征求英文版朱令案介绍
树精
是不是做个置顶的用英文介绍的帖子呢?" christzxq wrote:"
可以专门做个英文贴.一开始至少可以把一些现成的英文资料贴上去."
因珍珠E的建议，我们需要联系一些海外人士做一些宣传，所以我们需要英文版的朱令案介绍。
上次我也呼吁海外网友，将helpzhuling.org上的英文介绍复制粘贴过来，一直未有响应。因我们无法浏览相关网页，再次恳请海外网友的帮助。
也有网友提议，直接将中文版的朱令案件翻译成英文。我觉得，国际友人未必能理解简介里的一些中国思维。所以还是重新编辑为好。
附:朱令案件简介
11年前,清华女生,朱令，才华横溢美丽出众，被人投铊毒,受尽苦痛生命垂危!经其高中同学-北大学生贝志城等人借助互联网向全世界求救,朱令的性命最终得以挽救，排毒后留下了蓝色的眼泪。
但是，铊毒已造成不可逆转的巨大伤害：神经系统完全摧毁，终身瘫痪，7岁智力，双目接近失明!!!
朱令虽得幸存，但一个美好的生命和一个幸福的家庭从此彻底毁灭！
然而，11年后的今天，凶手仍法外逍遥!!!
朱令的清华室友,孙维(现改名为孙释颜，其哥哥案件后亦改了名字)--自始至终为北京市公安排查后确定的唯一嫌疑人，其家世背景显赫,
在8小时官方拘留后神秘释放，毕业时，清华拒发毕业/学位证书，案件被无故搁置至今。
05年12月30日，孙维针对《天妒红颜》一文，在天涯社区发表《声明》后，网上掀起讨论狂潮，贝志城也发文并接受网易采访，直言凶手正是孙维，孙维未对此指证作出任何应对。随后孙维《声明》的漏洞被各行业的专业人士指出，无数疑问被提出，大量相关内情被一一披露!
曾当年负责朱令案侦破的警察李树森，接到记者电话时态度很和善，“这件事在调查工作中已有一定结论，从个人来讲，我不愿意回答；从公安民警的纪律来说，我不宜发表意见。领导要求我怎么向媒体说一些事情，我只有照办。这件事情很敏感，过去那么长时间了……”（来源：三联生活周刊）”。2006年1月
13日晚间，李树森以“有些事情不好说、不能说”为由婉拒记者（来源：新民周刊）。
与此同时，天涯、新浪、百度上关于此事件的讨论区几度被封！！
为什么???
不清楚"朱令被投毒事件" 的广大网友,请用百度搜索
"朱令 "!
请搜索阅读,支持朱令! 支持重启司法程序,让凶手伏法!
http://groups.google.es/group/eliteofzhuling?
朱令母亲帐号：
中国银行：4060507-0188-004863-3，开户名是“朱明新”，
英文名称是
“BANK OF CHINA BEIJING BRANGCH CHONG WEN FANG CHENG YUAN OFFICE SWIFT
CODE ：BKCHCNBJ
110”（中国银行北京市崇文区支行芳城园分理处）
树精
Lab poisoning mystery triggers debate
By Jessie Tao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-01-13 17:37
Zhu Ling as a college student in Tsinghua University in 1995.
A mysterious poisoning case that happened 11 years ago in Tsinghua
University has once again drawn attention of visitors to the Tianya
club, one of the most visited online BBS in China.
Discussions have increased after the NO.1 suspect involved in a
student's death recently issued a statement of innocence for the first
time after keeping silent for years.
Back in 1995, Zhu Ling was a sweet and smart chemistry student in the
prestigious Tsinghua University. But she fell into a devastating state
due to thallium poisoning. She is now fully paralyzed and has lost
almost all the eyesight and language ability.
Discussion and speculation have never stopped on whether someone
attempted to murder her through thallium poisoning, although the police
have yet to give a definite answer.
One of Zhu Ling's roommates, Sun Wei (alias), has been deemed the No. 1
suspect by Zhu's parents.
"The university told us Sun was doing a research with a professor at
that time. Thus she was the only student who might have access to the
deadly heavy metal of thallium" said Zhu's mother.
Eleven years later, Zhu Ling's classmates, who have been collecting
money for Zhu Ling's treatment, again called for caring for the
unfortunate woman, with the launch of a thread titled "Tsinghua girl
poisoned ten years ago" in Tianya.
A netizen named Skyoneline wrote in the thread:
"…Smart, beautiful, and elegant, Zhu Ling was perfect in most
people's eyes. But a weird poisoning incident changed everything. In
December of 1994, she suffered from a serious illness -- heavy hair
loss, paralyzed face, inarticulate, and weak limbs. None of the
specialists in Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) could
identify the cause, therefore, treatment was delayed."
树精
In April 1995, in the early wave of the Web proliferation, an SOS email
from Peking University looking for urgent medical help for a student in
coma, drawed attentions from the world medical community and also the
Chinese community at home and abroad. Voluntary help from doctors and
students overcame medical, technical and cultural limitations and lead
to coorect diagnosis and treatment that saved the girl, Zhu Ling. (See
details)
However, as of today, March 6, 2002, Zhu Ling is not fully
neurologically recovered yet. The suspect who poisoned her with
Thallium is still at large. Her family is still under significant
financial burden to bring her back to normal life.
This groups serves to coordinate people who care about Zhu Ling's
recovery, financial needs and legal investigation.
Zhu Ling is saved through the help from the Internet. We believe she
can fully recover and we also believe justice will be served and the
suspect will be punished.
Let us use the Internet again!
alienguest
CHENG Zhongzhou [10/24/2004]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zhongzhou Chen, Student Representative for Physical Chemistry Class 2
Published 2003
Students in Tsinghua University, especially between male and female
students, did not communicate much and consequently knew little about
each other. As for those who had social activities outside the class,
such as the member of the Folk Music band or other students'
organizations, we knew even less about them. So I don't know much about
know Zhuling. However, I can still recall a couple of things regarding
Zhu Lings poisoning case.
>From the end of 1994 to the beginning of 1995, our core chemistry
course is physical chemistry, which everybody knows that it is the most
difficult course in chemistry major. I happened to be the student
representative for this course. She(Zhuling) always deliver her
homework on time and does a great job almost every time and often
acknowledged by Professor Fangyu Xue, who taught the course and also
the dean of the department.
Many classmates felt her face was pale but none of us knew that she had
suffered such a severe illness. She was such a diligent student.
We were all shocked while we first knew that Zhu Ling was poisoned. We
planed to help her parents, trying to call a donation from schoolmates
and the teachers in Tsinghua and society outside Tsinghua.
Back then, neither Zhu Ling's parents nor the teachers of the
department not aware that she would be ill for such a long time. The
expenses for the medicine treatment were reimbursed by Tsinghua
University at that time. Considering students were not economical
sufficient, we did not start the campaign for the donation in the
campus.
Zhuling's parents were also insisting not to bother others as long as
they can solve the problem themselves
(Translated by Joan and Jeanne Feb 26, 2006 (version 1))
alienguest
A Ten-Year Dream
ZHANG LI
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I once thought such a story could only happen in novels. Yet, it
happened around me, vividly, heart wrenching and I wish it were only a
dream.
10 years ago, a group of boys and girls enrolled in Tsinghua University
physical chemistry class II. Among them, Zhu Ling was one student from
Beijing.
Students from Beijing favorably can go to colleges with score double
digits lower than non- local students; therefore, Beijing students in
every department/class generally rank lower academically. But, our
class was an exception, and she, Zhu Ling, was outstanding.
Her excellence was from both inner and outer qualities. Till today, I
have never met such a perfect person as she was.
Born with beautifully bright eyes, fair complexion, tall figure and
elegant manners, she demonstrated natural nobility. The class
coordinator once even suggested her participating in a beauty contest.
If such description does not tell all, perhaps I can give another
example. One time, my roommate, Xue Gang, pointed to a magazine cover
and said to me, look! so much like Zhu Ling. I looked, and was well
surprised: Isn't this Zhu Ling? How did her photo get onto the magazine
cover? The subtitle remarkably wrote: Wang Fei, who is a famous Chinese
pop singer, considered being very elegant and pretty.
Her excellence in studies needs no elaboration. And other sides of her
were even more impressive. On the stage, her Gu Qin performance was
enchanting; At the track, her brilliant posture won secret applauses
from me, a National level II athlete. She skipped all the typing
classes, while during the test, after a storm of typing, she scored 100
with unbelievable superiority.
However, it was in the class of organic chemistry experiments that I
truly felt the pressure of her excellence. Every time, she was the last
to arrive and the first to leave the lab. Because our student ID
numbers were next to each other, our lab stations were neighbors.
When I finished preparations and was ready to start, she arrived at the
lab. However, after a quick view of experiment manuals, she finished it
without a break. She did it so skillfully that it was like an
outstanding chef cooking a delicacy meal. At the end, she was always
the first to finish and leave in a hurry. I had tried to keep up with
her speed, however I failed each time. Even if sometimes I was catching
up in speed, the quality of my work differed from hers dramatically.
Around her, I felt a lot of pressure and I began to doubt my ability,
and even considered that I chose the wrong major. Later, when I began
working on my graduation thesis in a lab, a senior fellow praised my
lab work dearly. Then, I suddenly clicked: It was not that I was so
bad, but she was too good. I wonder how surprised the fellow would be
had he seen the way Zhu Ling did the lab work.
Though she was outstanding, we kept a respectful distance from her.
Preoccupied with her musical club she seldom participated in class
activities. Until now, her image cannot be found in any of our class
festival party pictures. She acted so independently that we felt she
was an ice queen. But, that summer, she showed up at my birthday party
and gave a toast to me. Though she whisked off shortly again, I no
longer considered her to be proud and aloof.
If nothing had happened later, perhaps she would continue to excel to
this day. That fall, she suddenly fell ill, stomach aching and hair
falling out. She was still very strong and came back to school after
hospitalization. She lost all her pretty hair but her eyes were bright
and shining with perseverance. One time, after class, seeing she walked
with difficulty, Zhang Lei and I offered to carry her. However she
smiled gently and said, no thanks. I can do it myself. Then, she
willfully walked on with great effort.
At that time, we still believed that she would recover and continue to
excel. But, who would know, it was just the beginning of a nightmare.
Since then, her illness quickly worsened and even once vegetated her.
We, one after another, went to PUMC, HaiZong, and Bo Ai to visit her.
We came back with a sinking heart every time. Could it really be the
God were jealous of an outstanding person? Why such excellent people as
she and her sister were so unfortunate?
10 years passed. During the 10 years, several times I dreamed that she
recovered, came back to school and was as good as before. But every
time it was just a short dream, and reality is so merciless. When I
visited her this year, I found this was a real nightmare. Her once slim
figure, now is close to 200lbs and can only stand up with assistance,
Still fair skin, her bright eyes are no longer shining. I could not
face her directly. I'd rather live in the memories of the past. I wish,
perhaps after medical science is more developed, one day she could play
Gu Qin again; become as athletic as she was; perhaps she could cook as
well as she did her experiments.
I sincerely bless her. Wish she could stand up again, shining and
glorious in front of us, showing us her extraordinary talents.
(Translated by Sarah and Jeanne, February 2006. Version 1)
alienguest
Voices Within
Old TSCO Member
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just like everything else in the universe, Me and self are different,
yet connected. In answering to the call for essays on helping Zhu Ling,
let me listen to voices within - a dialogue between Me and self.
Me:
I don't know Zhu Ling in person. But I felt so sad whenever I heard
about her family's tragedy. As a stranger to her, should I help her?
self:
You are not a stranger to her. Neither is she to you. None of us lives
our lives in isolation, from anyone or anything. Your heart has known
her for a long time. Think as if she is your little sister. Act as if
she is your best friend. Feel as if she is within yourself.
Me:
But how? I cannot convince myself that way. She lives her life and I
live mine.
self:
I am sorry to say you are short-sighted. In fact, we are all connected.
Let's step aside from the Zhu Ling issue and look at the world around
you. Most people do not care about the suffering masses, the oppression
of minorities, the anger of the underclass, or the survival needs of
anyone but themselves and their immediate families. The inability to
experience the suffering of another as one's own is what allows such
suffering to continue.
How come could Hitler kill so many Jews? We allowed him to. Not until
people around the world felt an imminent need to stop Hitler so as not
to hurt themselves did they start to fight against him. We felt Jews
were different from us. How come are wars underplaying in this world
even when we are fully knowledgeable about the devastating outcomes? We
allow them to happen. As long as wars are not in our lands, we are
safe. We feel those who are dying are different from us. How come the
rich becomes richer, the poor becomes poorer, and the so-called
elevating education leads societies nowhere but a even deeper division
among classes? We allow the world to be this way. Among the lucky few
who are smart and hard-working enough to get postsecondary degrees and
obtain satisfactory jobs, we don't care about those disadvantaged
groups. We feel those "stupid and lazy" people are different from us.
And if you have watched the movie "The Day After Tomorrow", you would
understand how we have allowed the environment to change to the worst.
We think mother nature will always provide for our greedy industrial
needs. We feel nature itself is different from us.
The current world is full of separation. Cannot you see that this sense
of separation is gradually destroying our world? Separation breeds
indifference, false superiority. Unity produces compassion, genuine
equality. If you were blind before, now it is time to become conscious
about our connections.
Me:
Well, I kind of understand "we allowed" the world to be the way it is.
Sometimes I do hope to change the world. But how? We are so small as
individuals, especially when I don't have any money or power.
self:
Yes, as individuals we seem to be powerless. Yet individuals and
smaller groups must affect larger groups - and, ultimately, the largest
group of all, which is ALL humankind - for there to be permanent and
significant changes in our world. Group consciousness is everything: it
is so profound as to produce outcomes of unspeakable beauty or
ugliness, depending on what we choose our consciousness to be. Money
and power are merely some of the ways that you can influence others.
The best way to change the consciousness of others is by your example.
You want the world to change? Change your own world first.
Me:
All right. I suppose helping Zhu Ling is a change to my world. How is
group consciousness relate to this topic?
self:
What you are all doing is to create a group consciousness of caring,
compassion and love. The only problem of humanity is lack of love. Love
breeds tolerance and tolerance breeds peace. You are all lived examples
of greatness. By helping Zhu Ling, you are changing and creating your
own experiences. And individual experiences lead to lived experience of
all. Remember, the universe is in creation every moment because of you.
Me:
That sounds so beautiful! But sometimes I am puzzled. It seems that Zhu
Ling's family has suffered for 10 years. Our help seems to get nowhere.
Please pardon my whispering - don't you think Zhu Ling might have
wished to end her life so as to end this suffering?
self:
If she had wished to die, she would have already done so. Only because
she wanted to can she live until now. No one has the right to end
others' lives. Plus, what you regard as "suffering" might not be a
suffer for her. I am not saying she is not experiencing physical pain.
All I suggest is that her spirit chooses to live in a way that is best
in her model of the world. What you see as tragedies might be
opportunities for her to grow. Imagine her spirit saying to herself:
See how strong I am to live through such tremendous difficulties! As
long as she is alive, we should respect her life and help her as we
can.
Me:
I see! Please tell me what I can do for her.
self:
You are doing exactly the right thing! Participate. Voice. Create. By
helping Zhu Ling, you are helping yourself and the whole world. It is
the mentality of caring, compassion and love that matters. Don't limit
yourself to Zhu ling. Follow your heart and do whatever you can to
offer all your help to everyone around you. Yet expect nothing from
others, because they are within you as well.
Me:
Ok, I should follow my heart. Thank you so much! I enjoyed our
dialogue. One more question, though. What if sometimes my heart does
not know what to do?
self:
Then ask yourself: "What would love do now?"
with love,
Me & self
alienguest
http://www.helpzhuling.org/resources/videos/bike.mpeg
http://www.helpzhuling.org/resources/videos/drinking.mpeg
http://www.helpzhuling.org/resources/videos/facialexpressions.mpeg
http://www.helpzhuling.org/resources/videos/moveleg.mpeg
http://www.helpzhuling.org/resources/videos/visitingdoctor.mpeg
alienguest
| 消息来源：八阕--生活通讯 | 八阕编辑：2006-05-22 |
网址：http://www.popyard.org | | 抄送朋友 | 打印保留 |
八阕 http://www.popyard.org
【八阕】【八阕】一个劳动人民群众喜闻乐见的好地方:http://www.popyard.orgEditor's
note:
This article was put together through lots of spare time by a common
netizen who continuously followed ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning case.
The goal is to return a full view of ZHU Ling incident to the general
public. Considering some websites took the attitude of blocking related
discussions, I decided to publish this article （in Chinese） on
www.popyard.com. Here I'd like to express my deep respect for ZHU
Ling's parents, all the friends who contributed to ZHU Ling's
diagnosis, recovery and tracking of the murderer, all netizens who paid
close attention to this case and the editors of popyard who insisted on
the freedom of journalism. The same time I'd like to criticize some
reporter's inexact articles. Reporters please do more homework to avoid
spreading rumors from rumors. I tried my best to ensure the accuracy of
all events and time; however lacking of time, I might have omitted
things carelessly and have only indicated part of the sources.
Suggestions from informed readers are more than welcome. Besides facts
illumination, there are some notes by the editor, which could be
biased. Readers please make your own judgment. This report is rather
long in order to cover the case thoroughly. Web editors are welcome to
set up pages properly. I believe this case will see the day when rocks
emerge while the water subsides. Finally I'd like to thank volunteers
at helpzhuling.org for improving the English translation.
@@ 11/24/1973, ZHU Ling was born in Beijing and took her mother's
surname. Her official is "ZHU Ling-Ling", and everyone is used to call
her "ZHU Ling". Her elder sister, Wu Jin, bore the father's surname.
The father, Wu Cheng-Zhi, 66 years old now, was born in Shanghai. He
enrolled in Geophysics department at University of Science and
Technology of China （USTC） in 1959. He worked as a senior engineer
in China Earthquake Administration （CEA） before retirement. The
mother, ZHU Ming-Xin, 65 years old now, was Wu Cheng-Zhi's college
classmate. She worked as a senior engineer in China Ocean Shipping
Company （COSCO） before retirement.
**Note** ZHU Ling's relative recalled "ZHU Ling's elder sister Wu Jin
（1）'s birth name was Wu Jin （3） （note: Mandarin Chinese has
four tones. Here 1 stands for high level tone; 3 stands for low
falling-rising tone; the corresponding Chinese characters are
different; the first one has less strokes so it is easier to write.）
To be admitted to the primary school, she needed to learn how to write
her own name, but Jin （3） was difficult to write, so her name was
changed to Wu Jin （1）. Another reason was she weighted only 5.5
pounds at birth; "Wu Jin （1）" is a homophone of "five pounds". ZHU
Ling's birth name was "ZHU Ling-Ling". After her sister's name was
changed, her name was also changed to "ZHU Ling", since the character
"Ling" is "Jin" plus one stroke. The elder sister was prettier and the
younger sister was taller. Each of them has different merits and they
were both lovely girls that everyone likes. Both had excellent grades
at school and were good at playing the piano. Until today, I still
remember the happy moments that the sisters were playing piano duet
when I visited their home years ago. The pieces they played were
"Minute" （Waltz No.6 op.64, 1 in D Flat Major） and "Classic Cat"
（Waltz No.4 op.34, 3 in F Major） by Frederic Chopin. At that time
their family was filled with laughter, a fascinating family leading a
blessed life." （Source: article "Something I know: noble in China ---
Why ZHU Ling-Ling is called ZHU Ling" posted at www.news.sina.com.cn on
01/31/2006）
@@ Sep. 1987, ZHU Ling's sister, Wu Jin, enrolled in Biology department
at prestigious Peking University.
**Note** an introduction of Peking University can be found at
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_University
**Note** ZHU Ling's relative recalled "Wu Jin was admitted to Biology
Department of Peking University （which held the record of the highest
enrollment grades threshold nationwide） with exceptional high grades.
She not only was good at study and piano playing, but also excelled in
ballet. She was the backbone of Peking University Student Dance Team.
（Source: ibid）
@@ Apr. 1989, Wu Jin went to a weekend fieldtrip to Ye Shan Po （a
mountainous area close to Beijing） with her classmates and she
disappeared. Her body was found under a cliff three days later.
**Note** ZHU Ling's relative recalled "ZHU Ling's sister Wu Jin died of
accident. At the time she and her classmates went to Ye Shan Po for a
weekend fieldtrip. When returning to the school, they split into two
groups and one group went first. Wu Jin was in the second group at
first, but she figured that she had some work unfinished at school, so
she decided to run after the first group by herself. Unfortunately she
fell off from the cliff. After the accident it was found that the cliff
was very covert and difficult to tell. Till now there is a warning sign
at the place she fell. That time, her classmates were unaware of her
accident, thinking she had returned with the students in the first
group. when they reached the school, they thought she had gone home.
They realized her disappearance only after the class started, which was
already three days after the accident. Later the police had ruled out
the possibility of homicide or suicide. Her demise was determined to be
an accident." （Source: ibid）
Note: WU Jin's PKU classmate recollected: " Seeing someone mentioned
and was surprised by the fact WU Jin was left behind alone, I'd like to
comment from what I know as the truth. It may not relate to ZHU Ling's
case and I am just to repeat some facts.
WU Jin left for Ye Shan Po field trip on Saturday with her classmates
and they all skipped Saturday's classes. It was said everyone
（including WU Jin） really had a good time. The class spent the
Saturday night in local villagers' home. Based on individual plan, the
group split into two subgroups, which would return Beijing in the
morning （morning group） and afternoon （afternoon group）
separately. WU Jin was to return the city in the morning because she
had to attend the aerobic performance rehearsal at school on Sunday
afternoon. In fact not everyone in the morning group knew WU Jin's
schedule on Sunday afternoon except that she also wanted to go back in
the morning.
The next morning, when the afternoon group was set off （to have more
fun）, there was still some time left before the morning group's
leaving, and WU Jin's best friend was in the afternoon group, plus that
they all had a very good time together the previous day, WU Jin though
had to leave soon but was still enthusiastic about going around to the
last minute with the afternoon group and then she would reunite with
the other group afterwards. She took her personal items with herself so
that she could go to the train station directly to join her group. Here
came the misunderstanding. WU Jin went back to join her group after
walking a bit with the afternoon group friends and the accident
occurred. The afternoon group thought she had left while the other
group waiting for her did not see WU Jin show up. The morning group
first took she might have left for the train station by herself because
they did not see her personal articles in the local fellow's home but
they all waited for her till it's very late. When the group reached the
station realizing the train arrived early, they began to say WU Jin
might have been on the train already and started looking for her one
railway carriage after another but did not find her. Then everyone
guessed she might not need to return so early. Or she did not have
enough fun and decided not to come back in the morning convinced by the
second group. （Not everyone knew that WU Jin had to come back that
morning because the Sunday afternoon's rehearsal was very important）
The second group reached the dorm very late （mid night?） and
thought WU Jin left for home after the rehearsal when they did not see
her. The next day （Monday）, everyone found WU Jin missing from the
class and began to feel something was not right after asking around.
They immediately called her home. Thus some classmates and WU Jin's
parent rode in the car from her parent's company to Lai Shui but failed
to find her that day. The third day （Tuesday） WU Jin was found
under a cliff. In addition, WU Jin's class was small, about 20
students. About a dozen went to the trip. （Source: About the truth WU
Jin was left behind alone, post on www.baidu.com by anonymous,
4/11/2006）
@@ Sep. 1992, ZHU Ling enrolled in class 92', Chemistry department, at
prestigious Tsinghua University （Student ID: 921966, Registered Name:
ZHU Ling-Ling）.
**Note** an introduction of Tsinghua University can be found at
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsinghua_University
**Note** ZHU Ling's parents said that their younger daughter enrolled
in Tsinghua University instead of Peking University partly because of
their elder daughter's accidental death. （Source: report by Xinmin
Weekly on 01/18/2006）
**Note** "Wuhua2" （translation: physical chemistry class 92'） was
the only undergraduate class in Chemistry department in 92'. The major
was called "Physical Chemistry and Instrument Analysis". At first,
there were 29 registered students, including two recommended students
（enrollment without entrance exams）. Soon one girl transferred from
department of mathematical sciences, and another girl from department
of hydraulic engineering a year later. The number of students reached
31. Total 11 girls in the class lived in three female student dorms in
building #6: room 114, 116 and 123. ZHU Ling （from Beijing）, SUN
Wei （from Beijing）, WANG Qi （from Shan Xi province）, and JIN Ya
（from Xin Jiang province） shared room 114. LIU Li-Min, GAO Fei,
WANG Hui-Xia, and XU Ran shared room 116. LI Han-Lin lived in room 123.
The two girls transferred from other departments, WANG Xiao-Hong and
WANG Hong-Mei stayed at their previous dorms in building 6 and 7
respectively. （Source: online discussions by Wuhua2 classmates,
including the anonymous articles by ID "SUN Wei's classmate" and ID
"QingXieDeBian" （translation: tilted side） at TianYa BBS on
01/04/2006 and 01/14/2006 respectively）.
**Note** SUN Wei has prestigious family background. Her father SUN
Da-Wu is a current central-committee member of the Revolutionary
Committee of Chinese Nationalist Party （RC-CNP）, the largest one
among the eight out-parties in China （RC-CNP was launched by some
left-wing members of CNP, when CHIANG Kai Shek's CNP regime in mainland
China was overturned in 1949）. Her mother is a medical doctor. Her
grandfather, SUN Yue-Qi, was once vice president of RC-CNP, chairman of
Chinese Association of Promotion for Peaceful Unification, member of
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC）, and
counselor of China Coal Industry Ministry. Her uncle, SUN Fu-Lin, has
served as Vice-Mayor of Beijing and Vice-Chairman of the National
Committee of CPPCC. A couple of her elders in the family are senior
technical experts.
@@ Fall 1992, ZHU Ling joined Tsinghua Students Chinese Orchestra
（TSCO）. She started practicing Gu Qin （seven-stringed zither, a
traditional Chinese musical instruments） from 12 years old, and she
was also proficient at piano. To help with the orchestra, she mastered
Zhong Ruan （moon-shaped lute in five sizes, "zhong" refers to middle
size, please go to
http://www.yueqi.com/product_detail.asp?class=11805499&id=10006272 for
a picture of Zhong Ruan） in a very short period. She soon became the
indispensable backbone of the orchestra. Besides music, ZHU Ling was
also excellent at sports, and was a professionally ranked swimmer in
Beijing. Partly because SUN Wei was also from Beijing, and they got
along well, SUN Wei was recommended to the TSCO by ZHU Ling.
**Note** a memoir （in Chinese） about ZHU Ling written by one of her
TSCO teammate was posted at www.mitbbs.com on 01/05/2006. It can be
found at www.helpzhuling.org
@@ May 1993, with ZHU Ling as a key member, TSCO won all the first and
second prizes in a college Chinese orchestra contest. She performed in
most of the solos and concerts, including the famous Chinese folk music
"tiger grinding its teeth". （Source: memoir by ZHU Ling's TSCO
teammate posted at www.mitbbs.com on 01/05/2006）
@@ Summer 1993, during the one-month mandatory military training, ZHU
Ling and another TSCO member returned to the campus to perform
traditional Chinese music for a visiting U.S. Jazz orchestra. Right
after the military training, TSCO including ZHU Ling, went on for a
concert tour around Zheng Zhou （the capital of a province near the
origin of Chinese civilization）, the places they have crisscrossed
include the famous Shao-Lin temple （the cradle of traditional Chinese
martial art）, and Song-Yang college （a prestigious higher education
institute in ancient China）. （Source: memoir by ZHU Ling's TSCO
teammate posted at www.mitbbs.com on 01/05/2006）
@@ 10/01/1993, P.R. China Industrial Standard No. GA57-93 of Public
Security, published by the National Ministry of Public Security, was
promulgated. In "Classification and Nomenclature of Extremely Toxic
Substances" and "List of Acutely Toxic Substances" （GA58-93）,
Thallium compounds and cyanide are both listed in category "A" （most
toxic）. According to an official at Beijing Municipal Public Security
Bureau （i.e. Police Department）, there are only about 20
institutions at Beijing that involve the usage of Thallium or Thallium
compounds, and only about 200 people have the access of Thallium.
（Source: report by Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
@@ 1994, ZHU Ling won the 2nd prize in the national college art
performance contest, solo group.
@@ Spring 1994, the whole class learned about the toxicity of Thallium
in a lecture of the course "analytical chemistry".
**Note** On Jan. 14th, 2006, an anonymous girl in ZHU Ling's class,
using ID "QingXieDeBian" （translation: tilted side）, wrote on
TianYa BBS "the class learned about the toxicity of Thallium through a
lecture of the course "analytical chemistry". It was about the second
semester in the 2nd academic year （spring of 1994）. When talking
about the analysis of heavy metal ions, the lecturer Mr. YU mentioned a
Thallium poisoning accident at Tsinghua in 1960s. A student inhaled a
bit of Thallium oxide while cleaning an old chemical air duct and he
died the same night. Mr. YU was just to remind students to pay
attention to safety rules when working in labs, but didn't describe any
symptoms of Thallium poisoning. I believe that even he himself didn't
know much about it."
**Note** Frictions arose between ZHU Ling and SUN Wei during their time
in TSCO. Once she asked her mother "Why conflicts exist even between
very close friends?" ZHU Ming-Xin recalled "Once, （there was a class
activity, ZHU Ling didn't attend it because of a TSCO meeting, but）
the meeting was temporarily canceled, so ZHU Ling went to her Guqin
teacher's home to take a class before she returned the school to study.
Surprisingly, SUN Wei told their classmates ‘today there's no TSCO
meeting at all'. Because of many activities at TSCO, ZHU Ling seldom
had time for class activities, for which she already felt guilty. ZHU
Ling was very upset about it because she thought ‘my classmates will
believe that even without activity at TSCO, I wouldn't like to attend
class activities'." Such frictions happened many times. Another time,
TSCO invited a teacher from conservatory of music to give a lecture.
Arriving home, ZHU Ling told her mother that SUN Wei told the teacher
that ZHU Ling's music skills were far advanced, so there's not much to
teach her. Therefore, ZHU Ling was pushed to a rear seat. ZHU Ling was
not too happy about it. （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on
01/18/2006）
**Note** according to classmate's recollection "In the first year, ZHU
Ling would spend limited time with us chatting about novels. Later on,
she spent most of the time on extracurricular activities outside the
class and started dating her boyfriend. She had attended few class
activities. Usually she returned to dorm very late every night, so she
had spent very little time with classmates except for classes."
（Source: "A classmate's declaration" by a Wuhua2 student using ID
"for the truth" at TianYa BBS on 12/30/2005）
**Note** according to TSCO teammate's recollection "For the art, most
TSCO members practiced very hard. Back then, Tsinghua's student
dormitories were managed very strictly. At night the light was turned
off and the entrance was blocked at 10:40 PM. The door would be
reopened for the last time at 12:00AM. ZHU Ling often returned to her
dorm at 12:00AM after practicing Gu Qin." （Source: memoir by ZHU
Ling's TSCO teammate posted at www.mitbbs.com on 01/05/2006 and article
by one of ZHU Ling's roommate identified as "TaiYangZhengNuan"
（translation: sun is just warm） at TianYa BBS on 12/30/2005）
**Note** A netizen with several IDs including "1987926" abused ZHU Ling
on TianYa BBS （www.tianya.cn） following SUN Wei's declaration.
（This ID's way of speaking evidently indicated it was a female）.
She had strong Beijing accent but tried to cover it by expressing her
distaste of northern Chinese. She called SUN Wei a "princess" and ZHU
Ling a "pig head". She also knew many details. For example, she
complained that everyday ZHU Ling returned to dorm at 12:00AM and
didn't go to bed untill 1:00AM after finishing personal hygiene. She
also said affirmatively "SUN Wei would definitely not visit cat898,
（she） never heard of it" （club.cat898.com is another popular
online forum in China）. When someone said that Wu Jin died in 1987,
she rebutted instantly that it was 1989, and so on.
@@ Fall 1994, the 3rd academic year started, SUN Wei quit TSCO because
"I felt there is too much school workload".
Note: SUN Wei's Declaration: "Plus I left TSCO myself because I felt
the pressure of studies; Of course I did not participate in the Dec.
9th rehearsal and performance"
@@ Nov. 1994, ZHU Ling was busy preparing for the special performance
in memory of "Dec. 9th movement" （the left wing student protest on
12/09/1935 to stand against the imminent Japanese invasion）. As an
important member of TSCO, she was really serious about it. "She looked
very excited, and gave me and her father a couple of tickets inviting
us to attend it." ZHU Ming-Xin recalled. At the same time, ZHU Ling
started losing more hair. （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on
01/18/2006）
**Note** an anonymous Tsinghua student wrote online that "late 1994 to
early 1995, everyday I saw SUN Wei picking up boiled water. After that
I never saw her do so for the rest of five years." （Source:
www.popyard.org） A Tsinghua student commented, "At that time there
was no hot water or boiled water supply in dormitories. The usage of
electrical heater was banned because of fire safety. Boiled water was
supplied at designated water-shops operated till about 10:30PM. If ZHU
Ling usually returned dorm at 12:00AM, she would not be able to pick up
boiled water, it could be that her roommate did it for her." In 2004, a
netizen named "DaJiang" wrote online that "around that year's winter
vacation, SUN Wei's mood changed a lot. Before the winter vacation she
looked unhappy and she looked happy afterwards." （Source:
www.mitbbs.com）
@@ 11/24/1994, on ZHU Ling's 21st birthday, WU Cheng-Zhi treated his
daughter a dinner. Not to miss TSCO rehearsal, they picked a restaurant
near Tsinghua. When WU Cheng-Zhi was just about to order the dishes,
ZHU Ling started having abdominal pain. She told him that she had an
upset stomach and couldn't eat anything. The happy dinner ended up in
pains. WU Cheng-Zhi guessed she might be too tired or she had a minor
stomach ailment, so he left some money for ZHU Ling to see a doctor the
next day. （Source: report by China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
@@ 12/05/1994, Monday, for unknown reason, ZHU Ling felt pain in
stomach, waist, and limbs. The symptom of her abdominal pain was
"secret anguish with spasmodic angina". （Source: report by Xinmin
Weekly on 01/18/2006）
**Note** 02/24/2006, someone using ID "Indirect Insider" posted a
thread at post.baidu.com, claiming "On Monday or Tuesday morning when
ZHU Ling fell sick the first time, ZHU Ling and SUN Wei didn't appear
in the class, it was said that ZHU Ling had stomachache overnight, so
SUN Wei accompanied her to the hospital."
**Note**
What are the symptoms of Thallium poisoning?
The following is quoted from "Occupational Acute Thallium Poisoning
Diagnosis Standard" （national standard GBZ64-2002） published by
China Ministry of Public Health. Editor's notes are bracketed.
"Thallium is categorized as a highly toxic chemical, but Thallium
poisoning has a period of latency from the intake of the poison to the
onset of symptoms. At the earliest stage of acute Thallium poisoning,
there are no characteristic symptoms and signs. Therefore a diagnosis
requires confirmation of exact occupational contact history or working
conditions that can cause poisoning, combined with clinic signs and
special chemical testing to make an integrative diagnosis. Cares must
be taken to distinguish with other diseases.
The main clinic markers for acute Thallium poisoning include
gastrointestinal upset （nausea, vomiting, angina）, alopecia,
neurologic and psychic symptoms （ataxia, restlessness, delirium,
hallucinations, semicoma, blindness） etc. Symptoms related to
peripheral neuropathy （painful paresthesia of the hands and feet,
etc.） typically appear 2 to 5 days after poisoning. Diagnosis of
moderate poisoning is mainly based on peripheral neuropathy. For severe
poisoning, peripheral neuropathy aggravates, or central neuropathy and
cranial polyneuropathy appear. For classification of diagnosis, please
refer to GBZ76. Alopecia is regarded as the classic syndrome of
Thallium poisoning, which typically appears 2 or 3 weeks after
poisoning. Band-like hair loss occurs and full baldness can be resulted
within a month. But there were also cases with no hair loss.
