Hefurðu keypt kínverska jólatrésseríu nýlega?

Á vefútgáfu Globe and Mail má lesa í dag viðtal við kínverskan andófsmann.  Hann var fangelsaður fyrir u.þ.b. 17 árum, þegar andófið á torgi Hins himneska friðar stóð sem hæst.

Það er hálf átakanlegt að lesa þetta en samt er þetta lesning sem ég mæli með, það ættu eiginlega allir að lesa viðtalið.

Hér er nokkri punktar:

"I have no regrets," Mr. Lu said softly in Chinese in his first in-depth interview. "In a repressive dictatorship, if no one has a spirit of sacrifice, we will never achieve democracy. This is China's tragedy."

"He was 25 then. He's 42 now, with scars from prison beatings, a broken marriage and an uncertain future in Canada. After authorities released him — after 10 years — he slipped into Myanmar and then Thailand, hoping to attract attention for his friend serving life. Instead, Thai authorities arrested him. Canada granted him refugee status, and in April, he arrived in Calgary."

"At noon, they bought 30 eggs from a sidewalk fast-food vendor, lopped off the tops, and asked him to make their last meal: omelettes. They filled the shells with paint. While Yu Zhijian prevented people from walking through the gate under the portrait, Mr. Lu and Yu Dongyue began hurling eggs as fast as they could. It was a stunning act of lèse-majesté.

"I remember bystanders started applauding," Mr. Lu said. "Some people disapproved, but I felt the majority were with us."

"Student security guards grabbed the trio. Mr. Lu and his friends went willingly and answered questions. Later that afternoon, the students called a press conference where he answered questions. Back in Hunan, Mr. Lu's father saw the evening news and fell to the floor, crying: "It's all over, it's all over." Mr. Lu's wife had a nervous breakdown.""

""I never thought the students would turn us in," Mr. Lu said yesterday, when I told him what I knew. He also doesn't understand why he and his friends received such harsh sentences when many student activists got two to four years.

In jail in Hunan, Mr. Lu shared a cell with 20 others, mostly common criminals. Some curried favour with the guards by beating him. He was subjected to brainwashing. He and other inmates toiled 14 to 16 hours a day making Christmas tree lights for sale in the West.

"We had production quotas. If we didn't finish, we'd get a warning. After two warnings, they'd handcuff us to the bars and beat us.""

"Meanwhile, his wife wants to join him. So far, authorities have refused to issue her a passport. "They told her, 'From the day you married Lu Decheng, you have forfeited the right to a passport.'" He hopes to return to a democratic China one day."

En viðtalið í heild má finna hér.