Hu Jia, a Beijing human rights activist, was recently interviewed by The Epoch Times after narrowly escaping apprehension by police, who are seeking to suppress him in the wake of the death of former Secretary General Zhao Ziyang.

Hu had gone to Henan Province to take care of a friend's funeral on Jan. 16 and intended to return to Beijing after a day or two. His relatives in Beijing told him that police officers had been watching his residence since Jan. 17, and that about 12 had stayed waiting near his home. He also was tracked while he was in Henan Province. On the afternoon of Jan. 19, four groups of police officers tracked him from four different directions, and cadres from county government offices were dispatched to the homes of his acquaintances to search for him.

Interviewed on the evening of Jan. 21, Hu indicated that he had just escaped arrest by the police.

“Zhao Ziyang was imprisoned for 15 years. What was the reason for that? It is a violation of basic human rights, and a violation of an elder's human rights. When I heard the quote from Zhao’s daughter Wang Yannan, 'Father has gained freedom at last,' her obvious grief made me cry inside. The government has been dreading Zhao Ziyang's death, trembling with fear for over a year.

“We hoped that Zhao Ziyang would be redressed and would be treated justly before his death. It is a great pity for him to not have lived to see such a day. It is really regrettable. As young people, we were unable to make this happen before Zhao died. We did not expect that this day would be put off endlessly, and we recognize that the other people who suffered injustice on June 4th, 1989, have waited too long for justice. We cannot tolerate it if this day is postponed for much longer.

“The government has been suppressing the effort to bring condolences to Zhao’s family and fabricating a story that people are indifferent regarding Zhao's death. That is simply not true. If there are no mourning activities in China, it is unnecessary for the CCP to prevent Web sites from publishing comments about Zhao, or to monitor many of my friends like Ding Zilin and Qi Zhiyong and not allow them to go out. The government lied about even this issue. It simply indicates that its destiny is already completely exhausted.

“The government believes that the common people's voices can be suppressed. But that is impossible. Suppression can only intensify contradictions, expedite troubles and exacerbate a situation. Moreover, to tell the truth, 'If people were not afraid of death, then what would be the use of an executioner?' We have nothing to fear. In front of [the CCP], we are completely transparent, open and above board.”

Hu indicated that his friends, including Liu Di, Ding Zilin, Qi Zhiyong and Pang Meiqing, are all being monitored by the government and not allowed to leave their homes. Some of them cannot be accessed by phone.

Hu sincerely believes in Buddhism. He is good-hearted and has received a commendation for being “an ascetic monk.” He has been devoted to protecting the environment for many years, showed his concern for AIDS patients, and contributes to society in numerous ways. Both inside China and out, he has appealed to people to pay attention to the plight of AIDS patients in China, and for the CCP to reinstate the reputations of victims of the June 4th massacre on Tiananmen Square and acknowledge its mistake.

Hu is currently under constant surveillance by the CCP.