The Lone Petitioner in Ritan Park

-- A Worldwide Exclusive Report in Beijing during 2008 Summer Olympics

EnglishTranscript

While China was basking in the global glory of the Olympics, one cry of outrage for justice was exclusively captured on video and audio by a single journalist from Radio Free Asia.

In merely seven minutes, this story pops a huge public relations bubble that the Chinese government had created especially for the 2008 Olympics.  China funded an unprecedented multi-billion dollar budget to show that no one in the country is interested in protesting anything. However, a helpless Chinese woman with a shivering voice finds a committed American journalist ready to risk her own safety to bring out the truth.

To help insulate themselves from any potential Human Rights criticisms during the Olympics, China designated 3 parks, well away from visiting journalists, as the only official areas for “protests” by anyone with a permit to do so during the Olympics. Ritan Park located in Beijing was one such designated park.

In an act of focused reporting, Jill Ku conducted this interview fully aware of the potential of her arrest by the Chinese authorities. Undeterred by police questioning, she uncovers a powerful story with insightful interviewing and reporting skills. Simultaneously Jill demonstrates her professionalism, showing grace and resourcefulness, while functioning as a one-person crew.  She holds the microphone with her left hand while she films this interview on a camcorder in her right hand. This audio and video report is one of the most viewed stories on RFA’s website:  

This report begins with a scene of tranquility. A quote from China’s Olympics spokesman Wang Wei informs the world there is no need for protest in China. Here in Ritan Park, although it is officially designated for demonstrations, Jill hears no sounds of protest, only the chirping of many birds on a sunny summer afternoon.  But the armed military police surrounding the park betray the air of tension. Jill asks one of the many uniformed military policemen, “how are things today?” He simply reports “the social environment is good!”  

A policeman shouts, stopping Jill from walking further into the park, then questions her to learn she is a reporter. A curious female by-stander who appears fragile and timid hears Jill’s answer. Gao Wenjuan’s story begins by relating the steps she has taken to escape police surveillance.  She has traveled hundreds of miles to come to Beijing, driven by a single hope: to locate a journalist to whom she can voice her complaints of gross injustice. Her husband, a former party member and policeman, was unjustly thrown into jail for nine months and the severe mistreatment he endured resulted in permanent crippling of his hands. She states that the authority threatens to kill her if she complains.

This report also presents a lively discussion by park visitors inspired by Gao’s story. Such discussion alone is a taboo during the Beijing Olympics. Soon the police drive the crowd away and the story ends as the petitioner is taken away by a group of plainclothes policemen. Jill captures the word “police” on the sport shirt of one of the men.

This is one of the many exclusive stories Jill Ku filed during her one-month coverage of the Beijing Olympics.  While there, Jill received international attention for her open inquiries to the International Olympic Committee and Beijing’s Olympics Organizing Committee concerning China’s refusal to allow entry of a Tibetan colleague from RFA.

Jill Ku has been airing 30-minute talk shows to Mainland China for over ten years. She has taken over 3,000 hours of recorded calls from listeners from all over China; many of them are complaints concerning China’s treatment of its own people.  Capturing, producing and getting this story on-air is of great significance to her and to her millions of daily listeners in China.