by Ian Hamilton
Uncle said nothing but lowered his head as if making it an easier target to hit. He heard the men talking to each other, and then the gun was again placed at the base of his skull.
There was a click and the voice said, “One.” Uncle counted silently to five and then there was another click. The voice said, “Two.” Five seconds elapsed between each of the first four clicks, but after the fifth, the gun was pressed harder and held longer. Uncle had stayed still the entire time, confident that the gun wasn’t loaded but accepting that if it was, there was nothing he could do about it anyway. If he was meant to die at the hands of the PLA in a quasi-prison, then so be it. He’d see his family and Gui-San that much sooner.
He heard a sixth click and again didn’t react.
“You knew we weren’t going to kill you, didn’t you,” the voice said.
Uncle didn’t reply.
“But the next time you’re brought down here, we will. This was to give you a taste of what you can expect if you aren’t more co-operative. We know there’s been talk about a prison term, but that’s not going to happen. You co-operate or you die.”
“Say something,” a different voice demanded. “We want to know that you understand.”
“Co-operate or die. What’s not to understand?” Uncle said.
“You little prick,” someone said.
“Kick him,” another shouted.
As those words reverberated in Uncle’s ears, a boot was driven into his lower back and he toppled forward onto the ground. He twisted to one side to try to regain his feet, but he was kicked again, this time in the groin. He groaned and tried to pull himself into a fetal position, but the kicks were coming at him from all sides. The last thing he heard before he passed out was someone saying, “We’d better not kill him.”
( 28 )
Uncle awoke feeling light-headed, with no idea where he was or what had happened to him. He felt a tightness on his arm and realized he was hooked up to an IV. He thought he might be in a hospital, but what hospital had iron bars on its windows? He tried to lift himself up so he could get a clearer view of his surroundings, but a sharp, biting pain ran down his entire back, ending that effort. He closed his eyes and was soon asleep again.
When he woke the second time, Uncle wasn’t alone in the room. A nurse stood next to the bed changing the IV bag.
“Where am I?” he asked.
“Good, you’ve come to,” she said. “I’ll let the doctor know as soon as I’m finished with this.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in a military hospital.”
“But there are bars on the windows.”
“You are in a secure area of the hospital,” she said carefully. “Now let me get the doctor.”
She left, and Uncle began to piece together the events that had brought him there. He remembered Captain Ma, Lieutenant Su, questions about Peng, more insistent questions about the Liu family, a black cell, and finally the guards who had treated him like a football.
A voice interrupted his memories. “Mr. Chow, you are finally awake.”
“And you are?” Uncle asked.
“Doctor Song,” said the man in the white coat as he entered the room.
“You’re with the PLA?”
“No. This is a military hospital but I’m not formally attached to the PLA. Although I have to add, that doesn’t mean I don’t have admiration for them,” Song said as he approached the bed.
“How badly am I hurt?” Uncle asked.
“You have several broken ribs and a fracture in your right shoulder blade, and your internal organs have taken quite a beating. Nothing life-threatening, though.”
“How long have I been here?”
“This is your third day. We kept you sedated until we had a complete picture of your situation,” Song said.
“When can I leave?”
Song smiled. “Not so fast, Mr. Chow. We need to make sure your health is stable. Then, of course, there’s the question of how the PLA prosecutor’s office decides to proceed.”
“What does the prosecutor’s office have to do with this?”
“You’re in a secure part of this hospital for a reason. You are being held as a suspect in some offence that I haven’t been made privy to.”
“I’m being held for an offence I didn’t commit, and when I refused to confess, some PLA goons kicked the crap out of me.”
“Unfortunately, none of that is my area of responsibility,” Song said. “I’ve been told to call a Captain Ma when you’re able to talk and can be safely moved.”
“Moved to where?”
“I have no idea.”
Uncle shook his head. “This is crazy. Can I at least make a phone call?”
“That isn’t my decision. Actually, I’ve been told that you shouldn’t be allowed to communicate with anyone outside the hospital.”
“How about moving me? When will that be safe?”
“I don’t know yet, but please don’t have any concerns that I’d put you at risk.”
“At risk? Turning me over to Ma and his thugs is risk enough.”
“Please don’t involve me in your situation,” Song said.
“It seems to me that you’re already involved.”
“I’m a doctor looking after a patient, nothing more than that. Now I want to check your blood pressure and see how your ribs are coming along.”
Uncle sighed. “Go ahead.”
He was allowed to get out of bed later that day to go to the bathroom. It was a difficult and painful exercise and he was grateful to lie down again. He had been helped by a rather stout nurse who looked as if she could have carried him if necessary. “You have to keep moving,” she’d told him. “The more you move, the more quickly you’ll adjust to the pain.”
“I’ll do that, I promise,” he said. “But tell me, do you think you could make a phone call for me?”
She frowned. “I was warned about you. Don’t try to get me in trouble.”
