For the property?
The figure circled in red in the surveillance footage is Zhu Jin Hong.
After much effort, yesterday afternoon, I finally saw Zhu Jin Hong through the TV surveillance system at Nantong Fourth Hospital. This was the first time since Zhu Jin Hong had been forcibly admitted to the hospital by her mother Tang Meilan for treatment that she was seen on camera. At this moment, polite questions about whether she is doing well there seem hollow and powerless. The most practical and effective course of action is to get this poor woman out of this place of confinement as soon as possible. Fortunately, the legal procedures for Zhu Jin Hong to leave the "mental asylum" are being carried out step by step. The hospital has already sent a lawyer's letter to Zhu Jin Hong's immediate family members urging them to take action. Zhu Jin Hong's personal freedom can now be anticipated.
Through the surveillance lens,
the reporter finally met Zhu Jin Hong.
Wearing white pants and an orange shirt, with her hair neatly tied back in a ponytail, sitting quietly... This is what the reporter saw of Zhu Jin Hong on the screen in the surveillance room at Nantong Fourth People's Hospital yesterday. Although she never faced the camera throughout, at least the slim and gentle figure before our eyes reassured everyone who cares about Zhu Jin Hong's fate: she is waiting for her freedom in peace and safety.
Yesterday at Nantong Fourth People's Hospital, the reporter engaged in a two-hour conversation with Vice President Wang Lijuan. The reporter made no attempt to hide the fact that meeting Zhu Jin Hong and confirming her safety was the main purpose of this visit. But just like the CCTV reporters who were turned away here a few days ago, Wang Lijuan firmly refused the reporter's request time and again, leaving no hope: outsiders must have the consent of Zhu Jin Hong's guardian to visit. With the reporter’s self-awareness, it would be foolish to expect convenience from Mrs. Tang Meilan.
"We don't need to take photos or conduct interviews, or even disturb Zhu Jin Hong. We just want to see her current state. It will reassure many people who care about her present safety," the reporter pleaded. Wang Lijuan repeatedly emphasized that Zhu Jin Hong was "doing better than anyone else in the hospital." But as the reporter requested again and again, the hospital finally gave in. Wang Lijuan called in a staff member from the office and instructed them to check the surveillance equipment, "I can only do so much. Let you see her on the surveillance video."
The surveillance room was located in a three-story building next to the psychiatric rehabilitation center. When the reporter arrived there, Zhu Jin Hong's location was already displayed on a computer screen. Wang Lijuan told the reporter that it was the canteen of the rehabilitation center, where patients had just finished dinner. Some were sitting chatting idly, while others had already left. “Zhu Jin Hong just left, quickly, call the nurse to bring her back,” Wang Lijuan ordered the office staff.
The phone was answered, and the reporter saw a nurse holding a mobile phone appear on the screen, accepting instructions while rushing off-camera. Soon, she brought back a woman dressed in an orange top and white pants, guiding her to sit down on a chair in front of the camera. After giving her some instructions, she left. “That’s Zhu Jin Hong,” the surveillance room staff told the reporter.
The reporter's gaze lingered on the woman on the screen. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, and due to the pixelation, it was unclear if it was as gray as her lawyer had said. From entering the frame to sitting down, talking to the nurse until watching her walk away, she remained calm and gentle.
In fact, during the entire process, Zhu Jin Hong did not know that the nurse asked her to return to the cafeteria for the sake of the reporter behind the lens. Ghost-like, she never revealed her face on camera. Many patients sat, stood, or moved around in the cafeteria. Occasionally, someone passing by the lens would suddenly raise their head, leaving a close-up of their face, various expressions stirring mixed feelings. Zhu Jin Hong sat quietly for a while, then stood up and walked to a table far away in the picture, joining a group of three people chatting. She seemed to speak little, just listening quietly.
“She lives comfortably and safely here.” Wang Lijuan kept telling the reporter. But even after leaving the hospital, Zhu Jin Hong's back and that inner cry echoed in the reporter's mind: “I don’t belong here.”
The hospital sent out a lawyer's letter yesterday.
Tang Meilan has 24 hours left as “Mom.”
“We have already delivered a lawyer's letter to Tang Meilan urging her to come and take her daughter out of the hospital.” Yesterday afternoon, Wang Lijuan, vice president of Nantong Fourth People's Hospital, told the reporter.
“Tang Meilan refused to sign the lawyer's letter.” Last night, Wang Lijuan said over the phone.
Yesterday afternoon, the reporter interviewed Wang Lijuan face-to-face at Nantong Fourth People's Hospital. The experienced psychiatrist with over 30 years of clinical experience showed evident signs of mental fatigue. “After your reports came out, many journalists from the media came today, and I’ve been receiving them all day.” Wang Lijuan bitterly smiled.
At the same time Wang Lijuan was being interviewed by the reporter, in the medical department office, Deputy Director Xu Jian was rushing out with a stack of documents. Downstairs, a fully prepared car waited, with the hospital's legal advisor inside. That stack of documents was a lawyer's letter stamped with the hospital's red seal; they were heading straight to Tang Meilan’s home in Sanyu Town, Nantong City. It was rumored that among those accompanying them were representatives from the Women's Federation of Nantong City and other relevant departments, who would witness the event on-site.