This standard proposes Thallium level testing in urine, which can serve
as contact marker or reference for diagnosis. Other markers include
electromyography （EMG） to indicate neuropathy damage.
How to manage Thallium poisoning?
（Management of Thallium poisoning） is mainly symptomatic and
supportive treatment. Large dose of vitamin B series is needed to
protect heart, kidney, liver and other viscera. About the usage of
complex reagent （to exchange and expel Thallium）, （The following
reagents） have been tried but have shown no confirmative
detoxification effect: CaNa2—EDTA （works for Pb poisoning）,
Sodium 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate （DMPS） （works for Hg
poisoning）, etc. Therefore they are not recommended for use. Prussian
blue （ferric hexacyanoferrate （II）） given orally is
recommended.
@@ 12/08/1994, ZHU Ling could not take food because of abdominal pain.
Meantime, she started losing large clumps of hair.
@@ 12/11/1994, despite being very sick, ZHU Ling performed as planned
in the special memorial performance at Beijing Concert Hall for "Dec.
9th movement", She played the Gu Qin solo "Guang Ling San" to
perfection, and participated in most of the concerts. The performance
was a great success. However, her parent sitting in the auditorium,
were anxious about their daughter's deteriorating abdominal pain. "I
knew she was very much in pain", ZHU Ming-Xin recollected. Right after
the performance was over, she went to the tiring room to find Ling.
"Her face looked pale", and she tried to persuade ling to go home.
However, ZHU Ling insisted moving the prop back to school together with
the other students. Afterwards, a member of TSCO recalled "After the
performance, ZHU Ling didn't attend the celebration dinner at a
restaurant near the school's south entrance, only by then did we know
that she hasn't eaten anything for three days. She managed to finish
all the performance just by her strong will". （Source: reports by
Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006 and Xinmin Weekly on
01/18/2006）
@@ 12/12/1994, To ZHU Ming-Xin's surprise, her daughter who refused to
go home yesterday, came home herself. She told her mother, "I can't
stand my stomachache anymore." （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on
01/18/2006）
@@ 12/23/1994, ZHU Ming-Xin sent Ling to Beijing TongRen Hospital. On
the same day, ZHU Ling lost all her beautiful long hair. （Source:
report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
@@ From late Dec. 1994 to late Jan. 1995, ZHU Ling had been treated for
nearly a month at the gastrointestinal department of TongRen Hospital,
but her etiology had never been diagnosed. Every night ZHU Min-Xin
accompanied her daughter by sleeping on the floor, She recalled, "ZHU
Ling couldn't fall asleep overnight because of the pain." Belt-shaped
rash also developed around ZHU Ling's waist. People had to wheel her to
take x-ray examination. ZHU Ling worried about the missed classes and
labs, so she looked "very upset". Doctors at TongRen Hospital could not
diagnose her etiology, so they only gave her some digestant such as
amino acid. （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
**Note** SUN Wei mentioned in her statement: "Since my mom is a doctor,
I told her about ZHU Ling's symptoms （hair loss, sore skin, limb
pain） so that she could help with analysis and making inquiries. My
mom hoped this is not cazenaves lupus"
@@ 01/23/1995, ZHU Ling worried so much about classes and exams she
missed that she insisted on leaving the hospital after her symptom
subdued. （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
**Note** ZHANG Bo, a girl from department of Environmental Sciences who
was taking the same class "ear training" with ZHU Ling then, was
surprised at seeing that ZHU Ling "got a close shave and wear a hat" in
class. She had thought, "That is cool!" CHEN Zhong-Zhou, ZHU Ling's
classmate and teaching assistant of the class "Physical Chemistry",
recalled "（at that time） many classmates noticed that she was a
little pale faced, but didn't realize that she was already very sick."
（Source: report by Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
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【八阕】【八阕】一个劳动人民群众喜闻乐见的好地方:http://www.popyard.org@@
May 1997, the 2nd Thallium poisoning case in China happened at
chemistry Department of Peking University. Two students were Thallium
poisoned by their classmate. Contrasting to ZHU Ling's case, this time
the criminal sent one of the poisoned students to hospital himself and
confessed to the physician of his crime. Treated in time, both poisoned
students fully recovered after two weeks. （Source: Report by China
Women's News in Mar. 1998）
Note: JIANG Lin and LU Chengguang were both male students at Chemistry
Department of Peking University. As WANG Xiaolong stated, JIANG Lin
used to be a good friend but recently did not talk to him. So WANG
decided to poison him. WANG first tested the thallium on his roommate
LU Chengguang to know the toxicity before poisoning JIANG Lin. JIANG
Lin described that he started not feeling well since the beginning of
May and felt worse on May 15th. May 17th, WANG Xiaolong saw JIANG ‘s
suffering and voluntarily offered to get a taxi to send him to
Sino-Japan Friendship hospital where he confessed to the doctor that he
gave JIANG 60mg Thallium poison. He calculated precisely that 60mg
would not kill anyone. WANG showed enormous remorse begging the doctor
while pulling out cashes " As long as you save him, I will do anything"
" What shall I do now?" " You must only turn yourself in," Doctor
pointed out. July 1998, Hai Dian District Court found WANG Xiaolong
guilty of intentional murder and sentenced him to 10 years Prison term
and 3-year deprivation of political rights. （Source: China Women,
March 1998）
@@ 05/09/1997, SUN Wei received the 2nd threatening letter from ZHU
Ling's uncle. （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 06/26/1997, Mr. ZHANG Zai-Xing, former Secretary of the Party
Committee of Tsinghua, met with ZHU Ling's family and reiterated the
following points: ZHU Ling had no access to Thallium compounds; the
school had enforced the rules managing toxic chemicals; the school had
reported to police in time; everything requested by police were
followed; nobody should simply be held responsible for the theft
happened at ZHU Ling's dorm. （Source: report by Southern People
Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
@@ 06/30/1997, Tsinghua held commencement for class 92'. Beforehand,
Chemistry Department notified SUN Wei that because she was still under
criminal investigation by police, the school had been officially
notified by police to delay issuance of her degree certificate and
diploma. SUN Wei's parents immediately inquired Police Department No.14
about it and were informed that there was no such notice and police is
only responsible for case investigation but would not interfere with
student affairs at school. （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei,
12/30/2005）
@@ Early July 1997, three of SUN Wei's family members visited Exit and
Entry Management Section of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau,
trying to get SUN Wei's passport she applied for, but their request was
turned down. （Source: report by Southern People Weekly Magazine on
01/10/2006）
@@ 07/18/1997, SUN Wei's family turned in the video tape that SUN Wei's
brother took and some literatures previously published by Tsinghua
Chemistry Department citing usage of Thallium compounds to police.
（Source: Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 07/28/1997, General Office of National Education Committee published
"Notice about strengthening the management of laboratory toxic
chemicals" （No.13 in 1997）, stating "Two student Thallium poisoning
cases happened in May, 1995 and May 1997 at Tsinghua University and
Peking University, respectively. Besides intentional crimes involved,
the negligence of laboratory toxic management was also an important
factor."
@@ July - August, 1997, SUN Wei's family wrote to the Party Committee
of Tsinghua, requesting the school to give SUN Wei an official notice
of delaying the issue of her degree. After many times of negotiation,
Tsinghua insisted not to give them a formal notice. （Source:
Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ Late August 1997, requested by SUN Wei's family, leaders of the
Party Committee of Tsinghua, President Office, and Chemistry Department
met SUN Wei and her family at the University hotel III. The meeting
broke up in discord. Later on, SUN Wei's family called the leader of
the Party Committee twice, demanding the school either to give SUN Wei
her degree or send them an official notice of not issuing her degree.
（Source: Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 09/29/1997, Tsinghua Chemistry Department notified SUN Wei's family
to pick up SUN Wei's degree certificate the next day. （Source:
Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
**Note** the rumor goes SUN Wei attempted to go abroad in 1997 but
failed. Later she was married to a man who got a degree abroad and
returned to China. （Source: report by Southern People Weekly Magazine
on 01/10/2006）
**Note** A netizen, claiming himself/herself as SUN Wei's neighbor,
wrote on TianYa BBS （using ID "jieluzhengxiang"---namely "uncover the
truth", 01/12/2006） "SUN Wei's school grades were very good since
childhood. She graduated from Beijing No.4 high school （one of the
top high schools in Beijing） and was admitted to Tsinghua University.
Also, her TOEFL score was very high and she received a full scholarship
from abroad before graduation, but she had no way to go abroad. The
rumor online that Tsinghua didn't allow her to go abroad is true. After
it was hopeless to leave China, She then got a job in Beijing. Seems
she was married only recently. The web rumor about she went abroad and
married an American is not true. Till today SUN Wei still lives in the
Minister Building on Fu Xing Men Wai Street in Beijing.
@@ October 1997, Beijing Center of Appraisal for Medical Malpractice
（members mostly M.D.） made their appraisal that PUMC had no fault
for ZHU Ling's treatment, so it was not a medical malpractice.
（Source: report by Life Week on 02/19/2001）
@@ 12/30/1997, Prof. XUE Fang-Yu visited ZHU Ling. He told ZHU Ling's
parents he already handed SUN Wei her degree certificate because police
didn't admit that they asked not to do so. Restriction for SUN Wei to
exit the country was also removed because "From what's been collected
now, SUN Wei is suspicious for the case, but no direct evidence has
been found to confirm her crime." （Source: report by Southern People
Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
@@ 08/25/1998, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau made an
appointment with ZHU Ling's family. They confirmed the following facts:
1. Test performed by Beijing ChaoYang Hospital Institute of
Occupational Disease confirmed that ZHU Ling was Thallium poisoned.
2. Investigations on the usage of Thallium compounds at Tsinghua
University confirmed that laboratory at Tsinghua had purchased Thallium
compounds, but there was no strict management and logbook on the usage
of Thallium compounds.
3. ZHU Ling was poisoned on campus.
4. The possibility that ZHU Ling used or accessed Thallium compounds
was ruled out.
5. The possibilities that ZHU Ling's family or relatives accessed
Thallium compounds were ruled out.
（Source: report by Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
@@ 08/26/1998, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Department
No.14 declared that SUN Wei's status of crime suspect was released,
admitting that there was no direct evidence proving that SUN Wei was
related to ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning. （Source: Declaration from
SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 04/02/1999, ZHU Ming-Xin lost the lawsuit against PUMC. After
collecting evidences from both sides, People's Court of Beijing
Dongcheng District made the adjudication mainly based on the appraisal
by Beijing Center of Appraisal for Medical Malpractice. An anonymous
judge commented "We made an unfair adjudication although we felt much
sympathy for the plaintiff." The judgment stated, "This case does not
belong to medical malpractice according to the appraisal by the
appraisal committee for 2nd level medical malpractice. There is not
enough evidence that the defendant held the fault of misdiagnosis
accused by the plaintiff…" （Source: report by Life Week on
02/19/2001）
@@ Dec. 1999, ZHU Min-Xin entrusted HaoTian Law Firm to request another
appraisal for ZHU Ling's case at the Second Intermediate People Court
of Beijing.
**Note** Attorney Yu Rong, who worked for ZHU Ling's case for free,
said "This case actually is an issue of ascendancy. The defendant is an
authoritative medical institute with deep and firm background. It is
basically impossible for them to admit some mistakes. An obvious symbol
is the lengthy lawsuit process. First of all, there was no commercial
benefit for us to accept such a case, neither does it have any press
effect. There is actually no benefit at all for us. We did it just
because of indignation." Yu Rong also introduced that at the time the
media was blocked from reporting the case, she once tried to seek help
from media abroad, but after considering the situation of ZHU Ling's
family she didn't do so. （Source: report by Life Week on
02/19/2001）
@@ June 2000, Beijing Institute of forensic medicine & Science was
consigned to appraise ZHU Ling's case again. Forensic medical expert
LIU Xin, who accepted the case, sorted all the medical records again
and rechecked the evidence. He found there was some discrepancy in the
time and characters. The new appraisal basically negated the efforts to
search the Thallium testing institutes that PUMC claimed. Therefore,
the conclusion was "（PUMC's） nonfeasance led to the delay of
diagnosis for ZHU Ling. Consequently, PUMC conducted improper practices
to some extent during the medical treatment." （Source: report by Life
Week on 02/19/2001）
@@ 06/19/2000, ZHU Ling was hospitalized because of severe respiratory
failure. According to the introduction by Dr. CHEN Zhi-Gang, vice
chairman of department of neurology at DongFang Hospital, ZHU Ling was
sent to the hospital on June 19th because of a severe respiratory
failure caused by a lung infection. At the moment her blood oxygen
level was very low and the bacteria were highly resistant to
antibiotics. Typically the mortality rate was 70% for this kind of
case. It was a miracle that she basically recovered before the National
Day （Oct. 1st）. （Source: report by Beijing Youth on 10/14/2000）
@@ 10/14/2000, Beijing Youth published article "ZHU Ling comes back
again", reporting ZHU Ling's situation after she was recovered.
The article went, "Beside ZHU Ling's bed, there are collections of
classic Gu Qin compositions such as "Ping Sha Luo Yan" （translation:
a wild goose alights on the sand beach）. Just a couple of months
before she was poisoned in 1995, she had played "Guang Ling San" at
Beijing Concert Hall. The reporter asked ZHU Ling if she still knew how
to play Gu Qin, she replied ‘Yes.' with her hands simulating the
motion on her legs. From her motion the reporter could image that he
was listening to the performance. The reporter asked what ZHU Ling
wanted to do after recovery, she plumped out ‘go to school'. Mr. WU
told the reporter that ZHU Ling's mind after been poisoned would often
rest on the time when she was in Tsinghua."
@@ 11/26/2000, Beijing 2nd Intermediate People Court sentenced PUMC
should reimburse 100,000 RMB （=$12,000 US dollar） for ZHU Ling's
medical expense, but the reimbursement has never been paid even till
today.
**Note** When recalling the difficult process of suing PUMC, what ZHU
Ming-Xin could never forget are the representative attorneys in the
first and second instance: CHEN Jian-Min and FENG Su-Fang from Zhongfu
Law Firm; and MA Xiao-Gang and YU Rong from Hao Tian Law Office. They
all volunteered in the legal assistance to ZHU Ling's family. Attorney
CHEN Jian-Min even sent a personal donation of 5000 RMB to ZHU Ling.
（Source: report by China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
@@ 12/31/2000 Beijing Morning Post included an article titled " Visit
the Tsinghua girl who was bizarrely poisoned by Thallium "
@@ 02/19/2001, Life Week （No.5th 2001） published article "Hospital:
delayed patient and never-delayed power", criticizing the role of PUMC
in ZHU Ling's diagnosis, treatment, and lawsuit. The article was
reprinted by www.sina.com.cn.
@@ 03/13/2001, Global Times （page 7, China Report） published an
article by a reporter from Life Week "ZHU Ling's lawsuit is not over".
The article was reprinted by www.people.com.cn.
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01/29/2006, an anonymous netizen, claiming himself/herself as SUN Wei's
classmate, published an article on www.sina.com.cn titled "SUN Wei's
classmate: The truth we defended SUN Wei". The article disclosed that
the declaration by SUN Wei （published at www.tianya.cn on
12/30/2005） was a conspired plot. The author attached the commanding
document SUN Wei sent to her classmates and friends before she posted
her declaration. To prove the authenticity of this document, at the end
of the article a couple of msn accounts were listed, which included SUN
Wei, XIE Fei-Yu （SUN Wei's husband）, JIN Ya （SUN Wei's classmate
& roommate）, GAO Fei （SUN Wei's classmate）, LI Han-Lin （SUN
Wei's classmate）, and WANG Qi （SUN Wei's classmate & roommate）.
@@ 02/07/2006, reporter from Youth Weekend visited SUN Wei's home and
managed to interview her father briefly. Here is the conversation of
the interview:
Reporter: Now there're many rumors about SUN Wei on the web, are you or
she herself willing to respond to them?
SUN's father: Do you believe the stuff on the web? They were crooked so
much that made us feel: was it really like this? Too ridiculous. We
don't need to care about them.
Reporter: Were the two articles posted on www.tianya.cn by ID "SUN
Wei's declaration" written by SUN Wei?
SUN's father: This I can tell you, only these two articles were written
by SUN Wei, any other ones （if there were） were faked.
Reporter: Why SUN Wei didn't choose conventional media for her
declaration, but chose posting an article on web?
SUN's father: We will accept interview by conventional media later, but
not now. You are the first reporter that called us. I hope you don't
use such a way in the future. We don't accept any interview now.
Later the reporter called SUN Wei's home phone number many times, but
nobody answered （Source: report by Youth Weekend on 04/13/2006）
@@ 02/15/2006, BEI Zhi-Cheng published an article on www.sina.com.cn
titled "BEI Zhi-Cheng's apology and appeal to part of ‘Wuhua2'
students". He apologized for offending the whole class of "Wuhua2"
before, admitting that many students including some cadres were trying
hard to help ZHU Ling. He said that after his articles were posted on
TianYa BBS （www.tianya.cn）, he had received from ZHU Ling's
classmates many information and indirect evidences. BEI Zhi-Cheng
appealed all classmates of ZHU Ling, especially girls, to provide more
truth about the case. At the end of the article, BEI Zhi-Cheng
confirmed that the article "SUN Wei's classmate: The truth we defended
SUN Wei" was authentic.
@@ 02/16/2006, Epochtimes published an article by reporter HUA Tian
titled "Mystic case for 10 years, Tsinghua girl is still waiting for
justice （part 1）".
@@ Late February 2006, ZHU Ling's classmate TONG Yu-Feng tried
contacting the classmates to launch a solicitation letter to reopen the
investigation of the case, meanwhile he inquired them about the truth
on the rumors circulating on the web.
@@ 02/24/2006 afternoon, for the first time after seven years,
accompanied by two representative attorneys （Attorney ZHANG Jie and
LI Hai-Xia from Beijing LiTian Law Office）, ZHU Ming-Xin met with the
two police officers in charge of ZHU Ling's case at the time.
（Source: report by Youth Weekend on 04/13/2006）
@@ 02/25/2006, TONG Yu-Feng emailed XUE Gang discussing many details
about ZHU Ling's case. XUE pointed out that WANG Qi （ZHU Ling's
roommate） was the one who reported the dorm theft to police. About
the phone call WU Cheng-Zhi described to the media "We ate the bread
that ZHU Ling left in the dorm.", TONG asked WANG Qi and her reply was
she never received such a call. TONG also asked JIN Ya （also ZHU
Ling's roommate）, but she didn't reply this question. XUE said that
he explicitly questioned JIN Ya about this phone call, but JIN said she
never heard of it. XUE also denied the rumor that once he said, "Just
because of this （ZHU Ling's case）, we didn't win the title of
‘Class of Cum laude'." TONG asked XUE about the rumor that XUE was on
the scene after the dorm theft, XUE explicitly denied it. Soon later,
this email was intentionally posted on the web without the permission
of TONG. TONG claimed on the web that the posted email has two places
maliciously altered.
**Note** 02/24/2006, someone used ID "Indirect Insider" to post a
thread at post.baidu.com, pointing out that XUE Gang was on the scene
after the theft of ZHU Ling's dorm. In another thread, "Indirect
Insider" said "On Monday or Tuesday morning when ZHU Ling got sick for
the first time, ZHU Ling and SUN Wei didn't appear in the class, it was
said that ZHU Ling had stomachache for the whole night, so SUN Wei
escorted her to the hospital."
@@ 03/01/2006, accompanied by her husband and brother, SUN Wei had an
appointment with Ms. LU Yu, host of the popular TV talk show«Meet with
LU Yu»at Phoenix TV. （Source: report by Youth Weekend on
04/13/2006）
@@ 03/06/2006, reporter from Youth Weekend visited DingGao
（Beijing） Technology Development Ltd., the company where SUN Wei's
husband XIE Fei-Yu was CEO. The office was already emptied, with only a
phone with broken line left. Reporter learned from the property
management company that the office was empty since the start of the
year, but the lease was not terminated. Finally reporter managed to
find SUN Wei's husband, but he refused to accept an interview, saying
"I and my family unconditionally support SUN Wei." （Source: report by
Youth Weekend on 04/13/2006）
@@ 03/07/2006, TONG Yu-Feng posted an article «Explanation on the
disclosure of the email （between me and XUE Gang） »at
post.baidu.com, saying that he has entrusted attorney ZHANG Jie from
Beijing LiTian Law Office to report the case to Beijing police
department. TONG clarified to netizens about a few facts:
1. The original source where the email was disclosed was not on
Tsinghua alumni website, because the email posted there didn't have the
title.
2. The title of the disclosed email was not the title of the email that
XUE Gang replied to me, but it was the title that XUE Gang forwarded to
another 3 people using his wife's （LI Han-Lin） email address.
3. According to the content that's been altered, it can be primarily
confirmed that the person who posted this email played important role
in ZHU Ling's case.
@@ 03/10/2006, Attorney ZHANG Jie and LI Hai-Xia （from Beijing LiTian
Law Office） posted an article at post.baidu.com «A letter from ZHU
Ling Ling （ZHU Ling）'s attorneys to all netizens», claiming that
they have accepted to be designated agents of Ms. ZHU Ming-Xin, ZHU
Ling's legal guardian, to provide legal support and assistance for ZHU
Ling. They also announced that they already sent a letter to police,
requesting to crack the case ASAP. They have been in contact with the
police officers in charge of ZHU Ling's case, following all the legal
procedures. The article also clarified the difference between the
concepts of "released from criminal suspect" and "excluded from
criminal suspect", pointing out " ‘Released from criminal suspect'
means police has not gathered conclusive evidence beyond a legal
deadline, therefore compulsory measures for a criminal suspect is
released. This is so-called ‘Principle of Not Guilt'. But this doe
NOT indicate that the person is excluded from criminal suspect."
**Note** ZHU Ling's attorney's contact information is here:
E-mail: bjli...@gmail.com
Address:
To: Attorney ZHANG Jie
D204, HuaPu Garden, 9 South DongZhiMen Street, Dongcheng District,
Beijing 100007, China
@@ 03/11/2006, ZHU Ling's attorneys posted a thread at post.baidu.com
«About the problem with visiting ZHU Ling's attorney's website »,
pointing out that from the early morning of that day, the website of
LiTian Law Office could not be visited normally. The reason was
unclear, and they have reported the case to the Internet Security
Department of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, the case was
under investigation.
@@ 3/14/2006, Lawyers representing ZHU Ling began to collect evidences
and leads from public officially. ZHANG Jie said:" From what is
provided by the police, intentional poisoning was the true reason ZHU
Ling Ling was poisoned, namely, a murderer hid behind this. It is
current urgency how to save the important evidence and leads through
processes agreed by the law. " " So we hope insiders could provide
relevant evidence and leads. As time goes by, some evidence might
disappear and insiders may somewhat forget the facts." ZHANG Jie
summarized this case needs the following several kinds of evidence:
suspicious activities before and after poisoning, all kinds of details,
and clues during rescue, classmates' attitude and responses to this
case etc. "We will carefully treat every witness, every piece of
evidence and every lead and submit them to the public security bureau
properly and legally, under the condition of protecting primary party's
interest and evidence provider's safety. We will also meet with
insiders providing key evidences. " （Source: Liberation Daily,
3/14/2006）
@@ 03/15/2006, ZHU Ling's name was added to Wikipedia （the world's
largest and fast growing free online encyclopedia）. The URL is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuling
@@ 03/17/2006, ZHU Ling's attorneys posted an article at post.baidu.com
«About the limitation of prosecution on ZHU Ling's case». They gave
the following explanations about the limitation of criminal and civil
prosecution on ZHU Ling's case:
Usually the limitation of prosecution for a criminal case is 20 years,
but according to Article 88 of «The Criminal Law», if after People's
Procuratorate, Police Department, or State Security Department filed
the case and started the investigation, or after People's Court
accepted the case, the criminal suspect attempted to evade the
investigation or trial, there is no limitation of prosecution.
Moreover, if the aggrieved party submitted accusation within the
limitation of prosecution, or People's Procuratorate, Police
Department, or State Security Department should file the case but did
not, there is also no limitation of prosecution. Article 88 of the
Criminal Law also prescribes that even after the limitation of
prosecution is expired, if the responsible administration deems that it
is necessary to prosecute, a prosecution can be enforced after Supreme
People's Procuratorate approves the request. If property loss is caused
by the delinquency of the criminal suspect, during the procedure of
criminal prosecution, the aggrieved party has the right to petition an
incidental civil prosecution.
About the responsibilities of Tsinghua University and PUMC, ZHU Ling
has the right to petition a civil prosecution. According to the
provisions of«General Principles of the Civil Law», the limitation of
civil prosecution is at most 20 years, counted from the time （the
aggrieved party） knows or ought to know that his/her rights are
infringed. But if there were certain conditions, People's Court can
extend the limitation of prosecution. According to the explanation of
Article 169 of «Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Several
Issues concerning the Implementation of the General Principles of the
Civil Law», if the holder of the right could not invoke the right of
petition because of objective impediment, it belongs to the "certain
conditions" prescribed by «General Principles of the Civil Law».
Therefore, according to the preceding law provisions, under certain
conditions, there is no limit of either criminal or civil prosecutions,
it could be lifetime. Therefore, the evidences we attorneys are
collecting now are not only evidences to crack the case; but also
evidences to petition an incidental civil prosecution to the criminal
suspect, and civil prosecutions to Tsinghua and PUMC.
@@ 03/20/2006, China Legal News published an article by reporter LI
Liang titled "Follow up on Tsinghua girl ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning
case: the urgent affair now is to collect evidences".
@@ 03/29/2006, a netizen disclosed at post.baidu.com that "Phoenix TV
will interview SUN Wei, but it has to be censored by SUN's family
before broadcasted." This thread was deleted shortly. （Source: report
by Youth Weekend on 04/13/2006）
@@ 03/31/2006, 10:00 am, ZHU Ming-Xin, accompanied with the reporter
and attorney LI Hai-Xia, visited PUMC. They requested to get a copy of
all of ZHU Ling's medical record, but the hospital refused to provide
her Progress Note, claiming, "Progress Note is never allowed to be
disclosed. Unless there's a lawsuit and the court ordered to seal the
medical record, only then it could be disclosed at the court."
（Source: report by Youth Weekend on 04/13/2006）
@@ 03/31/2006, BTV-3 （Beijing TV Channel 3） «Technology All in
One»broadcasted an interview of ZHU Ling. This is the first time a
television media interviewed ZHU Ling's case after 11 years of silence.
The host, Mr. QIU Zhi, invited ZHU Ling's father and a couple of ZHU
Ling's classmates to attend. At the beginning, there was a short film
of appraise of ZHU Ling's excellence by her classmates, and a video of
ZHU Ling's performance at TSCO. There was an introduction of the
symptoms she suffered around the 1st and 2nd time she was hospitalized.
At the end of the interview, the host said, "So far, we can not give
you a definite answer how ZHU Ling Ling was poisoned." Throughout the
interview, there was no wording like "deliberate poisoning".
@@ 04/05/2006, ZHU Ling's attorneys posted an article at post.baidu.com
«Attorney ZHANG Jie and LI Hai-Xia: about the unfair treatments ZHU
Ling received and answers to netizens' questions». The article pointed
out that:
1. In ZHU Ling's case, police should be able to determine quickly who
was close to the victim and had the opportunities to poison, and had
access to Thallium compounds, but the police department interrogated
the suspect （April 1997） 23 months after the case was filed
（around May 1995）. The average pace of a criminal case at the time
was about 9 months from the finding of direct clue to execution of
death sentence. The current Criminal Law of P. R. China was enforced
from 01/01/1997, that's 19 months after ZHU Ling's case happened. The
new Criminal Law stipulates the current juridical principles such as
Presumption of Innocence, and Principle of Not Guilt. Considering the
transition period, the lunar New Year holiday, and the meetings of NPC
（National People's Congress） and CPPCC, the implementation of the
new Criminal Law was ready in around April, 1997. This time coincided
with the time the police took compulsory measures to the suspect. Was
it just a coincidence? What could be the problem that it took such a
long time from the direct evidence should be acquired to compulsory
measures be taken? To suspend the case for such a long time in order to
let the suspect enjoy the Presumption of Innocence by the new Criminal
Law, resulting in the loss of many evidences so that the case could not
be solved. What kind of responsibility this should be?
2. （SUN Wei's brother） trespassed the laboratory and took away
hazardous toxic chemicals, and video recorded （the process） without
permission, how to treat an evidence acquired like this? According to
the juridical principle at the time: the collection of evidence must be
legal, only evidence that were acquired legally can be used as evidence
for judgment. Voice recording without permission of the party affected
is illegal, the materials acquired in such a way can not be used as
evidence （The reply from Supreme People's Court on 03/06/1995）.
Audio and Video materials have limitations to be used as evidence,
because they can be edited and special effects can be added. Just like
people can not trust the pictures in a movie. We can imagine a possible
scene: the actor been video recorded were led by "Thallium", "Thallium"
's classmate and cadre into the building, into the laboratory, opened
the cabinet, and took the toxic. If so will anyone around question him?
Even if there's someone questioned, it can be cut from the footage.
Moreover, can the video prove that the chemical was Thallium? Also
there is an important doubt: if nobody disclosed the news, how could
the suspect know that such evidence is needed during the classified
investigation procedure? If recording of this evidence was aroused by
some investigator? What would it be considered as? According to the
juridical provisions of our country: Audio & Video materials should be
combined with other evidence in the case, and be censored to confirm if
they can be used as bases to judge the facts of the case. Therefore,
there's a big problem whether or not the video material about the
"loose management of Tsinghua's laboratory" should be adopted.
3. China's juridical system is different than many countries. Who we
are opposing is not the criminal suspect as understood by many
netizens. To investigate and crack crimes is the job of the police and
other juridical departments. We are petitioning legal rights for the
victim from the police and other juridical departments. If the criminal
suspect has suffered injustice, he/she should also petition rights from
the police and other juridical departments. Therefore our opposition is
the juridical authorities, not the criminal suspect! For people like us
who take legal service as the career, we clearly know how much risk and
cost it is to oppose the juridical authorities.
@@ 2006/4/10, HUAXIA Daily published, " Thallium poisoned Tsinghua
Female Student hopelessly fought for 11 years "
@@ 04/11/2006, reporter from Youth Weekend contacted Mr. CAO Zhi-Xiong,
executive producer of «Meet with LU Yu»at Phoenix TV. Mr. CAO
confirmed that there was indeed contact between SUN Wei and Phoenix TV.
But for some reason from SUN Wei's side, the interview was stopped. Mr.
CAO confirmed that there was a "nondisclosure agreement" between SUN's
family and Phoenix TV, with provisions that ban the disclosure of the
content of the conversation.
@@ 04/13/2006, Youth Weekend （a recently established spin-off weekly
from Beijing Youth） published an article «Four new suspicions
emerged for Tsinghua girl's Thallium poisoning case». The reporter,
CHEN Wan-Ying, disclosed many new updates on ZHU Ling's case. They are
summarized as follows:
1. ZHU Ling's parents disclosed that after ZHU Ling was poisoned, there
was a second theft to her personal items that were already sealed by
police and stored at Chemistry department in Tsinghua. They said "In
Dec. of 1998, when ZHU Ming-Xin was doing the procedures for ZHU Ling's
quit from school, she found that her camera, honey, coffee etc.
disappeared, but back in 1995 these items were sealed in a box by the
police department and stored in an office of Chemistry department. They
also received a list of items at that time. The explanation from
Chemistry department was "a couple of times the department moved the
offices, maybe the construction workers stole them", and reimbursed ZHU
Ling's family 3000 Yuan （=$400） voluntarily."
2. In late summer 1995, police visited WU Cheng-Zhi's employer, and
asked if there were any conflict between WU and SUN Wei's father during
the "culture revolution" period （1966-1976）. This was the first
time he heard of SUN Wei. After that, ZHU Ling's family tried to
communicate with SUN Wei's family, but was refused. SUN Wei stated in
her declaration that she hoped to communicate with ZHU Ling's family
"with police's presence", but police department said they have no
obligations to arrange it （see "SUN Wei's declaration"）.
3. 03/31/2006, 10:00 am, ZHU Ming-Xin, accompanied with the reporter
and attorney LI Hai-Xia, visited PUMC. They requested to get a copy of
all of ZHU Ling's medical record, but the hospital refused to do so,
claiming, and "Medical record is never allowed to be disclosed Unless
there's a lawsuit and the court ordered to seal the medical record,
only then it could be disclosed at the court."
4. The identity of the primary care physician for ZHU Ling in PUMC was
exposed. Her name is WEI Jing. Back in 1995, when ZHU Ling's parents
showed her the test report by Dr. CHEN Zhen-Yang （at Beijing
Institute of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, to where
PUMC has sent a sample of ZHU Ling to test Arsenic poisoning）, "She
looked like a deadpan. I ran upstairs and found Dr. LI Shun-Wei, he
grabbed the report and headed toward ICU at once."
5. Accompanied by her brother and husband, SUN Wei, ZHU Ling's
classmate and roommate, were about to accept an interview by Phoenix
TV, but they stopped at last.
6. SUN Wei's father confirmed to the reporter that the article "SUN
Wei's declaration" was indeed written by SUN Wei.
7. For the first time in 11 years, SUN Wei's mother called ZHU Ling's
mother, and expressed the will of a conversation.
8. On the afternoon of 02/24/2006, after seven years, accompanied by
two representative attorneys （Attorney ZHANG Jie and LI Hai-Xia from
Beijing LiTian Law Office）, ZHU Ming-Xin met with the two police
officers in charge of ZHU Ling's case at the time. In the meeting,
Officer LI Shu-Sen emphasized, "We should respect the history". ZHU
Ming-Xin told the reporter "he said if there were any new evidence, he
would stand up. But who can provide these evidences? The doubtful
points we mentioned were not direct evidences, who can confirm them?"
The reporter dialed the officer's cell phone, but his answer was always
equivocal, "（ZHU Ling's case） can neither be said to be at my
charge, nor can it be said not to be at my charge... I can neither say
there's progress, nor can I say there's no progress." "Isn't it still a
bit early to report ZHU Ling's case?"
9. BEI Zhi-Cheng told the reporter, before the article "The truth that
why we defended SUN Wei" was posted online, he had received the article
from a classmate of ZHU Ling who received the commanding document from
SUN Wei. "I guarantee the authenticity of this commanding document",
said BEI. TONG Yu-Feng told the reporter, when he discussed the case on
Tsinghua alumni website （www.tsinghua.org）, he asked many times the
classmates listed on the commanding document whether or not this
document was authentic, but he never got any direct answer.
10. In Mar. 2006, when PAN Feng came to Beijing to visit ZHU Ling, he
told ZHU Ling's parents, "We should enlarge the range of suspect". He
was against the idea that only ZHU Ling's roommate（s） are the
suspect for the poisoning.
11. TONG Yu-Feng told the reporter, in the email between him and XUE
Gang, XUE mentioned that he heard of the dorm theft case from his wife
（LI Han-Lin, also ZHU Ling's classmate）; however, another classmate
told TONG that he witnessed XUE Gang "panicked" out from building #6,
telling him that a theft happened at ZHU Ling's dorm, XUE also warned
the classmate not to tell anyone else about the theft.
12. About the translation of internet diagnosis emails, at the time
there were only 5 students in the class entered level 3 （highest）
English class: ZHU Ling, SUN Wei, XUE Gang, ZHANG Li, and a girl who
refused to reveal her name. TONG Yu-Feng said this girl told him
explicitly that she didn't have an impression of participating in the
translation. ZHANG Li also posted at www.tianya.cn that he started the
translation as late as the "May 1st" holiday.
