Wang and I each staged a hunger strike. He had tried once before. The first time was not long after we moved in. He was angry at not having had anything to read for six months when He Qui and I had our books and magazines returned. Wang took no food for three days and eventually they acceded his demands. The second time, Wang threw melon over the wall to the prisoners working outside. He was sentence by the governor of the prison to three months confinement. In order to avoid the contact of ordi- nary prisoners, which would violate the principle of isolating political prisoners, confinement there does not mean darkroom. Instead, Wang was locked up in his own cell, had all the books and bedding being confiscated, and deprived of outdoor activi- ties.
According to Wang, he was not punished for throwing melon over the wall but for insulting political committee members at the prison. He staged the second hunger strike to protest against the way he was treated. He failed after four or five days because, he said, he was force fed by the cadres.
Inside the prison, all the human excreta was kept in basins to be used as fertilizer for flower beds. In fact there was no real need of toilet. As a result the toilet attracted a lot of rats. One day, I blocked a toilet bowl and, as punishment, was confined to my cell. I staged a hunger strike to protest but gave up after three days.
Prisoners had two to three hours outdoor walk every day. But schedules were arranged so that we would not meet each other. However, we managed to communicate through throwing bottles with messages in. Later, when we grew more confident, we simply shout- ed to each other through our cell windows.
The cadres gradually took this for granted. They considered themselves unlucky having been assigned to that section. We were not allowed to work so they did not get any perks. They could not beat us, because we are all under special treatment. They were understaffed and have to work in shifts. So long as things were on the right track they would rather not care so much. Even if we shouted 'Down with Li Peng' and 'Deng go to hell' they were not bothered.
During the democracy movement in 1989 Wang Xi-zhe, He Qui, Zheng Yin-wu and I discussed the current affairs by shouting through the windows every evening after dinner. Our discussion usually took more than an hour. We exchanged viewpoints through the bits and pieces we read from the People's Daily and the China Daily.
During our stay in Huaiji Prison there was not much political education the cadres know they were unable to argue with us. But after June 4th, there was one education programme. They
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