The Soviet Union used to persecute people for manifesting “psychopathological mechanisms” of dissent—a “Cold War playbook” to which Putin’s Russia is returning.
The Chinese Communist Party also knows that you’d have to be crazy to oppose a wacko psychopathic life-destroying totalitarian state like the one that rules mainland China. So the Party goes after people like Zhang Junjie, who held up a blank sheet of paper to protest censorship; Jie Lijian, who attended a protest to demand better pay; Song Zaimin, who has been hospitalized at least five times for political speech (“ ‘I had anti-government views so they treated me for schizophrenia,’ ” BBC, January 22, 2025).
Zhang Junjie. “Junjie says he was restrained and beaten by hospital staff before being forced to take medication.
“His ordeal began in 2022, after he protested against China’s harsh lockdown policies. He says his professors spotted him after just five minutes and contacted his father, who took him back to the family home. He says his father called the police, and the next day—on his 18th birthday—two men drove him to what they claimed was a Covid test centre, but was actually a hospital.
“ ‘The doctors told me I had a very serious mental disease… Then they tied me to a bed. The nurses and doctors repeatedly told me, because of my views on the party and the government, then I must be mentally ill.’….
Junjie was held for 12 days. A month later, he was arrested for using fireworks, hospitalized for two months, and forced to take antipsychotic drugs after being released. Fearing a third arrest, he left China—without telling any friends or family.
Jie Lijian. “Like Junjie, Lijian says he was prescribed antipsychotic drugs that impaired his critical thinking. After a week in the hospital, he says he refused any more medication. After fighting with staff, and being told he was causing trouble, Lijian was sent for ECT—a therapy which involves passing electric currents through a patient’s brain.
“ ‘The pain was from head to toe. My whole body felt like it wasn’t my own. It was really painful. Electric shock on. Then off. Electric shock on. Then off. I fainted several times. I felt like I was dying.’
This ordeal took place in 2018. Lijian was released after 52 days. He too has escaped China, and he is currently seeking asylum in the United States.
Song Zaimin. The BBC was allowed to examine the medical records “of democracy activist Song Zaimin, hospitalised for a fifth time last year, which makes it clear how closely political views appear to be tied to a psychiatric diagnosis.
“ ‘Today, he was…talking a lot, speaking incoherently, and criticising the Communist Party. Therefore, he was sent to our hospital for inpatient treatment by the police, doctors, and his local residents’ committee. This was an involuntary hospitalisation.’ ”