（**Note** Does this indicates that only XUE Gang and SUN Wei really
participated in the translation in the class）
ZHU Ling's parents appointed attorneys to start investigation, and
solicit evidence for the case online.
-Appendix ... ZHU Ling's current condition: 33 years old, at over 140
Jin （70kg, roughly 155lb）, completely paralyzed, blind, severe
cognitive deficit, incapable of caring herself, 24hours in wheel chair.
TSCO member A: Last time I saw ZHU Ling was in 1997. I went to visit
her with two other teammates. ZHU Ling in the wheel chair could not
move limbs except her arms. ZHU Ling apparently recognized us and still
remembered things happened before. Our arrival excited her a bit.
Though she spoke unclearly, we could still figure her out by her tone.
A sudden shining in her eyes reminded us of the smart and healthy girl
she used to be. ZHU Ling's parents both had some gray hairs and fell
into tears talking the daughter's tragedy. ZHU Ling's mom told us " ZHU
Ling can still play the melody of Yao Dance on piano with one finger.
Her biggest wish is to return to Tsinghua to study. ZHU Ling spent
every day in rehabilitation and treatment and required oxygen supply
once in a while. It was such a special day because we wheeled ZHU Ling
to the garden downstairs and walked around to breathe in fresh air. ZHU
Ling under the sunshine seemed to regain her usual happiness and
beauty.
TSCO member LI Li and LENG Bin reported ZHU Ling's recent improvements:
May 30th, 2004, XIN Jian-feng, LENG Bin, LIU Qin and I visited ZHU Ling
and her parents on behalf of domestic donors. We handed Ms. ZHU the
recent donations. ZHU Ling in the wheelchair seemed have a heavy upper
body from limited exercises. She was almost blind and could only see
the object within 7-12 inches. She could neither read books nor watch
TV. （Ms. ZHU said that ZHU Ling cried for reading books but gave it
up after realizing her condition）. We four went closer to greet her
and she recognized almost all of us. （I told her I was LI Li who was
in the rehearsal of "Tiger Grinding Teeth" with her. Later, she even
mentioned ZHANG Ying. ZHANG Ying and I used to be called " The two who
hems and haws". We were very pleasantly surprised to find out she still
remembered most of the TSCO stuff. ZHU Ling's hearing was ok but her
speeches were very slow and inarticulate, only to be understood by
guessing. Weather permitting; Ms. ZHU will wheel ZHU Ling downstairs to
walk around. ZHU Ling still persisted in daily limb exercises such as
lifting legs and arms or standing up several times. She was working so
hard in accomplishing these basic activities however, which still
appeared so difficult to her. What cheered us is that ZHU Ling could
still play a short piece of " THE LONG GREAT WALL" on the piano. Her
fingers were so weak that the piano strings did not vibrate sometimes
when she stroked the keys but her finger techniques were all correct.
ZHU Ling was so eager to perform well that she was quite nervous. It
saddened us greatly to see she felt her way on the piano and hear the
familiar but broken melody.
ZHU Ling's memories before poisoning remained. She remembered her
college classmates especially well. Though virtually blind, she could
"hum" out classmates' names. ZHU Ling was especially good at Chinese
and recited many Tang or Song poetries. Once, WU Cheng-zhi recited one
sentence of a Tang poem and was surprised to hear the next sentence
from ZHU Ling in the wheelchair. It seemed to be another "miracle". But
ZHU Ling became worse in 2005 when she had breathing failure and
pulmonary edema.
At times when ZHU Ling was conscious, ZHU Ming-xin would read poetries
to her. Once Ms. ZHU read "crows fly to their perches when dusk falls
on the fort" （poem by LI Bai, a great Tang poet, title "Wu Ye Ti"）,
she teased her daughter "Ling Ling, how about you give a score to LI
Bai?" ZHU Ling naughtily answered "at most 4 out of 10."
During the past 11 years, ZHU Ling's condition was either good or bad.
In ZHU Ming-xin's eyes, ZHU Ling didn't achieve the "spiral progress"
as they hoped, her situation even got worse for the past few years.
Sometimes ZHU Ling got so bored that she would write with her finger on
her nurse's palm for fun. Her nurse's impression was that even a blurry
picture of a singing or dancing girl on the TV screen would make ZHU
Ling very upset. An obvious character is ZHU Ling behaves more and more
like a child, and more and more relies on her parents. "She can hardly
tell the time and the place, always thinking she is still a student at
Tsinghua. She doesn't even know that she is already 33 years old!" ZHU
Ming-xin sighed. She never tried to correct her daughter's thought,
pretending that ZHU Ling was in a dream for the past 10 years, waking
her up would make her suffer more.
In the past 10 years, ZHU Ling's health has not improved much. Several
times she was almost dying but survived luckily. Since she has
paralyzed for such a long time, she suffers muscle atrophy in legs. Her
lung has collapsed to the fourth rib, so she has to rely on her waist
for back support.
"In the past, her mind was clearer, recent years it's getting worse."
ZHU Ming-xin often wakes up at night, and she would take a look at ZHU
Ling sleeping in a small bed by habit. Many times she found her
daughter sleepless through the night, with eyes wide open, heavily
breathing, lying flat but couldn't even turn over. Beside her bed
stands the oxygen gas cylinder, and a used rag doll sits on the bed
head.
"What will happen to Ling Ling if we passed away?" ZHU Ling's parents
questioned themselves. This is a practical issue. Mr. WU and Ms. ZHU
are 66 and 65 years old, respectively. They don't know how long they
will accompany Ling Ling. They tried to apply low-income annuity, but
they were turned down because their current averaged pension is still
higher than the income threshold. They also tried to apply medical care
insurance and endowment insurance for ZHU Ling, but she has no
employer, so there's no way to do it. They also inquired welfare house,
but were told that ZHU Ling still has family attendance so she's not
qualified for it. "If we passed away, and Ling Ling is still like this,
then she's all on her own." WU Cheng-zhi sighed hopelessly, staring at
the ceiling.
alienguest
After 11 years a Tsinghua Female Student Was Poisoned by Thallium, Four
More Suspicions Emerged
Beijing Yourth Weekend [04/14/2006]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please click here for original article in Chinese.
A female student of Tsinghua University was poisoned by Thallium eleven
years ago, from which four suspicious issues emerged recently.
ZHU Ling's mother, accompanied by her lawyer, went to PUMC Hospital to
ask for a copy of a complete medical history of ZHU Ling. The
hospital's authority refused her request. SUN Wei, ZHU Ling's classmate
and roommate in college, who initially accepted an interview with
Phoenix Satellite Television, came to the interview site with her
husband and elder brother, but later backed out.
SUN Wei's father has confirmed that the Internet post called SUN Wei's
Declaration was indeed written by SUN Wei.
SUN Wei's mother made the first phone call to ZHU Ling's mother after
eleven years hoping to initiate communication with ZHU's family
Hired by ZHU Ling's parents to investigate on ZHU Ling's poisoning
case, the lawyers called for insiders to provide clues to solve the
case through the Internet.
Tsinghua University student ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning case has
remained unsolved for 11 years. Netizens' attention on this case
continues to surge.
In a nearly two months long investigation, the reporter learned from
ZHU Ling's parents and classmates overseas about four new suspicions
regarding this case. The interview with ZHU Ling's parents has
disclosed for the first time the details of a second burglary in which
some of ZHU Ling's personal belongings, sealed by the police and stored
in the Chemistry Department of Tsinghua University, were stolen.
Mr. WU Chengzhi, ZHU Ling's father, is 66 years old, and Ms. ZHU
Mingxin, ZHU ling's mother, is 65 years old. They both worry the most
about how long their health conditions would allow them to sustain care
of ZHU Ling. For the past 11 years, they have been taking care of their
daughter who lost almost all the vision and was confined in a
wheelchair. Meanwhile, they have been searching their memories for
every possible suspicion and collecting every piece of evidence to
trace the perpetrator who had poisoned their daughter.
During 1994 and 1995, while 22 years old ZHU Ling was a junior in
Chemistry Class 92 at Tsinghua University, she suddenly became ill for
twice for unknown reasons and was sent to PUMC Hospital in Beijing.
With PUMC doctors failing to reach a correct diagnosis, later on, Mr.
BEI Zhicheng, ZHU Ling's high school classmate, sent an email asking
for help in the April of 1994 to the medical society all over the
world. With the help of foreign experts, ZHU Ling's parents on their
own located an institution that performed a poisoning test and finally
convinced doctors that ZHU Ling was indeed poisoned by Thallium. ZHU
Ling's life was brought back but she was seriously neurologically
damaged and permanently paralyzed.
On April 28th 1995, after ZHU Ling was diagnosed as Thallium poisoning,
the ZHU family reported the case to the police. In May, the police
started an investigation. In 1997, SUN Wei, ZHU Ling's former classmate
and roommate, was detained by the police and released after 8 hours.
This case remains unsolved. ZHU Ling's father, Mr. WU Chengzhi,
recalled that he had no suspicion of SUN Wei at all until the police
inquired his boss during the fall of 1995. The police asked whether he
had any conflicts with SUN Wei's father during the Cultural Revolution.
This is the first time the name SUN Wei caught his attention.
Later, the ZHU family tried to have a conversation with the SUNs, but
was refused by her family. In SUN Wei's declaration, she claimed that
she was hoping to talk to the ZHU family with the presence of the
police but the police didn't think they had the obligation to arrange
such a meeting. (Refer to SUN Wei's declaration) The ZHU family was
then assured that the suspect was SUN Wei. However, the ZHU family has
never heard from the police since then.
Last year, SUN Wei claimed her innocence on the Internet, but many
netizens believe she lied and her defense only reassured their judgment
that she was guilty in this case.
Recently, some new progress shines on this unsolved case.
ZHU Ling's mother, accompanied by her lawyer, went to PUMC Hospital to
ask for a copy of ZHU Ling's complete medical history. The hospital
authority refused her request.
SUN Wei, ZHU Ling's former classmate and roommate in college, who
initially accepted an interview by Phoenix Satellite Television, came
to the interview site with her husband and elder brother, but later
backed out.
SUN Wei's father has confirmed that the Internet post of SUN Wei's
Declaration was indeed written by SUN Wei. SUN Wei's mother made the
first phone call to ZHU Ling's mother after 11 years hoping to have a
conversation with her. Hired by ZHU Ling's parents to investigate ZHU
Ling's poisoning case, the lawyers called for insiders on the Internet
to provide clues to solve the case.
As ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning case discussion renewed, three persons
again caught the public attention.
BEI Zhicheng appeared and sharply criticized SUN Wei after 11 years,
calling her the perpetrator.
TONG Yufeng, ZHU Ling's former college classmate, who also brought up
the case on the Internet for discussion this year, started to
communicate with former classmates with insider information hoping to
help uncovering the truth and bring the justice for ZHU Ling.
XUE Gang, ZHU Ling's former college classmate, a class leader for the
Communist Youth Organization, was categorized into the "Party of SUN
(Wei) Supporters" by the netizens.
What is hidden behind the four new suspicions for this thallium
poisoning case?
The ZHU family disclosed the second burglary of ZHU Ling's personal
belongings.
Why were the items (syrup, power milk, etc.) that could possibly carry
the poison lost?
Did SUN Wei participate in the translation of these diagnostic emails
from foreign experts?
Where did ZHU Ling's second poisoning occur?
On the Internet debates started at the end of last year (2005), there
are three different kinds of responses from ZHU Ling's classmates: TONG
Yufeng and other 10 more classmates has begun to recollect historical
details hoping to uncover the truth; 6 students represented by the
former class leader XUE Gang and ZHU Ling's two roommates knowing more
of the incident are regarded as " SUN's supporters" by netizens. The
reporter failed to reach XUE Gang but found one of Ling's roommates and
her husband, both have refused to be interviewed; the rest of the class
remain silent.
Regarding the same fact, there are many different versions. The more
people interviewed, the more suspicious the reporters grew. Is it
memory loss or personal preferences at work?
ZHU Ling's personal belongings were stolen again.
Recently, ZHU Ling's mother, Ms. ZHU Mingxin told the reporter, because
Tsinghua voluntarily paid for the loss with very good faith, the ZHU
family has never made this public. In December 1998, when Ms. ZHU
Mingxin was processing the paper work for Ling's withdrawal from the
school, she found out that ZHU Ling's personal items such as her
camera, syrup and coffee at Tsinghua were missing.
The public safety bureau had sealed the evidence and kept it in the
Department of Chemistry as early as 1995 and provided the ZHUs with an
item list. The department explained, "The department relocated several
times and remodeling workers might have stolen them" and compensated
ZHU's family 3000 RMB voluntarily. The reporter tried contacting
department head XUE Fangyu who declined to be interviewed.
With the new surge of discussion of this case, the ZHU Ling family is
also searching their memories - why did items such as syrup and coffee
which could be used in poisoning become missing? The first theft was
widely known. It was shortly after April 28th of 1995 when the family
reported to the police that ZHU Ling's dorm was robbed. " Was this
coincidental or deliberate? Has someone tipped off (the suspect)? " ZHU
Ling's father, Mr. WU Chengzhi questioned.
Mr. TONG Yufeng has disclosed to the reporter that XUE Gang admitted
his knowledge of the robbery incident from his wife (also his
classmate) in his correspondence with Mr. TONG. But another classmate
told Mr. TONG Yufeng; he ran across XUE Gang who was rushing out of
dormitory Building 6 (Ling's dorm), and informed TONG of the robbery
case in ZHU Ling's room and requested him to keep quiet.
ZHU ling's parents are questioning: what is hidden behind the two-time
stealing of ZHU Ling's items.
Why did SUN Wei keep silent about "Thallium Poisoning"?
Recently ZHU Ling's high school alumni Mr. BEI Zhicheng told the
reporter, before ZHU Ling was properly diagnosed, he forwarded some
emails to ZHU Ling's Tsinghua classmates, requesting help with
translation. Later, BEI and his classmates created an email analysis
program to review all the emails on diagnosis.
However XUE Gang contradicted BEI's statement online by saying: Before
May 1st, 1995, he received and distributed emails among many
classmates, including SUN Wei and turned the translated emails to the
department two days later, who gave all of them to PUMC hospital. One
of ZHU Ling's roommates posted on Tianya (www.tianya.cn) under the ID "
the sun is just warm" said: Only a few students good at English were
involved in translation.
>From what the reporter knows, there were only 5 students who managed to
get in level III English class in Physics and Chemistry Class II: ZHU
Ling, SUN Wei, XUE Gang, ZHANG Li and another girl who wanted to be
anonymous. Mr. TONG Yufeng said, " This girl told me clearly that she
didn't have any recollection that she had participated in the
translation. ZHANG Li posted at tianya online saying that he was
planning to translate during May 1st holidays."
"SUN Wei admitted her involvement in the translation in her declaration
and she had access to " ready Thallium solution" required in a research
project experiment she worked on."
Students from abroad asked, since SUN Wei helped with the translation,
why didn't she inform everybody that emails suggested Thallium
poisoning? Why did she remain silent when Tsinghua University denied
existence of Thallium on campus?
"Guidelines for responses" attracted Cyberspace suspicions
1/29/2006, a post called "the facts on how we defended SUN Wei" was
published online. The post indicated that before SUN Wei's declaration
was issued, SUN Wei and her families sent some classmates "guidelines
for responses" directing how each person should coordinate when
responding to the declaration. For example, responses should be posted
little by little every day; try not to echo each other's opinions;
verify that Wei's family was free of corruption (responses should
follow immediately with a new ID), and also certify her personality and
reliability; do not use personal PC/IP address if identity exposure was
a concern; whatever was written online would be read by ZHU Ling's
family, so try to avoid leaking any additional information.
Shortly after "SUN Wei's declaration" was posted online, several
self-claimed Tsinghua University Physical Chemistry Class 2 classmates
followed up immediately. Later on, a post with a so-called "Guidelines
for responses" disclosing some details on the emails exchange between
the group of people right before the defense action appeared on
Internet and caught many people's attention. Although the involved
parties were asked to confirm it by many netizens, none of them spoke
up.
BEI, Zhicheng told the reporter that before "the facts on how we
defended SUN Wei" was posted, some insiders involved in proposing the
"Guidelines for responses" also sent this document to him. "I guarantee
the authenticity of this 'Guidelines for responses'", he said.
According to Mr. TONG Yufeng, he also requested several times that the
classmates whose names are in the "Guidelines for responses" confirm
its authenticity, during the discussion among the classmates inside the
Tsinghua University alumni's private forum. He has received no direct
answers.
People questioned the authenticity of the "Guidelines" and the
necessity that an innocent person using such a document to defend
herself.
Where was ZHU Ling poisoned for the second time?
A Chinese now living in the United States talked to XUE Gang on the
phone in early February. XUE told her that before ZHU Ling was poisoned
for the second time, she "went to classes as usual, practiced with the
band, and decocted Chinese medicine, etc".
PAN Feng, a classmate of ZHU Ling's (one of the so-called Party of SUN
(Wei) Supporters, as XUE) talked to ZHU Ling's parents to "enlarge the
range of suspects", when he came to Beijing to visit ZHU Ling's family
in March. Pan didn't agree to restrict the suspicion among the
roommates only.
The ZHU family challenged XUE's statement, "Before the second
poisoning, Ling was very weak. Except for attending three classes, she
spent most time in the dorm, and sometimes went to the office of the
Youth League to decoct Chinese medicine. The second poisoning must have
occurred in the dorm". Mr. TONG Yufeng had a vivid recollection of how
fragile and pale ZHU Ling looked in a physical chemistry class. Two
other classmates, PAN Bo and LI Xianping, remembered that ZHU Ling
attended the classes, but had no clear idea of her health status. ZHU's
parents want to know her activities before the second poisoning. It
might help reduce the range of potential suspects, if there were a
confirmed answer to this question.
No concept of the Day
The word "SUN Wei" is forbidden
Unlike the normal people, ZHU Ling has no concept of the Day. Sometimes
she keeps awake through the night; other times she sleeps for two days
in a row, according to her mother.
Old teddy bears were hung over the oxygen tank. In an old photo taken
in Ling's childhood, there are teddy bears lined up sitting on top of
the piano behind her. In the picture, ZHU Ling smiled, a very sweet
smile. Ms. ZHU Mingxin has not opened these photo albums for many
years. In her eyes, Ling is no longer the same sweetie captured in the
photo. Her lightly brown pupil seems to be covered by mist. When the
reporter reached out to her within a distance of less than 10cm, she
had no reaction.
One day, Ms. ZHU Mingxin laid the Gu Qin in front of her. Ling, who was
smiling, suddenly became very upset and shouted with a hoarse voice
from the deep throat "Take it away!", her eyes wide open and lips
twitching.
Perhaps she realized that she had lost almost all the vision once again
and her fingers were unable to strike the string. "Her piano tutor once
thought that she was especially suitable to play Chopin's music, thanks
to her slim and long fingers.'' Ms. ZHU Mingxin said, holding Ling's
hands, which once played Chopin's compositions but are now showing
protruding purple vessels and very swollen due to frequent intravenous
injection. She was not only proficient at Gu Qin and the piano as an
indispensable backbone of Tsinghua Student Chinese Orchestra (TSCO),
but was also very outstanding in school work.
At the end of November of 1994, unexpectedly, Zhu Ling started to
suffer from limb pain, stomachache and hair loss. After the treatment
at Tong Ren hospital and rest through the winter break, she was
slightly getting better. In the beginning of March of 1994, all
symptoms came back and ZHU Ling was hospitalized in PUMC hospital.
On March 23rd of 1995, ZHU ling was in deep coma for nearly half of a
year. Except for her parents, nobody thought she would make it.
The miracle finally occurred at the end of August.
Ms. ZHU Mingxin clearly remembered that day: She spoke to ZHU Ling as
usual beside her bed: " Dear Ling, could you please blink your eyes if
you can hear me!" ZHU Ling opened her eyes slowly. Although escaping
from the misfortune of being vegetated, she is suffering from all kinds
of serious sequelea.
In order to sustain ZHU Ling's life, PUMCH adopted "blood plasma
replacement therapy" from March 1995. ZHU Ling was infected with
Hepatitis C due to the treatment in May.
In 1997 ZHU Ling was diagnosed with ovary tumor; after year 2000 lower
respiratory infection still attacked ZHU Ling frequently, and her lung
collapsed to the fourth rib; in 2005 she was diagnosed with diabetes;
right now, her IQ equates to that of a seven-year-old child. Her lower
limb atrophied seriously due to long-term bed rest.
She smiles to her father's praises.
The majority of ZHU Ling's normal activities, including brushing teeth
and washing face, have to be done in the wheelchair.
With her father's reminder, she cleaned her teeth slowly from left to
right crosswise. She drank water without rinsing, and then she opened
her mouth, which caused the water to flow out and drench her clothes.
After that, she suddenly brushed teeth up and down, which is the
correct movement of brushing teeth. "She remembers'', the father said
with a smile. Ling also smiled, probably because she heard her father's
praise.
Had she received effective treatment in PUMCH 11 years ago, ZHU Ling
would not have become the person she is today who has to learn to know
how to brush her teeth.
PUMCH refuses the family's request for a copy of ZHU Ling's "in-patient
medical record".
In order to preserve the evidence, at 10 am on March 31, the reporter,
Ms. ZHU Mingxin, and ZHU Ling's lawyer (Ms. LI Haixia) went to PUMCH to
request a copy of Ling's medical profile. ZHU's family has already been
refused several times by PUMCH before. This is the first time the
director of the office of medical records approved the request.
However, the director stated that ZHU's in-patient medical records have
always been "specially preserved" and prohibited to be made public due
to the previous lawsuit between ZHU' family and PUMCH. The medical
records are about 7 centimeters thick, with tucks of paper exuding the
color of yellow.
Even after ZHU Mingxin's continuous requests, photocopying the
in-hospital timeline records is still disallowed. They were told, " It
is normal that in-patient historical records can not be made public.
One exception is when lawsuits are involved. Then the records are
required to be sealed until arrival at the court. " Ms. ZHU Mingxin and
the attorneys all believed that the most critical and useful
information is exactly in that not very thick in-patient profile.
On March 9, 1995, the first diagnosis by Dr. LI Shunwei, the head of
the neurology department in PUMCH, who examined ZHU Ling, was: " It is
most likely the thallium poisoning ", which was written in the medical
records. He once participated in the treatment of a thallium poisoning
case, in which the patient was a technician at a Tsinghua University
laboratory in the 1960s. Afterwards, ZHU Ling was transferred to ICU
(Intensive Care Unit), without getting the thallium test the entire
time she stayed in PUMCH.
ZHU Ling's high school classmate, BEI Zhicheng told the reporter, the
majority of the email replies he received since April 10th suggested
thallium poisoning, but they had no influence on the doctors'
diagnosis. Fortunately, a colleague of ZHU Mingxin helped and found Dr.
Chen Zhenyang at Beijing Institute of Occupational Disease Prevention
and Treatment who could perform such thallium test. (PUMCH had sent
arsenic testing to this institute before.)
After PUMCH refused to provide any samples, ZHU Mingxin tried hard to
collect ZHU Ling's skin, hair, blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples,
and sent them to Dr. CHENG Zhenyang. In the afternoon of the same day,
the result confirmed thallium poisoning. ZHU Ling' parents showed the
report to Dr. WEI Jing in charge of ZHU Ling's case in PUMCH. "She had
no facial expression after checking the report. I rushed upstairs to
meet Dr. LI Shunwei, who grasped it (the test report) and walked down
to ICU directly." said Ms. ZHU.
April 28, 1995, almost two months since ZHU Ling's hospitalization, she
was finally properly diagnosed with Thallium poisoning by PUMCH.
In 1996, ZHU Ling's parents sued PUMCH. In 2000, the final verdict
stated that it was not a medical accident, but the court asked PUMCH to
compensate ZHU Ling's family with 100K RMB. "We lost again" said Ms.
ZHU, feeling so powerless and they both sighed.
The two words "SUN Wei" are taboo.
Ms. ZHU has been avoiding two names before ZHU Ling, one being WU Jin,
Ling's sister who died in a accident and the other one being "SUN Wei".
"Hearing this name, she will become very agitated. We have tried not to
mention this name in front of her," Ms. ZHU said.
One time, when talking to ZHU Ling's father, Mr. WU, the reporter
mentioned the name "SUN Wei", ZHU Ling suddenly stopped playing the
piano, after a minute's silence, she shouted something completely
incomprehensible to the reporter. "She felt painful whenever her mind
becomes clearer." Being a mother, Ms. ZHU prefers that her daughter
will not realize the cruel fact. "I don't know who the murderer is, if
I knew, I would mail her/him a book of 'The Count of Monte Cristo'."
How long ZHU Ling's parents can continue the struggle.
Police in charge of the case repeatedly mentioned, "Respect the
history".
After 7 years, they met the police again.
Feb. 24th of 2006, accompanied by the two lawyers, Ms. ZHU for the
first time met the two policemen in charge of investigating this case.
During the conversation, the police repeatedly stressed that "everyone
should respect the history". Ms. ZHU guessed, does that mean the
evidence collected 11 year ago is still available? She felt a dim
light, "he also said if there is any new evidence, he will step out.
But who is going to collect the new evidence? Our doubts are all not
direct evidence. Who is going to prove this?" Youth Weekend reporters
called the policeman's cell phone, and he answered ambiguously, "You
can't say that this case is my responsibility, nor can you say that it
is not my responsibility. Neither there is no progress nor there is
progress." Finally, the police officer said, "Isn't it too early to
report this case?" He refused to give an answer when the reporter asked
when would be a good time to publish this case.
Compared with her wandering around in front of the appeal office, and
mailing letters after letters without response, Ms. ZHU feels good that
she can even find these police officers, " I can't let this contact go
away."
SUN's family would like to communicate with ZHU's family for the first
time
January 14th of 2006, SUN Wei's parents asked ZHU Ling's classmate to
take a letter to ZHU Ling's family, mainly requesting for
communications between the two families. January 19th, SUN Wei's mother
called Ms. ZHU and expressed the willingness to communicate.
" I didn't realize what it was when she called. It remains unknown the
time, place and persons to be involved. I'd like to talk to SUN Wei
directly. I hope to know how she will clear my suspensions about her."
Ms. ZHU said.
" I'd like to tell SUN Wei that as long as she is willing to
communicate with us, we will be waiting."
" Everybody is impatient now"
ZHU Ling's parents get information through an old computer with a dial-
up connection; there are many websites and electronic bulletin board
posts about ZHU Ling's case. " We seldom got online before. We were not
even familiar with the keyboard. Lately we have been online more
often." Mr. WU said.
While waiting at PUMCH for a copy of the medical records, the reporter
was asking about the situation in the "ZHU Ling bar" at Baidu.com. Ms.
ZHU sighed and answered, " I feel that everyone is getting impatient on
this case". Since there has been no breakthrough, fewer and fewer
people visit that site and pay attentions to this case. Ms. ZHU worried
that people will forget about this case again like years ago.
At the end of 2004, Ms. ZHU fell down from her chair because she was
extremely worn out. She had to have an intracranial operation. Now a
piece of the skull as big as a one's fist has been replaced by a piece
of Titanium alloy. Ms. ZHU clearly knows that ZHU Ling can't survive
without her and the father. Though ZHU Ling is paralyzed in bed, she
has never suffered with any bed rash.
"Now, my first wish is her recovery. The second is the truth", said Ms.
ZHU. She feels that once the truth is out, the rest of ZHU Ling's life
will be more secure.
"Otherwise, when we leave this world, she will have to go with us." Ms.
ZHU said.
SUN Wei indeed had an appointment with Luyu at Phoenix Satellite TV.
The interview plan was cancelled by SUN Wei due to concerns about the
pressure from the Internet. On April 11, our reporter contacted Mr. CAO
Zhixiong through the department of public relations at Phoenix
Satellite TV. CAO is the executive producer of the famous TV show "Meet
Luyu". CAO confirmed to the reporter that the news posted online
earlier about SUN Wei contacting Phoenix Satellite TV was true, but the
interview was suspended as requested by SUN Wei.
On March 29, one netizen posted news on "ZHU Ling bar" at Baidu.com,
claiming that "Phoenix Satellite TV will have an interview with SUN
Wei, but it will not be broadcasted unless it passes the review by
SUN's family". This post was soon deleted.
Some insider revealed to our reporter that this TV program that had
contact with SUN Wei was "Meet Luyu". On March 1, SUN Wei, accompanied
by her husband and her brother, went to the Phoenix Beijing clubhouse,
and met Luyu.
Mr. CAO Zhixiong said, "Meet Luyu" has been following up the thallium
poisoning incident of ZHU Ling, and approached this through both
perspectives: one group to interview ZHU's family, and the other group
had tried to contact SUN Wei since the beginning of this year. The
contact person from SUN's family was mainly SUN Wei's brother.
"We contacted SUN's family for about three or four times. Luyu talked
with them for a whole afternoon. Although they eventually refused the
show recording, they still talked a lot. They primarily sorted out
things in a timeline, and talked about the change of their lives from
then (the incident) to now." Mr. CAO Zhixiong also said that the
interview wouldn't involve too much about the details of the case. "If
the police people don't speak out, it will not be fair."
When talking about why SUN Wei didn't accept the interview, Mr. CAO
Zhixiong revealed that the biggest reason was that the pressure from
the Internet media was too heavy for her, and she worried that if she
spoke up under such circumstances, it would create a cause and effect
relationship with the online media: "You force me, and I speak up to
rebuff. Doesn't that mean it's effective for you to force me?" Based on
various considerations, up to now, SUN Wei has not agreed to conduct a
formal interview with Luyu.
However, Mr. CAO Zhixiong said that "Meet Luyu" still maintained
contact with SUN, and it is not excluding that a program will be made
given a good time in the future. "I don't want to force you. We are all
talented people. It won't result too well if I force you. Their
willingness to speak is the best."
Meanwhile, it is widespread on the Internet that SUN and Phoenix
Satellite TV signed a "confidentiality agreement." Mr. CAO Zhixiong
proved that this agreement did exist, and the main provision was to
prohibit disclosing the contents stated by both parties. "It was all
right, and SUN Wei talked pretty friendly." CAO commented near the end
of the conversation.
SUN Wei's father confirmed that the declaration was indeed written by
SUN Wei
On 2/7, according to the address disclosed online, Youth Weekend (YW
hereafter) located SUN Wei's home in a heavily guarded apartment
building in MuXidi.
YW managed to have the following conversations with SUN's father.
YW: Would you or SUN Wei like to respond to the extensive Internet
discussions about SUN Wei?
SUN's Father: Would you believe what were posted on Internet? The
rumors have been beyond our comprehension. There is absolutely no need
for us to respond.
YW: Were the two statements posted at Tianya.cn written by SUN Wei?
SUN's Father: That I can tell you. Only these two statements were
written by SUN Wei. She wrote nothing else.
YW: Why did SUN Wei decide to publish her statements through the
Internet, instead of traditional media?
SUN's Father: We will accept the interview requests from the
traditional media later, but certainly not now. You are the first one
to come to our home for an unsolicited interview. We hope you will
refrain from doing so in the future. We do not accept interviews for
now.
After this interview, YW phoned SUN's home several times later, but
none was answered.
YW managed to be in contact with SUN Wei's husband, who also declined
to be interviewed and only stated, "I support SUN Wei unconditionally".
On 3/6, YW located the company owned by SUN Wei's husband, only to find
a disconnected telephone in a deserted office. When asked about the
whereabouts of the tenants, the building management office said that
the office had been vacant since the beginning of this year, but the
lease were yet to be terminated.
YW contacted SUN's home before this article was published. A man
answered the phone, but after YW's self-introduction, there were 30
seconds of silence before the phone was hung up.
(Thanks to Baidu ZHU Ling Bar Volunteers for translation and Ms. Snow
Wang for proof reading. )
alienguest
Moral Principles We Learned from ZHU Ling's Mother
Baidu ZHU Ling Bar [03/24/2006]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please click here for this article published in Chinese
As a regular visitor, I feel most impressed by the happiness filled
within ZHU Ling’s family. Every time I visit them, I see Ms. Zhu joke
with her daughter. I can tell that Ms. Zhu’s delighted smile comes
from the happiness within. I have also talked with several journalists
who interviewed her family. We share common reflections: What a
miserable situation! Wouldn’t being pathetic the only response to
such unfortunate encounters? Yet Ms. Zhu’s phenomenal inner strength
has greatly touched me.
Each visit leaves me with new insights. What moves me most is that Ms.
Zhu portraits character and class. Going through such unbelievable
tragedy and bearing enormous pressure, she still maintains inner peace
and leads a happy life (please pay attention to the differences between
happiness and ultimate joy), which distinguishes her from ordinary
crowd. The scene of her playing games with her severely hurt daughter
would move everyone to tears. Her spiritual terrain is beyond my reach.
I cannot imagine myself to be in her shoes and still manage to stay
happy. Her strength and integrity have caught me speechless.
Ultimate joy is what we pursue while happiness is a kind of
appreciation for what we already have. Although ultimate joy is not in
everyone’s hands, happiness can be a choice for all. Many of us are
busy chasing what we don’t have. The more we fail to get, the deeper
we grow an intense sense of hopelessness. With goals unfulfilled and
appreciations overlooked, we constantly lament over our misfortunes and
unhappiness. As we desperately struggle to no avail, we target our
frustrations towards others and turn ourselves into cynical beings.
Compared to Ms. Zhu who remains happy in the wake of tragic situations,
what a shame we feel!
Ms. Zhu had a stroke last year. A piece of her scull is removed and the
scar from the surgery is still vaguely visible. But in her sixties, Ms.
Zhu has recovered remarkably well. She told me that there was only one
thing she kept telling herself, “If I were gone, who would take care
of my daughter? I should hold on tight to life!” How incredible is
mother’s love! Behind such invincible will is her strong conviction
of what it means to be a human being.
Ms. Zhu has turned down several opportunities for ZHU Ling to appear on
commercials. Neither is she willing to buy sympathy and collect
donations through presenting a helpless family to the public. Her
choices are misunderstood by many, unknown to most, and sometimes even
trapped in spiteful fabrications. Again and again Ms. Zhu has
demonstrated her conviction, her integrity, her lovingness and her
happiness. I can finally hear the voice within her heart – she is
striving to embrace the happiness from within and the last thing she
would choose to do is to compromise this inner peace by pursuing any
kinds of benefits. I understand how important this happiness is for Ms.
Zhu’s family. She chooses to lead a happy life.
Even after such overwhelming tragedy, Ms. Zhu never blames the society
or complains about others. She always finds happiness on her own.
Isn’t this a sound and square demonstration of the essence of a
harmonious society? Why has such a vivid display been forbidden to go
public while we claim that peace and harmony are what we encourage and
follow? Deeply moved, I strongly reprehend those who brought misery to
Ms. Zhu’s family. Even more do I feel my professional
responsibilities.
Whenever I meet Ms. Zhu, my feelings are beyond descriptions. There are
many things that I cannot disclose on the Internet due to professional
ethics. Moral principles of being and living, however, are eternal.
Most friends on-line who care about ZHU Ling rarely have chances to get
to know her family. Therefore, I feel I have the responsibility to
reveal their noble character, with which they have nurtured two
outstanding daughters. Based on my personal understanding, I thereby
dedicate this essay to everyone who cares about ZHU Ling.
We might weep over misfortunes, yet strength and peace lie within us!
Jie Zhang
Lawyer
alienguest
Lawyers have already got involved in collecting the relevant leads
Liberation Daily [03/14/2006]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please click here for original report in Chinese
“Those who witnessed the incident, please provide relevant evidences
and leads!" The continuously covered case that a female student of
Tsinghua University, ZHU Lingling, got thallium poisoned and severely
disabled 11 years ago recently made new progress, reported by
Liberation Daily, the attorney of her family is now officially going to
public to solicit relevant evidences and clues.