“One phone call.”
“I can’t.”
Uncle asked both her and the doctor again the next day, and the day after, and their answers were always the same. Except on the third day the doctor said, “I think you’re ready to travel.”
“Where am I going?”
“I don’t know, but I told them that I need you back here after they’ve finished talking to you.”
“What if they don’t bring me back?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, without any conviction.
The following day, the stout nurse helped Uncle get dressed. His suit and shirt, to his surprise, had been cleaned. Then he was put in a wheelchair and taken downstairs. His second surprise was that he was rolled into an ambulance, where a medical attendant and two PLA soldiers waited for him. He couldn’t see where he was going, but he was certain it was to the building where he’d been held. It was a twenty-minute trip, which didn’t tell him anything, but when the ambulance stopped and he was rolled out, he saw that he was indeed back where his nightmare had started.
The medical attendant pushed him into the building, with the soldiers walking alongside. They took the elevator to the sub-basement. Uncle was convinced he was going to be put back in a cell, but instead they turned left and rolled him in the direction of the room where he’d met Ma and Su. Two soldiers with rifles held against their chests stood in front of the door. When they saw Uncle, they lowered their guns and opened the door.
Ma and Su were both inside, sitting next to each other at the table. But this time they weren’t alone. Four soldiers armed like those in the corridor stood inside the door, and along the wall three PLA officers sat in chairs. Two of the officers had the same insignias on their epaulettes as Ma, so Uncle assumed they were captains. The third officer was older and more portly, with a thick grey moustache and a head of silve
r hair. There were two gold stars on his epaulettes.
A soldier rolled Uncle to the table and then stood off to one side.
“Thank you for joining us,” Ma said.
“How could I refuse?” Uncle replied with a small smile, conscious that every eye in the room was focused on him.
“I’m pleased to see that you haven’t lost your sense of humour,” Ma said.
“It’s one of the few things I haven’t lost, but I’m sure you’ll try to find a way to separate it from me.”
Ma pursed his lips. “The events of a few days ago were regrettable. It isn’t how we typically manage our affairs. The men who were involved have been disciplined.”
“Is that an apology?”
“It is an explanation.”
“Are you trying to tell me those men acted entirely on their own, that they weren’t given orders?”
“Orders can be misinterpreted, and in this case they were.”
“That’s enough chat about who did what to whom and why. Let’s get on with the reason we’re here,” a loud, authoritative voice said.
Uncle looked at the silver-haired man and in that instant knew who he was. “General Ye,” he said.
“Get on with things,” Ye said to Ma, ignoring Uncle.
“Yes, sir,” Ma said, and then turned to Su. “Do you want to start?”
Su nodded and opened the file folder in front of him. “Mr. Chow, the last time we spoke, I explained to you that we have more than sufficient evidence to bring charges against you for corrupting a public official, namely Peng Da, a director in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone,” he said. “I also explained that we are prepared to forego those charges if you will co-operate with us in an investigation into the business practices of various members of the Liu family, including Liu Leji, who is currently director of customs for this zone. Will you confirm that’s what you were told?”
“I do have memories of being told that, and also that I’d be freed and permitted to cross the Hong Kong border if I told you what you want to know.”
“That is correct.”
“I have several problems with that particular conversation,” Uncle said. “The first is that you also told me I had twelve hours to consider my position, but only a few hours later I was dragged from my cell, handcuffed and blindfolded, had a gun put to my head, and then was kicked into unconsciousness. It makes me wonder if I can trust anything you say.”
“As Captain Ma has explained, those men acted wrongly.”
Uncle turned to look at Ye. “I didn’t think the chain of command in the PLA was so loose,” he said. “It is General Ye I’m speaking to, isn’t it?”
“It is, and you have my word that any deal you strike with Ma and Su will be honoured. So stop fucking around and tell them what they want to know.”
“That’s my second problem. I don’t have anything to tell them. I’m not doing business with the Liu family and I have no knowledge of any business in which they might be involved.”
“We have been told otherwise,” Su said.
“You intimated to me that it was Peng who made those claims. Given the situation he was in, I think he would have told you anything you wanted to hear to save himself.”
Ma touched the file. “It says in here that you own and operate three large warehouses with a local resident named Ming Gen.”
“He’s also my partner in two garment factories.”
“We are aware of that, but we’re more interested in the warehouses,” Ma said. “Is Ming an active partner in those warehouses or simply listed because the regulations require it?”
“He’s kept busy by the garment factories, so he doesn’t have any direct involvement with the warehouses. He treats them as a passive investment.”
“Are the warehouses profitable?”
“Very.”
“Has Ming received his portion of those profits?”
“We made a decision to retain the bulk of the profits inside the companies for the purpose of reinvesting, so profit distributions to my company and Ming have been minimal.”
Ma leaned towards Uncle. “Will you make that banking information available to us?”
