This month, on the occasion of the Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year), the most important time for family reunion in China, Duting (杜婷) interviewed the wives of China’s prisoners of conscience. They are Liu Xia, Ceng Jinyan, Wang Qinghua and Ceng Li, respectively the wives of Liu Xiaobo, Hu Jia, Tan Zuoren and Huang Qi. Liu Xiaobo, an intellectual known for initiating Charter 08, calling for greater freedom, human rights and elections, was sentenced to 11 years in December 2009. Hu Jia, whose work focused on China’s democratization, environmentalist movement and AIDS advocacy, was sentenced to 3.5 years in April 2008. Tan Zuoren, an environmentalist and writer known for his investigation into shoddy schools following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, was sentenced to 5 years in February 2010. Huang Qi, a webmaster and human rights activist known for setting up the Tianwang Center for Missing Persons, was most recently sentenced to 3 years in November 2009. Below are translated extracts and quotes from Duting’s interview report. Liu Xia: when the thought that I cannot touch him for 11 years strikes me, my heart collapses This was her twitter comment after Liu Xiaobo’s trial of second instance, on charges of ‘inciting subversion of state power.’ A few days after the verdict, Duting tried to have a chat with Liu Xia, who agreed to do so but later prefer to write down her feelings: 两个人这些年风风雨雨走过来，那么多的事情一 时很难用语言表达清楚，与其有一句没一句地说，还不如我自己零敲碎打地写出来。我这个人嘴挺笨的，一向不善于口头表达，这也不是我的风格，还是文字比较适 合我。 The two of us came from these stormy years, and it’s difficult to express all these matters clearly in words. Rather than saying it sentence by sentence, I prefer to write it down, in piecemeal scripts. I am ineloquent, not good at expressing with my mouth, which is not my style. Written words suit me better. Ceng Jinyan: there are just too few people at the reunion dinner. I look forward to preparing a real reunion dinner some day She made this comment on the eve of the Chinese New Year while preparing the traditional family reunion dinner. Ceng was married to Hu Jia in 2006. Hu was detained since 2007, and sentenced to three and a half year in April 2008 on charges of ‘inciting subversion of state power.’ This is the third time Ceng spent the Spring Festival without her husband. Taking care of their two-year old daughter was her major task. Hu was detained one month after the baby was born. Though it was painful and sad, Jinyan tried to control her emotion, creating a safe and warm home for their daughter: 我把我和胡佳的合影贴在床头，告诉宝宝这是爸爸，去探望胡佳的时候也都尽量带她去，现在她已经知道怎么去监狱，坐什么车了。每次见到胡佳宝宝都很开心，又唱又跳的，把平时我和她做的游戏做给胡佳看。 I put my photo with Hu Jia on the bedside and tell the baby that this is his father. I will also bring her with me when visiting Hu Jia. She now knows which bus to take to go to the prison. Every time she sees her father, she would be very happy. She will jump and sing, and show the games that I play with her to Hu Jia. When she was young, Jinyan had serious Myocarditis, which would have prevented her from taking the university entrance exam. But she took medicines to cover up the symptoms, and successfully entered the China Renmin University to study economics. Because of her first hand experience, she knows a person’s smallness and helplessness when facing sickness and death. She therefore became a volunteer for an NGO tackling AIDS problem, and met Hu Jia there. At the time, Hu Jia has long been involved in AIDS and environmental issues, and was a ‘politically sensitive person’ in the authority’s eyes. The public security told her to cut the relationship with Hu, but: 也许是因为身体的缘故所以我看得比较开吧。人总要经历各种苦，有些人终其一生都无法遇到自己爱的人，我很幸运遇到胡佳。虽然选择和他在一 起就注定不会有稳定的生活，但这是我必须承受的。 Perhaps it’s because of my experience of sickness, I’m not easily upset. People have to endure different kinds of pain. Some are destined not to find their other half, but I am lucky to meet Hu Jia. Although choosing him means that a stable life would be a luxury, I am prepared to endure it. Jinyan said that 2005 and 2006 were the difficult years, when Hu Jia was always missing. When the 2008 verdict was out, she was angry and sad, but at least it was a certainty. Commenting on the fact that 26 June 2011 would be his day of release: 最糟的时候已经过去了，胡佳现在比较平静，我的焦虑感也就随之降低了。但我也知道他回来之后的生活会是一个巨大的挑战。之前胡佳每次 失踪回来后的头几天对我和他来讲都非常痛苦，他潜意识中会把对抗的情绪带回家，把我当做反抗的对象，虽然他并不想如此。阿兰牧师曾说过『对于一个囚犯而言，真正的监狱是在他走出监狱的那一天才开始的。』 The most difficult moment has passed. Hu Jia is now calmer, and I’m less worried. But I know that when he returns, there would be challenges for us. In the past, every time he returns after missing for a few days, he would tell me that he feels miserable, and he brings a sense of antagonism back home, treating me as a target, though this was not his intention.