty.
 
4. Son (age 2) of Mr. Xu Ning (许宁)
Xu Ning (b. 1972): On June 4, 1989, Yu set fire to one of the vehicles belonging to martial law troops at the Beijing Drum Tower Bridge on the Second Ring Road, in protest of the massacre of civilians. He was later sentenced to 12 years in prison for “arson.” He was released in October 1997 and married in 2008. His family's situation has been difficult from the start.

5. Daughter (age 3) of Mr. Zhang Baosheng (张宝生)
Zhang Baosheng (b. August 31, 1974): He was arrested on August 24, 1989, and in August 1990, sentenced to nine years in prison for “counterrevolutionary murder” and seven years in prison for “arson,” a total of 16 years. Zhang was released from prison in August 2000, and married in 2003. His wife takes care of their daughter at home, and they would like to send her to kindergarten but do not have the means to do so. Presently the family's sole source of income is the 1000 yuan per month that Zhang earns at his part-time job, and they live in poverty. It should be mentioned that Zhang was the youngest of the June Fourth victims to be arrested, being not yet 15 at the time of arrest.

V. Our heartfelt thanks to the unnamed donors who provided the AU$10,000.

Support Network for the Persecuted in China
August 26, 2010
Sydney, Australia

Attached:

Introduction to the Support Network for the Persecuted in China (“中国政治及宗教受难者后援会”简介) (Chinese only)
Rules for the Fund to Assist the Children of June Fourth Prisoners (Provisional) (《六四抗暴者子女成长基金规则》（暂定） ) (Chinese only)
Additional Explanation of the Fund to Assist the Children of June Fourth Prisoners (“六四抗暴者子女成长基金”补充说明) (Chinese only)

Announcement issued by Human Rights in China at the request of the Support Network for the Persecuted in China.