19 January 2012 – Washington, DC – Yesterday, renowned Chinese dissident Yu Jie gave a press conference at The National Press Club in Washington, DC. Following a brief introduction by Laogai Research Foundation’s executive director Harry Wu, Yu Jie told of his harrowing experiences as a writer in China. Yu and his family arrived on US soil last week after being escorted to their flight by five state security officers. Yu announced that he had met with the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner, as well as Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) on the morning of the press conference, and has discussed the possibility of applying for political asylum with an attorney.

Although Yu Jie’s works have long been the target of government censorship, he noted that since Hu Jintao took power, he has not been able to legally publish any of his work inside China. When the Nobel Prize Committee announced in October 2010 that the Nobel Peace Prize would go to Liu Xiaobo, Yu Jie – a long-time friend of Liu – was placed under house arrest and 24-hour surveillance. By November, Yu Jie and his wife had all communication with the outside world cut off, including with their son who was living with grandparents. The night before the Nobel Prize ceremony, a swarm of plainclothes officers seized Yu. After removing his glasses and covering his head, they drove him to an undisclosed location where he was stripped naked, beaten, and verbally abused. He recalled that one officer told him:

“We can dig a pit to bury you alive in half an hour, and no one on earth would know. Right now, foreigners are awarding Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize, humiliating our Party and government. We’ll pound you to death to avenge this.”

Yu eventually went unconscious as a result of the abuse, and had to be hospitalized. He was warned by police officers not to tell doctors what had really happened to him, threatening, “If you talk this kind of nonsense again, we’ll pull out all the tubes from your body and let you die.” He was later taken in for interrogation and coerced into signing a statement admitting his wrongs and promising that he would not speak to foreign media or governments or criticize the security officers involved in his arrest and torture.

At the press conference, Yu proclaimed, “I am now in the United States, a free country. Here, I solemnly state that what I said in the interrogations and the letter of guarantee was the result of torture and coercion against my will, and is completely null and void … If I do not speak out … I will feel as though my heart and soul remain caged.”

Yu Jie, who is now in the final stages of compiling a biography about his friend and colleague Liu Xiaobo, hopes that he can help draw more attention to dissidents and political prisoners who are not yet free, including Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia, Chen Guangchen, Gao Zhisheng, Liu Xianbin, Chen Wei, Chen Xi, and many others.

Although the US has verbally objected to China’s rights abuses, Yu Jie noted that Western countries are increasingly willing to overlook human rights issues. He warned that as China continues to export its cheap prison labor goods and its system of persecution, sooner or later this neglect will harm Western interests.

Yu Jie’s complete statement can be downloaded below in English and Chinese.

Yu Jie and Harry Wu meet with Rep. Frank Wolf.

Yu Jie and Harry Wu at the National Press Club.

Yu Jie addresses international media at the National Press Club.