KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — Wanita MCA today said today it will meet China’s ambassador to highlight the plight of two Malaysians barred from leaving the communist country despite not breaking any of its laws.
The head of the MCA women’s wing Datuk Heng Seai Kie said she will raise this matter with the Chinese ambassador here to find a “comprehensive solution” on the travel ban faced by Cheng Chau Yang and her eight-year-old son.
“So I will arrange a courtesy call to the China’s ambassador to Malaysia, Huang Huikang, and to raise this matter to inform him,” Heng said at a press conference here.
She said the visit will be in her capacity as both Wanita MCA chief and as adviser for national unity and integration in the Prime Minister’s Department.
She also described the problem of Chau Yang and her son as “trapped behind the great wall of China”.
Heng expressed hope that the joint press conference with Chau Yang’s family and local rights advocacy groups would bring the matter to the attention of both the Chinese and Malaysian government.
Earlier today, Malay Mail Online reported on the ordeal faced by Chau Yang and her son, including two previous abductions of the child by his father and the travel ban purportedly to secure the latter’s weekly visitation rights.
Heng noted that Chau Yang had already won custody rights for the child in China’s court and that the problem lies with enforcing her court victory.
Heng later said she had “full confidence” towards China’s legal system and stressed that there was no intention to interfere with China’s laws.
“What we wish to seek for is justice for Malaysians — a woman and a child — that have been denied their basic human rights as enshrined in the laws of China, Malaysia or the United Nations,” she said.
Heng believes that China’s senior leadership is unaware and had not given such instructions for the travel ban.
She hopes to see the Chinese authorities taking action to resolve the matter.
The press conference today was also attended by Chau Yang’s father Cheng Jeng Hua, mother How Geok Swa, elder sister Cheng Siang Yang and younger sister Cheng Xu Yang.
Jeng Hua said the family was sad and greatly missed Chau Yang as she had not been able to return home for a long time.
“We are here, our child is far away, we don’t know how’s her daily life, we hope for her to come back and have reunion,” he said.
“My mother-in-law, who is Chau Yang’s grandmother, is 94 years old this year. Every day she hopes for her grandchild to be back, but cannot. She almost fell apart when she heard maybe [the great-grandchild] can only return at age 18,” he told reporters in Mandarin, referring to the renewable travel ban that can be extended up to another 10 years.
He said the family was heartbroken that Chau Yang had to deal with going through multiple court cases to gain custody of her son, while also juggling both her work commitments at a multinational firm and caring for the child.
“So we hope that those with a sense of justice — whether it is those in the administration in Malaysia or those in China who are kind and have a sense of justice — will all help my daughter to be freed of this restriction and to be able to leave Shanghai and come back for a reunion before going back to work,” he said.
In a statement today, the family also said Chau Yang who is stably employed in China has no intention of frustrating the visitation rights of her ex-husband or any immediate intention to relocate to Malaysia, but merely wants the basic human rights for free movement to be reinstated for both her and her son.
The family handed over a memorandum to MCA’s Legal Advisory and Women’s Aid Centre to be passed to the Chinese ambassador.
Chau Yang’s family also highlighted an online petition to China president Xi Jinping and Malaysia’s Chinese ambassador, as well as a Facebook page to campaign for the freedom of movement for the mother and son.