Soliciting leads openly again more than ten years later
ZHANG Jie, One of the two lawyers entrusted by ZHU Lingling family,
said: "According to the information provided by the police by far, ZHU
Lingling was deliberately poisoned, namely a murderer is hiding behind
this. After more than ten years, the top priority of this moment is how
to preserve the important evidences and clues in legal procedures in
accordance with pertinent laws and regulations."
"Therefore, we hope that insiders to provide us with related evidences
and clues. Because some evidence may be lost and some detail facts may
be forgotten overtime."
ZHANG Jie mentioned that evidences required for this case primarily
includes the following: suspicious circumstances before and after the
poisoning, the details of the process of the rescue, the attitudes and
the responses of students, etc. " We will carefully treat every
witness, every piece of evidence and every lead and submit them to the
public security bureau properly and legally, under the condition of
protecting primary party's interest and evidence provider’s safety.
We will also meet with insiders providing key evidences.”
Lawyers got into touch with investigators
ZHU Mingxin said, to her knowledge, that the relationship between ZHU
Lingling and SU Hui was relatively better in the dorm. "But one day she
was very thoughtful and asked me why sometimes it did not feel so right
between two good friends." April 2, 1997, the police took SU Hui away
for inquiry, but in August 1998 police announced to clear her from
being a suspect because there was no evidence to show that she was
related to ZHU Lingling's poisoning. ZHANG Jie explained that to
relieve suspect from under suspicion means the police has to abandon
forcible restraints on criminal suspects according to law if no
conclusive evidence is found after the statuary time limit, however
this does not mean that suspicion on the person is ruled out.
Upon being entrusted as ZHU Lingling's family attorney, the two lawyers
have formally requested to Public Security Bureau for expediting the
case investigation. They also made contacts with the investigators.
"We really need legal professionals’ guidance, otherwise we knew
nothing what to do next." ZHU Mingxin could not hide her physical and
mental fatigue when talking to Liberation Daily over the phone last
night. Paralyzed, almost totally blind, at a three-year old
intellectual level, weighting about 100 kg and basically speech ability
loss, is ZHU Lingling's current situation, which leads to ZHU Mingxin's
anxiety. "We hope to live to uncover the mystery of ZHU Lingling's
poisoning through a legal means."
Incident playback
In February 1995, ZHU Lingling, a female student at Department of
Chemistry of Tsinghua University, was stricken with some disease of
unknown etiology a week after new semester began and suffered from
severe feet pain, numb hands, and hair loss.
On March 9, 1995, ZHU Lingling was sent to Peking Union Medical College
hospital for treatment, and was "highly suspected of being thallium
poisoned" by Professor LI Shunwei. On March 22, 1995, ZHU Lingling
begun choking when eating and the hospital performed tracheotomy on her
to rescue her life. On March 26, 1995, ZHU Lingling was transferred
into ICU. On March 28, she slipped into a deep coma that lasted for two
months.
In April 1995, BEI Zhicheng, a high school classmate of ZHU Lingling,
posted ZHU Lingling's symptom on Internet and hoped to get professional
opinions on finding the cause. He received more than three thousand
letters, most of which suspected "thallium poisoning."
On April 28, 1995, Zhu Lingling's parents visited CHEN zhenyang at
Beijing Institute of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, who
later detected ZHU Lingling, was twice poisoned by thallium. They
reported the case to the police on the same day. A month later thallium
in ZHU Lingling's system was almost eliminated and the symptoms of
poisoning disappeared, but severe sequelae left her in permanent
disability.
(Thanks to " Rational" for translation)
alienguest
Zhu Ling's health condition is deteriorate day by day. Picture taken in
late 2005.
"Zhu's high school classmate -- Bei Zhicheng -- made public Zhu's
symptoms on the Internet and appealed for help. Within a short time, he
received over 1,500 replies, 30% of which thought it was thallium
poisoning. But nobody at PUMCH looked at his materials, as the doctors
had excluded the possibility of heavy metal poisoning. When the
diagnosis of thallium poisoning finally came out, thallium had ruined
most parts of her nervous system. She suffered serious sequelae
(complications of a condition), even though by then thallium was
clearly out of her body," said Skyoneline.
Skyoneline went on to say in her thread, "Sun Wei was Zhu Ling'
classmate, roommate, and teammate on the college folk music team.
According to some Tsinghua students, Sun was doing a research with her
professor at that time, and was the only student that had access to
thallium. Besides, due to her close relationship with Zhu, she had the
best chance and time to poison Zhu. …Some well-informed classmates of
Zhu Ling even point out that Sun Wei was the would-be poisoner…"
"Also according to Zhu's Tsinghua classmates, Sun was denied the
Certificate of Graduation without an official reason, and also was
refused any materials for going abroad." Skyoneline continued.
Skyoneline 's thread received abundant replies, most of which showed
deep sympathy for Zhu, while accusing Sun of being the poisoner.
A month later a statement allegedly written by Sun Wei emerged in the
Tianya club, refuting the illdoings and claiming Sun's innocence
"Many people are helping Zhu Ling and demanding due punishment of the
murderer. Rumors about me have been spreading all the time, but I
retained my silence all the years. As I always believed my innocence
would be proven one day. However, my silence has given people reason to
doubt. Even my friends are asking me about the case. Therefore, I have
decided to issue a statement of innocence here." the statement read.
"I am innocent, and also a victim of the case," claimed the statement.
According to the statement, the police questioned Sun Wei for eight
hours on April 2, 1995, and cleared her of suspicion in August the same
year, as there was no evidence pointing to her involvement in Zhu's
poisoning.
Lab poisoning mystery triggers debate
By Jessie Tao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-01-13 17:37
Zhu Ling and her parents pose for a photo in late 2005.
"The fact is the thallium liquid I used was prepared by others. What's
more, there was no strict management on poisonous reagent. Sometimes,
the laboratory was even left unlocked," Sun wrote in her statement.
Reaction to the statement is mixed.
Some expressed doubt on Sun's statement.
A netizen nicknamed Yanshanqiandu2 believed Sun was exactly the guilty
person who was trying to cover up her wrongdoings. "Why did you choose
to keep silent ten years ago," questioned Yanshanqiandu2.
A reply by Qipilaolang said: "Suspicion does not amount to your guilt,
nor does the clearing statement warrant your innocence."
Meanwhile, Sun also drew sympathy. "I support you, innocent Sun Wei.
Both you and Zhu Ling are victims, and worthy of sympathy. Wish your
and your family could live a peaceful life again. Wish Zhu Ling a quick
recovery, and her family peace and happiness!" wrote a netizen
nicknamed Onisdabird.
Lab poisoning mystery triggers debate
By Jessie Tao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-01-13 17:37
Zhu's high school classmate Bei Zhicheng, who has been involved in the
case since the very beginning, also launched a thread on the
"Information on the Zhu Ling Case."
"The first time I had my suspicion on Sun Wei was in 2002, and had
never discussed it on the Internet, because it was not a pleasant
memory. It is not my assumption. In fact, I got to know Sun Wei only
because she was the only suspect revealed by the police to Zhu Ling's
parents. The police's suspicion was based on facts presented by
Tsinghua University: Sun Wei was the only student with access to
thallium, and Zhu Ling's back-up on the Folk Music Team," Bei wrote in
his thread.
Bei also listed the facts he got to know through different sources,
"According to a retired officer with the Beijing Municipal Police
Station, Zhu Ling's cup was found in a box under Sun Wei' bed. "
"The other thing I want to mention is the apathy shown by Zhu Ling's
classmates. Nobody offered a hand when I asked them for help in
translating the emails on Zhu Ling's illness we got from the foreign
experts. "
Bei also said Tsinghua University should bear the most responsibility
for both Zhu Ling's poisoning and the failure to find out the culprit.
A claimed classmate of Sun Wei replied:"Personally, I think Sun Wei is
the most likely poisoner. Several of her supporters were her close
friends, and not on good terms with Zhu Ling. Why is there nobody
suggesting collective action? Why did some people keep the same stance
and tone?"
Discussion is still going on, while the truth behind Zhu's poisoning
remains elusive. Nevertheless, reality is that Zhu's health is
deteriorating day by day and her family has been dragged into a plight
due to the massive medical expense.
"We have to leave her one day. How can she, paralyzed in bed, continue
her life without us?" Zhu's mother sobbed.
alienguest
About ZHU Ling
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twelve years ago, ZHU Ling was a bright, talented and promising
chemistry student at Tsinghua University, Beijing - one of the most
prestigious and selective universities in all of China. Enthusiastic,
intelligent and attractive, she was an active member of the college
folk music team, and was already considered by many to be a model
student with a wonderful future.
In December of 1995, all of this changed when ZHU Ling suddenly took
ill. Her hair began to fall out; she lost the ability to speak; her
face became paralyzed; her arms and legs could no longer support her;
and she was slowly losing her vision. Medical experts were unable to
explain her condition until a description of her symptoms on the
Internet yielded the likely culprit: Thallium poisoning.
Thallium - a naturally occurring heavy metal, often used as the active
ingredient in rat poison - produced exactly the same symptoms as those
plaguing ZHU Ling. With this as a diagnosis, her physicians were able
to successfully treat her condition and remove most of the toxic metal
from her system. Even so, this short exposure left her almost
completely blind with permanent paralysis and severe neurological
damage.
ZHU Ling's family - who had already suffered the loss of one daughter
to an unfortunate accident - was devastated by this latest tragedy,
made all the worse because, to date, no one has been able to explain
how or why the poison was introduced into ZHU Ling's system.
Many theorize that ZHU Ling's friend and college roommate - with
unrestricted access to the toxic substance - was the most likely
poisoner, although repeated questioning by authorities yielded no more
information in this regard. To date, no one has been held accountable
for this horrible crime.
For almost 10 years since the poisoning, ZHU Ling's family has suffered
the daily pain, anguish and financial burden of caring for a - now
severely - disabled daughter. Monthly expenses of over 5,000 RMB (about
$625 dollars) are needed for her ongoing care and rehabilitation, and
she still has a long way to go.
Twelve years ago, Mr. Bei Zhicheng created a telemedicine miracle in
helping to diagnose and treat ZHU Ling's poisoning - although
ultimately his efforts turned out to be in vain. ZHU Ling remains in a
desperate situation. The poison she ingested so long ago ravages her
body still and, as she advances into middle age, her chances for
further recovery diminish.
Let us help this once gifted, smart and pretty girl, who is now
struggling for her very survival ... before it is too late. Let us help
her reach more hi-tech medical treatment and rehabilitation, and maybe,
the miracle of her survival 12 years ago can be repeated in her cure.
Let us also offer our love and support to this grieving and stricken
family.
ZHU Ling and her family need your help now! Your contribution will go a
long way toward easing her suffering, assisting in her daily upkeep,
and holding out the promise of a brighter and better tomorrow.
Maybe together, we can again accomplish the impossible.
Written by Jeanne, Revised by Tom Toma
alienguest
Visit The Tsinghua Girl Who Was Bizarrely Poisoned With Thallium
Beijing Morning Post [12/31/2000]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please click here for original article in Chinese
Do you still remember the female student named ZHU Ling from Tsinghua
University? Five years ago, she attracted lots of attention: Then ZHU
Ling was stricken with strange poisoning symptoms and her classmates
sent a SOS email to the world on Internet leading to her final
diagnosis of Thallium poisoning. If it is Internet that saved ZHU
Ling’s precious life years ago; then the past years, with her own
strength, she created another miracle: living and trying hard to stand
up.
Her favorite flower is the "never-dead".
ZHU Ling used to be very fortunate - beautiful, smart, versatile and
talented, and she admirably became a student in the Chemical
Engineering Department of Tsinghua University. However, an inexplicable
poisoning more than five years ago has turned her life upside down.
Back in April of 1995, ZHU Ling, the Junior student in the Chemical
Engineering Department of Tsinghua University, had strange poisoning
symptoms: hair loss, facial muscle paralysis, vague pronunciation, and
weak limbs. She was sent to hospital, but the doctors were helpless. At
that time, BEI Zhicheng, ZHU Ling's high school classmate and then a
junior student in the Mechanics Department of Peking University,
together with his several classmates, translated ZHU Ling’s symptoms
into English and sent out emails to the world through Internet for
help. They received more than 1,500 responses from different countries
and many stated that she could be “thallium” poisoned, which were
confirmed by experts’ diagnosis afterwards. The diagnosis did not
bring an immediate improvement in her condition: a former beautiful and
intelligent girl became vegetated.
ZHU Ling's family is full of mishaps. She used to have a bright and
beautiful older sister who passed the College Entrance Exam with
extraordinary grades and was admitted by Peking University. She fell
down from a cliff accidentally and died during a field trip. When
looking at unconscious Ling, the mother said, there was only one
thought in her mind at that time that she had already lost a daughter
and could not let this one go. Although the total intake of thallium
was far above lethal, she struggled and survived. The flower
“never-dead”, a plain looking unpretentious floret with strong
vitality, is ZHU Ling’s favorite. At her home located in Fangzhuang,
I met with the girl who loves “never-dead”.
She fights tenaciously.
Upon entering the room, the reporter immediately saw ZHU Ling sitting
on a wheelchair and doing hand exercises responding to the nanny’s
words. Her hands, which used to play wonderful music on piano and Gu
Qin, were slightly trembling and striving to complete actions like
grabbing and grasping. Suddenly, Ling turned her head around. She
looked disturbed and mumbled something. “She wants to stand up,”
Ling’s mother told the reporter. As ZHU Ling’s legs cannot stretch
straightly, her mother and the nanny carried her onto the fitness
equipment. She stood there quietly with her hands rested on the
handrails. Her mother watched her in the front, and the nanny stood
behind her embracing her body tightly. “She may fall even with a
cough.” In this way, the three of them stood together for one hour.
Her mother said, doing this could exercise her waist and leg muscles.
Her mother told the reporter ZHU Ling needed braces to stand like this
two years ago.
The Gu Qin music played by the tape recorder is ZHU Ling’s favorite.
She is listening attentively to it with her head tilted to one side and
smiling. Her mother said that, Zhu Ling in the past was a top player at
the Tsinghua Student Chinese Orchestra. She played "Guang Ling San" in
the Beijing Concert Hall several months before she was poisoned. When
ZHU Ling was in a bad mood, she would demand for the piano. Once the
music starts, she would calm down. She still hopes she would be able to
go back to School one day. She wants to stand up. She wants to go to
school.
Ling's current IQ level equates to that of a pre-schooler, and it seems
that she has none of the harsh memory of the past. Yet she never
forgets about going to school, says her mother that Ling constantly
stared at her with desires in her eye, mumbling, "I want to stand up. I
want to got o school!" During the interview, her dad who works at the
National Earthquake Center returned home, and walked directly to her
daughter and acted like the coach. "Straighten up your arms. Turn left,
then right, excellent!" Hearing father's praise, ZHU Ling seemed to be
smiling again. Afterwards, under father's guidance, Ling went back on
the wheelchair, and did several dozens repetitions of dumbbell. Every
time, ZHU Ling gave everything she got. Her father told the reporter,
that Zhu exercised like this several times a day, only stopped when the
parents asked her to take a rest. Before the tragedy, Zhu was a lively,
open-minded and upbeat girl. The harsh reality has not altered her
personality. She enjoys listening to music and stand-up comedies, as
well as listening to the housekeeper singing pop music; she even joins
the action every once in a while. "Ling loves to joke around with me,
she even came up with several weird nickname for me." says the
housekeeper ZHOU Wen Mei.
How on earth the thallium, a rare element, entered ZHU Ling’s body
still remains unknown. Perhaps her mother, ZHU Mingxin, has managed to
cope with this misery, as times goes by, she appears very calm. She
said, at one side of the bed where ZHU Ling’s head lies was the
oxygen tank and the other side was the sucking phlegm device. When Ling
lies down, she needs the oxygen supply for breathing. She consumes an
entire tank per week. To get the treatments for the daughter, this
family has already got into financial problems. But what worries the
family most is where to find the best treatment for their daughter.
Now, the only hope for Zhu Mingxin is that her daughter will be able to
stand up from the wheelchair one day, even if this day seems still so
far away.
(special thanks to volunteers from BAIDU ZHU Ling BBS )
alienguest
Excerpts from “I saw ZHU Ling the other day”
www.baidu.com [05/31/2006]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She was fastened in a wheelchair. Her legs looked stunningly skinny.
Her tarnished eyes stared into space without any youthfulness. She
tried hard to look, but she was not able to see much. Mom asked her to
pass some snacks to us. ZHU Ling labored her curly fingers to pick up a
little box and stretched her arm forward. But she couldn’t find where
we were. I took a piece of cracker from the box. It tasted bitter! I
simply could not hold the tears in my eyes.
While she can still chew when Mom fed her, her severely
Thallium-poisoned nerves were no longer able to fully control her oral
muscles and saliva often dripped out of her open lips. She was quite
cranky that day. Perhaps she heard our conversation and sensed
something. She constantly yelled ah ah ah, frantically letting out some
loud cry. The words were so vague that we could hardly distinguish. All
these efforts of expressing her agony and frustration turned out to be
futile.
There must be some vague memories about that horrible incident left in
her chaotic and obtuse brain. She might be aware that something
terrible happened to her but she could not tell what it was.
What a devastating scene! She cannot speak. Neither can she see. Her
hands, a slender pair that used to nimbly dance upon a piano keyboard,
now curl up together and can only knock down the keys one by one. How
can anybody not be struck, not feel the pain, and not condemn the
shameless criminal!
… …
It was time for ZHU Ling to do her daily standing exercise as we were
about to leave.
Her old parents strenuously carried her from the wheelchair onto the
training apparatus. They fastened her with a rope around her waist and
a belt under her hip. Then they put her hands on the top of two
standing pillars and had her grip the handles to prevent her from
falling down. She just “stood” there like this. Her numb legs bent
outward – her weight was completely supported by the rope and the
belt.
At the beginning, she did not want to do the exercise and shouted some
undistinguishable words to protest. But after she was pushed up, she
stopped the resistance. Mom turned on the radio and tuned it to Comic
Dialogue. ZHU Ling stood upright, hands holding the handles and arms
resting on the pillars, eyes blindly staring into space.
Mom found her legs bent. She straightened them. Then Mom sat down
behind her, gently held her and patted her.
Before they got the waist holder, Mom or Dad had to carry her from
behind until she finished the exercise. Her entire body weight was
completely held up by one of her old parents. Both she and the person
carrying her would be soaked in sweat afterwards. Now her parents do
not need to carry her any more. But they still don't take anything for
granted and always sit behind her to protect her.
ZHU Ling is tall when standing up. Had that merciless crime not
occurred to her, she would have been a beautiful girl in great physical
shape!
It's been several days since my visit at ZHU Ling's. I've just
collected enough courage to pick up the pen. But words simply cannot
express my indignation. When I was sitting right in front of her
wheelchair, the only thing I could do was to watch my tears falling
into my teacup, and let the rising steam soothe me down from my immense
sorrow.
(Written by a netizen identifed as Zenyup, Translated by Anonymous)
alienguest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZHU Ling's mother emailed us the following when we inquired about ZHU
Ling's condition:
"Hello, this is a brief summary of Ling's current health :
The waist muscle is capable of supporting her back so that she does not
rely on the back of the chairs. However, the ability of balance control
is poor. She would fall immediately if her center of gravity is a
little bit off. Therefore, she has to hold on something while sitting
by herself, and need people to be around to protect her.
When in the wheel chair, she can move one leg up at a time and repeat
for more than a hundred times. However, she can't control the movement
between waist and her knee. Therefore, she can't stand up or roll to
another side in bed by herself
Her right lung shrank to the level where the 3rd rib is. Her blood
oxygen level is around 94 while sitting. While bed rest, she needs to
inhale some oxygen in order to maintain blood oxygen level at 94,
otherwise, the blood oxygen level will be below 90. A 40-liter oxygen
(liquid) bottle can meet her 7-9 days' need. (She stays in bed around
12 hours a day, including nap, urinate and defecate.)
She can drink water or use spoon with right hand. She now dares to lift
her elbow joint and point around unsupported. Her right hands can play
some music on the piano. Hands position and finger techniques are great
but show no strength and even shake sometimes. Though in the
wheelchair, she would still lose balance without hands resting on the
arms of the chair. Her ability of controlling the left hands is weaker.
There's been some progress on speech ability. If reminded the proper
positioning of lips, tongue and throat result in correct pronunciation;
she would consciously work hard overcoming difficulties and can
articulate better.
ZHU Ling remembers both everything she learned or experienced before
1994 and all classmates' names. She still can recite many Tang and Song
Poetries. Though unable to see the piano keys or music books, she still
manages to play some tunes.
ZHU Ling's vision is very poor. She cannot see clearly TV, peoples'
faces or big characters on newspaper. She can only distinguish fingers
within 40 inches. Being a bit color blind, she cannot tell red from
green but can differentiate yellow or blue. Eight years ago she always
longed for reading books but gave up eventually after realizing her
poor vision.
If ZHU Ling's heath permits, we will help her to exercise everyday. We
try to have her wash hands, drink water and eat by herself. We lift her
up to make her stand up 4 times (one person has to stand behind to
support her), each time lasting roughly 30 minutes. She also does such
exercise as arm lifting, kicking or rolling over and sit-ups in bed.
To go to or get out of bed, sit in wheelchair, or stand up all requires
us carrying her. We are past the age that we could carry her around. We
have to depend on nannies. Is there any equipment that can help to lift
her? Lung, liver and vision are all severe threats to her. How we wish
she could recover soon!
Many thanks!
ZHU Ming-Xin
alienguest
one of her classmates
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of ZHU Ling's classmates sent the following updates to helpzhuling
groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/helpzhuling) in April 2004:
"We visited her last weekend. I knew you all must be very anxious to
know about ZHU Ling's current condition. I was deeply saddened. Her
situation is very bad. She weighs about 200lbs. Because her throat was
opened to be on breathing support during the respiratory failure in
coma, the sequela of infection and pulmonary fluid left only 1/4 of her
lung to function. Thus she even requires oxygen supply for bed rest.
She also suffers from severe liver damages resulted from blood
transfusion induced hepatitis C infection. Being in poor health, she
can no longer take antibiotics.
During the 10 long years, She has progressed a bit. She can drink water
herself and even can lift her legs up a little. Her family is in great
need of help. 10 year's medical treatment has exhausted them
materially. The dark bare walls, old clothes and furniture all tell us
they are under tremendous financial pressure."
alienguest
Email from Jeanne who visited ZHU Ling on April 18, 2006
Jeanne He [04/21/2006]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I visited ZHU Ling's family on Tuesday (4/18) with another person
belonging to helpzhuling group in Beijing organized by the Little Monk
through Baidu ZHU ling bar and I also talked to Dr. Chen on the phone
later. Here are some items I got:
ZHU Ling's blood sugar level is about 10. She was on medication for
about one month, and stopped taking it. I will ask the parents if they
have any way monitoring her Diabetic situation. Lingling looks thinner
than in the 2004 family picture on the web. Dr. Chen said they do have
detritions in the hospital however it is not a rehabilitation center
but a general hospital. So there has never been a complete recovery
plan for ZHU Ling and he really likes to work with you to get one for
Lingling.
ZHU Ling's vision.
ZHU mama has a program, which can blow up a letter to fill up the
screen center area. Ling twisted her head around trying to spell out
the letter; most time she got the letter when her head is bent down.
She mess up E with F, L and I a lot. ZHU mama said she didn't seem to
see the whole pictures. I saw she couldn't recognize her own name at
all after a great effort; she had trouble differentiating the red from
the green. Her eyes got tired after a few minutes and she massaged them
with right hand. When five circles in a row appeared from left to right
on the screen, she would miss one and spot four circles. Zhu mama said
she felt Ling had missed the middle one.
ZHU Ling's mental state
She reacts to what you say. I said to her, " LingLing, you are very
pretty", she smiled, a big smile. I did this again and she smiled
again. When I first introduced myself, she said inarticulately that her
name is ZHU Ling Ling and her father's name is WU CHENG ZHI. When she
talks, her lips wouldn't move while tongue moves a little. After a
while, you can kind of tell what she is saying by half guessing. She
likes the attention. She is not shy.
She gets impatient with her parents very easily, in front of me. She
started shouting at her father and calling him "no use". She shook her
head hard when her mom asked if she would like to play GU Qin for me.
She imagines things, when her father and the nanny managed to put her
on the standing machine, she will shout, "don't poke me with a knife."
When I talked to ZHU mama, she started talking to herself like she is
talking to an imaginary friend in front of her.
Her mom said, in the year of 1996, she was just slow to react to
everything, smiling and quiet all day long. Later she started
hallucinating things. Her memory is selective. She remembered a
helper's name and the nickname she gave her (the helper). Those
nicknames will show up when she talks to herself.
I tried to ask her remember my name. First time she forget right away,
then I told her again and asked her right away, she got it. After 5
minutes, she forgot again.
I asked her, how old are you, she thought over and again before shaking
her head and turning to her father. He leaned down and said to her
ear,' this is 2006 now, so how old are you?' She responded, 'you do the
subtraction,' and her father said 'you do it', She paused for a while
and answered, about 30 .
When she got upset, her face turned red, eyes widely open and angry
looking. She talked from deep inside her throat, and you feel she
needed to clear her throat. One time she started upset talking
constantly, her mom wheeled her away from the room, and I can hear she
was continuing arguing or shouting (not high pitch shouting) for quite
a while.
She obviously has a pair of good ears; her mom said she could recognize
her late grandfather by his footsteps.
Thinking about she was such a talented girl, now she has lost
everything and is sick as she is now; thinking about her parents had
such a sweet daughter and her life will end up like this, I can't
control my tears rolling out constantly.
Ling Ling's hip area is weak. When LingLing stood on the standing
machine, her hip was supported from front and the back. She couldn't
stand steadily without help. That might be why she can't turn herself
to the side lying down on the bed. Zhu mama has to help her turn every
two hours every night. I did this same thing for my newborn baby for
about 1 month and I was exhausted. How could her parents handle this
for twelve years!
According to Ling Ling's father, in 1995 her legs were as thin as my
wrist.
And her body was as soft as weightless cotton back then. Now her legs
look a bit thinner than normal person, she can lift her feet about a 2
inches. She can hold her own water cup, but her hands are a little bit
trembling. She can apply some strength to help her parents pull her up
from the bed. A complete professional rehab plan never seem to have
been done for her, she has made all these progress by her
parents?strong will that she has to get better. Her Mom said, back in
1995, she has never thought the recovery will last for 12 years. Dr.
Huang, if they can manage this progress, with further professional
guide, Ling Ling can make more progress, right?
Ling Ling likes visiting US. One time, Ling Ling's family were gathered
in the family room and watching TV regarding the war in middle east
(First war). Somebody slightly commented about the US involvement in
the war, Ling Ling said, don't say that, I am planning to go to US to
study. Her mind is obviously stopped at the age of early twenties. I
told Ling Ling: if you can walk again, I will take you to US and find a
school for you. She seems to be satisfied with my promise.
When eating lunch, Ling Ling sat at the table end, between her parents,
her father put the food in her spoon which she held, and she brought
the food to her mouth, she seems to eat well and she likes strawberry.
She did choke about three times while I was there.
Ling Ling can engage a long conversation. Since Ling Ling refused to
play Gu Qin as any other child would rebel against parents, I told Ling
Ling that I can play piano for her, and she can give grade my
performance. She responded she prefers Chopin and I told her I need a
teacher to teach me to play Chopin's music, how about you teach me, she
opened her eye wide and shook her head, I said "why not? You can just
tell me if I am right or wrong, I can correct myself." she thought
about it for a while and said " that will be no fun!" I went around
talked back and forth about this, she has followed my conversation with
a great concentration, finally we moved to the piano area, and I played
" For Elise" for her, she listened quietly. The piano was dusty and off
the tune, some keys can't even stay up. Seems nobody has played the
piano for years.
Ling Ling gave me a point of 5, a full score. I don't remember she
started any conversation, but she sure followed.
After lunch, Ling Ling looked tired and naptime came. The parents put
her in her bed. When we came to say goodbye to her, she had the oxygen
tube on her nose . Yet she managed to say" Goodbye" to us.
When we hugged Zhu mama goodbye, Tears were in her eyes. She thanked us
over and over, and ask us to take care ourselves, our work and our
family....
Regards,
Jeanne
alienguest
LA Times [11/03/1995]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Metro Desk
A graduate student at UCLA has combined the Internet, computer
technology and medical sciences to help treat a 21-year-old woman, Zhu
Ling, who lay comatose in a hospital thousands of miles away in China.
Xin Li, a graduate student in the department of radiological sciences,
received e-mail messages from Zhu Ling's friends in China, who were
seeking the advice of medical professionals in the United States.
Chinese doctors had tried to treat the young woman but had no luck in
bringing her out of the coma.
Using the Internet, Li and Daniel Valentino, assistant professor of
radiological sciences, contacted doctors and medical facilities in the
United States. Li digitized Ling's medical file--including radiographic
images, such as CT and MR scans, photographs, pathology reports and
blood lab results--and sent the information over the Internet so
medical professionals could review it.
The proposed diagnoses that came back to Li's e-mail address indicated
that Ling had thallium poisoning. Thallium is a toxic element used in
making photoelectric cells and rat poisons. The Los Angeles County
Poison Control Center suggested a treatment devised by Dr. Ashok Jain
of its staff, and Li passed the information along to Ling's family--via
the Internet.
According to e-mail messages that Li has since received from Ling's
family, her doctors were hesitant at first to use the Internet-gathered
information. But Ling's family convinced them to give it a try--and the
young Chinese woman is recovering.
Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1995
Record Number: 000100897
alienguest
Steve [05/16/2006]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The musicians of the China National Symphony Orchestra came to town on
Sunday and gave their first-ever performance at Boston Symphony Hall.
They were, in a word, glorious. The traditional Chinese instruments,
the er-hu and zheng, backed by a full symphony orchestra filled the
concert hall with beautiful sounds of China.
The solo soprano sat gracefully next to the conductor. Everything about
her was perfect, from her traditional headdress and costume to her
motionless yet completely relaxed sitting position. When the time came,
she rose slowly and glided to the microphone next to the conductor and
hit the first note perfectly with her trained Beijing opera voice. She
was art, pure and simple: a carefully conceived, rehearsed and
flawlessly executed blend of visual and auditory art. But, for me, as
fabulous as she was, she was just a prelude to Sa Chen.
To growing applause, Sa Chen, the pianist, walked out briskly, smiling,
and confident, her long red satin gown gently brushing the stands and
chairs of the first violin section as she made her way past them to the
Steinway grand piano at the front of the stage. She bowed deeply to the
audience and sat down at the Steinway, not like she knew she was alone
representing the great country of China before an audience of thousands
in Boston Symphony Hall, a hall considered by many to be second only to
Carnegie Hall in acoustics and fame. No, she sat and smiled as if she
was sitting in her favorite well-worn chair in her time and in her
place. And it was, in fact, her hall then.
I was inwardly delighted as the piece started like many of my favorite
Chinese musical works of art do, with a sudden and powerful wall of
music that can take your breath away. I have never seen a pianist's
hands move so quickly and flawlessly. Her hands flashed and blurred as
she pounded every one of the eighty-eight Steinway keys into
submission. Her beautiful, long black hair billowed and waved as the
force of her playing propelled her up, off the bench. She attacked the
Steinway with her whole physical and emotional being. Even my children
stopped fidgeting, sat up, and muttered their amazement. Even my
children...
And then a tear welled up. I could not help imagining how Zhu Ling
probably dreamed of giving such a performance. She had a real chance.
Perhaps it could have been Zhu Ling there on the Symphony Hall stage
her hands flashing across the keys and her passion reaching through the
Steinway to enchant all those urbane Bostonian hearts. Perhaps it could
have been Zhu Ling's beautiful black hair flying through the air. It
certainly was her dream...a dream stolen by the unimaginably cruel
thallium.
The people around me who noticed must have thought I was deeply moved
by the music. Little did they know it was really for someone who could
not be there, and for her parents.
alienguest
The Journal of the American Medical Association
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Journal of the American Medical Association
International electronic link solves medical puzzle [1995]
Authors: Gunby, P.
In: JAMA 274(22): 1750.
Abstract: A clinical case of thallium poisoning suffered by a
university student in Beijing was diagnosed recently via electronic
mail that was broadcast onto the Internet. After physicians in China
were unable to treat the student's symptoms effectively and she had
become comatose, students at Beijing University sent out an electronic
mail request for diagnostic and therapeutic assistance from an
international medical audience. An infectious disease specialist,
Stephen O. Cunnion, M.D., of the Uniformed Services University,
Bethesda, MD, diagnosed the problem, which Chinese physicians
subsequently confirmed. This case has led many in the field of
telemedicine to consider the Internet as a potential diagnostic
tool.[Abstract Generated Internally]
(UI: 96097018; PMID: 7500491)
PUBLICATION TYPE: Journal Article
ISSN: 0098-7484
alienguest
The First Large Scale Telemedicine Trial-ZHU Ling's Case
TeleSol Newspaper
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First large scale telemedicine trial – ZHU Ling's case
On April 10, 1995, an SOS e-mail message was sent from Peking
University through the Internet to ask for help for a young female
university student, Zhu Ling, suffering an unknown but severe disease.
The message was widely spread and since then the Internet has played a
very important but complicated role in Zhu Lin's life. It has also
impacted on the lives of many of them who have tried to see just how
far telemedicine by the Internet can be taken to bridge the cultural,
linguistic, and even political gulfs between China and the Western
world.
The scientists of the Peking University provided a web site of
telemedicine coordination so that more people can better give help to
the patient on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
They also documented the case to report on how technological and
cultural factors influenced the acceptance and success of the
telemedicine trial involving physicians, telemedicine researchers and
many others in North America, Europe, and mainland China.
This is the content of the SOS e-mail message:
“This is Peking University in China, a place of those dreams of
freedom and democracy. However, a young, 21-year old student has become
very sick and is dying. The illness is very rare. Though they have
tried, doctors at the best hospitals in Beijing cannot cure her; many
do not even know what illness it is. So now we are asking the world
--can somebody help us?
Here is a description of the illness: The young woman -- her name is
Zhu Ling -- is a student in the chemistry department. On DEC. 5, 1994,
Zhu Ling felt sick in her stomach. Three days later, her hair began to
fall out and within two days she was completely bald. She entered the
hospital, but the doctors could not find the season for her illness.
However, after she was in the hospital for a month, she began to feel
better and her hair grew back. Zhu Ling went back to school in
February, but in March her legs began to ache severely, and she felt
dizzy. She entered XieHe (Harmony) Hospital - the most famous hospital
in China. On March 15, her symptoms worsened. She began facial
paralysis, central muscle of eye's paralysis, self-controlled
respiration disappeared. So she was put on a respirator.
The doctors did many tests for many diseases including anti->H2V,
spinal cord puncture,
NMR, immune system, chemical drug intoxication ANA,ENA,DSONA,ZG and
Lyme, but all were negative, except for Lyme disease(ZGM(+)). The
doctors now think that it might be acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
(ADEM) or lupus erythematosus (LE), but the data from the tests did not
support this conclusion.
The doctors are now treating Zhu Ling with broad-spectrum antibiotic of
cephalosporin, anti-virus drug, hormone, immun - oadjuvent, gamma
globulin intravenous injection and have given her plasma exchange(PE)
of 10,000 CCs. But Zhu Ling has not responded - she reamers in a
vegetative state, sustained by life support. encephalomyelitis (ADEM)
or lupus erythematosus (LE), but the data from the tests did not
support this conclusion. If anyone has heard of patients with similar
symptoms -- or have any ideas as to what this illness could be, please
contact us. We are Zhu Ling's friends and we are disparate to help her.
This is the first time that Chinese try to find help from Internet,
please send back E-mail to us. We will send more crystal description of
her illness to you.”
The message was widely spread and since than one has received over
2,000 e-mail replies from 18 countries and regions and the Internet has
played a very important but complicated role in Zhu Ling's life.