“The content of the lawyer's letter requires Zhu Jin Hong's relatives to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations as guardians and come as soon as possible to handle Zhu Jin Hong's discharge procedures.” Wang Lijuan told the reporter that this lawyer's letter has legal effect. It will be successively delivered to Tang Meilan and her husband, as well as Zhu Jin Hong's two sisters, which is equivalent to issuing a "final ultimatum." If they refuse to sign or fail to act after receiving it, it will be considered as automatically abandoning their guardianship rights over Zhu Jin Hong, and the hospital will have grounds to take the next step to reselect a guardian for Zhu Jin Hong.
Last night, when the reporter inquired about the progress of the matter from Wang Lijuan, he was informed that Tang Meilan refused to sign the lawyer's letter on the spot. “She still has 24 hours to decide whether to come and take her daughter. If she continues to refuse, we will send the lawyer's letter to Zhu Jin Hong's other guardians, namely Zhu Jin Hong's father and her two sisters. They each have 24 hours to consider signing the lawyer's letter and deciding whether to take Zhu Jin Hong out of the hospital and when to do so.”
Wang Lijuan told the reporter that if Zhu Jin Hong's direct relatives abandon their responsibilities, the hospital will, according to the legal order of guardianship, reselect a guardian for Zhu Jin Hong to take her out of the hospital. The reporter roughly calculated that if everything goes smoothly, it would take less than a week to reach the fifth priority, where the community would take charge. “There’s no way, everything must be done according to rules and laws, the whole process must be followed.” Wang Lijuan helplessly stated. And after this complicated process is completed, it means that Zhu Jin Hong will completely sever the relationship of guardianship and being guarded with her relatives, perhaps cutting off the once-close familial ties.
So many power institutions
Why can't they overcome the "who sends who receives" rule?
Faced with the powerful "act according to rules and laws," the Nantong Municipal People's Congress also feels equally helpless. Facing the interviewing journalist, Director Wu Jianqiu of the Petition Supervision Office of the Standing Committee of the Nantong Municipal People's Congress sighed, "We've done all we can. The People's Congress is not the competent authority and has no power to make the hospital release her."
The first time Wu Jianqiu heard about Zhu Jin Hong's plight was when Zhu Jin Hong's lawyer Shen Rugyun brought two of her classmates to the petition office. "After hearing it, I was shocked and immediately went to investigate the situation." On July 22, the Nantong Municipal People's Congress convened multiple departments including the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Nantong Municipality, the Women's Federation, the Petition Bureau, the Public Security Bureau, the Health Bureau, the Fourth Hospital, and the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Chongchuan District for a supervision meeting to specifically discuss Zhu Jin Hong's issue. However, no consensus was reached.
On August 2, the Municipal People's Congress again convened multiple departments for the second coordination meeting regarding Zhu Jin Hong's discharge, and the Municipal People's Congress again required the competent authorities to promptly provide opinions. This coordination meeting lasted four hours. A summary was formed, which roughly read, "Considering the close relationship with Zhu Jin Hong, her university classmates are willing to assume the relevant responsibilities after her discharge. Taking into account the special relationship with her mother and other factors, it is suggested that her close classmates bear the responsibility after discharge, and the related discharge procedures will be coordinated between Nantong Fourth People's Hospital and Zhu Jin Hong's classmates." However, Wu Jianqiu said that ultimately, due to various reasons, the summary was not issued as a document.
In order to enable Zhu Jin Hong to be discharged from the hospital as soon as possible, several of her university classmates have expressed their willingness to take responsibility for Zhu Jin Hong after her discharge. In a draft commitment letter that has not yet been signed, Zhu Jin Hong's classmates promised to assist in handling the discharge procedures, arrange accommodation or convalescence for her from discharge until her return to Japan, until her health recovers, etc. The validity period of the commitment is from Zhu Jin Hong's discharge until her return to Japan.
Director Wu Jianqiu told the reporter that Zhu Jin Hong's classmates agreed to sign the commitment letter. However, the reporter heard contrary information from Nantong Fourth Hospital yesterday, stating that Zhu Jin Hong's classmates only hoped she could be discharged as soon as possible but were unwilling to sign and bear this responsibility. "Actually, her classmates' promise is also invalid," Wang Lijuan told the reporter, "A guardian is not someone who just signs up willingly."
"As the supervising department, we can only do so much," Wu Jianqiu said. After the two coordination meetings left the situation in a deadlock again, he helplessly suggested that the hospital start the prompt procedure for the guardian's lawyer's letter, but the response was that the pre-discharge treatment diagnosis opinion and related legal preparations needed to be improved. Yesterday, Wu Jianqiu's statement was basically confirmed by Vice President Wang Lijuan. She indicated that all preparations are now ready, and the hospital will immediately start the delivery process of the lawyer's letter.
Then, is it really true, as Wang Lijuan said, that Zhu Jin Hong cannot leave the mental hospital unless the legal process of prompting the guardian's lawyer's letter and the possible re-determination of the guardian is completed? "It can be done. Red-headed official documents, meeting summaries, these tangible documents, let the relevant departments give one to the hospital, and we will immediately follow orders and release her," a relevant person in charge of the Fourth Hospital said. Although indeed many departments and leaders have paid attention to this matter and inquired about its progress, so far, there has been no formal documented basis with any supporting evidence. "Without evidence, who will bear the responsibility if there are any issues after the patient is discharged? Isn't it still us? Even if her family comes to demand her and sues us in court, it will be a sure win."
Thus, various levels of departments urge the hospital to resolve this matter, but they have neither the power, the method, nor the courage to give the hospital a certificate to take on subsequent responsibilities, making the administrative pressure surrounding the hospital seem illusory; and making their "both legal, reasonable, and fair" good wishes become empty words.
By Zhang Lei and Guo Xiaoquan
Source: CCTV-2