A Cameroonian Journalist, Abused and Disabused in China

by By Matthew Robertson/Epoch Times Staff

A Chinese prisoner awoke at 3am, checked to see the other prisoners were fast asleep, and furtively produced this sketch of Patrick Sianne as he was in prison. Sianne says it could have cost the prisoner his life, or at least a thorough beating. (Courtesy of the subject) “At these words I abandon every remaining shred of trust. I need no further proof that this is a society that revolves around hatred, discrimination, and persecution.” – Yang Xiguang, Chinese labor camp survivor.

A Cameroonian Journalist, Abused and Disabused in China
by By Matthew Robertson/Epoch Times Staff

A Chinese prisoner awoke at 3am, checked to see the other prisoners were fast asleep, and furtively produced this sketch of Patrick Sianne as he was in prison. Sianne says it could have cost the prisoner his life, or at least a thorough beating. (Courtesy of the subject) “At these words I abandon every remaining shred of trust. I need no further proof that this is a society that revolves around hatred, discrimination, and persecution.” – Yang Xiguang, Chinese labor camp survivor.

PATRICK PIEPLIEU SIANNE, FOR ONE DECADE THE FACE OF BROADCAST NEWS IN HIS NATIVE CAMEROON, WENT TO CHINA IN 2006 ON A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION—SOMETHING OF A 21ST CENTURY DE TOCQUEVILLE—BUT “ENDED UP IN A VERY DARK HOLE, BRUTALIZED PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY,” HE NOW SAYS.

HE IS BACK IN CAMEROON, TELLING HIS STORY AND WRITING A BOOK. HE HAS TURNED 180 DEGREES ON THE VIEWS HE USED TO HOLD OF CONTEMPORARY CHINA AND ITS COMMUNIST LEADERSHIP.

“PRESIDENT HU JINTAO’S DILIGENT STEWARDSHIP OF THE STATE, HIS VISION AND HUMANISM ARE ARGUABLY THE BEST AMONG EQUALS…” SIANNE WROTE IN 2007, IN A LETTER. HE EXPRESSED SIMILAR SENTIMENTS ONLINE—HE WAS A PROLIFIC ONLINE PERSONALITY, GAINING ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR BLOGS ON SINA.COM—BEFORE HIS PRISON EXPERIENCES.

NOW HE SAYS “ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY… THE COMMUNIST PARTY HAS LITTLE STOMACH FOR DEEP, MEANINGFUL CHANGE.”

FOR SIANNE, IT WAS A LESSON LEARNED THROUGH BITTER EXPERIENCE: ROUGH ENCOUNTERS WITH CHINESE POLICE, RUN-INS WITH BUREAUCRATS WHO COULD CHANGE HIS FATE IN THE TIME IT TAKES TO STAMP A PAPER, AND WITH AS MUCH CONCERN, AND WITH CHINESE WHO OFTEN HAD, SIANNE SAYS, NOTHING BUT THINLY DISGUISED CONTEMPT FOR THE FACT THAT HE WAS A BLACK MAN DATING, AND LATER MARRIED TO, A BRIGHT YOUNG CHINESE WOMAN.

“I PHYSICALLY FEEL STILL IN PAIN AND SHOCK,” HE WRITES, A FEW DAYS AFTER GETTING BACK TO CAMEROON, IN OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR. “JUST ASKING FOR MY RIGHTS… I FOUND MYSELF TRAPPED IN A TERRIBLE SITUATION.”

TWO THEMES UNDERGIRD ALL OF SIANNE’S TRAVAILS IN CHINA: RACISM, AND BUREAUCRATIC BULLYING. AND HE OFTEN FOUND THE TWO WERE USED IN PERFECT COMPLEMENT.
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PATRICK SIANNE’S INTEREST IN CHINA GREW NATURALLY FROM A DESIRE TO FIND OUT THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES OF CAMEROON’S NEWEST IMMIGRANTS, “CHINESE WHO LANDED HERE TO SEEK THEIR FUTURE IN OUR BELOVED COUNTRY.” IT WAS 2006, AND HE HAD BEEN IN THE COUNTRY THREE YEARS AFTER GETTING HOME FROM AN EIGHT YEAR SOJOURN IN THE UNITED STATES, WHERE HE HAD BEEN STUDYING AND WORKING. HE LEFT CAMEROON FOR CHINA “WITH AN OPEN HEART, TO FIND A NEW PEOPLE.”

HE ARRIVED IN CHINA AS A TOURIST BUT SOON SETTLED INTO A RESPECTABLE SCHOOL IN SHANGHAI, AT WHICH HE BECAME A RESIDENT STUDENT, STUDYING CHINESE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE FOR ONE SEMESTER. HE HAD OBTAINED A STUDENT VISA; IT WAS THE BEGINNING.

THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS CAME AND THE STUDENTS WENT THEIR WAYS; THOUGH WHILE MOST WESTERNERS WERE AWARDED PLUM JOBS IN SUMMER CAMPS TEACHING ENGLISH, SIANNE WOULD BE CUT OFF AS SOON AS THE PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS MET HIM.

THE RÉSUMÉ WAS IMPRESSIVE—BROADCAST JOURNALIST ON PRIME TIME CAMEROONIAN TELEVISION FOR A DECADE, A MASTER’S DEGREE FROM THE UNITED STATES, FOUNDER OF AN NGO, SEVERAL FELLOWSHIPS IN INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM. BUT THE RÉSUMÉ DIDN’T MENTION SIANNE’S NATIONALITY, OR SKIN COLOR, WHICH IS “BLACK, VERY BLACK” AS ONE FRIEND WROTE IN A REFERENCE LETTER.

FROM AN ACQUAINTANCE FRENCHMAN IN SHANGHAI SIANNE GOT A JOB IN YUNNAN PROVINCE, THE REMOTE MOUNTAINOUS SOUTHWESTERN OUTCROP ABUTTING BURMA AND LAOS, KNOWN FOR ITS FIERY AUTONOMY. HE WAS IN LIJIANG IN YUNNAN, DOING SALES AND MARKETING FOR A RESTAURANT CALLED PETITE PARIS. FROM THERE HE WAS PUT UP FOR A JOB AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN QUJING, A SMALL PLACE OUTSIDE OF KUNMING, THE CAPITAL OF YUNNAN. HE ALSO MET HIS FIANCÉE, A CHINESE FROM CHENGDU NAMED ZHU DAN.

HERE THE QUESTION OF SIANNE’S VISA STATUS CAME INTO FOCUS, BECAUSE THIS WAS THE MASK IN WHICH RACISM WAS DISGUISED AND USED TO PUNISH HIM. SIANNE HAD ARRIVED IN CHINA ON A TOURIST VISA. THIS HE CHANGED TO A STUDENT VISA WHEN IN SHANGHAI.

HE HAD PLANNED TO CONTINUE HIS STUDIES AFTER THE JOB AT PETITE PARIS, BEFORE THE QUJING OFFER CAME UP, AND WAS READY TO BE ADMITTED TO A UNIVERSITY AS A STUDENT AND TEACHER IN LIJIANG. BUT HE SCRAPPED THIS PLAN AND MOVED ON TO THE COMMUNIST PARTY-RUN ESTABLISHMENT QUJING, WHICH REQUIRED A WORKING VISA.

HE TOOK UP EMPLOYMENT IN QUJING AT THE NUMBER ONE HIGH SCHOOL, THE OLDEST AND BEST IN THE PROVINCE. HE WAS PLACED THERE BY AN AWKWARDLY TITLED STATE-RUN RECRUITMENT AGENCY CALLED THE TRAINING CENTER OF YUNNAN BUREAU CHINA COUNCIL FOR PROMOTION OF APPLIED TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES; SIANNE’S EXCHANGES WITH THE LEADERS OF THIS “TRAINING CENTER” WERE PIVOTAL FOR HIS FATE IN CHINA.

THE TRAINING CENTER IS AN INSTITUTION THAT SIANNE WOULD LATER DESCRIBE, IN AN ELEGANT AND STRONGLY WORDED LETTER OF COMPLAINT SENT THROUGH A LAWYER IN CHINA IN 2007, AS “AN ASSEMBLY OF IRRESPONSIBLE CITIZENS,” “AN ORGANIZATION OF MAFIA PEOPLE,” “A QUACK OF AN EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT,” AND A “HEARTLESS” AND “FOOLHARDY” ORGANIZATION WHOSE BIAS AND ABILITY TO VICTIMIZE WITH IMPUNITY BROUGHT HIM IMMENSE PERSONAL SUFFERING.

AFTER HE HAD BEEN TEACHING AT THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR ONE MONTH, IT WAS TIME FOR HIM TO FINALIZE HIS VISA PAPERS.

FOR THIS HE RECEIVED GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS DIRECTING HIM TO HONG KONG, WHERE, OUTSIDE THE MAINLAND, HE COULD CHANGE HIS VISA STATUS (FROM STUDENT TO TOURIST TO WORKING). HE WAS FLOWN TO SHENZHEN AND BOATED TO HONG KONG, BUT AT THE CHINESE CHECKPOINT SOMETHING WENT WRONG. HE WAS MADE TO WAIT HOURS AND TOLD THAT, AS A BLACK AFRICAN, HE COULDN’T CROSS ON FOOT.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2... SIANNE GOT A TASTE, IN INSTITUTIONALIZED FORM, OF THE RACISM HE HAD SENSED ONLY VAGUELY BEFORE IN SHANGHAI.