In some ways, Chinese jail isn’t as bad as you’d think.

Mostly, though, it sucks.

If you’re in the slammer in Beijing because of visa transgressions, you can look forward to lots of HBO and DVDs. That’s better than a lot of us foreigners have it on the outside, where satellite TV is illegal (although many of us indulge anyway).

You also can look forward to being woken up every couple of hours at night by a loudspeaker screaming “switch!” Prisoners must take two-hour turns keeping watch in pairs over other prisoners at night to ensure no one commits suicide.

Sisca, whose cautionary tale yesterday about going to jail after overstaying her visa in China, continues today with a rare inside glimpse into the Chinese prison system – and how to bide your time if you ever wind up there.

Let’s face it, as foreigners doing business in China, we’re often left to wonder how much we can get away with. Some suggest Chinese law is meant to be subverted. Chinese operate in legally grey areas, and we foreigners usually do too.

The most vexing issue of late has to do with residing in China legally, as restrictions on multiple entry as well as other visas in the run-up to the Olympics have pressed foreigners to stay in China through any means necessary.

Sisca’s tale underscores what happens when the law catches up with you after transgressions – whether or not you think you’re really breaking the law.

After overstaying her student visa, Sisca was trying desperately to leave China, as she illustrated yesterday. But a series of missteps landed her behind bars in Beijing for 18 days.

“When I first arrived in jail, I cried a lot,” Sisca said.

She pleaded with an officer to let her make a call with her cell phone. At first he refused, but after some additional begging, he allowed Sisca to phone a friend. Eventually, word got through to her sister in Indonesia that she was in trouble. But Sisca was in jail for four days without outside contact until embassy staff came to check on her.

Initially, she was confined to a cell with six other prisoners – almost all of them very young – and among whom were three Mongolian whores and a 14-year-old refugee from North Korea. She transferred cells once, where she also met a woman from Pakistan whose only mistake allegedly was to have lost her and her sister’s visas and report them stolen to the police. For that, she, along with her sister in a separate cell, received a sentence that already had spanned 6 months.

“The officer still didn’t tell them when they would be free,” Sisca said.

Sisca also befriended an 18-year-old girl from Myanmar who was arrested after working as a maid. She was not, however, in China on her own volition, as she was trafficked across the border then sold. She left behind an 80-year-old grandmother, who she was caring for, as there were no other family members left.

Plenty of Chinese also were in jail for selling things illegally in Tiananmen Square – things like photographs – and driving black-market taxis.

Cell conditions were plain – a white wall, grey floor and single window too high to see anything but the sky. They also were sanitary, as prisoners scrubbed the floors daily. One Chinese prisoner – angry that she couldn’t get any rice to eat – scrubbed the toilet with bread in protest.

But Sisca, who wore red jumpsuit outerwear, was allotted only a single pair of underwear to wear during the entire stay. She washed it nightly and put it on in the morning. Some didn’t wash their undergarments at all. Bras were forbidden.

Sisca, who wore a red jumpsuit, dug into the strict jail regimen. She was under the impression she would be there for a month, based on what officers said.

She awoke at 6:30 a.m. every morning to the dreaded loudspeaker – the same one that stirred her from sleep every two hours at night.

After Sisca washed herself and cleaned the cell, she was served breakfast at 7:30 a.m.. It consisted of a hard-boiled egg, a piece of bread and milk. That was much better than what the Chinese got – a single piece of Chinese bread and some yellow-colored soup.

“The taste is really ewww, disgusting,” Sisca said of the soup. “Bu hao chi.”

At 10 a.m., the TV came on, which was the most pleasant part of the day. Or at least, it could be, because it was HBO-enabled. Often, though, prisoners had to watch DVDs involving the history of China. Maybe that was part of rehab.

Lunch, at 11:30 a.m., was meatball soup and rice for foreigners. Later, dinner was the same with a slightly different vegetable in the meatball soup.

“Chinese also had meatball soup but the taste was different - really not good,” Sisca said. “Bu hao chi.”

The afternoon included a siesta at noon for two hours, followed by more cleaning, sitting and walking around the cell.

Prisoners often took time after the 4 p.m dinner to shower, as guards usually didn’t come by around this time. This was important because the bathroom door was see-through, so guards – often whom were male – could see female prisoners showering.

The bathroom was a rather public affair all around, as some prisoners would shower while others squatted right next to them to perform human duties. Sisca was shocked to see showerer and squatter engage in idle banter at times. She would have no part in that.

The TV came on again at 7 p.m. At 10 p.m., the dreaded loudspeaker screamed: “Sleep!” Sisca would – at least for a couple hours at a time.

As the days went by, Sisca and other prisoners suffered from extreme boredom. Because the cell window only opened to the sky, when a plane was heard, prisoners would scurry over and jockey to catch a glimpse of something akin to witnessing a solar eclipse in the civilized world.

Sisca found that speaking nicely with guards was helpful. If she asked in a sweet voice, she might – for instance – be able to get the TV channel changed. Or get some extra rice.

She grabbed an opportunity to clean laundry, as it allowed her to be outside in a garden as she hung clothes to dry. There, she picked fresh vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers after asking permission, and ate them along with fellow prisoners.

She made allies easily. One Chinese prisoner said, “Be my daughter.” She wanted Sisca to come live with her after they got sprung, and teach English.

Despite her friendliness, she still didn’t like the guards. They forced her to buy an additional ticket home – and at a higher price than necessary – although her original ticket still would be valid after she was released. Sisca thought it was a corrupt practice.

Sisca was released in the early morning on July 4 - forever joining Americans in referring to it as Independence Day.

She laughs off the experience now, but solemnly understands that more will follow in her footsteps.

For them, she recommends:

• Bringing books. You can read in jail. You might have to have some foresight to bring them though. Perhaps if you think your arrest is imminent….
• Bring some money, but not huge amounts. If you have money, guards may make you buy stuff at hefty prices.
• Don’t fight with officers. It’s no use. Be nice to them, and they may be nice to you.

Remember, if you wind up in jail having to watch paint dry, it’s not all bad.

“Maybe if you don’t have a job and you need to eat, you can go to jail,” Sisca said. TV, meals and shelter are free there, after all.

Sisca has less information about what you’d be in for at a penitentiary in China for longer-term prisoners. But she said she did know those prisoners got to go outside and workout. That’s better than being cooped up all day long in her more temporary jail.

Now, back in Indonesia, Sisca still longs to return to China.

“I have boyfriend there,” she said. “And I like China more than Indonesia. It’s kind of boring here.”

She’d readily acknowledge, though, that it’s also plenty boring in jail, and you should avoid it if possible.

Related:

• Hotel Arrest Is Nice, but Not Worth Expired Visa Trouble

    Channel: Vital News     |