Native name 张上 Occupation human rights activist Name Zhang Shang | Other names Tony, Shujen Chang Years active 2014–present | |
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Born October 1993 (age 22) Shenyang, Liaoning, China Residence Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Education Queensland University of Technology | ||
Zhang Shang (simplified Chinese: 张上; traditional Chinese: 張上) (born October 1993), also known as Tony and Shujen Chang (traditional Chinese: 張樹人; simplified Chinese: 张树人), is a Chinese political dissident and human rights activist from Shenyang, Liaoning, People's Republic of China. He was arrested and persecuted by Chinese government at the age of 14 for inciting subversion of state power. After that, he studied abroad in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Currently he is in a Bachelor's degree at Queensland University of Technology. He is well known for getting involved in organising supportive activities for Hong Kong Umbrella Movement and meeting the 14th Dalai Lama in Brisbane in spite of pressure from the Communist Party of China.
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Early life in China
Zhang was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, People's Republic of China in 1993. Like many Chinese in pre-modern China, Zhang had many names. His birth name was Zhang Shang, and his English name was Tony. His courtesy name was Shuren or Shu-jen (Wade-Giles). He used Shujen Chang as his alias according to his courtesy name in Wade-Giles.
Zhang was diagnosed with dyslexia and autism soon after his birth. Under enormous reading and writing practice by his father, his corresponding ability to read and write had gradually caught up with others by junior middle school. His academic records was even at the top of the class, obtaining the first place of math in Grade 7.
Late in 2007, Zhang was selected as an exchange student by his junior middle school, to attend an student exchange program in Jeonnam National University Middle School（Korean：-{전남대학교 사범대학 부설중학교}-） in South Korea.
Early in 2008, after back to China, Zhang started to strive for democracy and spread democratic values to classmates. Later, he was arrested and persecuted by Chinese government for inciting subversion of state power due to his support of Taiwan independence movement. At the time of being arrested, he was just 14 years old. After being released, he continued to be monitored and harassed by the police, even rebuked and beaten by his teachers, and bullied by fellow students in his school. However, he accordingly decided to endeavour to change the political system in China.
On 18 September 2012, as a citizen journalist, Zhang participated in China anti-Japanese demonstrations, and wrote a report using his pseudonym Shujen Chang in Wikinews to uncover the manipulation of the demonstrations by Chinese government and protesters attacking the Japanese Consulate-General with the connivance of Chinese government. The article was later translated and republished by Yasuda Minetoshi（Japanese：-{安田峰俊}-）, a Japanese writer, attracting numerous views from Japan. He was consequently interrogated and questioned by the police again, but owing to the lack of evidence, he was released after writing a guarantee. This interrogation, nevertheless, terrified him deeply so that he began to prepare overseas studies to get rid of further persecution by Chinese government.
After finishing the IELTS test in 2013, Zhang was admitted to Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. In May 2014, he left China for Australia to study and continued his fight for Chinese democracy movement.
Political activities in Australia
On 22 September 2014, when 2014 Hong Kong class boycott campaign began, with his Hong Kong schoolmates and lecturer in Queensland University of Technology, Zhang, who had already been studying there, started to distribute yellow ribbons and flyers to support. After the violent tactics by Hong Kong Police such as the use of tear gas on 28 September, Zhang participated in the rally in Brisbane's CBD on 1 October and made a speech, appealing to Hong Kong not to fall into the enemy hands, not to be occupied by the Communist Party of China, and not to be assimilated by Mainland China. When interviewed by New Tang Dynasty Television, Zhang, using his pseudonym Shujen Chang, indicated that he hoped more Chinese oversea students could stop being silent, stop conniving at the atrocity of Communist Party of China, and stand out to express themselves like himself.
Early in November 2014, prior to the G20 Brisbane summit, Zhang, with two Hong Kong schoolmates Alvin Cheng and Nardo Wai, started to organise a rally outside the summit venue to support Hong Kong Umbrella Movement, appealing for attention of the situation in Hong Kong from the international community.
On 13 October 2014, Zhang and Nardo went in advance on a hunger strike, and unfurled a banner with "Support HK Umbrella Revolution" outside the hotel in which Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping was scheduled to stay. After unfurling the banner for "just ten seconds", they received exclusion notices by Australian police officers to ban them from the G20 security zones, virtually Brisbane's entire CBD, in the following 3 days. After that, they were interviewed by the journalists from Daily Mail, who questioned Australia about losing its democracy. This news report was then republished by numerous Chinese media such as Apple Daily in Hong Kong and Liberty Times in Taiwan, attracting widespread attention. On the next day, Australian police forces removed the exclusion notices from them.
On 15 November 2014, Zhang participated the rally of Tibetan groups at the G20 Brisbane summit. He made a speech to ask more Chinese people to pay attention to the situation in Tibet and indicated that he had attended supportive activities for Hong Kong Umbrella Movement, believing that "the Chinese Communist Party is nibbling away the democracy in Hong Kong", "making Hong Kong step into the shoes of Tibet".
On 16 November 2014, Zhang, Alvin and Nardo formally started their 4-hour rally in support for the Umbrella Movement on the lawn near the South Bank Parkland Suncorp Piazza outside the G20 summit venue. Numerous oversea students from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China participated in the rally. When interviewed by TVB, Zhang indicated that he wish democratic movements in Hong Kong could eventually bring democracy to Mainland China.
From 28 to 30 March 2015, during the China Democracy Process Conference in Sydney, Zhang, using his pseudonym Shujen Chang, made a speech "From Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan to Occupy Central in Hong Kong: youth power on democratic movements" based on his experience of participating activities related to the Umbrella Movement.
On 12 June 2015, when the 14th Dalai Lama was having the public talk "Wisdom of Compassion" in Brisbane, Zhang organised a meeting of the 14th Dalai Lama and Chinese oversea students. He then wrote an article to state his thoughts after the meeting, and mentioned that before the meeting his family members were harassed by people from Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China. The article then has been widely republished in social media.
On 16 June 2015, when interviewed by Voice of Tibet, Zhang stressed that the meeting between His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and Chinese oversea students proved that the aim of the Communist Party of China to bring the overseas students into the united front had failed. After that, media covered his brave meeting with the 14th Dalai Lama in spite of the pressure from the Communist Party of China harassments to his family members.