New Book Reveals Suffering Behind Shanghai Expo

The book Shanghai Calvary is a compilation of cruel events that happened leading up to the Shanghai Expo—events that visitors to the Expo may never hear about.

The book is by New York Times photographer Du Bin. He’s based in Beijing and published the book in Taiwan.

Bin says his encounters with Shanghai petitioners since last September motivated him to write the book.

[Du Bin, Author of Shanghai Calvary]:
“Because of these events, I felt if I don’t do this I will have an uneasy conscience, and that I have wronged myself. Actually, I know there are risks for me to write this, but my conscience felt that I can’t pretend I didn’t see or hear about these things.”

The petitioners in the book are all ordinary Shanghai residents. When preparations for the Shanghai Expo began, many became victims of forced relocations to make way for developing the Expo.

Li Yu-fang went to Beijing to petition for justice, but she was taken back to Shanghai and locked in the Yangpu District Watch House. Du Bin says, she was beaten and tortured there.

[Du Bin, Author of Shanghai Calvary]:
“She was handcuffed to a big metal gate, with her feet touching the ground, and her arms were turned back and cuffed above her head. That position was worse than death. She was there for three nights and days, and her fingers became disabled, she was not allowed to sleep, and her hands swelled like buns. She tried to yell at the beginning, but lost the strength to do that in the end.”

Du says many female petitioners told him stories of being strip searched by male prison guards. Others were subjected to public humiliation.

[Du Bin, Author of Shanghai Calvary]:
“A woman, told Zhang Cuiping, was made to wash her clothes and shower while being watched by many people. She was given five minutes to do the washing, and if she couldn’t finish, then so be it. She said she was locked up for two weeks and she gave in. She said if she did not give in, she would have died there.”

The New York Times photographer says the accounts in his book are just the tip of the iceberg of all the residents victimized around the Shanghai Expo.

Foto: NTDTV