Christina Larson details her interview with Geng He, wife of the the outspoken dissident rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who disappeared most recently nearly two years ago before his brother recently claimed he had resurfaced in a Xinjiang prison. From Foreign Policy’s Passport blog:
“I will go out to do some errands.” That is the last thing that Geng He remembers her husband, Gao Zhisheng, saying to her. She recalls that was wearing a casual black leather jacket and jeans, his usual attire. But since that brisk morning more than three years ago, he has not returned.
…
Actually, she did see him one time after he disappeared, in a news photograph that appeared in April 2010. He didn’t look well. “I was very worried about his health. I would very much like him to see a doctor and dentist to make sure he is okay.”
Geng He and Gao Zhisheng have two children: a son who is almost 9, and a daughter who is almost 19. Geng was 23 and Gao was 26 when they married on August 1, 1990. What the future would entail for a studious lawyer who chose to stand up for principle, neither of them could then foresee.
As Larson notes, Geng He appeared in front of the U.S. Congress’ Exective Committee on China to testify at a hearing regarding her husband’s detention. The hearing took place as Chinese president-in-waiting Xi Jinping met with President Obama as he began his United States trip this week. See also an NTDV report on her testimony.