Uncle paused. “Under the right circumstances I’d be prepared to instruct my bank to provide all the statements from the first day the warehouses were incorporated. I have nothing to hide.”
“What circumstances?” Ma asked.
“I’d have to be on the Hong Kong side of the border.”
“Why should we trust you to do that if you were in Hong Kong?”
“Trust seems to be in short supply on both sides,” Uncle said. “The difference is that if I renege, I have businesses worth hundreds of millions of dollars that you can go after. If you renege on me, I’ll probably end up dead.”
“You have an inflated view of the power we yield,” Ye said.
“I think not, General.”
“And all this talk about your partner Ming,” Ye said, ignoring Uncle’s comment. “It’s a distraction and nothing more. We know you’re in business with the Liu family. From the day you opened the first warehouse, the customs department has been directing business your way.”
“General, the SEZ had a shortage of warehouse space. We built our warehouses to meet a need. They are modern and the most efficient in Shenzhen. Why wouldn’t the customs department refer business to us?”
“That’s convenient bullshit,” Ye said. “Ma, tell the man the other information you have.”
“Yes, General,” Ma said. “We have learned that Liu Leji’s wife, Meilin, and his aunt, Gao Lan, have been a constant presence in the warehouses. When we sent officers disguised as potential customers to speak with the warehouse managers, they referred to the women as two of their bosses.”
“And the aunt flies in from Beijing to do this, isn’t that right,” Ye said.
“It is,” Ma said, and then turned back to Uncle. “How do you explain that?”
“I can’t, because I know nothing about it.”
“I’m losing my patience,” Ye snapped to one of the officers sitting next to him. “Captain Lin, explain to Chow one last time what his options are.”
The officer seemed surprised by the request and appeared hesitant, but finally he stood up and walked over to Uncle. He was tall, at least six feet and several inches, and towered over Uncle in his wheelchair. He looked down at him. “As the prosecutors have outlined, there is irrefutable evidence that you bribed Peng and are therefore guilty of corrupting a public official. But General Ye has decided that, because the Liu family’s indiscretions are a much greater danger to the stability of the state and the future of the special economic zones, he is prepared to waive the bribery charges and return you to Hong Kong — if you will admit that the Liu family is a silent partner in your warehouse businesses and has been actively promoting them for your mutual benefit.”
“And if there is nothing to confess?”
“There is a confession to be made. It’s only a question of whether or not you’re prepared to make it,” Lin said. “And if you are not, then Captain Ma’s department will bring charges against you and you’ll receive a swift trial and sentencing.”
“Assuming I’m found guilty,” Uncle said.
“This is nothing to joke about,” Lin said.
“I know that, and believe me, I’m not taking this lightly,” Uncle said. “But how much time do I have to make a decision? Another twelve hours?”
“One minute,” Ye said.
Uncle shrugged. “Then in that case the answer is no. I won’t confess to something that isn’t true.”
Ma looked at the general. “What will we do with him?”
“How soon can you have the bribery charges brought before a judge?”
“If you use your influence, we might be able to do it by late tomorrow.”
>
Ye turned to the other officer sitting next to him. “You make the calls and then coordinate with Ma,” he said.
“Yes, sir.”
“What will we do with Mr. Chow in the meantime?” Lin asked.
“Put him in a cell,” Ye said.
“I was told I’d be taken back to the hospital,” Uncle said.
“We have to call for an ambulance. We can’t have you sitting around just anywhere while you wait,” said Ye.
“Sir, would you object if I accompanied Mr. Chow to the cell?” Lin asked. “I would like one last chance to persuade him to see things our way.”
Ye hesitated and then said, “I think you’ll be wasting your time, but go ahead.”
( 29 )
Two soldiers accompanied Lin and Uncle down the corridor, where they were met by more guards.
“Mr. Chow is to be put in a cell until his ambulance arrives,” Lin said. “I’ll be going in to talk with him, so turn on the lights.”
The guards walked them further down the corridor, opened a cell door, and stepped back. One of the soldiers rolled Uncle inside. “This is twice as big as the one I was in before,” he said as he looked around.
“Close the door,” Lin said to the guard.
After the door had closed, Lin said to Uncle, “Do you mind if I sit?”
“Do what you want.”
Lin sat on the cot and whispered to Uncle, “Come closer.”
Uncle started to ask why but stopped. He moved so close that his chair was bumping against Lin’s knee. Lin reached into a breast pocket, took out a slip of paper, and passed it to Uncle. “Read this,” he said softly.
Uncle opened it and read, You can trust this man. It was signed by Liu Leji. “What’s this about?” he asked.
“Try to keep your voice down. There could be ears at the door,” Lin said.
“I need to know what this is about,” Uncle repeated, as quietly as he could.
“I’m here as a friend,” Lin said.
“I’m supposed to believe that? How stupid do you people think I am?”
