The elderly brother of a prominent Chinese dissident sculptor has been hit by a car in a near-fatal accident relatives fear could be part of a campaign of political persecution against the artist, activists said Thursday.
The accident took place in Taizhou city in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang hours after artist Yan Zhengxue got in a heated confrontation with local officials at the municipal government’s complaints bureau, a close friend said.
Yan and his wife, who have suffered bouts of secret detention and recently been forced to return to Taizhou after decades of living in Beijing, were incommunicado on Thursday.
Yan’s friend and fellow activist Wang Zang said the brother is in critical condition Taizhou's Central Hospital.
"Yan Zhengxue's 73-year-old brother was crossing the street when he was hit by a car traveling at high speed, just as he reached the sidewalk," Wang said, without giving a name for the brother.
"He sustained head injuries and is still in a coma in hospital, and the family have been warned that he is in critical condition."
Wang said the authorities had made no formal announcement about the accident.
"There has been no decision yet on who was responsible for the accident," he said.
'Sworn at and humiliated'
Yan Zhengxue, who headed an outspoken group of dissident artists in Beijing during the student-led pro-democracy movement of 1989, is well-known for his sculptures, in particular a sculpture of Cultural Revolution activist Lin Zhao.
During the altercation at the complaints bureau, officials treated Yan roughly, Wang said, although he did not know the subject of the artist’s complaint.
"He was sworn at and humiliated in front of a crowd by Taizhou officials," Wang said. "After that, he was attacked and shoved around by the head of the office."
He said the Yan family was no stranger to car accidents, which is why they were treating Sunday's accident with deep suspicion.
Series of accidents
A vehicle ploughed into Yan's Beijing home earlier this year. Shortly afterwards, he and his wife were forced to return to Taizhou by state security police, Wang said.
He said a fatal car accident had also befallen the son of a close family friend two decades earlier, shortly after Yan filed a complaint against Beijing police for administrative malpractice.
The families of prominent critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party frequently report suffering discrimination, loss of employment, physical attacks, and harassment by law enforcement agencies linked to the dissident's activities.
The children of dissidents sometimes find barriers placed in the way of their education and whole families have reported being held under house arrest and subjected to detentions and beatings.
Yan Zhengxue was sentenced to "re-education through labor" in 1993 after he lodged a complaint against the Beijing police department, during which he reported being tortured with electric batons by staff.
Following his release in 1996, Yan began rights advocacy work on behalf of disadvantaged groups in China, which led to several bouts of secret detention.
He was handed a three-year jail term in 2007 for "incitement to subvert state power."
Reported by Grace Kei Lai-see for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.