84 persons worldwide made the correct diagnosis by themselves or by
their friends who were consulted in the order of being received by
Beijing University: Zhu Ling had a thallium poisoning.
Note: Dr.Shunwei Li, Chairman of Dept. of Neurology at PUMC, made a
conjecture of thallium poisoning. But his guess was not put to
scientific test and soon was denied by some famous toxicologists in
Beijing. Since then, they had not considered that possibility.
alienguest
Gone with the Music
TONG YuFeng [11/10/2004]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese Version By TONG Yufeng, November 10th, 2004
Translated by HE Jeanne, and Darrell Peebles, Feb. 22, 2006
Revised and notes added by TONG Yufeng, Feb. 26, 2006
It's been ten years since my college classmate ZHU Ling was poisoned by
thallium. Not long ago I heard that she was taken into the hospital
again for pneumonia. Though she narrowly escaped this time, I really
don't know whether Ling, with her persistent yet fragile body, will
stay with us for another ten years. I really don't know whether her
parents, devastated, yet strong-minded, can stay healthy to care for
Ling, day by day, for another ten years like they are doing now. I
wrote down this essay in hopes that we can still remember this
devastated family and try our best to help them.
I am not the most appropriate person to write about Ling. Although we
were classmates, I was a shy young boy indulged in my own world. I kept
few memories of Ling in my mind, just like my memories of other girls
in the class. Even the event of her being poisoned did not leave much
of an impression on me. At the beginning, all I knew was she had fallen
sick with a mysterious disease that even doctors in Peking Union
Medical College (PUMC) Hospital could not diagnose. Then I learned she
was poisoned with thallium.
I feel very guilty now that I had never thought about what had happened
or why it happened. It seems to me that everyone was trying to avoid
this topic either intentionally or unintentionally, wanting the issue
to fade out from our memories. In the spring of 2002, I read some
discussion from Internet, which captured my attention and also brought
back some of my memories. Unfortunately the details had already started
to fade.
Those of my classmates who came from Beijing were all very versatile.
ZHU Ling was good at both PE and music. She was a busy person right
from the beginning. Musical practice in the Tsinghua Folk Music Band
took a lot of her spare time, such that she either showed up for short
periods for classmate activities or didn't join us at all. This may be
the reason why somebody later claimed she was not getting along well
with her classmates. Actually she tried her best to be a part of every
class activity she could manage.
I remember she was the director of our chorus for the December Ninth
memorial performance in our first school year. She spent a lot of time
for chorus rehearsal while at the same time preparing the Gu Qin (an
ancient Chinese musical instrument) for a solo. She was also
outstanding in swimming, I remember that she achieved either level I or
level II of the national standard. (This might also be the reason that
she survived twice from the high dose thallium poisoning.)
Busy as she was, she still ranked high in GPA among the classmates. She
showed interest in many different things. In the summer of 1994, we had
a science camp organized by the chemistry department. Participating
students could propose a research project and the department would fund
the best ones. I remember one noon, while I was chatting with WAN Rong,
the coordinator for the students, that Ling ran towards us and handed
over her proposal of about ten pages. It was about modification of
polypropylene. The project came to her mind because one of her
relatives had talked about it with her. She read a lot of papers and
made the proposal. She left quickly after talking briefly about her
proposal because she had to finish something else. Her life was always
busy and fulfilled like this.
That was at the beginning of the 3rd school year. Had not she been
poisoned, she would surely have done a great job on this project. This
was one of the few talks I had with her. The other one I still
remembered happened before a math class started. We talked a while
about the second foreign language course. She mentioned she selected
German, so I asked if it was difficult to learn German or not. She told
me it was not difficult, except the pronunciation. We also chatted a
little bit about other topics. Tsinghua University is a top school in
China, with talented students here and there. Some of them can be very
arrogant. Ling was the kind of versatile and talented student who never
bothered others, but if you talk with her, you will find she was
easy-going and communicative.
Versatile, energetic, and multi-talented, that was my impression about
her before she was poisoned. The Internet was not popular at all in
China at that time. College life was quite simple, and I had not heard
of any rumors or news about the classmates. Suddenly the story appeared
that she'd fallen ill. I hadn't seen her for a couple of months.
Several classmates and I visited her in Tongren Hospital.
Then came the new semester. I clearly remember one morning when we were
having a physical chemistry class at Building 3, when she walked into
the classroom slowly. She looked pale and tired, with a hat on her
head, like a person just getting over a severe illness. Later on, her
parents told me that she was not recovered, but she didn't want to fall
behind the class schedule. Physical chemistry was a difficult and
important course, so she went back to the campus. She did not last
long. She fell sick again very quickly and was sent to PUMC Hospital.
First there was a mis-diagnosis story at the PUMC Hospital. Then came
the first Internet telemedicine trial initiated by Ling's high school
classmate, Mr. BEI Zhicheng and his friends. After hundreds of
thousands of dollars spent on mis-diagnosis and exposure, the final
treatment for Ling used Prussian Blue which costs only a few dollars.
I wrote a letter titled "A Second Reply to Daisy" this March, in which
I talked a little bit about the story of how Ling was poisoned. The
letter was published on Yahoo helpzhuling group in Chinese.
I would like to emphasize that Ling fell sick twice and the symptom was
similar for the two occurrences. A classmate of mine talked with me
about the poisoning, arguing that two occurrences of the sickness do
not necessarily means twice poisoning. He argued that it could be a
relapse of the initial poisoning. However, according to the toxicology,
the poisoning was from heavy metals, which are not virus that can stay
inactive inside a human body and functioning several times.
Conclusively, two occurrences of the sickness means she was poisoned at
least twice. It was a miracle that Ling survived the higher-than-fatal
dosages of thallium. It is also a miracle that she is still alive
today.
One reason Ling survives this devastating situation is her parents. Her
parents quit their jobs after Ling got ill and put all their efforts
into rescue and care for their daughter. Ling's elder sister WU Jin, a
highly-talented student of Peking University, another top university in
China, passed away mysteriously at her blooming age. Now ZHU Ling, a
promising student of Tsinghua University, another highly-talented girl,
the sole hope and dream of the two aged parents, the only daughter who
could accompany them to the end of their journey, lay paralyzed also at
her blooming age, not able to play music anymore, not able to call them
Daddy and Mommy clearly anymore. I cannot imagine what kind of pain it
was for the parents. I cannot imagine what kind of courage and love the
parents need to make their daughter able to sit up, able to recall some
of her memory, able to express her happiness and angry. We should never
forget Ling was almost a human vegetable ten years ago.
Ling was never diagnosed correctly the first time when she was
poisoned. She had survived and returned to school. Ling's mom told me
later that she had tried all possible ways she could think of, from
healthy food to chiropractic, to help Ling. Ling's symptom was finally
in remission. When Ling was poisoned the second time, she was in a coma
for a long time. Though she awoke finally after receiving the proper
treatment, her nervous system was already damaged by thallium, her
muscles detracted, her lungs recessed due to the surgery, and she lost
many teeth. She was also infected with hepatitis C due to blood
transfusions. She is so vulnerable that infection of any virus or
bacteria can be fatal to her life.
Her aged parents brought her back from the brink of death, little by
little, again and again, with all the effort they could afford. When I
visited her in early 2003, she recovered some memory of the events that
happened before she was poisoned. Given some hints and help, she can
remember my name and some other classmates. She was always trying very
hard to say something. Though only her parents can understand her
completely, you still can sense what she was trying to express. I still
vaguely catch her youthful beauty from her face, which has been
distorted by all her suffering.
Life is so unfair for this family. Life is cruel to the two old
parents. For ten years, they have gone through all these unthinkable
days and nights. Smiles have long gone; tears have been drained; time
wears on them day by day. Life has been an everlasting tragedy for
them. Sill, I saw, from their faces, their determination and courage.
Knowing that she will never fully recover, they keep on going
tirelessly. These are ZHU Ling's parents, indescribable beyond words.
What I know is that so far Ling is alive and getting better day by day.
There could still be hope for this unfortunate family, however
uncertain.
Notes added by Yufeng Tong Feb. 26, 2006:
When I wrote this essay on 2004, I was very sad that I could not recall
more stories about ZHU Ling. I spent half of the pages on Ling's
parents, because it was her parents who moved my heart so deeply. I
hoped people would appreciate this great love of a pair of parents to
their daughter, perhaps the greatest love in the world. I didn't try to
talk much about why she was poisoned in this essay because I saw no
hope that we could find a chance to prove who is guilty. Even in the
letter "A Second Reply to Daisy", I tried not to mention the name of
the suspect, though the poisoning of ZHU Ling twice was apparently an
intended murder.
With the declaration of innocence from the claimed suspect released in
Dec. 30, 2005 and the furious debate that followed in Chinese
cyberspace, many facts have surfaced. We are getting closer to the
truth. I hope that real world justice will finally come to this
suffered family.
alienguest
Memoir of ZHU Ling
By a TSCO Member
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My memories of Zhu Ling meld with the morning vitality and youthful
breath of romance of Tsinghua University. Most of them were forgotten
while some become clearer as time goes by.
I first knew Zhu Ling through the Tsinghua Folk Music Group. The Group
consisted of merely 20 - 30 students with majority knowing nothing of
musical instruments until they entered college. Only several members
had studied a musical instrument since childhood and gained the college
admission with their specialties. However they often showed some
attitude during rehearsals. The Tsinghua-ers have the tradition of
continuously making improvements and the Tsinghua Folk Art Group is no
exception. Though amateurish, we practiced and performed professional
pieces. A music group is like a fine watch and each component is
important; most members worked very hard for reputation and art.
Managed strictly at that time, the dormitory must be locked and the
lights turned off at 10:40. This caused communication between group
members to be rather inconvenient, especially for the girls who lived
in Buildings NO. 5,6,7,8--we had neither cell phones nor telephones.
The best way to contact the team members was to drop by the violin room
in the music house between 9-10pm. There you could always see team
members playing Erhu, Chinese Flute, and drum.
Zhuling's joining the group surprised us because she was the first
student not admitted as a music specialist but with extraordinary
musical talent. She was a healthy pretty girl with a pretty bob, tall
and strong, wearing light-milk colored sport suit, always smiling,
confident and relaxed. She brought an almost new black Guqin the first
time she appeared before the Group. Guqin is a piece of rare folk music
instrument, played by few people because of its difficulty. I was
familiar with many folk music instruments except Guqin. Zhu Ling calmly
played a piece with more than 10 members around her. I can tell people
by the music they play because I started playing stringed instrument as
a kid. Her performance though not very rich but calm and natural, did
sound like the style of great masters. Zhu Ling had slim and flexible
fingers; amazingly, the right ones stroked the string dazzlingly
rapidly while the left ones slide on the string naturally and acutely.
The group instructors and administrators were so happy to see her that
they could hardly contain themselves. Later on I heard that Zhu Ling
not only played Guqin and piano well, but also she was a good student,
and an excellent swimmer who won school competitions. My admiration
towards her turned to reverence.
Romantic though, the life in the Group required hard work. An excellent
group entails devotion from its group members, and on the other hand,
responsible and dedicated members grew and developed more. Zhu Ling was
both skillful and passionate. She was enthusiastic about everything in
the group and treated people sincerely. We came closer together through
a series of rehearsals and performance. I remember one piece mostly
performed was “Tiger Grinding Its Teeth“ which impressed a lot of
students at that time. In the performance, Zhu Ling and I acted as the
second-generation tigers (the first one was performed by teammate from
class 88 and 89). Her part was to generate horrible sound with a pair
of finger cymbals and castanets before the tiger came out of a
mountain; mine was to produce the image of the coming-out tiger by
hitting a drum with a drumstick. The other four teammates imitated
either the claws or teeth of the tiger; our imagination of art was
thoroughly performed. To be better integrated in the group, Zhu Ling
learned how to play Chinese Ruan (a music instrument like guitar) and
became an indispensable backbone of the group immediately. I remember
our favorite performance was an instrument concert Yao Dance including
a demanding solo of Chinese Ruan which usually got on our nerves
because the player' s hands must cooperate very well otherwise we would
get stuck. Ever since Zhu Ling started performing this solo, we no
longer worried about it but actually enjoyed its beauty.
In my memory life was rich and colorful in the Group. In May 1993, the
second semester since Zhu Ling joined the Group, came a small upsurge
in the history of the Group. Due to historical tradition and solid
foundation in folk music, the group won all the first and second prizes
in Beijing Collegiate Folk Music Performance. Zhu Ling herself gave
several performance including solo and concert, and also won many
prizes (including our Tiger Grinding Teeth). In the summer of 1993,
when we were having a one-month training in the army in Changping, a
suburb of Beijing, an American jazz group was going to give visiting
performance in Tsinghua Grand Auditorium. With the army outfit we
hurried to the campus and performed some national masterpiece. After
the military training, with sun burnt skin, we went along with the
Tsinghua Art Troupe for a road show in Zhengzhou to communicate with
working people. There saw our youth in the tower of Shaolin Temple in
Song Mountain, and in the courtyard of Songyang College. These
wonderful experiences would never be forgotten.
Zhu Ling was one of those many students who used their time fully and
wisely. Despite she often went home by bike on the weekend, just like
many students from Beijing, she managed to study well and participated
a lot of social activities. Wildly busy, she was able to spare some
time in Beijing Film Music Troupe to practice Guqin under the
instruction of Sun Gui, a famous music performer. In two years, we saw
Zhu Ling's amazing music improvement. Once the Group held a folk music
salon in the west side of the Tsinghua Grand Auditorium in order to
make the folk music known to students and faculty in a relaxed and
lively manner. We performed Tiger Grinding Teeth, Night with Flower and
Moon in Spring River, and many solos. Zhu Ling played an ancient piece
Winebibber, which presumably described ancient knowledgeable oracles of
foresight and defiance in an easy and witty way. This successful
performance reflected Zhu Ling's rapid improvement in music, from which
I could easily comprehend the music spirits, and strongly felt the
nature and beauty deep down in her heart. The confidence and smiles on
her face during the performance was the best and accurate portrait of
her in her youth. Whenever I think of Zhu Ling, the music of Winebibber
still echoes around.
Zhu Ling was nice, but quite brusque too. I remember once I somehow
offended her. She then raised her fist and playfully threatened me,' If
we fight, you will definitely lose.' I was shorter and smaller than
her. I was a bit stunned because I didn't expect she would say
something like that to a boy who was in a higher grade than her. I used
to think she would definitely be the lead actress if our Group were to
shoot a martial art film.
Dec. 11th, 1994 is an unforgettable day for all the teammate in the
Group for it was when we gave a special performance in Beijing Concert
Hall, an ultimate dream for all Chinese music lovers. music
professionals performed for money and children learned music only to go
to a better school, we worked very hard for the holy and sublime dream
of art. All of us have prepared for years for this performance
painstakingly. We were always in high spirits for the rehearsals
because we knew it was a lifetime opportunity. We were all thrilled
that day. Girls and boys were all dressed up for the best, hoping to
add to the prestige of the Group. It was around noon when we arrived at
Beijing Concert Hall. While everybody was taking a rest after arranging
the instruments and tables, I went up to the second floor to the right
side of the auditoria and lied on the bench looking around: the
splendid sound-reflecting board hanging from the ceiling, and the
gigantic pipes of the organ bulging on the wall - my heart was full of
unexpressed joy. Our performance attracted a lot of celebrities, like
Peng Xiuwen and Qin Zhangwen, masters in Chinese folk music; Song Ping,
a national leader; leaders from Tsinghua University, etc, but we did
not have time to observe since we were so hectic and nervous during the
performance. Zhu Ling was sick that day and didn't look well. With a
loosely done ponytail, she looked pale and spoke very little despite
the excitement. She participated in most of the performances as
planned. The solo she performed was a famous masterpiece Guang Ling San
(the one featured in a martial art TV series Swordsman). She played on
a hundred-year-old Guqin borrowed from Sun, her instructor. I was
helping many performers tune their instruments and did not have a
chance to enjoy her performance seriously. But occasionally I could
somehow sense from her timbre a rare serenity and loneliness. Our
‘glorious' performance was consummated with enthusiastic applause
from the audience. We took pictures together with joy for future memory
and went to a restaurant near the south entrance of our campus for
celebration. But Zhu Ling didn't join us. We were then shocked to know
that she hadn't eaten for three days but still finished all the
performances with a strong will. We didn't pay too much attention about
it because we thought she just had gastrointestinal problems. However,
we never expected that that performance was actually our last
collaboration and many teammates haven't seen her since then. It was
just hard to believe that fate descended suddenly and dramatically
changed one's life, but it did happen. We didn't know it until later
that her illness that day was the prophase symptom of her first
Thallium poisoning. She stayed in the hospital from that day on and was
transferred to Intensive Care Unit later. She collapsed fatefully in
her most wonderful and glorious time.
Our concern over Zhu Ling's illness faded among the busy final exams
preparations and the thoughts she would recover soon. Only a few
teammates who were close to her knew how serious her illness was. The
cause of Zhu Ling's illness could not be found out for a long time. It
was said that she was in coma for a long time and shed a lot of hair,
which gloomed us so much that we were reluctant to mention it. With
winter leaving and spring coming, a new semester began. Our rehearsals
resumed normally but with Zhu Ling's absence we felt somewhat
incomplete. The good thing was that Yao Dance was not scheduled for
practice for a while. Soon, we were happy to hear that Zhu Ling was
recovering and would probably come back with us soon, which led us
believe that all bad things would be gone. One day I went to the dorm
building No.6 to do something. Just I entered the hallway someone
called me. I turned my head around and it was Zhu Ling, delicate in
health. I was in a very complicated mood since I knew it was against
her great dignity to show her fragility in front of others. I never
expected that it was the last time I saw Zhu Ling in normal mental
health.
It was not long before I heard that she was sent back to hospital
again, this time in a much more serious condition. She was in a
prolonged coma and constantly sent to the emergency room, and could
possibly die. We were so shocked to hear that and didn't know why. A
few old teammates who were close to Zhu Ling were so worried and
desperate that they wished they were doctors who could save her life.
This event was so serious that it caught the attention of the
University and the police started to investigate the case. Zhu Ling was
transferred to several hospitals but doctors still failed to come up
with a proper diagnosis, not even at the famous Xie He Hospital. A
month had passed before experts from all over the world helped to
conclude that she suffered from high-doze Thallium poisoning. Zhu Ling
survived as a miracle after being so close to death for so many times.
I knew nothing about medicine but I believed that her strong wills of
survival helped her through all the physical struggles. Unfortunately,
the combination of serious poisoning and a course of wrong diagnosis
brought irreversible damage to her nerve system, which had little
chance to fully recover.
I went to Xie He Hospital to visit Zhu Ling with a teammate on a summer
day in 1995 after she had been in hospital for months. Though the best
hospital in China, the accommodations at Xie He were unsatisfactory.
The room where Zhu Ling was assigned to was in a dilapidated
western-style building, dark, with wood structure and no
air-conditioner. She was lying on a bed with many tubes penetrating her
body and many oxygen bottles aside. Some machines were monitoring the
rhythm of her pulse, periodically sending out tedious and oppressed
monotone sound. Her health had been stabilized but she hadn't been
awake yet. Lying in bed for a long time, her body became swollen.
Sometimes she unconsciously scratched her itching body using all her
strength and made unidentifiable sound. Her mother was languishingly
fanning her bedside, watching her every movement. We felt so depressed
and hopeless to see the strange appearance of the used-to-be healthy
Zhu Ling, that we wished we could run away to a place with nobody
around and play Water from River and Lake (an Erhu masterpiece
expressing grief) to relieve ourselves.
Zhu Ling's misfortune was a big shock to her parents who worked so hard
to raise her and educate her. It compounded to this family's adversity
in which Zhu Ling's elder sister, her sole sibling, passed away by
accident before Zhu Ling went to college. It is hard to believe that
such disaster would occur to the same family again and again. Zhu
Ling's adversity not only completely changed her and her family's life,
but also deeply changed the life of some teammates in the Group and
some of her classmates.
As time went by, the legend of Zhu Ling amid the Group waned but I
occasionally heard pieces of news about her. She was recovering but,
due to the damage of the nerve system and a combination of sequela, was
seriously disabled and could not take care of herself. The last time I
visited her was on a day in 1997 with another two teammates. She was
sitting on the wheelchair and her limbs could not move at all except
for the arms. She still remembered us and some interesting things in
the past. She was happy to see us and tried to communicate with us with
obscured voice, which could only be understood by guessing. The
occasional blink from her eyes reminded us of the person who used to be
so intelligent and healthy. Her parents, with gray hair, couldn't help
tearing when talking about Zhu Ling's misfortune. Her mother said Zhu
Ling still could play Yao Dance with one finger on the piano and was
always dreaming to go back to Tsinghua University to resume her study.
She spent every day in treatment and recovery and had to inhale oxygen
every once in a while. For a small change, we took her downstairs to
the garden to get some fresh air that day. Under the sunshine, she
seemed to have returned to that happy and beautiful Zhu Ling.
In the past ten years we were blessed to have experienced a lot in our
lives but our memory about Zhu Ling never faded. She has been a part of
our life. Every time I think of Zhu Ling, and her parents who have been
taking care of her so carefully everyday for ten years, I can't help
but wonder what I can do for her, Zhu Ling, a person who had a glorious
past and has sustained her life by strong will.
(Translated by Ally ,proof read by Snow Wang)
alienguest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Full View of ZHU Ling Case [05/07/2006]
After 11 years a Tsinghua Female Student Was Poisoned by Thallium,
Four More Suspicions Emerged [04/14/2006]
Moral Principles We Learned from ZHU Ling's Mother [03/24/2006]
Lawyers have already got involved in collecting the relevant leads
[03/14/2006]
Lab Poisoning Mystery Triggers Debate [01/13/2006]
Ten-Year Unresolved Poisoning Case; The Suspect Is Said to Have
Special Background [01/11/2006]
Chinese Murder Mystery [01/21/2003]
ZHU Ling's case is not over yet [03/13/2001]
Delayed Patient But Never Delayed Authority [02/19/2001]
Visit The Tsinghua Girl Who Was Bizarrely Poisoned With Thallium
[12/31/2000]
ZHU Ling Comes Back Again! [10/14/2000]
Rescue on the Internet [08/01/1996]
No Touch Technique [02/03/1996]
UCLA Student Saves A Life Via Internet [11/03/1995]
The Tao of the Internet [09/15/1995]
Internet Is Global 911 for Dying Woman [09/03/1995]
International Electronic Link Solves Medical Puzzle
alienguest
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Night of 04/28/1995, ZHU Ling's aunt visited Prof. XUE Fang-Yu, vice
chairman of Chemistry Department in charge of student affairs at the
time. Per her request of reporting the case to police, Prof. XUE
Fang-Yu called HE Mei-Ying （Secretary of the Party Committee of
Tsinghua） and WANG Da-Zhong （President of Tsinghua）. With their
approval, Prof. XUE immediately reported the case to the director of
the security and safeguard department of Tsinghua （also as the vice
director of Tsinghua police department）. （Source: Xinmin News,
report on 1/18/2006）
@@ 04/29/1995 morning, ZHU Ling's aunt called Prof. XUE Fang Yu to
request relocating all of ZHU Ling's roommates out of the dorm to
protect the crime scene, and sealing of ZHU Ling's personal belongings
for further poison testing. Somehow, Prof. XUE replied that moving the
students out was difficult. （Source: Xinmin News, report on
1/18/2006）
@@ Late April, 1995, PUMC concluded that ZHU Ling was twice Thallium
poisoned. Police started criminal investigation.
During the "May Day" holiday 1995, the fax machine at PUMC was turned
off. Dr. John Aldis knew that he was racing against Azrael. He faxed
the therapy scheme to his friend of US embassy in Beijing, who rushed
into PUMC immediately. In the following couple of days, Peking
University students, physicians from abroad urged repeatedly the PUMC
physicians to use antidote Prussian blue. （Source: Ephochtimes,
2/16/2006）
@@ 05/05/1995, Physicians at PUMC was eventually persuaded to apply
Prussian blue to ZHU Ling. In the same day, ZHU Ling's Thallium level
substantially dropped. After 10 days, Thallium level could not be
detected anymore, and the poisoning symptoms disappeared subsequently.
Ironically, the cost for the antidote Prussian blue was only a few US
dollars, contrasting the total medical expense of $60,000. Because of
prolonged cranial nerve damage by poison, ZHU Ling was still in coma.
（Source: Ephochtimes, 2/16/2006）
@@ 04/28/1995 to 05/07/1995, a mysterious theft happened in ZHU Ling's
dorm. The police officer, who checked the scene on the day, told ZHU
Ling's parents later that "cash was thrown everywhere on the floor,
nothing of other roommates was lost. The only items stolen were ZHU
Ling's everyday items like toothpaste and cosmetics. ZHU Ling's
stainless steel cup was thrown under the bed." "We suspect that the
murderer was trying to destroy the evidence." WU Cheng-Zhi commented.
（Source: report by Shanghai Morning Post on 01/11/2006）
**Note** currently there are 3 arguments prevailing on Internet about
ZHU Ling's coffee cup:
1. In late 1995, police found a *thoroughly* cleaned coffee cup that
belonged to ZHU Ling inside SUN Wei's suitcase under her bed. SUN Wei's
explanation to police was that during the time ZHU Ling was
hospitalized, she cleaned and stored ZHU Ling's cup in case it became
dusty. （Source: BEI Zhi-cheng heard from ZHU Ling's mother, and ZHU
Ling's mother heard from a retired police officer at Beijing Municipal
Public Security Bureau.）
2. Police searched ZHU Ling's dorm and took away her personal items in
public, but there was no such thing as her coffee cup was found in SUN
Wei's suitcase. （Source: SUN Wei and ZHU Ling's roommate JIN Ya
（using ID "TaiYangZhengNuan"） she also claimed that she was on the
scene and cooperated with police to point out which was ZHU Ling's
belongings.）
3. ZHU Ling's lawyers' view on the cup. "Our current primary task is to
collect evidence." attorney ZHANG Jie said, "Because the poisoning
happened more than 10 years ago, evidence collection and storage is a
must and also the most difficult. " In ZHU Ling's case, the cup
discovered in her dorm is key evidence. It had her roommate's
fingerprints. However this does not tell anything because roommates
were people close to her. Whether they poisoned her or not, everyone
could have touched that cup. Therefore, fingerprint does not imply its
murderer's."
（Source: China legal News, 3/20/2006）
@@ 05/07/1995, ZHU Ling's parents were inquired at Tsinghua police
department. They were told that the case was being investigated by
Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Department No.14
（responsible for the security for all the higher education institutes
in Beijing）. （Source: Xinmin News, report on 1/18/2006）
@@ 06/09/1995, South Weekend published an article by LIU Hua-Jie, a
scholar at Peking University, about Internet diagnosis of ZHU Ling's
Thallium poisoning case. He said "This is the first ever example of
telemedicine by the Internet in Mainland China."
@@ Rest of 1995, ZHU Ling's classmates, acquaintances and friends were
widely investigated and questioned by police, including SUN Wei and BEI
Zhi-cheng. （Source: from SUN Wei's declaration and BEI Zhi-Cheng's
article at TianYa BBS on 12/30/2005 and 12/31/2005, respectively）
@@ 08/31/1995, ZHU Ling finally rose from the 5-month long coma.
（Source: Ephochtimes, 2/16/2006）
Upon waking up, she told her mom repeatedly "My mind seems to be
empty". At that time, she constantly cried for going back to school to
do experiment, to take computer class, or read books, etc. After
realizing that she could almost see nothing, ZHU Ling eventually gave
up the idea of continuing her college study.
"In the august of 1995, she was totally paralyzed. I said ‘Ling Ling,
can you hear your mom? If you heard, just nod.' She nodded. Until
September, she could also hear other people talking, and she could
remember something before." At that time, ZHU Ming-Xin thought miracle
would happen. （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
@@ Sep. 1995, reporter CHEN Tong from magazine woman friend tried to
interview ZHU Ling's roommates, but he encountered coldness. In his
article, he stated, "In ZHU Ling's dorm, her former roommates already
piled up miscellanies and boxes onto the bed that belonged to ZHU Ling.
When I tried to interview one of them, one simply replied ‘I'm very
busy, I have no time to talk to you about ZHU Ling.' I kept asking
until she finally agreed to ‘talk briefly about her'. The following
is what she said ‘ZHU Ling, female, 21 years old, talented and
comely, versatile, lively, open-minded, fell sick since last December,
became comatose this March, still being treated at PUMC now, over."
@@ 9/3/1995, Anita Srikameswaran wrote "INTERNET IS GLOBAL 911 FOR
DYING WOMAN" at Chicago Tribune
@@ 1995, magazine woman friend reported ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning
case.
@@ 11/3/1995 "UCLA Student Saves a Life Via the Internet" By Metro Desk
was published at Los Los Angeles Times
@@ Late 1995, according to BEI Zhi-cheng, a rumor was spread in
Tsinghua that ZHU Ling was Thallium poisoned because her father was
smuggling Thallium, and she touched it accidentally. Origin of the
rumor was found to be SUN Wei. However, SUN Wei and a few of her
classmates denied the existence of such a rumor. （Source: articles by
BEI Zhi-Cheng and SUN Wei's classmates at TianYa BBS）
@@ Late 1995, SUN Wei was listed as "the only crime suspect" of ZHU
Ling's Thallium poisoning case.
LI Mu-Cheng, former director of Tsinghua police department （now
retired）, told ZHU Ling's parents "we have suspect（s）", "After
approval by higher-ups, we started to confront with the
suspect（s）." （Source: Southern People Weekly Magazine on
01/10/2006）
**Note** during police's investigation, the university initially denied
any student could access Thallium compounds. Later they admitted SUN
Wei was "the only undergraduate student who can access Thallium
compounds". （Source: BEI Zhi-cheng heard from his police friend; SUN
Wei told by police directly in 1997.）
**Note** near the end of 1995, BEI Zhi-cheng was told that SUN Wei was
the only suspect of the case. （Source: BEI Zhi-cheng heard from his
police friend.）
**Note** BEI Zhi-cheng said "Suspicion about SUN Wei was not just my
assumption. Before 1995 I didn't even know who was SUN Wei. It has been
11 years since ZHU Ling was Thallium poisoned, the only suspect that
police ever told ZHU Ling's family was SUN Wei. It was not because that
ZHU Ling's family or I suspected SUN Wei that police started to
investigate her. It was police that had investigated her for a long
time, then we got to know that SUN Wei was the only suspect of this
case." （BEI Zhi-cheng published at TianYa BBS on 01/03/2006）
@@ 12/09/1995, SUN Yue-Qi, SUN Wei's 103-year old grandfather, passed
away. SUN Yue-Qi was once vice president of Revolutionary Committee of
Chinese Nationalist Party （the largest one among the eight
out-parties in China）.
**Note** When SUN Yue-Qi was dying; Party General Secretary JIANG Zemin
visited him. SUN held JIANG's hand begging him to set SUN Wei free.
（Source: BEI Zhi-cheng informed by his police friend）
**Note** 12/22/1995, Xinhua News Agency reported from Beijing: During
the period comrade SUN Yue-Qi was seriously ill and after he passed
away, Party General Secretary and President of P.R.China JIANG Zemin;
Member of Standing Committee of Political Bureau and Premier of State
Council LI Peng; Member of Standing Committee of Political Bureau and
Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference LI Rui-Huan; Member of Standing Committee of
Political Bureau HU Jin-Tao; and Vice President of P.R.China RONG
Yi-Ren went to the hospital to visit him, or assigned people to visit
him, or called his family members to express condolence.
**Note** ZHANG Liang-Ji, former Director General of Beijing Municipal
Public Security Bureau, said "Damn it, no way we'll set her free.
Unless we beat （her） to death and release her in a hemp bag."
（Source: BEI Zhi-cheng heard from ZHU Ling's parents who heard it
from a retired policeman. Now the retired policeman is deceased.）
**Note** "I have never been taken into custody for even a single day,
not to mention, ‘released'." （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei,
12/30/2005）
@@ Dec. 1995, U.S. Medicine published an article regarding the work of
Dr. Steve Cunnion, a U.S. Navy physician who participated in ZHU Ling's
Internet diagnosis.
The article mentioned "ZHU Ling, it seems, was the victim of a murder
attempt, linked at this point to a jilted suitor. According to the home
page chronology, her parents in mid may reported the case as a
"possible deliberate murder" to the Bureau of Public Security in
Beijing. ZHU Ling in fact had not worked with Thallium in the
laboratory." （U.S. Medicine," Internet Diagnosis: New Link to China",
Vol. 31, No. 23-24, Page.3 & 9, December, 1995.）
@@ 1996, Nobody was inquired by police about ZHU Ling's case.
（Source: Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 01/20/1996, U.S. physician Robert A. Fink mentioned the article by
U.S. Medicine in a message posted on an Internet bulletin board at UCLA
（launched by Doctorate candidate XIN Li for ZHU Ling's
telemedicine）. The "attempted murder" point of view started to spread
on Internet. （Source:
http://list.mc.duke.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9601&L=occ-env-med-l&D=0&P=14965）
From: Robert A. Fink, M.D., via: www@cc-chs （Virtual Clinic）
Date: Sat Jan 20, 1996
Topic: homicide attempt
A recent article appeared in "U.S. Medicine" regarding the work of Dr.
Steve Cunnion, a U.S. Navy physician, which states that a report has
been made to the Bureau of Public Security in China, alleging that ZHU
Ling's Thallium poisoning was the result of an attempted murder. It was
further alleged that the perpetrator was a jilted suitor and that the
source of the Thallium was *not* the laboratory in which ZHU Ling
worked.
@@ June 1996, ZHU Ling left PUMC and continued her treatment in other
hospitals and a rehabilitation center. WU Cheng-Zhi said "The
misdiagnosis significantly delayed the course of therapy. Therefore ZHU
Ling was permanently paralyzed by neurologic sequelae caused by
Thallium damages in cranial nerves, visual nerves, and peripheral
nerves." （Source: report by China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
ZHU Ming-Xin said "Then I was very reluctant to sue PUMC. I was busy
searching a better medical condition for our daughter. Moreover, after
thinking over, maybe in the future we would have to go back to PUMC for
her treatment. Anyway PUMC is still one of the best hospitals in China.
Were it not for the continuous encouragement from our relatives and
friends, I would just let this go. Later, the situation became totally
out of my expectation: PUMC again and again showed evidence that did
not agree with the truth. My determination became firmer and firmer.
Finally, it was me who was the only one in the family that insisted on
finishing the lawsuit. The pressure we faced was beyond anyone's
imagination." （Source: report by Life Week on 02/19/2001）
@@ In 1996, SUN Wei and the other two roommates: WANG Qi （from Shan
Xi province） and JIN Ya （from Xin Jiang province） visited ZHU
Ling, who was being treated at high-pressure oxygen facility at Navy
General Hospital. ZHU Ling seemed very happy that day. In ZHU
Ming-Xin's impression, this was the last time she saw SUN Wei.
（Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
@@ 7/15/1996, Association in America for the promotion of Chinese
Language Reform AAPCLR
"Language and Information bimonthly" （the 5th issue） presented an
academic essay " Assess the importance of Chinese Modernization from
the perspective of Thallium Poisoning Case"
@@ August 1996 " Rescue on the Internet" by Malcolm McConnell was
published by Reader's Digest
**Note** LI Xin, who helped with the initial rescue on the Internet
mentioned in one of his email:
"Since FOX news covered the Zhu Ling story, I have got reporters
calling from local TV station and newspaper, and also National news
like the one Mr. Tom Snyder is working with, and also international
news like CNN" However other suggested indirectly that ZHU ‘s family
hoped to have this case solved domestically and all the news reports
were advised to write from the perspective of Internet rescue or
Internet diagnosis instead of murder.
@@ Dec. 1996, ZHU Ling's mother ZHU Ming-Xin decided to sue PUMC for
medical malpractice.
