Japan
Chinese writer living in Japanese airport to return to ShanghaiPosted Feb 13 2010
After spending three months in the terminal of Japan's largest airport, a Chinese writer and human-rights activist will finally make his way home.
The Chinese government had barred Feng Zhenghu from re-entry into the country eight times, even though Zhenghu has a Chinese passport. Zhenghu has reported on local human rights abuses though his self-published bulletin, Ducha Jianbao, distributed several times a month.
Zhenghu will return to Shanghai on Feb. 12, but it is unknown how Chinese authorities will deal with him.
“He may be detained, he may face serious retaliation by officials — if everyone forgets him, the authorities will have no qualms about punishing him,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a senior Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch in an interview for CBS.
In June, Zhenghu journeyed to Japan to visit family, but after flying back to China, he was not allowed into the country. In November, he was forced on a plane to Japan's Narita International Airport.
Zhenghu refused to leave the airport terminal to formally enter into Japan, despite pleas from airport officials to come into the country. During his time in exile, he updated his status on Twitter and gave interviews to the press. His supporters brought him provisions, and when his laptop broke, they even supplied him with a new one.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Zhenghu was imprisoned during 2001-2003 on charges of illegally publishing a business directory. However, he told the press freedom organization that he's “having too much fun” to stop reporting on the condition of human rights in China.