How do you feel about this olympic story?

Letter from Shuang Shuying's husband, Hua Zaichen,

to Human Rights in China

July 28, 2008

[Human Rights in China translation]

As China prepares to host the Olympic games, I've reached the age of 90,[11] and my 78-year-old wife, Shuang Shuying, has been sentenced to jail. She is the oldest inmate at Beijing Women's Prison. She is almost completely blind in both eyes due to the abuse that she has endured. Throughout her life she has suffered extensively at the hands of the CPC because of me, her husband, Hua Zaichen. Her life up to now has been one of vagrant wandering, with no place to call home.

I turned 90 this year. I've witnessed the great transformation China has undergone over this past century. My wife Shuang Shuying and I together have experienced 59 years of political hardship under the CPC regime. In 1956, I was deemed a "counterrevolutionary" and held in custody for a full twenty years. During this difficult time, it was my wife who gave me courage and raised our four children on her own.

Shuang Shuying and our son Hua Huiqi are Christians and members of a house church, which is not tolerated by the CPC regime. In 2002, the government tore down our home; not only did we not receive any compensation, but we were also not allowed to rent an apartment. In February 2007, Shuang Shuying was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. In October 2007, our simple home also became a prison as a lock was welded onto the outside of our door and our electricity and water were cut off. Six policemen sat in our home and forbade us to leave. Hua Huiqi was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized.

On July 2, 2008, the police again forced our door open with an 18 pound iron hammer. Hua Huiqi's wife Wei Jumei and my elder son Hua Huilin were badly beaten. We were tossed into the street. I lay on the ground, wet with rain from that evening, huddled in my quilt. I waited for dawn, hoping that China's dawn would come more quickly.

My time left here is not long. I wish only to see my wife Shuang Shuying one last time. I want only to understand one thing: is it really a crime in China to welcome Christians into your home?

Our human rights situation is worsening here in Beijing, during China's so-called "Human Rights Olympics." We hope that the international community will pay attention to China's human rights situation.

Hua Zaichen

Monday, July 28, 2008