@@ In 1997, ZHU Ling completed a ten-month rehabilitation at Beijing
Fangzhuang Hospital. Dr. HU Hai-Ying's first impression of ZHU Ling was
"Her eyes could only sense light, almost completely blind. Thallium
poison severely damaged her nerve system, causing severe kinesipathy
and language dyslexia. She also had slight symptoms of brain atrophy."
（Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
@@ Mar. 1997, ZHU Ling's family wrote a letter to the director of
Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, pointing out the fact that
ZHU Ling's classmates were graduating and leaving Tsinghua and many of
them were applying for graduate schools abroad. Therefore there's not
much time left for case cracking. Soon later they also wrote to the
leaders of the country. （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei,
12/30/2005）
@@ 04/02/1997, SUN Wei was suddenly taken to police department No. 14
for inquiry and was asked to sign a paper on which the characters
"crime suspect" were printed. After an 8-hour non-stop interrogation,
they informed her family to take her home. Police had never inquired
SUN Wei ever since. （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
**Note**: SUN Wei knew from this inquiry that Tsinghua officially
claimed that she was the only student who had access to Thallium and
lab was strictly managed. A teacher who once worked at Department of
Chemistry in Tsinghua confirmed to the reporter that the school was
very strict with toxic substance cabinets. "Keys are owned by two
separate people. The cabinet can only be opened with both people
present. " （Source: report by Shanghai Morning Post on 01/11/2006）
**Note**: This was the only time the police department inquired SUN
Wei. Can be verified. ---（Source: SUN Wei's declaration at TianYa
BBS）
SUN Wei is talking nonsense. She was investigated in 1995. BEI Zhicheng
knew SUN Wei was under suspicion by end of 1995. （Source: BEI
Zhicheng's article at TianYa BBS）
**Note**: Regarding the fact of her 8-hour inquiry by No. 14, No
classmates knew it except a few student cadres and me. Back from the
interrogation, she with a dreary face went to cafeteria with me. She
said, "That's it, I am ruined by ZHU Ling". I knew she was under a lot
of pressure thus did not say much other than escorted her back to the
dorm. （Source: a self-claimed SUN Wei's ex boyfriend from Wuhua2
wrote at TianYa BBS on 01/16/2006）
@@ 04/04/1997, SUN Wei's family called Tsinghua police department to
inquire about the case, and then they sent a letter to Tsinghua police
department the next day （04/05/1997）. Later they frequently called,
mailed or visited Administration Office and chairmen of Chemistry
Department, Tsinghua President Office, Tsinghua Security and Safeguard
Department, Tsinghua Police Department, Beijing Municipal Public
Security Bureau Department No. 14 about the case. （Source:
Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ Early Apr. 1997, WANG Bu, a retired police officer of Beijing
Municipal Public Security Bureau, visited ZHU Ling's parents. He
reminded them of several prerequisites for the criminal to commit the
murder: From 02/20/1995 to 03/03/1995, She/He could access ZHU Ling's
food and personal items; could poison ZHU Ling without being noticed;
familiar with ZHU Ling's schedule and daily routine; had time and
opportunity to poison; knew the toxicity of Thallium compounds; had
access to Thallium compounds; had motivation to commit the crime and
had some abnormal behavior. （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on
01/18/2006）
**Note** WANG Bu, the retired police officer who had provided ZHU
Ling's family with clues, has passed away.
@@ 04/09/1997, Prof. XUE Fang-Yu, vice chairman of chemistry department
at Tsinghua of the time, said, "One laboratory at chemistry department
does have Thallium compounds to which most undergraduates don't have
access, but one of ZHU Ling's roommates had access of Thallium
compounds because she was working with a professor on some project."
（Source: report by Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
@@ April 1997, SUN Wei's elder brother entered a laboratory building of
chemistry department at Tsinghua during business hours for several
times. He videotaped the process that he took out a bottle of toxic
reagent marked with skeleton skull. He claimed that nobody had
questioned him the entire time. （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei,
12/30/2005）
@@ 04/11/1997, ZHU Ling's uncle called SUN Wei's father asking for a
private meeting, claiming that he has some evidence against SUN Wei.
SUN Wei's father refused his request, and sent the detailed phone
record to police by letter. （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei,
12/30/2005）
@@ 04/26/1997, SUN Wei received a threatening letter from ZHU Ling's
uncle, accusing that she was the murderer and mentioned Mafia-style
organizations. Similar letters were sent to other classmates, asking
for cooperation in providing ZHU Ling's family evidence of SUN Wei
being the murderer. （Source: Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 04/28/1997, Heads of Tsinghua General Affairs Office （Mr. DU）,
President Office （Mr. MA）, Security and Safeguard Department （Mr.
CHEN） and Academic Affairs Office （Mr. LI） met with ZHU Ling's
family. Mr. DU said there was no Thallium compound under normal
academic circumstances. Neither undergraduates nor graduate students
had access to Thallium compounds; including ZHU Ling. Tsinghua managed
lab chemicals very strictly.
However, Prof. XUE Fang-Yu told ZHU Ling's parent on phone that one of
chemistry department's labs had Thallium compounds. Some student could
access Thallium compounds for research project. （Source: report by
Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
@@ 04/29/1997, SUN Wei's family reported to Tsinghua police department
about the threatening letter she received, meanwhile they asked for a
polygraph test for SUN Wei. They didn't receive a response. （Source:
Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 05/05/1997, afternoon, SUN Wei was forced to return to Tsinghua
under the pressure of getting graduated"; around 4pm, she went to
Tsinghua Party Committee Office and replayed the video that her brother
recorded. She asked the school to report the "truth" to police that she
was not "the only student that had access to Thallium compounds".
（Source: Declaration from SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 05/06/1997, morning, Tsinghua ordered all the laboratories to be
reorganized. Teachers and students were asked to stop their current
work and classify all the lab chemicals. All the toxic reagents were
locked and pictures taken by the Security and Safeguard Department.
alienguest
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Since 2001, Because of financial pressure, ZHU Ling had to rehabilitate
at home. Once, ZHU Ling had difficulty in breathing because of carbon
dioxide detained in her lung. WU Cheng-Zhi immediately sent her to
DongFang Hospital nearby. For a period of time, ZHU Ling even stopped
breathing, but her parents never gave up the hope. The physician
in-charge was touched by their persistence and did CPR for more than
half an hour, with WU Cheng-Zhi standing beside, shouting, "breathe,
breathe!" with his fists gripped. Finally, ZHU Ling started to breathe
weakly. Everyone on the scene was in a sweat. Again, miracle happened
for ZHU Ling. （Source: report by China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
@@ 12/31/2001, Morning Post published article "interview of Tsinghua
girl ZHU Ling mystically Thallium poisoned years ago".
@@ Sometime in 2002, BEI Zhi-cheng published an article "some truths
about ZHU Ling's case" on Internet, explicitly pointing out that he
suspects SUN Wei was the murderer for the first time. （Source: from
BEI Zhi-Cheng's article at TianYa BBS on 01/03/2006）
@@ From 2002 to 2005, ZHU Ling's case circulated online every year.
Almost once a year, it was a hot topic on www.mitbbs.com （the largest
Internet forum of Chinese students and scholars in US）. Discussion
and speculation on whether someone attempted to murder ZHU Ling through
Thallium poisoning have never stopped. One widely spread rumor was that
when the chairman of the nation visited SUN Wei's grandfather as he was
dying, SUN Wei's grandfather ‘grasped the chairman's hand' and begged
him to free SUN Wei. In many online discussions, SUN Wei was explicitly
cited as the murderer.
@@ 2004, according to unconfirmed sources, SUN Wei married to her
Tsinghua alumni, XIE Fei-Yu. XIE graduated from Computer Science
Department and got a higher degree in US. He is now CEO of an IT
company at Beijing. In the same year, SUN Wei worked as a project
manager at Nokia Inc （Beijing region）. She resigned and left Nokia
later for unknown reason. （Source: SUN Wei's husband's information
was disclosed by a netizen using ID "angry_godness" at post.baidu.com
on 01/24/2006）
@@ 2004, after the First Session of the 10th National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC）, SUN
Fu-Ling （SUN Wei's uncle） stepped down from the position of
Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of CPPCC. （Source: report by
People's Daily Overseas Edition on 11/08/2005）
@@ Mar 2004, HelpZHULing.org registered in California, US. The members
included ZHU Ling's teammates at TSCO, friends and people involved in
the Internet diagnosis. Till 12/25/2005, the total donation the
organization had raised was $20625.89.
**Note** Donation to ZHU Ling can be sent to helpZHUling.org （for
details, please refer to www.helpZHUling.org）, or directly sent to
ZHU Ling's mother ZHU Ming-Xin's bank account:
Bank of China, Beijing Branch, Chong Wen Fang Cheng Yuan Office
（Swift Code:BKCHCNBJ 110）
Account #:4060507-0188-004863-3
Name: ZHU Ming-Xin
@@ June 2004, Sing Tao Daily （at New York） reported ZHU Ling's
case.
@@ Late 2004, ZHU Ming-Xin was so tired that she fell off from a chair
and her head hit the floor, causing intracranial haemorrhage. An
intracranial surgery was necessary. At first, WU Cheng-Zhi feared that
his wife's health situation could not sustain such kind of surgery.
Fortunately, the surgeon was very careful and located the three
bleeding points. After the surgery, a piece of fist-sized skull on the
left of her head was replaced by a piece of titanium alloy and you can
see a protrusion of screw if taking a close look at her left forehead.
（Source: report by China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
@@ 2005, ZHU Ling was diagnosed with diabetes.
@@ 11/30/2005, a netizen named "skyoneline" posted a thread titled "A
beauty destroyed by jealousy: Tsinghua girl poisoned ten years ago" on
TianYa BBS （www.tianya.cn）. The thread received abundant replies,
most of which showed deep sympathy for ZHU, while accusing SUN of being
the murderer.
@@ 12/30/2005, 22:18:00, SUN Wei posted her declaration titled
"Declaration from SUN Wei—Rebuttals against Rumors Arising from ZHU
Ling's Thallium Poisoning" using ID "SUN Wei's declaration" at TianYa
BBS. She claimed, "I declare that I am innocent. I am a victim in ZHU
Ling's case too." but also admitted that she was once the only suspect
of the case and was interrogated by police for a nonstop 8 hours in
1997. She explained that she had remained silent for the past ten years
because "before the case is cracked, any sane communication with ZHU
Ling's family was unrealistic." She believed that she "has no motive to
poison ZHU Ling".
SUN Wei also claimed: In 2002, she accidentally found two wiretap
devices at home. The devices were hidden at the bases of a pair of
Nestle Coffee cups gifted to her mom in the spring of 1998. She said,
"This accidental discovery did not irritate us. On the contrary, we
thought it was a good thing, since I had a clear conscience. I would
most welcome the police to know about my truth." SUN Wei posted the
picture of the coffee cups online.
**Note** Many netizens carefully studied the picture SUN Wei posted
online, and concluded the so-called "wiretap devices" were just
ordinary music cups.
@@ 12/30/2005, Right after SUN Wei posted her thread on TianYa BBS,
several of her classmates appeared in the thread, supporting her
declaration that "she was innocent". Her roommate, JIN Ya （now
working as a post-doc in Japan）, using ID "TaiYangZhengNuan"
（translation: sun is just warm）, posted the first long article
supporting SUN Wei just 4 minutes and 28 seconds after Sun's
declaration came out. Among SUN Wei's supporters, XUE Gang, who was the
Party branch secretary of the class ten years ago and his
classmate/wife LI Han-Lin （using ID "shoptodrop"）, currently both
working at Pfizer, Inc. as principal scientists, were desperate in
supporting SUN Wei. XUE Gang published a long rebuttal with 25 articles
against BEI Zhi-cheng's reply. （Source:
http://www14.tianya.cn/publicforum/Content/free/1/446431.shtml; XUE
Gang's information was disclosed by an anonymous netizen at
post.baidu.com on 02/18/2006）
**Note** JIN Ya （"TaiYangZhengNuan"） said, "（ZHU Ling） probably
because of many practice, rehearsals, and other activities, she spent
very little time in the dorm. From the second year, she usually came
back to the dorm at 12:00AM right before the front door of the building
was closed. （At the time, it should be 10:45PM when light was turned
off, and then the front door was closed. At 12:00AM the front door
would be opened for the last time.）"
**Note** JIN Ya （"TaiYangZhengNuan"） also stated, "About SUN Wei is
a girl from high official family （HOF）. To tell the truth, I do not
know whether her family counts for HOF. However, she did not meet the
common stereotype of "HOF kids". For example, she cycled home on
weekends. I had never seen any car to pick her up. She not picky on
food or clothes was a very simple girl. She admires and respects her
grandfather. Naturally, she would tell me about him. But I never felt
she was showing off. SUN Wei herself is outgoing, optimistic and very
humorous. We can say she is a very funny person. Sometimes, she might
have been viewed to have a sharp tongue （likes joking）, but this
was not caused by her intension to embarrass others but basically her
carelessness. I had realized this after knowing her for a while. And
she often joked about herself. SUN Wei is very kind and considerate. I
visited her home several times. I think it is a family of good
education, warmth and honesty. I held the impression that none of her
family members or close relatives, except her grandfather, was engaged
in politics and many were technology related. On the other hand, SUN
Wei, I can say, is not a person who strives for advances. She is
peaceful, generous and not interested in such things like ranking,
scholarship cared by most college students. I do not believe she had
any reasons, especially so-called "jealousy", to poison anyone.
**Note** an anonymous student from ZHU Ling's class, using ID "Scott"
published online on Jul 26th, 2003 12:24 pm:
The class leader had become a Communist Party Member since high school,
and was highly acclaimed in his department. Almost all prizes and
honors the department could award were given to him. He and SUN Wei
were very close friends and he often visited SUN Wei's home in Mu Xi Di
（a place where high officials live）.
Very little on the case is known to the general students in the class
of ZHU Ling, so please don't blame them. ZHU Ling didn't have many
close friends in her class either, because there are too many
power-hungry communists in the class, and most students were only tools
used by them to build up their own images and future careers. On the
other hand, ZHU Ling had many friends in the TSCO. She is definitely a
music-lover; hence she made many of her friends through music.
One thing very suspicious was that many thefts happened in the Tsinghua
dorms. I remember someone mentioned all the lipsticks and cosmetics in
ZHU Ling's dorm were stolen. I cannot remember when it happened. But I
am pretty certain it happened after ZHU Ling fell ill. Then after a few
years, someone said that the suspect put Thallium on ZHU Ling's
lipstick, and then I suddenly connected it with the theft. Maybe it is
the suspect who was trying to destroy any evidence, as an afterthought.
I sure hope the real criminal will be severely punished. It is such a
shame to be a Tsinghua student, where such tragedy happened."
**Note** : 1/14/2006, a Netizen "can't help speaking up" posted at Tian
Ya BBS: " Today a friend forwarded me the link to Tian Ya forum and
told me there were many articles about ZHU Ling. Because I've read
similar cyberspace discussions and this case seemed to gain attention
every year, I am very interested in this and spent 3- 4 hours reading.
Noticing XUE Gang this name is quite familiar, I racked my brain and
finally remembered I met him at a party. I called the party host and
confirmed this XUE Gang I knew is indeed from Tsinghua Chemistry
Department and should be the same person. However my friend told me
something even more surprising. I cannot help sharing with everyone for
information purpose: " XUE Gang recently went back to China and just
returned on Monday （1/9/2006）!!! Compared to the time of these
articles posted online, When SUN Wei issued her declaration （more
accurately speaking, when she was preparing to issue the statement）
XUE Gang was in China and published the long XUE 25 articles. Combining
everyone's discussion on this case and XUE Gang, I somehow felt this is
weird and cannot keep it to myself. Please feel free to analyze this.
@@ 12/31/2005, BEI Zhi-cheng （borrowed his friend's ID "HuaMulan",
HuaMulan is the name of the girl in Chinese legend who masqueraded as a
man in order to take her aging father's place in the Chinese army, the
Disney movie " MULAN " is based on this legend） published a thread
"Declaration from BEI Zhi-cheng about ZHU Ling's case" on TianYa BBS,
rebutting SUN Wei and her classmates' posts.
@@ 01/03/2006, BEI Zhi-cheng again posted a thread "Explanations about
a few points in ZHU Ling's case from BEI Zhi-cheng" on TianYa BBS.
**Note** Prof. LI Long-Di at Tsinghua chemistry department said
"Professor TONG Ai-Jun and I are colleagues in the same lab. That
student （SUN Wei） was under Prof. TONG's supervision when she was
doing undergraduate thesis project in the lab. ZHU Ling was not working
in this lab. Students could enter the lab to do experiments at will."
（Source: report by Shanghai Morning Post on 01/11/2006）
**Note** Ten years later, LI Mu-Cheng （director of Tsinghua police
department at the time） is already retired. He told the reporter
"This case was primarily handled by LI Shu-Sen of the criminal police
team of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Department No.14. We
only provided assistance." （Source: report by Southern People Weekly
Magazine on 01/10/2006）
**Note**: The former police officer in charge of the case, LI Shu-Sen,
was quite diplomatic when he replied the phone call from the reporter
"There was certain conclusion for this investigation. In the personal
concern, I do not want to answer; in the public security discipline
concern, I am not free to make comments. I can only follow the leaders'
requests." "This was very sensitive, such a long time ago…" Under the
department disciplines, he said he could not answer anything but to say
sorry. （Source: report by Southern People Weekly Magazine on
01/10/2006）
@@ 01/10/2006, after the Internet debate became red hot, print media
started to involve. Southern People Weekly Magazine published the
article by reporter WU Hong-Fei "revisit the ‘Thallium poisoning'
case of Tsinghua girl ten years ago".
@@ 01/11/2006, Shanghai Morning Post published an article by reporter
YU Ren-Fei "Tsinghua girl mystically poisoned 11 years ago, the truth
is still unclear till now".
**Note** the reporter took the memorial article （written by ZHU
Ling's teammate at TSCO） as written by her classmate TONG Yu-Feng.
TONG Yu-Feng has published a note online to clarify this, but Law
Weekly made the same mistake again in the report on 01/26/2006.
@@ 01/13/2006, SUN Wei posted her second thread "Second declaration
from SUN Wei—call for police to reopen the case and apologize to
netizens and police for the mistake of ‘wiretap device'" on TianYa
BBS. She claimed "I have entrusted my family to formally submit a
written request to police on Jan. 9th, 2006. I strongly call for police
to reopen ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning case, to handle the case
transparently and find out the truth, to give ZHU Ling's family an
explanation, and to return my innocence!"
（Source:
http://www14.tianya.cn/publicforum/Content/free/1/459927.shtml）
@@ 01/13/2006, China Daily published an English article on
www.chinadaily.com.cn titled "Lab poisoning mystery triggers debate".
This was the first time Chinese media started to introduce ZHU Ling's
Thallium poisoning case to abroad in English.
**Note** Since the article was written in a haste, the author, Jessie
Tao, made a mistake on the year SUN Wei was interrogated by police. The
correct year should be 1997.
@@ 01/13/2006 17:00-18:00, BEI Zhi-cheng accepted a live webcasted
interview by Netease （www.163.com） He expressed his personal
opinions about ZHU ling's case and answered questions by the host and
netizens. Netease was the only Chinese media that had adopted the form
of video to report ZHU Ling's case till now.
@@ 01/13/2006, New Express published an article titled "Who is the real
murderer? The suspect for Tsinghua talented girl's Thallium poisoning
was tipped off by netizens after 11 years".
@@ 01/14/2006, SUN Wei's parents asked one of ZHU Ling's classmates to
send a mail to ZHU Ling's family. The main content of the mail was to
solicit a conversation. On Jan. 19th, SUN Wei's mother called ZHU
Ming-Xin and restated the will of a conversation. "At the moment I
received the call I didn't quite respond, there was no agreement on
when or where the conversation would be. Also, with whom should I
converse? I want to talk to SUN Wei directly. I want to know how she
could eliminate my suspicion on her." ZHU Ming-Xin said. （Source:
report by Youth Weekend on 04/13/2006）
@@ 01/18/2006, Xinmin Weekly published an article by reporter HE Li-Dan
titled "Investigation of Tsinghua girl Thallium poisoning case:
Internet is giving ZHU Ling prominence" HE Li-Dan interviewed Prof.
TONG Ai-Jun in Tsinghua chemistry department who was SUN Wei's
supervisor on her undergraduate thesis project. She also interviewed
ZHU Ling's parents on Jan. 13th. In the article, SUN Wei's name was
replaced by alias "Su Hui".
@@ 01/19/2006, TianYa BBS, the original online forum that triggered the
hot Internet debate, suddenly posted a notice "In favor of the smooth
solution of the case, the topic about ‘ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning
case' is suspended temporarily."
@@ 1/19/2006, XIN HUA News Agency published on International Herald
Tribune: "Observe the Internet: Unforgettable time"
@@ 01/19/2006, some netizens in China launched a new website
（www.zhuling.cn） dedicated to ZHU Ling. They stated that the
purpose to launch the website was "We learned that the original website
of helpzhuling.org （www.helpzhuling.org） was set up a long time
ago, its design was limited on HTML frames, making the maintenance
difficult. To provide the latest updates about ZHU Ling's recovery to
folks that care about her, and to help ZHU Ling better based on the
collected information, we launched this website."
@@ 01/20/2006, ZHU Ling's mother accepted an interview from New
Express. She made her first comment about SUN Wei's declaration "After
I read her declaration, I was more suspicious of her". In the article,
SUN Wei's name was replaced by alias "Xiao Wei".
ZHU Ming-Xin said, "We didn't investigate her （SUN Wei）. One was
that we had no such energies at all. At that time ZHU Ling's situation
was still very dangerous and she needed first aid, we must take care of
her. Second was that we couldn't find SUN Wei at all, we asked her
classmates but they didn't know either. Even her father disappeared as
well, and he even returned the house assigned by his employer. Until
this time she published a declaration, this is the first time she
showed up in the last ten years. About the police side, although
there's no progress after many years, I still would trust their
capabilities and wish the case could be solved soon. There is no need
to hire a detective, also it is illegal in China."
The reporter asked "If you face SUN Wei right now, what would you say
to her?" ZHU Ming-Xin replied, "I would tell her, many issues in her
statement are improper. She claimed ‘for many times she wanted to
communicate with us but failed'. In more than ten years, how could I
have never heard that she wanted to communicate with us? On the
contrary, she has disappeared into thin air and we tried to communicate
her but couldn't find her."
@@ 01/20/2006, New Express published its third article about ZHU Ling's
case "Tsinghua talented girl poisoned, TianYa forum blocked the
discussion about ‘ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning'", criticizing TianYa
on blocking the discussion.
@@ 01/20/2006, Popyard published an article "ZHU Ling's mystic case:
after 11 years the murderer is still at large".
@@ 01/22/2006, China Legal News published an article by reporter LI
Liang titled "ZHU Ling's case regained notice". The reporter
interviewed ZHU Ling's family on Jan. 20.
@@ 01/26/2006, Law Weekly published an article by reporters CHEN
An-Qing and SHEN Xin-Wang titled "Investigation on the truth of
Tsinghua talented girl ZHU Ling's mystic Thallium poisoning case".
@@ 01/27/2006, Xinhua News Agency reported from Beijing: On the eve of
Spring Festival （lunar new year）, The party and the national
leaders separately visited or entrusted the relevant comrades in-charge
to visit （the following old comrades） … SUN Fu-Lin … （list
skipped）. They sent the kind holiday wish to old comrades and
heartfelt blessing for old comrades in good health and longevity.
alienguest
| 消息来源：八阕--生活通讯 | 八阕编辑：2006-05-22 |
网址：http://www.popyard.org | | 抄送朋友 | 打印保留 |
八阕 http://www.popyard.org
【八阕】【八阕】一个劳动人民群众喜闻乐见的好地方:http://www.popyard.org@@
02/20/1995, spring semester started. ZHU Ling insisted on going back to
school. （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
**Note** 01/14/2006, LI Xian-Ping, ZHU Ling's classmate in Wuhua2, told
the reporter that "After the lunar new year that year, ZHU Ling
attended classes a few days. Very strangely, she wore a hat. By then we
got to know that she had lost her hair. Later we heard that she was
sick, but didn't know what kind of disease she had got." （Source:
report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
@@ 02/20/1995 to 03/03/1995, ZHU Ling spent about eight days on campus
（excluding the two days back to home picked up by her parents for two
weekends）. ZHU Ming-Xin said, "She could barely walk." She was very
worried and went to Tsinghua a couple of times to see her daughter.
What impressed ZHU Ming-Xin about her daughter's dorm was "kind of
messy, cups are randomly left on the tables." During this period, ZHU
Ling spent most of the time preparing for classes and make-up exams at
dorm. Everyday, she went to her TSCO teammate's place to heat the
bottled Chinese herb brought from home. She told her mom on the phone
"My teammate wanted to help me buying food, but I don't need the help,
I can buy food myself." （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on
01/18/2006）
During the two weeks ZHU Ling spent on campus, she only attended one
lab session, one recitation and one make-up exam for "physical
chemistry". She spent all the rest of time going over the class
materials at dorm. She was so weak that she stayed in bed most of the
day. For breakfast, she took bread and "Bone Fortification Powder" （a
popular calcium supplement brand in China）; for lunch and dinner, she
struggled to get up to get food from cafeteria and come back to eat in
bed. When she was thirsty, she drank boiled water brought by her
classmates. Tsinghua's dorms were strictly managed, and no male student
could enter female dorm without permission. （Source: report by
Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
**Note** 1/13/2006, skyoneline （a netizen） described at TianYa BBS:
"Second poisoning occurred after she came back to school. That time she
was very weak. She slept on the top of the bunk bed. The most she could
accomplish was to come down to get books. ZHU Ling did not get on well
with the other two roommates; therefore SUN Wei as her best friend must
have taken care of her mostly and she would have the best opportunity
to poison ZHU Ling."
**Note** 4/21/2006, ID " Chase Thallium in another life" disclosed:
When ZHU Ling stayed in the dorm before the diagnosis; she was rumored
to have some contagious disease. Roommates avoided the room except SUN
WEI who acted nothing happened in the dorm. She even talked to ZHU
Ling's family asking ZHU Ling to stay home.
@@ 03/03/1995, ZHU Ling fell sick again for unknown reason. This time
she felt unbearable pain in feet and signs of nerve palsy with hands.
She had to go back home again by herself. By then she had just regained
a couple of inches of hair. She told her mother, "I ache all over, and
my feet suffer the most." ZHU Ming-Xin was shocked. She took her
daughter to Peking University Third Hospital and Beijing Hospital
successively, but the treatments were futile.
**Note** WANG Bu （a retired police officer） deduced that "the
murderer was by ZHU Ling's bedside. The second time the murderer
poisoned her, should be in the period between 02/27/1995 （Monday）
to 03/02/1995 （Thursday）." （Source: report by Southern People
Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
@@ 03/09/1995, ZHU Ling was admitted to the expert outpatient service
of the department of neurology, Peking Union Medical College （PUMC）
Hospital. The chairman of the department of neurology, Dr. LI Shun-Wei,
examined her. He told ZHU Ming-Xin that ZHU Ling's symptoms were very
similar to "a Thallium poisoning case happened in Tsinghua University
back in 60's." He suggested ZHU Ming-Xin to inquire Dr. ZHANG Shou-Lin
at Institute of Labor Hygiene & Occupational Diseases, Chinese Academy
of Preventive Medical Sciences. Dr. LI and Dr. ZHANG highly suspected
ZHU Ling was "Thallium poisoned" after consultation. However, because
of limited facilities, Thallium testing was not performed. Instead, ZHU
Ling was observed at the emergency clinic while she was waiting in
queue to be hospitalized. （Source: reports by Life Week on
02/19/2001; Shanghai Morning Post on 01/11/2006; and Xinmin Weekly on
01/18/2006）
**Note** an introduction of PUMC can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_Union_Medical_College
**Note** When ZHU Ling was still conscious; she denied to Dr. LI
Shun-Wei that she had contact history of Thallium at lab. Dr LI
inquired Tsinghua chemistry department and asked for a written
certificate. Chemistry department showed him a list of chemicals that
students had access and confirmed that ZHU Ling did not have Thallium
contact history. This was written to the medical record. Another
professor in chemistry department told ZHU Ling's parents that Tsinghua
had very strict management of toxic chemicals: the cabinet for poisons
had two locks and could be opened only by two people simultaneously.
（Source: reports by Southern People Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006 and
Shanghai Morning Post on 01/11/2006）
**Note** An anonymous Tsinghua student mentioned "After exhaustive
search on SCI （Science Citation Index） and CA （Chemical
Abstracts）, only three papers published by Tsinghua university from
1992 to 2002 were found to be Thallium compounds related. One of them
was published in 1996. Counting in the time for peer review, the work
should have been done between 1994 to 1995, which coincided with the
time that ZHU Ling was poisoned." （Source: report by Southern People
Weekly Magazine on 01/10/2006）
The paper cited by this student is:
Tong AJ, Wu YG, and Li LD: Solid-substrate and micellar-stabilized room
temperature phosphorescence of two anilinonaphthalenesulfonates. Anal
Chim Acta 1996, 322: 91-97.
@@ 03/15/1995, ZHU Ling was accommodated in the ward of the department
of neurology, PUMC. She lost all her regained hair once again. The
initial diagnosis was "peripheral neuropathy or erythromelalgia,
etiology to be determined". The hospital's neurology consultants once
questioned the possibility of toxic disease, but ZHU Ling denied that
she had exposure history of heavy metals. Moreover, diagnostic tests
for arsenic and lead were normal; therefore heavy metal poisoning was
ruled out again. （Source: reports by Life Week on 02/19/2001; Xinmin
Weekly on 01/18/2006; and Epochtimes on 02/16/2006）
**Note** the main clinic signs when ZHU Ling was accommodated to PUMC
were: feeling wobbly and rough, painful paresthesia of limbs （to the
extent that she had to wear padded slippers even in bed）. （Source:
a netizen using ID "GanErHouDong" （translation: felt then touched）
posted at TianYa BBS on 12/31/2005）
@@ 03/20/1995, medical record showed that ZHU Ling's antibody test for
hepatitis C was normal. （Source: report by Life Week on 02/19/2001）
@@ 03/22/1995, ZHU Ling started to have swallowing difficulties. Her
symptom worsened because no effective treatment has been found since
she was hospitalized. She started to lose consciousness and sometimes
her answer was not relevant to the subject, accompanied with severe
abdominal pain and hair loss. （Source: reports by Life Week on
02/19/2001 and China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
@@ 03/23/1995 ZHU Ling fell into respiratory failure due to her central
nervous system problems. To save her life, she received a trachea
opening and pneumothorax surgery. ZHU Ling became comatose during the
surgery. （Source: report by Life Week on 02/19/2001）
@@ 03/24/1995, without confirmative diagnosis, PUMC was forced to use
blood transfusion therapy. It did help maintaining ZHU Ling's life.
Altogether about 14000 cc of blood was transfused into her body in
about eight times. Unfortunately, she was infected with hepatitis C by
blood transfusion （hepatitis C testing was not yet enforced for blood
transfusion in China at that time）. （Source: report by Life Week on
02/19/2001）
"She was given 7 times blood transfusion therapy with total of 14000cc
blood. Almost all the blood in the body was changed. But her situation
was still worsening and she was also infected with Hepatitis C", WU
Cheng-Zhi's heart still full of fear when he thinks back. （Source:
report by China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
@@ 03/25/1995, 23:00 pm, suddenly ZHU Ling's oxygen intake became
unstable because the tracheal vessel accidentally dropped out. Luckily
her father found it out in time and saved her life. "If I had fallen
asleep, we would never be able to see our daughter again." WU Cheng-Zhi
still fears about the event years later. （Source: reports by Life
Week on 02/19/2001 and China Legal News on 01/22/2006）
@@ 03/26/1995, ZHU Ling was sent to ICU （Intensive Care Unit）. A
respiratory machine maintained her life. （Source: report by Life Week
on 02/19/2001）
@@ 03/28/1995. ZHU Ling fell into deep coma of over two months. During
this period, her parents requested consultation, but ZHU Ling's
physician in-charge said, "PUMC is a world-class hospital, but you
still don't trust us?" （Source: report by Life Week on 02/19/2001）
@@ Late Mar. 1995, a female classmate of ZHU Ling called WU Cheng-Zhi,
"We ate the bread that ZHU Ling left in the dorm." Describing this
detail to the reporter, WU Cheng-Zhi emphasized, "Obviously, someone
was trying to destroy the evidence." （Source: report by Law Weekly on
01/26/2006）
@@ 04/05/1995, ZHU Ling's case was reported in Beijing Youth, causing
public concern.
@@ 04/08/1995, weekend, six of ZHU Ling's high school alumni visited
her, including BEI Zhi-cheng, a 92' student at Department of Mechanics,
Peking University. Afterwards, they started to seek a way to help her.
BEI Zhi-cheng recalled "I was ZHU Ling's classmate in the 3rd year of
junior high school. We got along well. Somehow after her sister's
accidental death, she became a little unsocial. Since then we had
seldom got in touch. I hadn't seen her since I entered college, so I
didn't visit her when she was poisoned for the 1st time. It was about
March 1995 when she was poisoned for the 2nd time. I was unaware of it
until April, a classmate told me that ZHU Ling was dying, and it could
be the last chance to see her, so I went to PUMC to see her."
BEI Zhi-cheng described, "We entered the ICU one by one to see the once
beautiful, lively, and versatile ZHU Ling that we knew of. She was
lying there unconscious, totally bald and with tubes plugged all over.
I can still remember my feeling at that moment: I was shocked and
wanted to escape but could not run. A classmate told me ‘we must save
ZHU Ling'. At that time I just learned Internet, so I told ZHU Ling's
parents that we want to plead for help on Internet to find possible
diagnoses for her. Since they knew nothing about Internet, at first
they didn't show much interest." （Source: from BEI Zhi-Cheng's
article at TianYa BBS on 01/03/2006 and interview by Netease
（www.163.com） on 01/13/2006）
@@ 04/10/1995, BEI Zhi-cheng asked his classmate, CAI Quan-Qing, who
had lab access to Internet through UNIX, if he could help sending
emails over Internet describing ZHU Ling's symptoms and pleading for
help.
On the evening of Jan. 13th 2006, 11 years after ZHU Ling was poisoned,
BEI Zhi-cheng told the reporter from Xinmin Weekly "any classmate
whoever saw ZHU Ling's situation like that would try his best to save
her. At that time folks in our dorm were doing some experiments on
Internet. Almost nobody knew about Internet in China back then. （In
Beijing） only Peking University, Beijing University of Chemical
Technology, and Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences had access to Internet."
CAI Quan-Qing and other students quickly prepared the "SOS" email and
newsletter. That night, they connected to Internet at department of
Mechanics. They list-mailed an Internet all-points bulletin on Newsnet,
Usenet, and Bitnet （Usenet and Bitnet are subnet of Internet）
pleading for help. CAI Quan-Qing stayed overnight in the lab and the
first response came in just 3 hours. BEI's roommate LIU Li wrote
software to sort the received emails by keywords. Within 10 days they
received about 2000 emails from specialists from 18 countries, among
them 30% pointed to Thallium poisoning. Doctorate candidate XIN Li at
University of California at Los Angeles, who was studying telemedicine,
established a WWW home page for ZHU Ling's Internet diagnosis.
（Source: report by South Weekend on 06/09/1995）
LIU Hua-Jie, a scholar at Center for Science Communication, Peking
University （PKU）, described on his webpage, "The main figure that
launched Internet diagnosis was CAI Quan-Qing, an undergraduate at
department of Mechanics of Peking University. The Email address he used
was: ca...@mccux0.mech.pku.edu.cn, mccux0.mech.pku.edu.cn was a server
owned by Prof. CHEN Yao-Song that was connected to the computing center
of PKU via dial-up. This is an example that quite worth analysis by
communication theory. To save ZHU Ling, a student at Tsinghua, Prof.
