Kiwi Nick Wang Claims China Treated Him “Like An Animal” In Prison

New Zealand citizen Nick Wang knew it was a big risk to go back to China after his former home country rejected his visa application to visit 18 times in the past 10 years. Still, he wasn't prepared for the animal-like treatment he received when he illegally set foot in the Asian country.

The former newspaper editor said that he just wanted to visit his sick 88-year-old father and 85-year-old mother in Hohhot in Inner Mongolia so he changed his name to Nick Whakakingi in August to get a Chinese Visa.

"I decided that the only way I could see my parents again was to enter China illegally, though Mongolia," Mr Wang told NZ Herald. "It's a big risk and I got caught, but that does not give them the right to treat me like an animal."

He was able to reach his parents' home, but was tracked down three days later. He said he was interrogated at the Hohhot Detention Centre for five days and that authorities wouldn't even let him rest or have a toilet break.

"I was not given a chance to call my family or lawyer, and they wouldn't let me sleep."

He also claimed that he was not allowed to shower or brush his teeth for five days, or to leave his room to eat with other prisoners. He was also "beaten very heavily" and his arms and legs were chained.

"Now my arms are still very painful," he told The Dominion Post.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing was notified of his detention on Friday, two days after he was arrested for illegally entering China.

According to China and New Zealand's agreement, China should notify the other country's embassy within three days if a New Zealand citizen is arrested, committed to prison or custody pending trial, or is detained in any manner.

"The embassy proceeded to arrange a consular visit to Hohhot to check on his wellbeing and to extend consular assistance. Embassy staff were on standby in Hohhot to visit Mr [Wang] at the earliest opportunity," a spokesman from the ministry said.

However, Hohhot police said on Monday that Mr Wang had been deported to New Zealand Sunday.

According to a Chinese embassy officially, who denied knowledge of the Kiwi resident or the alleged incident, since Mr Wang is a New Zealand citizen, the issue was the responsibility of the New Zealand embassy in Beijing.

Mr Wang moved to New Zealand in 1992 and in 1998, started the Capital Chinese News in Wellington. His relationship with the Chinese Embassy soured in 2002 after he covered the visit of Chinese democracy campaigner Wei Jingsheng.

It was in 2004 when he ran a full-page spread of pictures of tanks to mark the 15^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre that his relationship with the embassy further suffered. And in 2007, he was evicted from the Beehive when he tried to cover a meeting between Chinese vice premier Zeng Peiyan and then deputy prime minister Michael Cullen.

Mr Wang said that the Chinese embassy in New Zealand raised concerns about his reporting. He was last in China in 2002.

He is planning to meet with Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission about his inhumane treatment.