Tiananmen Mother Held By Authorities

Tiananmen Mother Held By Authorities

By SONJA DECHIAN | Published: DECEMBER 2, 2011

 Radio Free Asia reports a woman seeking compensation for her son’s death has been detained and is being held by Chinese authorities. Tang Deying traveled to Beijing after her compensation lawsuit was turned down by a high court this month. She planned to follow up on the ‘countless’ letters sent to authorities since her son died in custody during the 1989 military suppression of the democracy movement.

Tang’s son Zhou Guocong had been detained while watching the demonstrations as a 15-year-old.

Tang received a hardship payment from her local government in 2006, but no official statement was made about her son’s fate so she filed a formal compensation case in April this year.

She was told by the court, ‘The state will not pay compensation in respect of the June 4 Tiananmen incident.’