CHEN paid the Internet service fee by himself. The first Chinese news
report about ZHU Ling's Internet diagnosis was written by me
（assisted by Prof. ZHU Zhao-Xuan, Prof. CHEN Yao-Song, and CAI
Quan-Qin at department of Mechanics）. I spent a night writing it, and
sent it by express mail. The report was published promptly in the front
page of South Weekend. To some extent, the report affected the
impression of relevant authority about the explosively expanding
Internet. Before then the authority has come to PKU to investigate if
students have made some trouble online." （Source: online article by
LIU Hua-Jie, "An archive about ZHU Ling's Thallium poisoning incident
（No. 843, attached with SOS emails）" on 12/14/2005）
>From April to May, HUANG Kai-Sheng （now a professor at Tsinghua
Department of Automotive Engineering） and other teammates at TSCO
took 1635 emails from BEI Zhi-cheng and read them one by one. HUANG
Kai-Sheng summarized on April 25th, 1998 that "Among the emails which
gave diagnostic opinions, there were 211 emails that asserted ZHU Ling
was Thallium poisoned, this number was 79.92% of the total number of
emails that gave diagnostic opinions." （Source: report by Xinmin
Weekly on 01/18/2006）
BEI Zhi-Cheng recruited about 20 students from Peking University to
volunteer translating the emails to Chinese and sending to ZHU Ling's
parents continuously, hoping that they could persuade the primary care
physician so that a Thallium test could be performed for ZHU Ling. But
every time physicians at PUMC refused it by the name of "disturb normal
therapy". BEI Zhi-Cheng recalled "The chairman of ICU, Dr. Yang
Yin-Chang, even said that we were trying to ‘bring pressure' to the
hospital." （Source: report by Life Week on 02/19/2001; the identity
of the chairman of ICU was disclosed by BEI Zhi-Cheng at TianYa BBS on
02/15/2006）
@@ night of 04/10/1995, Dr. Steve Cunnion, a U.S. Navy physician and
assistant professor of biometrics and preventive medicine at Uniformed
Services University of the Health Sciences, received the "SOS" email
which was sent to specialists in tropical medicine. He responded with
what became the first correct analysis of the case: Thallium poisoning.
Dr. John Aldis, former doctor of US Embassy in Beijing, who was working
at the Congress, Washington DC at the time, and Dr. Robert A. Fink at
California, also received the same email separately. （Source: reports
by U.S. Medicine in Dec. 1995 and Epochtimes on 02/16/2006）
@@ a couple of days after 04/10/1995, About seven to eight physicians
at US, UK, and Australia not only concluded that ZHU Ling was Thallium
poisoned, they also suspected that she was "deliberately poisoned". The
following emails were from Dr. L. Turin at London's Global University:
Hello friends
Just got your e-mail via Walter Stewart, and something immediately came
to my mind. Has anyone checked whether ZHU Ling is not suffering from
*Thallium poisoning* （or possibly some other heavy metal）???
（Turin had worked with Thallium some years ago and had, as he put it,
"for once actually read the safety notice that came with the
bottle."）
I just checked with the poison center in London, and they agree. She
has all the classic symptoms: rapid hair loss, neurological problems,
no other understandable signs. Is she a chemist? Could someone have
tried to poison her? If so, the antidote for Thallium is Prussian blue
（ferric hexacyanoferrate （II））. The dosage is 250mg/kg of body
weight per day given orally in divided doses dissolved in a mannitol
solution.
The poison center reports that people have been saved with Prussian
blue even after *95 days* on a respirator. If you need any of the
reagents, I'd be happy to send them to you by FedEx as fast as
possible. Please send a fax number so I could get you a data sheet on
Thallium poisoning.
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995
from: l.t...@ucl.ac.uk
Subject: ZHU ling
Hi Walter! I'm home now, couple of things occurred to me. If ZHU Ling
was poisoned at all, she was poisoned twice （read the description
again）, and for all we know whoever poisoned her is by her bedside as
we speak. Also, could you e-mail them to tell them to send a blood
sample ASAP to here, we'll have it analyzed by the poison center at
Guys' Hospital. We'll pay for it of course. I finally read their e-mail
in detail, and she had an upset stomach in Dec!! Another classic sign.
God, I'm praying for the poor girl, let's hope she pulls through in all
probability her health will be compromised forever. I'll check my mail
in 3 min or so.
And an hour later:
Reading your e-mail in a hurry, I had missed the fact that ZHU Ling was
a *chemistry student*, which increases the probability of （deliberate
or accidental） poisoning enormously. If she was poisoned, it maybe
that whoever did it gave her two doses, accounting for her getting
better and then relapsing again. Make sure it does not happen again.
Send me a blood sample by Federal Express for Thallium analysis, I'll
pay for transport and testing. Do it *FAST*. Remember to give fax and
'phone.
Then silence from China. There was no reply. "ZHU Ling??" queried
Stewart.
"Not a peep from anyone," shrugged Turin. "Probably *all* poisoned!"
（Source: http://www.chandlerburr.com/emperor/unpub/12/）
@@ Late April 1995, BEI Zhi-cheng and his classmates went to ZHU Ling's
class to solicit help on translating the thousands of emails they
received. However, they encountered coldness. BEI Zhi-cheng recalled "I
still remember at the front entrance to Tsinghua's female student dorm,
we came across three of ZHU Ling's classmates, so we asked them for
help on translation. Somehow their reply was ‘Oops, we are so busy
these days; we already scheduled an outing for the coming ‘May Day'
holiday. Sorry that we really don't have time.' So we came back in
vain. Next time, one of my classmates went to Tsinghua again. This time
he found a male cadre in ZHU Ling's class. According to his
description, this student very reluctantly accepted the emails and
promised to find people for translation. However, since then we never
received their translation at all." （Source: from BEI Zhi-Cheng's
article at TianYa BBS on 12/31/2005）
Years later, there's still a hot debate on what exactly happened to the
emails handed to ZHU Ling's class. According to XUE Gang, who was then
the Party branch secretary of the class, he did organize classmates to
translate the emails. But instead of returning them to BEI Zhi-cheng,
he directly sent the translation through a Professor in the department
to PUMC. Until today, Tsinghua or PUMC has never confirmed his
argument.
XUE Gang said, "At the time I was the Party branch secretary of the
class. BEI's classmate first went to the female student dorm, and then
found me. I and another classmate picked up the floppy drives that
stored the emails from PKU's student dorm the same night. Then I
organized many classmates to translate the emails overnight, including
SUN Wei. I still remember back then there were very limited computer
resources, luckily my advisor was very supportive, and allowed me to
use the lab computer to print all the emails and distribute them to
classmates. The second day, we already sorted out all the diagnostic
suggestions and sent all of them through department administrative to
PUMC." （Source: XUE Gang's article at TianYa BBS on 12/31/2005）
In SUN Wei's declaration, she claimed, "In late April 1995, a student
from PKU came to our dorm and told us that ZHU Ling was diagnosed to be
Thallium poisoned, they received so many email replies that they hope
we could help on translation. I and another two classmates immediately
reported it to the department leader（s）, and started translation
with another couple of girls overnight." （Source: Declaration from
SUN Wei, 12/30/2005）
@@ 04/18/1995, PUMC's medical record concluded that Guillain-Barre
syndrome was the most likely factor of ZHU Ling's case. Although no
Thallium testing was performed, the hospital told ZHU Ling's family
explicitly "the possibility of Thallium poisoning was ruled out". ZHU
Ling continued to accept all sorts of investigative examinations.
Consultants from different departments made all kinds of suggestions
according to their own judgments, such as Percutaneous Renal Puncture
（PRP） and Brain Biopsy. Her family refused some of the traumatic
exams. Once, her physician in-charge insisted on moving ZHU Ling from
ICU to another building to do a MRI test. Since ZHU Ling was in coma
with many tubes plugged in, her family had to hire a couple of strong
men to help moving her in bed. Because of the numerous exams, after ZHU
Ling left PUMC a year later, her family received a bill of nearly
500,000 RMB （=$60,000 US dollar） including the expensive ICU ward
charge. （Source: report by Life Week on 02/19/2001）
According to the report by Legal Weekly, Tsinghua reimbursed the
500,000 RMB bill. After that ZHU Ling quit Tsinghua due to her
disability. She didn't have any form of health insurance because she
was not affiliated to any employer. Therefore all the medical expense
had to be paid by her family. In the past ten years ZHU Ling was
frequently hospitalized and many times the cost was more than 10,000
RMB. ZHU Ling's medical expense was a heavy load for her parents, both
retired and on pensions.
@@ 04/18/1995, BEI Zhi-Cheng brought the translated emails to PUMC,
hoping that the Internet diagnoses could be adopted. He waited at the
door of ICU from about 8:00AM to 5:00PM, but nobody ever took a look at
him, except for a few non decision-making young residents. Bei recalled
"Once I went to PUMC to send the translated emails, trying to persuade
them to accept them. The physicians at PUMC didn't want to take them
even after I stood there for about six hours. When I came out, I took a
look at the sky and asked myself ‘what can I do?' I thought I was a
tough guy, but on ZHU Ling's case I felt very powerless. （Source: BEI
Zhi-Cheng's interview by Netease （www.163.com） on 01/13/2006）
**Note** A netizen pointed out that the primary care physician of ZHU
Ling at PUMC had a collaboration with Tsinghua years ago and published
a toxic booklet which included description of Thallium poisoning.
**Note** Ten years later, Dr. Robert Fink was still in melancholy when
he recalled the moments "Back then some students could access Internet
at labs, but PUMC couldn't. Our opinions had to be transmitted by
students, but physicians at that hospital didn't trust students…they
didn't trust young people. ZHU Ling's detoxification was delayed for
two weeks, it was because of this…"
Dr. John Aldis was puzzled when he heard from Bei's classmates that the
suggestion of Thallium poisoning test was refused. Luckily, in the tens
of years he worked as Embassy doctor in Asia and Africa, he had worked
at US Embassy in Beijing from 1989-1993 and 1996-1999, and he knew
several physicians at PUMC. The first time he called a physician at
PUMC, he got complaints like "these students have made so much trouble
for me". He continued to call or fax other physicians, but was told
that PUMC didn't have Thallium assay equipment. （Source: report by
Epochtimes on 02/16/2006）
@@ 04/28/1995, A friend of ZHU Ling's parents told them that Beijing
Institute of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment was capable
of doing Thallium testing. They collected ZHU Ling's nail, skin that
peeled off, and hair found on her clothes when she got sick back in
Dec. 1994. They also obtained samples of ZHU Ling's blood serum, urine,
and cerebrospinal fluid from PUMC. The samples were brought to Dr. Chen
Zhen-Yang for a lab test. （Source: report by Life Week on
02/19/2001）
Dr. CHEN testified in a recorded inquiry on Mar. 5th, 1997, "（ZHU
Ling's Thallium testing） was requested by her family, not by PUMC.
ZHU Ling's mother came to me, so I asked her to bring cerebrospinal
fluid, blood serum, urine, nail, and hair for a thorough test. … The
next day, ZHU Ling's father got the five samples and we started testing
immediately. The result was severe Thallium poisoning. In the afternoon
we repeated the testing, and finally determined the dose of ZHU Ling's
Thallium poisoning （it was lethal dose）, the same time I suggested
PUMC to start using Prussian blue taken orally as antidote." （Source:
report by Life Week on 02/19/2001）
@@ 04/28/1995, the test report written by Dr. CHEN Zhen-Yang showed
"Thallium level in urine: 275 ug/cc; in cerebrospinal fluid: 263 ug/cc;
in blood serum: 31 ug/cc; in hair: 532 ug/cc; in nail: 22824 ug/cc
（the normal Thallium level in urine was 0 to 5 ug/cc in Beijing
area）." Based on the test, Dr. CHEN affirmed that ZHU Ling's etiology
was Thallium poisoning. Moreover, she was poisoned twice, either
suicide or homicide. He told ZHU Ming-Xin that Thallium compounds are
colorless and tasteless, "you can't even tell if it's added to a piece
of bread." （Source: report by Xinmin Weekly on 01/18/2006）
When Dr. CHEN watched the indicator on the spectrometer pointing to
maximum, he almost couldn't believe his eyes. "She has so much Thallium
in her body? It's definitely more than the fatal dose!" Dr. CHEN
carefully repeated the examination and also found a female colleague to
do a comparison experiment. Again the result from ZHU Ling's sample was
strongly positive but his colleague's sample was negative. "When I
wrote the report, I was heavy-hearted. This is a poisoning case! Where
did the poison come from? Such kind of acute Thallium poisoning was
most likely a one-time ingestion with large dose." said Dr. CHEN.
（Source: report by woman friend in 1995）
Later, Dr. CHEN explained, ZHU Ling's symptoms from Thallium poisoning
were quite obvious and easy to diagnose. Especially alopecia, Mee's
stripes, painful paresthesia of the hands and feet that she had are
classic symptoms. Thallium poisoning has a fairly long latency and it
develops progressively. It takes a while before damage to neural system
occurs. If the treatment were in time that poison has not damaged
cranial nerves, visual nerves, and peripheral nerves, then the patient
would have better prognosis. （Source: report by Life Week on
02/19/2001）
**Note** Thallium is a toxic heavy metal, which was accidentally
discovered by Sir William Crookes in 1861 by burning the dust from a
sulphuric acid industrial plant. It is silvery white in color in its
pure state, and is more toxic than lead and as toxic as arsenic. It is
well absorbed by any route, including skin. In blood, about 70% of it
is bound to red cells; it is mainly excreted by the kidneys. Poisoning
by Thallium causes a variety of symptoms ranging from tachycardia,
hypotension, and gastroenteritis to polyneuropathy, alopecia, and
dystrophy of nails. Thallium can cross the placental barrier and may
cause fetal toxicity. The triad of gastroenteritis, polyneuropathy, and
alopecia has been regarded as the classic syndrome of Thallium
poisoning. Thallium poisoning, not only from contaminated food or
drink, but also from occupational exposure, has been reported from
different parts of the world. In cases of chronic poisoning, symptoms
are similar but in general milder than in cases of acute intoxication.
With respect to changes of the nails, dystrophy has been shown by the
appearance of white lunular stripes （Mee's stripes） （Source:
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Vol.61, pp640-642, 2004）
@@ 04/28/1995 night, with Dr. CHEN Zhen-Yang's confirmative report of
Thallium poisoning, ZHU Ling's family and PUMC immediately started
seeking appropriate treatment. PUMC invited 6 prominent neurology
experts to a consultation, and they decided to use Sodium
Dimercaptosuccnate （Na-DMS）. It was a drug prevailing in World War
II, and the production was stopped long time ago. Although WU Cheng-Zhi
eventually found it at China-Japan Friendship Hospital （CJFH）, he
got the following reply from Internet "Na-DMS has severe side effect,
suggest to use Prussian blue （potassium ferric Ferro cyanide）".
However, it was still in the one-week-long "May Day" holiday, making it
difficult for WU Cheng-Zhi to find Prussian Blue. With the help from
CUI Yue-Li （the ex-minister of Ministry of Health P.R. China）, WU
eventually found the drug. Ironically, it only cost him about 40 RMB
（=$5 US dollar） to buy enough doses needed for the treatment.
alienguest
ZHU Ling's case is not over yet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please click here for original article in Chinese
Thallium poisoning curable with medicine of several dollars
nevertheless permanently paralyzed ZHU Ling
ZHU Ling's case is not over yet
By WU Ang
In the past 5 years, lawsuit with PUMC hospital gave the ZHUs
exhausting hard times. Delayed diagnosis and treatment for Thallium
poisoning left ZHU Ling (born in November 1973) in permanent damages.
Now she is suffering from complete paralysis, almost zero vision, brain
deficit and loss of speech ability.
ZHU Ling was a student at Chemistry Department of Tsinghua University.
December 1994, She was mysteriously stricken with stomachache and pain
in the back and limb joints. The cause of sickness was not found after
she received almost a month long treatment in the hospital.
On March 9th 1995, ZHU Ling went to see Neurology experts at PUMC
hospital. Dr LI Shunwei, the chairman of the Neurology department,
considered her sickness was “ thallium poisoning highly suspected”
during her initial visit and invited Dr. ZHANG Shou-Lin at Institute of
Labor Hygiene & Occupational Diseases, Chinese Academy of Preventive
Medical Sciences to join the diagnosis. Dr. Zhang suggested possible
“ thallium poisoning” or “arsenic poisoning”.
ZHU Ling was observed at the ICU while she was waiting in queue to be
hospitalized. On March 15th, ZHU Ling was hospitalized. Ever since
then, she had received all sorts of medical examinations. Meanwhile,
she was losing consciousness and ability to control hands. Then Doctors
informed her mother that Thallium poisoning had been basically ruled
out.
April 1995, ZHU Ling became the first patient in China to seek help
through Internet. Statistically speaking, ZHU Ling’s classmates
received more than 1000 responses altogether through the Internet. Her
high school classmate BEI Zhicheng recruited twenty to thirty students
from Peking University to keep translating the emails into Chinese,
hoping the Doctor in charge would give Ling a Thallium poisoning test
however this ended in vain.
ZHU Ling’s mother still did not give up. She found Dr. CHEN Zhenyang
at Beijing Institute of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment,
who finally confirmed ZHU Ling was poisoned with lethal dose Thallium.
Dr. CHEN recommended Prussian blue as antidote, and it cost only some
40-Yuan ($5). Yet before this, ZHU Ling’s family received a medical
bill of 500,000 Yuan (close to $61,000) when Ling left hospital.
After one-month treatment with Prussian blue, Thallium was essentially
cleared of her system and poisoning symptoms disappeared. But severe
sequela will stay with her for the rest of her life.
December 1996, The ZHUs decided to bring this matter to the court after
some hesitation. 11/26/2000, Beijing 2nd Intermediate People Court
sentenced that PUMC should reimburse 100,000 RMB (=$12,000 US dollar)
alienguest
Delayed Patient But Never Delayed Authority
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please click here for original article in Chinese
Preface:
ZHU Ling’s Mom ZHU Mingxin said: “We are reasonable intellectuals
who are aware that had it not been Peking Union Medical College (PUMC)
hospital, which has first class medical techniques and equipment, other
hospitals may not have been able to save our daughter’s life. Having
said that, it is also PUMC hospital’s pride and arrogance that has
caused this horrible incident. The so-called authority is deceptive.
Sometimes it not only delays treatment of the patient, it costs its own
reputation. Had PUMC (hospital) been more humble and seek alternative
opinions, I doubt if this tragedy of my family would ever happen.”
Strange symptom:
ZHU Ling’s family is still frustrated with the lawsuit against PUMC
hospital that started treating ZHU Ling five years ago. ZHU Ling, born
in November 1973, has permanent damages because of delayed treatment.
Thallium poisoned in 1995. She is now neurologically damaged,
paralyzed, almost blind, and nearly lost her speech ability. Still,
discussions between her family and the reporter on the happenings in
the last five years could still upset her, so the interview with her
mom ZHU Mingxin was taken while she was not home.
ZHU Ling was a sophomore at the chemistry Department of Tsinghua
University. Accordingly to ZHU Mingxin, she was a healthy, smart and
outgoing girl who is popular among her fellow students. In December
1994, she became ill with stomachache, backache, and joint-ache. She
was taken to the Beijing TongRen hospital and had been treated for
almost a month. During that time, she lost all her hair and the
symptoms were improved; however, the real cause of her illness had not
been identified. After the winter vacation, she went back to school.
Her hair had grown back to about an inch long, and she was still very
weak. Within a week, she became sick again with symptoms like
unbearable foot-ache, numb hands, and hair loss. On March 9, 1995, she
went to visit the neurology department of Beijing PUMC hospital. The
director of the neurology department, Professor LI Shunwei diagnosed
her. The initial diagnosis was “strong suspicion of Thallium
poisoning”. A consultation was performed together with Dr. ZHANG
Shoulin at Institute of Labor Hygiene & Occupational Diseases, Chinese
Academy of Preventive Medical Sciences. Dr. ZHANG proposed that she was
possibly “Thallium poisoned” or “Arsenic poisoned”. At the
moment the institute had no such capabilities, so he suggested such
tests be done at ChaoYang hospital. Somehow it was never done.
Instead, ZHU Ling was observed at the emergency clinic while she was
waiting in queue to be hospitalized, which was on March 15. ZHU Mingxin
recalled, “Since then, PUMC’s doctors started to do all kinds of
tests on ZHU Ling, one day they even did a dozen times of blood tests.
None of the tests showed any problem with her blood. However, her
situation kept worsening, she started to lose consciousness and lose
control of her hands, and her voice became blurry. At that time,
doctors told us that ‘the possibility of Thallium poisoning was ruled
out’. After many diagnostic considerations, they concluded that
Guillain-Barre syndrome was the most likely factor of ZHU Ling’s
illness.”
The hospital once questioned the possibility of toxic disease. Although
ZHU Ling was a chemistry student, she denied that she had exposure
history of heavy metals. Moreover, the doctors believed her symptoms
were not characteristic; therefore heavy metal poisoning was ruled out
again and again. But it was not ruled out based on rigorous tests. This
became a crucial fact of the case. Although later on, PUMC hospital
showed written proofs by Beijing Institute of Occupational Disease
Prevention and Treatment, and Institute of Labor Hygiene & Occupational
Diseases, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medical Sciences; claiming that
PUMCH had contacted them for heavy metal testing, but PUMCH had to give
up because neither of the two institutes had such kind of testing
services.
Internet diagnosis: in vain
So ZHU Ling continued to stay in PUMC hospital waiting for confirmative
diagnosis. The poisons inside her kept attacking her system. On March
22, she started to have swallowing difficulties. To save her life, she
received a trachea opening surgery. ZHU Ling became comatose during the
surgery. At 11:00pm three days later, ZHU Ling’s oxygen intake
suddenly became unstable; luckily her dad at her bedside found it out
in time and saved her life. The next day, ZHU Ling was accepted to ICU
and a respiratory machine maintained her life. Usually a patient in
critical situation after surgery would stay in ICU just a couple of
days; somehow she stayed in ICU for three months. From March 28, ZHU
Ling fell into deep coma of over two months. During this period, her
parents requested consultation, but ZHU Ling’s primary care physician
said, “PUMCH is a world-class hospital, but you still don’t trust
us?”
On April 5th, 1995, ZHU Ling’s case was given local prominence (by a
newspaper report). Especially after several Peking University students
started pleading for help on Internet, ZHU Ling became the first ever
patient in China soliciting assistance on Internet. According to
(incomplete) statistics, about 1000 email replies were received from
Internet. BEI Zhicheng, ZHU Ling’s junior high school classmate,
recruited about 20-30 volunteer students from Peking University to
translate the emails to Chinese and sending to ZHU Ling’s parents
continuously, hoping that they could persuade the primary care
physician so that ZHU Ling would receive a Thallium poisoning test. But
every time the request was refused in the name of “disturb normal
therapy”.
BEI Zhicheng said “On April 18, I brought the translated emails to
the door of ICU, hoping that the Internet diagnoses could be adopted. I
waited there from 8:00am to 5:00pm, but nobody ever took a look at
them, except for a few non decision-making young residents.” The
chairman of ICU even said that they were trying to ‘bring pressure’
to the hospital.” As a result, the Internet diagnosis, an action full
of humanism and internationalism that had raised broad attention from
abroad, did not receive any attention.
Meanwhile, ZHU Ling continued to undergo all sorts of investigative
examinations. Consultants from different departments made all kinds of
suggestions according to their own judgments, such as Percutaneous
Renal Puncture (PRP) and Brain Biopsy. Her family refused some
traumatic exams. Once, her primary care physician insisted on moving
ZHU Ling from ICU to another building to do a MRI test. Since ZHU Ling
was in coma with many tubes plugged in, her family had to hire a couple
of strong men to help moving her in bed.
Because of the numerous exams, after ZHU Ling left the hospital a year
later, her family received a bill of nearly 500,000 RMB (= $60,000 US
dollar) including the expensive ICU charge.
Diagnosis and treatment: full of “black humor”
Dr. CHEN Zhenyang from Beijing Institute of Occupational Disease
Prevention and Treatment testified in a recorded inquiry on Mar. 5th,
1997, “(ZHU Ling’s Thallium testing) was requested by her family,
not by PUMCH. ZHU Ling’s mother came to me, so I asked her to bring
cerebrospinal fluid, blood serum, urine, nail, and hair for a thorough
test. … The next day, ZHU Ling’s father got the five samples and we
started testing immediately. The result was severe Thallium poisoning.
In the afternoon we repeated the testing, and finally determined the
dose of ZHU Ling’s Thallium poisoning (it was lethal dose), the same
time I suggested PUMC to start using Prussian blue taken orally as
antidote.”
He also explained, ZHU Ling’s symptoms from Thallium poisoning were
quite obvious and easy to diagnose. Especially alopecia, Mee’s
stripes, painful paresthesia of the hands and feet that she had are
classic symptoms. Thallium poisoning has a fairly long latency and it
develops progressively. It takes a while before damage to neural system
occurs. If the treatment were in time that poison has not damaged
cranial nerves, visual nerves, and peripheral nerves, then the patient
would have better prognosis.
When the test report was handed to ZHU Ling’s primary care physician,
her first reaction was “Is this (result) for sure?” When it was
handed to Dr. LI Shunwei, who first diagnosed ZHU Ling, he regretted
that he didn’t insist his opinion and was persuaded by his
colleagues.
On the night of April 28, after PUMCH and ZHU Ling’s family did a
thorough search, finally they found the last 20 injections of Prussian
blue left at the warehouse of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, only
costing 0.30 RMB per injection (= 0.04 US dollar). Later they found
another ten boxes of Prussian blue at Beijing Institute of Labor
Hygiene & Occupational Diseases, costing about 40 RMB in total (= $5 US
dollar). Each time ZHU Ling’s father Wu Chengzhi brought a couple of
thousand RMB, thinking he would need a fair amount of money to save her
daughter’s life, only to find out the price was ridiculously low.
One month later, ZHU Ling’s Thallium level could not be detected
anymore, and the poisoning symptoms disappeared subsequently, but it
has caused permanent damages to her neural system.
To make things worse, on March 20, medical record showed that ZHU
Ling’s antibody test for hepatitis C was normal. Since March 24, PUMC
was forced to use blood transfusion therapy. Although it did help
maintaining ZHU Ling’s life, after the eight times of blood
transfusion, each more than 1000 cc of blood, she was infected with
hepatitis C. The susceptibility of Lung infection by the trachea
opening surgery and hepatitis C infection seriously threaten ZHU
Ling’s health now, but the courts basically evaded these facts during
the two litigations.
By coincidence, shortly after ZHU Ling was recovered, another two
students at Peking University was Thallium poisoned by one of their
classmate. This time the treatment was in time, so both of them fully
recovered after two weeks. ZHU Ling has taught the public a medical
knowledge at the cost of her own health.
The lengthy lawsuit:
In December of 1996, half a year after ZHU Ling left PUMCH and
continued her treatment at other hospitals and a rehabilitation center,
her family decided to sue PUMC for medical malpractice after hesitating
for a long time.
ZHU Mingxin said, “Then I was very reluctant to sue PUMCH. I was busy
searching a better medical facility for our daughter. Moreover, after
thinking over, maybe in the future we would have to go back to PUMCH
for her treatment. Anyway PUMCH is still one of the best hospitals in
China. Were it not for the continuous encouragement from our relatives
and friends, I would just let this go. Later, the situation became
totally out of my expectation: PUMCH repeatedly showed evidence
disagreeing with the truth. I became more and more determined. Finally,
it was me who was the only one in the family that insisted on finishing
the lawsuit. The pressure we faced was beyond anyone’s
imagination.”
It took more than half a year for the case to be registered. In October
1997, Beijing Center of Appraisal for Medical Malpractice made their
assessment that PUMCH had no fault for ZHU Ling’s treatment, so it
was not a medical malpractice. After collecting evidences from both
sides, People's Court of Beijing Dongcheng District made the
adjudication mainly based on the appraisal by Beijing Center of
Appraisal for Medical Malpractice. An anonymous judge commented “We
made an unfair adjudication although we felt much sympathy for the
plaintiff.” On April 2, 1999, ZHU Mingxin lost the lawsuit against
PUMC.
Later, HaoTian Law Firm accepted ZHU Mingxin’s complaint. The same as
the previous law firm, HaoTian counseled for ZHU Ling for free.
Attorney Yu Rong, who worked for ZHU Ling’s case for free, said,
“This case actually is an issue of ascendancy. The defendant is an
authoritative medical institute with deep and firm background. It is
basically impossible for them to admit some mistakes. An obvious symbol
is the lengthy lawsuit process. First of all, there was no commercial
benefit for us to accept such a case; neither does it have any media
effect. There is actually no benefit at all for us. We did it just
because of indignation.” Yu Rong also introduced that at the time the
media was blocked from reporting the case, she once tried to seek help
from journalists overseas, but she gave it up after considering the
situation of ZHU Ling’s family.
Yu Rong also stated “Legally saying, hospital and patient are equal
subjects, but if the appraisal is done by a non-independent institute
inside the medical system, such as the Center of Appraisal for Medical
Malpractice, which is essentially a semi-administrative department, it
is very hard to be free of bias. Under such circumstances, the equal
right of patient is very hard to be fully protected.”
In December 1999, HaoTian Law Firm applied for another appraisal for
ZHU Ling’s case at the Second Intermediate People Court of Beijing.
In June 2000, Beijing Institute of forensic medicine & Science was
consigned to appraise ZHU Ling’s case again. Forensic medical expert
LIU Xin, who accepted the case, sorted all the medical records again
and rechecked the evidence. He reinvestigated the proof that PUMCH
showed to the court in the first litigation about their inquiry with
Beijing Institute of Labor Hygiene & Occupational Diseases (which
belonged to a department of ChaoYang Hospital) and Institute of Labor
Hygiene & Occupational Diseases, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medical
Sciences. He found there was some discrepancy in the time and
characters. The new appraisal basically negated the efforts to search
the Thallium testing institutes that PUMCH claimed. Therefore, the
conclusion was “(PUMCH’s) nonfeasance led to the delay of diagnosis
for ZHU Ling. Consequently, PUMCH conducted improper practices to some
extent during the medical treatment.”
Between the lines the appraisal report, one can easily tell the
difficulties of the second appraisal encountered and the euphemism of
the forensic medical expert. LIU Xin said “Our appraisal was to make
sure if there were any fact of damage and tort, and if there were any
causality with the medical practice. If this is true, then the reason
of civil litigation for this case is tenable.” Of course, He also
realized “After accepting the case, we faced quite a bit of pressure,
but we basically followed legal process, so we could write a relatively
objective and righteous appraisal report. We believed that PUMC
Hospital held only ‘malpractice within the strictly limited sense’,
the plaintiff later agreed with us on this point.”
On November 26, 2000, Beijing 2nd Intermediate People Court sentenced
PUMC should reimburse 100,000 RMB (= $12,000 US dollar) for ZHU
Ling’s medical expense, but the reimbursement has never been paid
even till today.
Will the case end?
ZHU Ling’s family is still looking for a solution for ZHU Ling’s
medical expense for the rest of her life. ZHU Mingxin said, “We are
not only facing the ascendancy from the hospital. Until now, the
suspect who poisoned ZHU Ling is still at large. I heard she has gone
abroad. She was the only student who could have access of Thallium in
Tsinghua at that time, and she was ZHU Ling’s roommate. But because
of her family background, the police department of the school was
forced to give her passport after retaining it for a year.”
ZHU Mingxin also said “We are reasonable intellectuals aware that had
it not been PUMC hospital, which has first class medical techniques and
equipment, other hospitals may not have been able to save our
daughter’s life. Having said that, it is also PUMC hospital’s pride
and arrogance that has caused this horrible incident. The so-called
authority is deceptive. Sometimes it not only delays treatment of the
patient, it costs its own reputation. Had PUMC (hospital) been more
humble and seek alternative opinions, I doubt if this tragedy of my
family would ever happen.”
(Thanks to Lynn and Guang Jiaojing for the English Translation!)
alienguest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
home | reviews | excerpts | unpublished | buy the book | perfume
reviews | bio | speaking | A Separate Creation
Chinese Murder Mystery. I'd sent this episode to Scott Moyers, my
Random House editor, and he pointed out correctly that it has nothing
to do with smell, but I include it here for fun. It was cut from the
chapter "Creation."
As he was writing, he got involved via email in a murder mystery in
China.
In April, Stewart had received a mass emailing from a young Chinese
Ph.D. candidate at UCLA studying telemedicine. The mailing concerned a
21-year-old student in Beijing named Zhu Ling. She had fallen into a
coma under enigmatic circumstances-Stewart forwarded the details to
Turin-and as the doctors were baffled, the UCLA student had list-mailed
an Internet all-points bulletin pleading for help. Turin, fascinated,
absorbed the description, then dropped his Vibration paper for a moment
to run and check out an idea he had. He came back and quickly replied
to the entire Zhu Ling list:
Hello friends
Just got your e-mail via Walter Stewart, and something immediately came
to mind. Has anyone checked whether Zhu Ling is not suffering from
*thallium poisoning* (or possibly some other heavy metal)???.
(Turin had worked with thallium some years ago and had, as he put it,
"for once actually read the safety notice that came with the bottle.")
I just checked with the poison center in London, and they agree. She
has all the classic symptoms: rapid hair loss, neurological problems,
no other understandable signs. Is she a chemist? Could someone have
tried to poison her? If so, the antidote for thallium is prussian blue
(ferric hexacyanoferrate (II)). The dosage is 250mg/kg of body weight
per day given orally in divided doses dissolved in a mannitol solution.
The poison center reports that people have been saved with prussian
blue even after *95 days* on a respirator. If you need any of the
reagents, I'd be happy to send them to you by Fedex as fast as
possible. Please send a fax number so I could get you a data sheet on
thallium poisoning.
He enjoyed the sleuthing.
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995
To: stew...@helix.nih.gov
From: l.t...@ucl.ac.uk
Subject: zhu ling
Hi walter! I'm home now, couple of things occurred to me. If Zhu Ling
was poisoned at all, she was poisoned twice (read the description
again), and for all we know whoever poisoned her is by her bedside as
we speak. Also, could you e-mail them to tell them to send a blood
sample asap to here, we'll have it analysd by the poison centre at
Guys' Hospital. We'll pay for it of course. I finally read their e-mail
in detail, and she had an upset stomach in Dec!! another classic sign.
God, I'm praying for the poor girl, let's hope she pulls through though
in all probability her health will be compromised for ever. I'll check
my mail in 3 min or so.
And an hour later:
Reading your e-mail in a hurry, I had missed the fact that Zhu Ling was
a *chemistry student*, which increases the probability of (deliberate
or accidental) poisoning enormously. If she was poisoned, it maybe that
whoever did it gave her two doses, accounting for her getting better
and then relapsing again. Make sure it does not happen again. Send me a
blood sample by Federal Express for thallium analysis, I'll pay for
transport and testing. Do it *FAST*. Remember to give fax and 'phone.
Then silence from China. There was no reply. "Zhu Ling??" queried
Stewart.
"Not a peep from anyone," shrugged Turin. "Probably *all* poisoned!"
As he was rewriting the zinc/receptor data, he received from Stewart
(23 July 1995, "Subject: Holy living God!!!!!!!!) a forwarded update:
>From: Xin Li <x...@endeavor.radsci.ucla.edu>
>Medical Imaging Division
>UCLA School of Medicine
>
>Dear friends and doctors:
>
>You, or your friends you consulted with, are among the first 81 persons-- 2000 mails from the world, about 18 countries and regions-who made the correct diagnosis for the 21-year-old Chinese girl student in Beijing! She did get thallium-poisoning!
