'My Mother Has Done Nothing Wrong'

Middle-school student Chen Qiao was sent to study in the United States after her father, veteran Sichuan-based pro-democracy activist Liu Xianbin, received a 10-year jail term for subversion in May 2011. She spoke to RFA's Mandarin service about her new life with a Chinese-American family, and called on the Sichuan authorities to allow her mother Chen Mingxian to visit her for the summer holidays:

"My mother told me yesterday that the police told her they could probably give her a passport at the end of 2012 ... because of the 18th Party Congress. [They meant] when the congress was over. I want to go back, but I can't. I wish my mother could come visit. [She feels] hopeless. My mother hasn't done anything wrong. All she wants is to come and see me. Why can't she come to America? I wish they would think about what it feels like for a mother to want to see her child. I hope they can understand it. Of course [I want to see her too]."

"What I want is, if my mother comes here, to be able to go out and have a good time. I have so many things I want to do [with her]. I want to do it all! [I have been in the U.S.] for eight months now. My grades have been getting better and better. You know, when I first came here, I was getting 30 and 40 percent in biology and history. Now I am getting nearly 90 percent in biology and 80 percent in history. [My English is] getting a bit better. I can speak more fluently now. Right now it's a question of vocabulary."

"[I get on with my host's family] very well. They have an awesome family. They give me a lot of freedom and independence. Sometimes, if I get something wrong, they don't criticize me. They often take me out to have fun."
 
Reported by CK for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated by Luisetta Mudie.