A Chinese journalist was freed in February after spending nearly 17 years in prison for splattering paint on a portrait of Mao during the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.
Yu Dongyue, now 38, and two friends, hurled eggs filled with red paint at the famous painting of Mao, which still stares at the Square from across the street. Yu and his family are expected to reunite in Hunan Province, but his younger brother said the family was deeply concerned about Yu’s mental health.
He no longer recognizes me,” said Yu Xiyue, the brother, who made a prison visit last year. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders, a journalism advocacy group, said Yu had gone insane as a result of torture in prison.
As a result, Yu had “a totally dull look in his eyes, kept repeating words over and over as if he were chanting a mantra,” according to a representative of the group, adding: “He had a big scar on the right side of his head.
A fellow prisoner said Yu had been tied to an electricity pole and left out in the hot sun for several days. He was also kept in solitary confinement for two years, and that was what broke him.”
This is Maoist socialism. So, the next time some android Mao-oid tries to sell you their paper or urges joining one of their grotesque front groups, remind them of this incident and what you think of dictators on big posters.
Big Brother is Watching You!
This graphic appeared in a 1989 Fifth Estate in which we celebrated Yu’s act.
