He is a man caught between two countries, a political protester who has stubbornly steeled himself inside the sterile purgatory of Tokyo’s Narita International Airport.
Each day, Feng Zhenghu sits on a bench in front of the Japanese customs booths, calmly looking on as tens of thousands of arriving passengers pass him by, resigning himself to residence in a diplomatic no-man’s land.
He refuses to pass through government customs because that would mean entering Japan – something Feng has decided he simply will not do. He wants to go home to China.
Eight times since June, the 55-year-old activist has been rebuffed by Chinese officials in attempts to reenter his homeland.
On four occasions, airlines in Japan didn’t allow him to board. On four others, he got as far as Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport before being dispatched back to Tokyo.
According to a Japanese immigration official, Feng Zhenghu arrived from Shanghai on 4 November with a valid Chinese passport and a visa to enter Japan – but has been refused admittance to China. He is spending his time on a couch near an immigration checkpoint in the south wing of Terminal 1 of Narita Airport.
Read more about Feng Zhenghu on CDT.
Here is a video interview of Feng Zhengfu by Radio Free Asia:
Click here to watch a music video: “Let Feng Zhenghu Return Home” on Youtube, made by a Chinese netizen, Flying White Cloud (白云飞）.
The music in the above video is from Taiwanese singer Feng Feifei (凤飞飞)’s famous song: The Road Home (归乡路) (1982), lyrics translated by CDT:
The Road Home
I try to set my sights beyond the far horizon
The road seems to extend forever
And is indistinct from the vastness of the earth
I can’t find the words to ask the heavens
True, there are thousands of waves deep in the sea of clouds
But nothing can stop my determination to return homeThe night has run its course and the sky is alreadly dim
After experiencing all the vicissitudes of life
How eager I am
To once again see the mountains and rivers of my homeland
And the brilliance of the Sun and the Moon there臺灣電影《血濺歸鄉路》主題曲，原錄於1982年出版的【你來了】專輯。
鳳飛飛 -《歸鄉路》
詞/晨曦 曲/劉家昌望斷天涯路茫茫 無語問穹蒼
雲海深處雖有千層浪 難阻我歸鄉夜已盡 天已亮 世事歷滄桑
迢迢山河 日月重光 切切在寄望
And the words in the last shot are from Chinese blogger Zhai Minglei‘s article “To not let Feng Zhenghu return home is China’s national shame, ” translated by CDT:
“A real man does not say the word ‘love’ lightly. Once he says it, he needs to have the courage to die for this love, whether the object of the love is your country, or your woman.”
“一个男人，千万别轻易说爱。一旦说了，就要有为爱而死的勇气，无论爱的是你的祖国，还是女人。”
Feng Zhenghu published his contact information as follows:
Cell phone in Japan：0081-80-3445-7210
Email box on his cell phone：ga7674eed77t8jf@softbank.ne.jp
Twitter account：http://twitter.com/fzhenghu
Website：http://fzh999.net
E-maill：fzh2005@hotmail.co.jp
Feng’s twitter account @fzhenghu currently has over 4800 followers. His supporters also set up another twitter account in English for him @fzhenghu_en
Update: Feng Zhenghu’s family and supporters published the following information calling for donations to support his efforts to return China:
The account numbers of Feng Zhenghu：
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ 272-1590194 Feng Zheng Hu
PayPal account：fzh999net@gmail.com
Bank of China 4038505-0188-038792-6 冯正虎
