A night’s stay at Baotai Hotel, the place where my husband Chang Weiping was tortured

On March 24, 2021, I left Shenzhen for Baoji, the hometown of both Chang Weiping and I. The northern springtime air was mildly dry, with peach blossoms and winter jasmines in full bloom along the roadside. I travelled through a picturesque landscape of lush green wheat fields complimented by the gentler colors of budding willow trees. If it were not for my mood at the time, this would have been a most delightful excursion.

I arrived at Baoji that afternoon, and headed straight for the Baoji Hi-Tech Development Zone Public Security Bureau branch to look for Deputy Director Xiang Xianhong, the head of the local Guobao (domestic security police) and also the one in charge of Weiping’s case. It appeared that he had stepped out for the moment, and we were told to wait. He showed up well past 4 p.m., only to brush us off with the old excuse, “the case is being handled in accordance with the law.” Our lawyers inquired about why the criminal charge in the visitation denial document was modified to “subverting state power,” but Deputy Director Xiang refused to disclose anything as always, claiming that it was confidential.

Throughout the entire meeting, the deputy director repeatedly “educated” and threatened our lawyers not to post anything about the case on the internet. At 5:30 p.m. a policeman came in to say that Xiang needed to attend a meeting, and so we left.

We picked a hotel at random for the night.

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