Freed academic has new book ... and hope
'It is ridiculous that the criticism of Marxism during my student days would have sent me to jail, yet I can continue such critical study in a communist jail,' said David Tsui, the just-released Hong Kong academic imprisoned for his academic research on the Korean War
This was how Tsui began recounting his harrowing years behind bars when he talked to the South China Morning Post on the day of his release - 11 long years after he stood filled with anxiety of what fate had in store for him as he was charged with the serious crime of leaking state secrets.
The mainland-born, Oxford-educated academic was released in June - two years before serving his full term. He was imprisoned in a Guangzhou jail and was treated as an enemy of the state, on charges that many people believed to be trumped up.
For all his ordeal, Tsui, who arrived back in Hong Kong this month, was remarkably upbeat about China's future. He believes the country is moving, slowly and quietly, towards a more tolerant and open society.
The 57-year-old was convicted in 2000 of leaking state secrets and selling unauthorised Hong Kong publications on the mainland.
The charges laid against Tsui raised alarm throughout the free world and were condemned as politically motivated.
The so-called 'state secrets' Tsui was accused of stealing comprised old material about the Korean war, classified by the authorities only after his conviction.
Western leaders, including then-US president George Bush, and more than 400 leading academics, as well as his alma mater, Oxford University lobbied for his release. The Hong Kong Legislative Council also held special meetings to debate his case. All in vain.
'I must thank my friends outside, the efforts by international leaders and scholars, the Hong Kong government and local legislators who supported me,' he said.
Even though many in Hong Kong had criticised the government for not doing enough for Tsui, he said he was grateful to the administration for arranging his swift return.
He said the Immigration Department officers had travelled to the Guangzhou jail to process his documents before his release. After returning to Hong Kong this month, Tsui plans to go to Oxford to continue his academic research.
Tsui's interests in politics started early. It all stemmed from his days as a student at the prestigeous Fudan University in the late 1970s, when, he says, he uncovered flaws in Karl Marx's Capital. When he approached a classmate to talk about his findings, terrified student told him: 'I do not want to go to jail for such discussion.'
Tsui kept asking questions, and it didn't stop even during his time in a prison cell, when he continued his study of Capital and even wrote a book behind bars criticising its theories, which outline the founding principles of the mainland's ruling Communist Party.
'I did my research with the consent of the prison authorities, and I also got their nod to bring copies of my work out of prison after their scrutiny,' Tsui said, adding that he did not think he had lost much academically from his time in prison, as he was allowed to conduct academic research and write several books during the period.
Lost knowledge might not be evident, but he definitely has a lot of catching up to do. Asked if he had heard of Facebook, Twitter or iPhones, Tsui shook his head, saying: 'It seems that I am an alien - lost in this new world.'
He has been away so long, he still has little idea how to use the new mobile phone his nephew bought for him the day he was released.
He preferred to point to that 'quiet and significant change' within mainland society that had enabled a prisoner of the communist government to write papers criticising Marxism.
Like Dr Martin Luther King, who advocated non-violent resistance in his famous Letter From Birmingham Jail, Tsui hopes his prison book about Karl Marx's thinking will help right the wrongs of communist theory, and help China evolve peacefully.
Peace, at least within himself, was something that eluded Tsui during the year and a half between his arrest and his sentencing. He was filled with panic and dread, uncertain just how far the charges against him would go.
The most horrifying moment came when an interrogating prosecutor put him in fear of his life. The man made a chopping motion against his neck hinting at decapitation, a traditional form of execution in the times of the Chinese dynasties.
'I was really horrified then - a feeling that only those who have had such an experience can know,' Tsui said.
He knew that charges of 'spying' and 'leaking state secrets' could mean he would spend the rest of his life in prison, but he had been unsure whether they could warrant capital punishment.
His life improved after his first two years in prison when he completed his 'labour work reform', which involved working at least eight hours a day making shoes.
He was then allowed to read, although the publications in the Guangzhou jail were limited to a few local newspapers and magazines. And he was allowed to watch television two evenings a week.
Finally, the prison authorities approved his application to write, giving him paper and pens. A computer was out of the question.
'My heart began to be at ease when I was allowed to read and write, as I was back to the land of free thinking,' he said.
Tsui vowed to continue his studies of politically sensitive issues, which included analysing the mainland's institutional reforms.
He has drawn the conclusion that market-oriented reforms to scrap all state-owned enterprises and end their monopolies should come before meaningful constitutional reforms to introduce Western-style democracy to the last major communist one-party-rule nation.
David Tsui will not be lost in this new world for long.
