Skip to content Skip to navigation

Testimony of Yang Darong, father of Yang Hanlei

January 31, 1999

Yang Hanlei, male, born March 24, 1970, killed at age 19; before his death, Yang was a cook at the Beijing Liufang Guest House; before dawn on June 4, he was killed in the vicinity of the Beijing Hotel, at west Nanchizi. He was shot on the left side of his body in the lower stomach and spleen area.


Testimony of Yang Darong, father of Yang Hanlei:


On the afternoon of June 3, Hanlei said he had to renew his monthly bus pass. Our family repeatedly urged him to hurry up and return quickly, because it was complete chaos outside. Once he left, he never returned. We waited until evening, but he didn't return. We waited until the next day, and still he didn't return. We waited until the day after that, and still he didn't come home. His mother and I searched everywhere, called everywhere, looked up every relative, friend and classmate of Hanlei, but every one said they hadn't seen him.



Then, on the seventh day, June 9, Hanlei's colleague came to our house and asked if "Little Lei" had returned. We asked him, "Have you seen Hanlei?" He said that on June 3, after Yang Hanlei bought his monthly pass he went to his colleague's house and ate dinner there. After dinner, the two of them went out (Hanlei's colleague lived in the area of Chaonei Nanxiaojie and Lumicang). It was already about 8:00 p.m. by then, there were no buses and there were a lot of people on the street. Everyone was walking in the direction of Dongdan, and they went along with the crowd to Dongsi and headed south. Without knowing it, they walked in front of the Beijing Hotel, where they were unable to turn back and unable to move. They were stuck this way for roughly four hours. Suddenly, the crowd became restless, and gunfire could be heard everywhere. Everyone made a mad dash toward the Beijing Hotel, and the two of them were split up.



We listened to Hanlei's colleague's narrative, and again went to all the associations and hospitals in search of Hanlei. Sure enough, we found him, but his clothes and complexion didn't look right. The hospital doctor said, "Don't you see that his clothes have been soaked with blood?" The gunshot wound was on his left side, in the area of his lower stomach and spleen. According to what the doctor said, if Hanlei had been promptly rescued, he wouldn't have died, but he had been lying on the street from 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m. until the next day, and had already been dead for a long time when he was finally taken to the hospital by people passing by.



After Hanlei died, his mother cried several times a day. I keep thinking that he hasn't died, but had just taken a long trip. Whenever I see someone his age on the street I always think that Hanlei has returned. Now, Hanlei's mother and I are already retired, and every month the two of us make 800 yuan retirement pay and do our best to get through the days.



Yang Darong

Error | Human Rights in China 中国人权 | HRIC

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.