>
>This is Xin LI, a Ph.D. student at UCLA working on teleradiology and telemedicine. As all of you know, I was involved in this case in April. We did not know so many of you also involved in this case until I came back to Beijing and met the Beijing university students who sent the SOS message on
>April 10. No words can express the kindness and
>help from such an international community for a 21-year-old girl in far-away
>China.
>
>It was with the diagnosis from all of you, the patient was finally tested for thallium at an occupational
>diseases center in Beijing on April 28. Without your contribution, this test will not even be tried since
>some occupational disease doctors in Beijing had excluded the possibility of thallium-poisoning
>without even a test.
>
>Her main treatment regimen is Prussian blue together with hemodialysis and KCl. She is still in coma!
>But according to doctors, the poison has almost been excreted and she is now in stage of nervous
>restoration. No other treatment but Prussian Blue is being applied now. Her father told me that she has
>a tiny nervous improvement slowly and gradually.
>
>Thank you very much.
>
>Xin Li
Turin sighed with relief and went back to his paper.....
alienguest
Ten-Year Unresolved Poisoning Case; The Suspect Is Said to Have Special
Background
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please Click Here For Original Article
The case of a talented Tsinghua girl being poisoned remains unsolved
for 10 years; Rumor goes the primary suspect has special background.
On July 28, 1997, the General Office of National Education Committee
issued a notice about strengthening the management of laboratory toxic
chemicals’ (No.13 [1997]), pointing out: ‘Two student Thallium
poisoning cases occurred in May, 1995 and May 1997 at Tsinghua
University and Peking University, respectively. Besides intentional
crimes involved, the negligence of laboratory toxic management was also
an important factor.’
By WU Hongfei
Reported by CHEN Kun from Beijing
Who is ZHU Ling
Born in Beijing in 1973; entered Chemistry Department at Tsinghua
University in 1992 and majored in Physical chemistry and instrument
analysis; a member of Tsinghua Student Chinese Orchestra; the Second
Award winner of solo performance group in 1994 National University Art
and Performance Contest; a Level II professional athlete of Beijing
City.
ZHU Ling had been poisoned with at least two lethal doses of heavy
metal thallium compound during the winter of 1994 (approximately in
Dec) and the spring of 1995 (approximately in March); She lost
consciousness for several days after the second poisoning and she
almost became vegetated; Though she was saved by correct treatment in
the May of 1995, however the prolonged diagnosis and mistreatment, left
her with severe physical damages and hepatitis C infection from blood
transfusion.
Till today she has not been able to look after herself and remains
under her aged parents’ care.
ZHU Ling sits on the wheelchair, quietly looking outside the windows.
December in Beijing, the sun is still gorgeous, shining through the
window silently onto the house floor. Several tiny red flowers are
blooming quietly on the windowsill.
ZHU Ling keeps looking at the sunlight. In fact, she cannot see those
flowers blooming in the winter anymore.
"She consistently asked for reading about 10 years ago," says Mrs. ZHU
Mingxin, the mother stood behind the wheelchair moving her daughter to
another place in the house with sunlight, " Till one day she realized
that her vision had been severely damaged, she no longer mentioned
reading books or newspapers anymore.”
At times when ZHU Ling was conscious, ZHU Ming-xin would read poetries
to her. Once Ms. ZHU read “crows fly to their perches when dusk falls
on the fort” (poem by LI Bai, a great Tang poet, title “Wu Ye
Ti”), she teased her daughter “Ling Ling, how about you give a
score to LI Bai?” ZHU Ling naughtily answered “at most 4 out of
10.”"
The mother couldn’t help laughing -- her Ling Ling, still the old
smart angel.
The ZHUs has never added anything decorative within the past ten years
except some life necessities. In the living room, there is only a worn
out sofa with two old or new patches on the hand rest; and a small wood
side table with variegated paints.
Ling’s photos have been put away, replaced with photos of her late
grandmother and grandfather. Also her sister-WU Jin’s photos have
been put away- WU Jin entered Peking University but accidentally fell
off a cliff and died during a field trip to Ye Shan Po.
Sometimes when open eyes, it is already bright day, Mrs Ms. ZHU Mingxin
feels in a trance. She had two intelligent and lovely daughters, one in
the Peking University, the other in Tsinghua University. One daughter
perished young, not even 20 years old. The other still lives, yet with
slow responses, no longer the one that she was familiar with.
"If it happened to other people, I am afraid they might have already
collapsed. Without her mother, Ling would not made it today. " Mr.
ZHU’s old classmates, old colleague from the National Department of
earthquake, GE Qingguo sighed,
Ling’s left hand feebly rests on the Gu Qin strings, for the
breathing difficulties, she has to move her head backward strenuously.
She can’t tell what is really going on during this 10 years.
Mysterious Poisoning
ZHU Ling from Physical Chemistry II Class at Tsinghua University was
always ready to do something and always the top among her peers since
childhood. She had not expected that she be only given twenty-one years
of happiness.
Her misery started from November 24 1994 on her 21st birthday. In order
to catch up with the "11.29” rehearsal in Tsinghua University she
could only have dinner with her father in a hurry nearby the school.
But her stomach hurt so much that she barely ate anything.
On December 8th, ZHU Ling’s hair started falling in big clumps.
On the evening of December 11th, at the Beijing Concert Hall it was the
Chinese orchestra's special performance from Tsinghua University. ZHU
Ling performed a Gu Qin solo "Guang Ling San". Her parents were also in
the auditorium. The mother extremely worried about her daughter who
went on performance with the intensified abdominal pain these two days.
"I know she is very uncomfortable". But in order to move the stage
props back to school with the schoolmates ZHU Ling only met her mother
once behind the stage.
The Next day, to Ms. ZHU’s surprise, the daughter who was not willing
to come back home the day before had come home by herself because she
couldn’t bear the pain any more.
On January 23 1995 ZHU Ling’s hair fell off entirely. She was
admitted to TongRen hospital under observation for a month. The
hospital could not find out any causes even though the pain was more
and more severe.
ZHU Ling worried about the tests and the class work she left behind so
she firmly requested to be discharged. A female student from the
department of environmental science named Zhang Bo who once had “ear
training and music sight reading” class with ZHU Ling thought
“it’s really cool” when she accidentally saw bald ZHU Ling
wearing a hat. A classmate and the course leader of physical chemistry,
Chen Zhongzhou recalled, “many classmates thought her face showed no
complexion but had not thought she already got sick that seriously."
On March 9, 1995 ZHU Ling started having toxic symptoms again. Dr. LI
Shunwei, the head of neurology department of Peking Union Medical
College Hospital (PUMCH) highly suspected it was "the thallium
poisoning" but did not go for a further analysis.
The condition rapidly worsened and ZHU Ling was admitted into ICU. On
22nd she was forced to undergo the tracheotomy surgery because of the
dyspneic respiration. As soon as she came out from the operating room
she slipped into a deep coma
The killer must have poisoned twice
Even after 10 years, BEI Zhicheng, now a software company CEO, still
has a vivid recollection what he saw that day: the girl, once so
energetic, versatile and pretty, now looked completely different. She
lay motionless on the bed with numerous tubes all over her swollen
body. The close to death picture was so frightening that then
twenty-year old BEI was stunned.
What bizarre disease did ZHU Ling get actually? On April 10th, 1995,
BEI ZhiCheng, then a 1992-class undergraduate of Department of
Mechanics at Peking University, worked with another classmate to
translate Ling’s symptom to English. They sought for urgent help by
sending out the information via the Internet to all over the world.
Within a week, they received over 1500 responses from doctors and
specialists. BEI and classmates coded a software program to analyze
these letters and sort them by keywords.
The statistical results showed that around 30% responses considered the
patient was poisoned by the thallium. BEI motivated the fellow students
of Peking University to translate the correspondences to Chinese. In
the early morning of April 18th, he rushed to Peking Union Hospital
with these diagnoses, and hoped that the physicians could accept the
information. He waited outside the ICU for a whole day; however,
nobody, except a couple of junior physicians, was willing to take a
look.
ZHU family was informed repeatedly by the hospital that the possibility
of poison by thallium had been ruled out.
Newly born China Internet almost accomplished a legendary story, if not
because of the arrogance of authorities.
On April 28th, Ling’s parent collected her skin sample, nail and
hairs obtained from a nylon sport jacket wore in December of 1994 when
Ling showed the symptom the first time, as well as samples of blood,
urine and spinal marrow. They sent all samples to Dr. CHEN Zhenyang’s
laboratory at Beijing Institute of Occupational Disease and Prevention.
Dr. CHEN recognized that Ling was poisoned by the thallium, which
exceeded the minimal lethal dosage. Dr CHEN thought it must be a case
of suicide or murder, because of such a large dosage. Furthermore the
killer must have poisoned twice.
The same evening Ling’s parents reported the case immediately to the
Security Department of Tsinghua University. In the next morning
Ling’s parents requested the university to protect the crime scene as
soon as possible, seal Ling’s properties in the school and run more
laboratory tests.
On May 7th, No 14 division of Beijing Police Department and Public
Security Office of Tsinghua University were assigned the case. During
the time, a theft occurred in Ling’s dorm mysteriously, but there was
no money loss. Ling’s drinking cup was found under one of
roommates’ bed. The crime scene had been disrupted since then.
Where did the thallium compound come from?
“In fact, there could be breakthroughs in many aspects of this case,
for example, where the thallium came from, who had access to that
thing, and so on.” During the investigation by the reporter 10 years
later, a classmate felt it hard to understand why the case has been
dragged on for so long without any result.
Thallium and thallium compound are deadly toxic, which are listed in
category A with cyanide in the PRC industrial standards for public
safety “extreme poison classification and product serial numbers”
(GA57-93), “deadly toxic regents name table” (GA58-93) that were
implemented on October 1, 1993. According to the Beijing Public
Security Bureau, there are only about twenty places where thallium or
thallium compound is used and about two hundred people who have access
to thallium in the city of Beijing.
When ZHU Ling was still clear minded, she denied that she could have
contacted thallium compound in laboratory to Dr. LI Shunwei, who was
the director of the neurology department in PUMCH. Dr. LI couldn’t
completely believe it, so he particularly asked the Department of
Chemistry at Tsinghua University and requested for a written proof. In
March 1995, Tsinghua University provided a list of chemicals that
students accessed, and it confirmed that ZHU Ling had no history of
contacting thallium compound. This was recorded in her medical profile.
This proof possibly made a direct impact on the medical diagnosis, thus
further triggered the lawsuit between Ms. ZHU Mingxin and the PUMCH in
December 1996.
According to the “life weekly” in 2001: in October 1997, the
Beijing Center of medical accidents assessment made an evaluation that
PUMCH had no fault in ZHU Ling’s case, and it was not classified to
be a medical accident. On April 2, 1999, Ms. ZHU Mingxin lost the
lawsuit.
Here comes more questions: was there thallium in the Department of
Chemistry at Tsinghua University? Where was ZHU Ling poisoned?
>From 1995, Tsinghua University had been claiming that the undergraduate
students couldn’t have access to thallium compound.
An anonymous Tsinghua student said, “By going through the SCI
(scientific citation index) database and the United States Chemical
Abstracts database, among all the articles published by Tsinghua
University from 1992 to 2002, there are only three related to thallium
compound. One of them was published in 1996, whose work, according to
the cycle of chemistry papers, should have been completed between 1994
and 1995, which coincides with the time when ZHU Ling was poisoned.”
Until April 9, 1997, Prof. Xue Fangyu who was still teaching in the
department said, there was thallium compound in the chemistry
laboratory of Tsinghua University. Most undergraduate students indeed
cannot access thallium compound, but one of ZHU Ling’s roommates
could access and use it as she was participating in a project.
But on June 26, 1997, the deputy secretary of Tsinghua University met
with ZHU Ling’s family, and reiterated several points: ZHU Ling did
not have contact with thallium; the school management on toxic products
was done in accordance with the provisions; after the accident, the
school reported to the security immediately and did everything required
by the public security bureau; it cannot be simply said who is
responsible for the theft in ZHU Ling’s dormitory.
On August 25, 1998, Beijing Public Security Bureau met with ZHU Ling's
family, and confirmed the following facts: from the laboratory test by
the Beijing Institute of occupational disease and prevention at Chao
Yang hospital, it is determined that ZHU Ling was thallium poisoned;
after the investigation on the usage of thallium compound at Tsinghua
University, it is confirmed that thallium compound was purchased by
Tsinghua University laboratory, and the usage of the toxic thallium had
not been strictly managed nor registered; ZHU Ling was poisoned inside
the campus; it is excluded that ZHU Ling herself ever used or contacted
thallium compound; it is excluded that her families or relatives or
friends ever contacted thallium compound.
the General Office of National Education Committee characterized this
matter in the document [1997]13: Two student Thallium poisoning cases
occurred in May, 1995 and May 1997 at Tsinghua University and Peking
University, respectively. Besides intentional crimes involved, the
negligence of laboratory toxic management was also an important
factor.’
Ten years later, a former Physical Chemistry Class II student recalled
this matter and said: “At least after ZHU Ling’s cause of disease
was diagnosed definitely, the chemistry department shouldn’t have
concealed the fact that there was thallium in the analysis center.”
Who is the suspect?
ZHU Ling had no record of contacting any thallium compound herself.
Given the prerequisites of knowing toxicology; being intimate to the
victim; having competitions --- these project the criminal's character
to the backdrop of her playing stage. According to Mr. WANG Bu, a
seasoned police officer with decades of experience in the criminal
investigation and a police insider of this case concluded that the pool
of candidate suspects must be very small.
Thallium is delayed-acting lethal toxics, and its lethal dose is around
1 gram with 3-7 days dormant period after being assimilated by human
body. ZHU Ling, after returning to the university on February 20th
1995, always stayed in the Tsinghua University's campus, except the two
weekends when her family members escorted her back to home. Because she
clearly felt uncomfortable during the weekend of March 2nd (1995), it
was likely that the criminal did the 2nd-round poisoning between
February 27th and March 2nd (1995).
During the two weeks on campus, except cooking the Chinese medicine
with the electrical oven in the TSCO office, ZHU Ling only went to a
laboratory class, a Q&A lecture for a makeup exam, and a makeup exam of
the Physical Chemistry course. She spent the rest of her time lying on
bed, catching up several courses she lagged behind during
hospitalization.
Being so weak, ZHU Ling ate the bread and bone-strengthening powder
brought by her mother every morning. As for the lunch and dinner, she
struggled to buy the foods and ate them while on bed rest. Roommates
helped picking up the boiled water. Tsinghua University had the strict
rule that male students were not allowed freely into (the female
dormitory). WANG Bu deduced further, “the killer must be very close
to ZHU Ling”.
“I do believe the killer of ZHU Ling case is among our classmates”,
a male student of Physical Chemistry Class II said.
Finally all the suspicions focused on one person. Back then she was ZHU
Ling’s close friend, classmate, fellow member of Tsinghua Student
Chinese Orchestra. She was working with her supervisor in the
laboratory, and she had the access of the thallium compound.
This person recalled, “ On April 2nd, 1997, just prior to the
graduation, I was suddenly taken away from the lab to be interrogated
by Police Department Division 14. I was asked to sign on the form
‘Criminal Suspect’, even under the situation without absolute
evidence.” After interrogation, Police inquired the information among
her roommates in April and May of the same year.
A witness said, “She was very close to ZHU Ling. So objectively
speaking, she would have had the easier access and more time to commit
the crime.”
Some students raised doubts on these rumors, “Why was she determined
the only person who could access the thallium, just because of working
with the professor on the project? If she had the access, others in our
class could also access.” A female classmate, who was very close to
her, did not believe her as the one who committed the poisoning.
She acknowledged that she could access the prepared thallium compound
solution, but did not admit herself as “the only student with the
access”. “And the university claimed the management in laboratory
was ‘very strict’, but it is an absolute lie!”
According to the recollection from students in Physical Chemistry Class
II, “Back then it was very easy to walk around among the labs in the
Analytical Center of Tsinghua University. It is not difficult to take
out some chemicals from other labs. However, only people in the
laboratory of TONG Ai Jung and LI Long Di would know how many could
easily access the thallium compound.”
Professor LI Long Di of the Department of Chemistry at Tsinghua
University said, “TONG Ai Jun and I belong to the same lab. That
student came to the lab to work towards her thesis under the direction
of TONG. ZHU Ling did not work here. Students were allowed to come into
the lab freely and do the experiment.”
It is a popular opinion among the fellow students in the class,
“Except the killer, all the students probably have no clue. If
someone was accused just based on the unproven suspicion, it is really
unfair to her or him.”
This student expressed that she didn’t want to be such a primary
scapegoat for the university.
Is this case sensitive?
10 years ago, a professor of Department of Chemistry revealed:
“Public Security Bureau (PSB) ordered not to leak the information who
has access to Thallium.”
10 years later, when asked, a classmate of Physical Chemistry class II
stopped smiling and briefly said, “The case at that time was very
sensitive”
10 years ago, LI Mucheng, the directory of Tsinghua University Police
Substation, told ZHU Ling’s parents that they had a suspect and would
begin to closely investigate as soon as they got approval from above.
10 years later, retired, LI Mucheng told the reporter, “It is
detective LI Shusen from Division 14 in PSB who was in charge of the
case. We were only to help him.”
10 years ago, Department of Chemistry disclosed that the planned
investigation was again postponed because of pending the approval by
PSB.
10 years later, the faculty member who dealt with the case replied
vaguely that the case was handed by the University and was closed
already.
Detective LI Shusen from Division 14 in PSB, who was primarily
responsible for the case, politely answered the reporter’s phone
call. “The investigation had certain conclusion.” He said, “but
in my personal concern, I do not want to answer; from the discipline of
policemen, I shouldn’t comment. If the superior officer asks me to
talk to media, I will follow the order.” Because of the discipline of
policeman, he apologized for not being able to answer more questions,
but end with “This case was quite sensitive, and it has been so long
since …”
“The case has been mentioned every year, but no progress has been
made at all”, said a graduate from Tsinghua University who now
studies in U.S.
Rumor says that the suspect has special family background. Nobody has
researched to prove if the hearsay is true.
Till Dec. 30th, 2005, “XX’s declaration: A rebuttal on the rumors
about ZHU Ling’s poisoning” appeared at Tianya website by the ID of
XX. The statement alleges that herself is innocent and an victim of the
ZHU Ling’s case too” She explained that it was not practical to
communicate with ZHU Ling’s family before the true suspect is
arrested” and said it was the reason of her silence in the past 10
years. She insisted that she did not have any motivation.
When will the truth come to the broad daylight?
In the past 10 years, ZHU Ling’s health has not improved. She had
several close calls but was very lucky to be saved. However long term
best rest caused limp muscular atrophy and lung to collapse to the 4th
rib; her back heavily relies on the back.
“ She was relatively conscious before but has been delirious
recently.” ZHU Mingxin usually sleeps lightly and is used to check on
ZHU Ling on the little bed. She found daughter often awake all night,
eyes wide open, heavy breathing and could not turn over lying on her
back. The oxygen support stands next to the bed and an old baby doll
is at bedside.
One day in 2004, ZHU Mingxin suddenly fell over at home and was in a
coma for week. “ 3 intracranial veins were broken, and an
intracranial surgery was required to remove one piece of skull to be
replaced with hand size titanium alloy.” The doctor informed her
husband WU Chengzhi,” (she is going to suffer from) either hemi
paralysis or dementia “
She actually survived it. Perhaps it was ZHU Ling who she is still
worried about. However she finally realized they passed the age when
they could help Ling up.
2005 winter came uninvited. ZHU Mingxin bicycled between Beijing Public
Security Correspondence department and Chief Criminal Police. But after
a few times, everyone began pretending to be strangers.
“ I only hope for the truth to be publicized. Otherwise if I die, how
can my daughter continue without any support? ”
alienguest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please click here for original article in Chinese
Hospitalized due to severe respiratory failure on September 19, ZHU
Ling recovered again after three months.
You might still remember the female college student ZHU Ling who was
thallium poisoned in 1995. Her unfortunate tragedy and miracle of life
deeply touched many readers' hearts. Yesterday, ZHU Ling's friend
called, ‘ZHU Ling was severely ill and almost dying a while ago. It
is a miracle that she as almost recovered before National Holiday.
Beijing Youth Student reporter Huang Jing reports: ZHU Ling who almost
recovered was spotted at Dong Fang Hospital rehabilitation room. She
was doing hand exercise, face read and in good sprits. But that severe
thallium poisoning has impacted her mind, muscles and vision. The pair
of hands that once played on the Gu Gin at Beijing Concert Hall, were
trembling while working hard on the exercise such as grasping and
seizing.
Mr. John Aldis, the former doctor of US embassy who helped the ZHU back
then, happened to visit ZHU Ling too. ZHU Ling can still understand
what Mr. Aldis said in English to the doctor. Because of weak
breathing, she said to Mr. Aldis with great effort:" Thank you!"
According to Dr. CHEN Zhigang, vice chairman of department of neurology
at Dong Fang Hospital, ZHU Ling was sent to the hospital on June 19th
because of a severe respiratory failure caused by lung inflammation. At
the moment her blood oxygen level was very low and the bacteria were
highly antibiotics resistant. Typically the mortality rate was 70% for
this kind of case. Dr. Chen said, ZHU Ling's current immune system is
very weak and she could be sick any time.
ZHU Ling's father WU Chengzhi said, ZHU Ling has been doing
rehabilitation exercises at the hospital's recovery room from 8 to
11:30am everyday for the recent 2 years. She will also exercise at home
at 2-3 pm after the nap or in the evening. " Ling Ling has always been
making progresses. Though her current health is not very good, however
seeing she has come along this far from being vegetated, we are both
relieved and feel confident and hopeful."
Beside ZHU Ling's bed, there are collections of classic Gu Qin
compositions such as "Ping Sha Luo Yan" (translation: a wild goose
alights on the sand beach). Just a couple of months before she was
poisoned in 1995, she had played "Guang Ling San" at Beijing Concert
Hall. The reporter asked ZHU Ling if she still knew how to play Gu Qin,
she replied 'Yes.' with her hands simulating the motion on her legs.
>From her motion the reporter could image that he was listening to the
performance. The reporter asked what ZHU Ling wanted to do after
recovery; she plumped out ‘go to school'. Mr. WU told the reporter
that ZHU Ling's mind stayed at the time she was in Tsinghua University.
Weather permitting; the Nanny would wheel ZHU Ling downstairs to move
around. ZHU Ling specially enjoys watching others to perform. Old
ladies downstairs all love her. They would sing for ZHU Ling while she
would listen to them and applaud.
alienguest
No touch technique
The consultation is undergoing a bigger revolution than the one caused
300 years ago by the invention of the stethoscope. For centuries,
doctors have held surgeries and outpatient clinics, their patients
sometimes travelling hundreds of miles for a specialist opinion. The
advent of new communication technology now means that future
generations of doctors and their patients may never meet, except
through the information superhighway.
Along it, a doctor can receive clinical details about patients, as well
as photographs, x rays and scans, offer diagnoses, and suggest
treatments. If the information is made available on the Internet, 30
million people can join in the consultation. One recent case has
generated wide interest in implications of the technology.
Zhu Ling is a 21 year old college student living in China who presented
with alopecia and transient gastrointestinal distress. She then
developed a peripheral neuropathy, had a respiratory arrest, and went
into a deep coma. After a brief period in hospital she recovered and
went back to work at the industrial chemistry laboratory at Beijing
University. However, she relapsed and was admitted to the Beijing Union
Medical College Hospital with a working diagnosis of Guillain-Barre
syndrome with incidental alopecia. As her condition deteriorated her
diagnosis was revised to acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, but her
doctors remained uncertain.
Four months after the onset of the illness, Bei Zhicheng, one of Zhu
Ling's friends, sent an SOS message on the Internet asking for help.
The message was sent to several destinations which are viewed by the
international community. Two weeks later, Bei Zhicheng had received
over 400 emailed replies. More than two thirds were from doctors; the
rest were from Chinese students living abroad or non-medical
well-wishers. Many of the messages suggested that the diagnosis might
be thallium poisoning. Zhu Ling's parents arranged for the appropriate
samples to be tested, and the results confirmed the diagnosis.
An international discussion took place on the Internet. When the
medical experts from around the globe reached a consensus on the
appropriate treatment, an agreed protocol was taken by Bei Zhicheng to
the doctors treating Zhu Ling.
Zhu Ling has now regained consciousness. Thallium poisoning is widely
recognised to have been an important part of her clinical condition,
but her slow and incomplete recovery is still the subject of much
debate in cyberspace.
Zhu Ling's case illustrates the potential for diagnosis and treatment
to take place over the Internet, but it also raises some serious
problems. There is a real concern about confidentiality: not only were
Zhu Ling's medical details made public, but there were also photographs
of her taken before and during her illness. Although these photographs
are accompanied by a suggestion that they should be viewed by
professionals only, at the moment there are no restrictions to viewing
them.
International agreements would help to standardise the doctors' legal
and ethical obligations and establish which country's legal system
would prevail in the event of an international consultation ending in a
complaint. Both doctors and patients need know their legal position
about this kind of consultation. British medical case law lacks
precedents for transferring blame from clinicians to their instruments
and systems and on using electronic notes. Practitioners will need good
advice about the best practice before such a case is brought.
There are also concerns about the effect that the new technology will
have on the doctor-patient relationship. Physical examination brings
something intangible to the consultation. Touch has a powerful placebo
effect, and we have insufficient knowledge of the effect of removing it
altogether from the consultation. A study from Kansas presented at the
TeleMed 95 conference reported on a pilot study in which community
nurses are using the new technology to provide remote teleconsultations
for elderly patients. In nearly half the consultations, the patient
said it would have made a difference in their care if the nurse had
been able to be there in person. The nurses, in contrast, were
completely satisfied and had no complaints.
The Zhu Ling Internet web site claims: "The beauty of telemedicine is
that the best medical resources can be delivered to a remote site
anywhere in the world throughout the information superhighway." As
exciting as that sounds, the ethical concerns and lack of legal
precedents may present a more depressing scenario for the victims of
telemedical accidents.--NAOMI CRAFT, freelance medical journalist
Naomi Craft
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The Tao of the Internet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On April 11, 1995, I found in my Internet mailbox a message, in
"fractured" English, from a young graduate student at Beijing
University in China. It was a message of desperation. It concerned the
plight of a fellow graduate student in chemistry, a 21-year-old woman
who lay in the Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital of Peking
Union Medical College (PUMC). PUMC is a medical school established by
the Rockefeller family in the early part of the twentieth century, and,
as the model for Abraham Flexner's seminal report on medical education,
perhaps, "the most American of non-American medical schools". A
reconstruction of the young woman's case history to that date is as
below:
In early December, 1994, the patient complained of abdominal pain,
cramping, and extremity pain. Extensive tests, including autoimmune
studies, thyroid tests, pelvic and abdominal untrasound, skull x-rays,
and bone marrow examination were all normal. It was noted that the
patient had some abnormalities of her nails, but this was not reported
further. She was treated with "traditional Chinese medicine" and was
discharged, improved. She subsequently returned to work (in a chemistry
lab); we still do not know what chemicals she was working with. An
"afterthought" was listed in the report, this a piece of data which was
to become critical in the diagnosis of this woman's condition; and that
was the fact that, shortly after the onset of the abdominal symptoms on
December 8, 1994, the patient's scalp hair fell out, and she "became
bald".
After a period of improvement (and some re-growth of hair), the patient
returned to the hospital with signs of peripheral neuropathy in the
extremities, rapidly progressive disturbances in sensorium (and
recurrent alopecia), developed multiple cranial nerve palsies, became
comatose, and required a ventilator. She also showed muscular spasms,
described as "oculogyric crises", and a tracheostomy was performed.
Lumbar puncture and MRI studies of the brain were normal, and studies
for viruses, including Lyme Disease, were negative. The patient was
treated with "shotgun" antibiotics with no improvement.
At that point, the author corresponded with the sender of the "distress
message". I learned that a number of other physicians, including people
from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Singapore, Thailand,
Indonesia, and other countries, were also communicating with the
student-sender and several other students at the University. The
students in China have Internet connections but, (as we later learned),
hospitals and physicians do not. We were forced to engage in our later
communication with the medical professionals either by facsimile, which
is tightly controlled by the Chinese Government; or by sometimes
circuitous person-to-person connections. Information transmitted over
the Internet to the students often did not reach the medical
professionals who were treating the patient. This was due to the
complex hierarchy of the Chinese culture, in which accepting
information from "students" is almost as alien to Chinese professionals
as is dealing with "outsiders". This lack of direct communication has
proven to be the most significant negative factor in this equation.
One of the earliest possible diagnoses which came to the mind of the
author (and several others of the "outsiders") was that of heavy metal
poisoning (the alopecia was the "clue"). We asked if tests had been
performed for heavy metals and were assured that such had been done
early on. We later discovered that these consisted only of a screen for
arsenic!
By March 16, 1995, the patient had been in coma for several weeks; and,
despite normal cerebrospinal fluid findings, a diagnosis of
Guillain-Barre syndrome was made by the Chinese physicians. By April
12, 1995, the patient's condition had not changed, and a repeat lumbar
puncture revealed an elevated protein (248 mg.%) and 6 leukocytes. The
impression of Guillain-Barre syndrome was reinforced, despite messages
from the "outsiders" that this picture was not consistent with
Guillain-Barre.
At about this same time, the author and John W. Aldis, M.D., a
physician working in the U. S. State Department, and formerly the
Embassy physician in Beijing, conceived of the idea of thallium
poisoning, this after Dr. Aldis was sent an article by Rose Miketta, M.
D., a physician with Searle Pharmaceutical Company, explaining the
neurotoxic effects of thallium. We again suggested that the patient be
checked for thallium poisoning. This recommendation was further backed
by others, including Dr. David Bullimore at St. James' Hospital in
England, and several other physicians in the United States. Yet, two
weeks passed before the Chinese physicians decided to perform the
thallium study. It required an intervention by personnel at the
American Embassy in Beijing, and personal contacts between Dr. Aldis
and several of the PUMC doctors (whom Dr. Aldis had known from his days
in Beijing), and faxes of articles directly to the hospital, before the
test for thallium was finally run. The results were striking. The
patient had levels of thallium in blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid,
hair, and nails which were more than 50 times higher than "normal"! As
to the source of the thallium, this remains unknown; but certain
laboratory chemicals contain thallium; and, in the Orient, there are
several industrial compounds (including several brands of rat poison)
which contain thallium (its use is generally outlawed in the western
world).
Once the diagnosis was established, the next problem was encountered.
Several of us, using the Internet and other online databases, searched
the literature for the optimum method of removing thallium from the
body. A number of methods were cited; but toxicologists at the New York
and Los Angeles Poison Control Centers felt that the most effective
treatment was that of administration of the dye Prussian Blue (ferric
ferrocyanide) and renal hemodialysis, with addition of potassium
chloride. Then came the problem of obtaining the Prussian Blue (a
common industrial chemical which was eventually found in China).
Underlying this difficulty was the fact that, once again, advice from
"outsiders" was suspect by the Chinese.
Finally, after many phone calls, faxes, and other communications (the
doctors at PUMC would not deal with the students, who had Internet
connections), including the involvement of the patient's family
(several of whom were known political figures locally), the Prussian
Blue-hemodialysis regimen was started on May 5, 1995, this almost one
month from the initial proposal of the diagnosis of thallium
intoxication and some forty days after the patient had lapsed into coma
and had become apneic.
I wish that I could report a "happy ending" here. The patient responded
rapidly to the treatment, and, within 15 days after the institution of
treatment, the patient's thallium levels in blood, urine, and
cerebrospinal fluid had decreased to near-zero (although certain other
tissues, such as nails and hair, will retain the metal for many weeks
and will slowly "leach out"). Sadly, the patient's neurological
condition has not improved to a significant degree. She now has been
partially weaned from the ventilator, and seems to recognize her
parents; but she does not as yet have full consciousness, nor does she
exhibit much in the way of voluntary or purposeful activity. The long
period of brain intoxication in this case appears to be the reason for
her lack of further progress to date and the prognosis for recovery
remains guarded.
In recent years, there has been geometric growth in the use of online
communication in medicine. The new field of "Telemedicine" is rapidly
being advanced in the developed countries, with computer review of case
histories, imaging studies (many of which are digital in their native
form), and other medical data becoming almost "routine" in making
judgments, for example, as to the transport of seriously ill or injured
patients to tertiary medical centers. In our own area, patients are
transported on a daily basis, from small facilities out in the
"hinterland" to major urban medical centers. Physicians at outlying
hospitals have, through a simple computer/modem connection, access to
specialists and centers with advanced technology. The growing use of
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) telephone lines has made the
transfer of complex information, including full-resolution MRI and CT
scans, into a rapid and seamless procedure. The global Internet renders
such "connectivity" a relatively inexpensive reality to be enjoyed by
health care professionals and patients throughout the world.
Despite this availability of technology (and, in the case of this
unfortunate student), however, the finest advances in global
communication cannot surmount centuries of tradition and cultural
differences. In this case, the cultural differences delayed
implementation of the large volume of collective knowledge which was
brought to bear on behalf of a young woman; and sadly in this instance,
was probably "too little and too late". As with other problems in this
world, it still comes down to the "human factor".
As we advance the cause of "Telemedicine" and other interactive
technologies, we must never lose sight of the fact that, behind these
wonderful machines are the minds and hearts, and prejudices, of the
human beings who run them. It is in this "human arena" where we need to
place our educational emphasis, so that the marvels of the modern
digital age can be used for the advancement of our species and of the
world as a whole.
alienguest
Internet Is Global 911 for Dying Woman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Anita Srikameswaran, Tribune Staff Writer.
On April 10, two college students in Beijing transmitted a desperate
SOS across the Internet and opened a new dimension in the practice of
medicine:
"Hi. This is Peking University in China . . . A young, 21-year-old
student has become very sick and is dying . . . Doctors at the best
hospitals in Beijing cannot cure her . . . So now we are asking the
world-can somebody help us?"
Somebody could.
The students, who described details of their friend's baffling
symptoms, soon were flooded with 2,000 e-mail replies from physicians
and researchers in 18 countries.
Less than three weeks after the computerized message-in-a-bottle was
pitched into electronic waves, a diagnosis was made and confirmed:
Lingling Zhu had been poisoned by a heavy metal called thallium.
At a time when critics are bemoaning the proliferation of useless
information and chatter in cyberspace, Zhu's case offers hope that the
Internet's technology can harness worldwide medical resources to save
more lives.
"Her legacy will be tremendous," said Dr. Rich Hamilton of the New York
Poison Center, which already is planning its own web-page on the
Internet to provide assistance to anyone who asks for it.
While issues about patient confidentiality, physician payment, and the
ability to limit on-line access to health professionals have yet to be
resolved, the possibility of rapidly transmitting information to a
global audience for problem-solving is tantalizing.
"Zhu's case has triggered something," said Xin Li, a graduate student
in biomedical physics at UCLA. Li acted as go-between for American
doctors and the parents of the patient, navigating a sea of e-mail
messages. "It will change the way medicine is practiced."
A chemistry student at Peking University, Zhu was smart, successful and
well-liked. In December of 1994, she began suffering from stomach pains
and vomiting. Her hair began to fall out, leaving her bald within
weeks.
Doctors had no answers for her, but a month later-again
inexplicably-her hair grew back, and she recovered.
"After the second semester of school had started, on March 7, she got
sick for the second time," said Dr. Daniel Valentino, Li's supervisor
at the Medical Imaging Division of UCLA. "She was admitted into the
Peking University Medical Center and hasn't left since."
Once more, her hair fell out. She suffered dizziness and blurred
vision, along with pain in her hands and feet. Soon, the pain became a
paralysis, spreading up her body to her diaphragm, preventing her from
breathing on her own. She slipped into a coma on March 15.
Soon after, her friends Zhicheng Bei and Quanqing Cai visited. Aghast
at her condition, they turned to the Internet, an untried tool for
emergency medical aid. Their electronic broadcast caught the attention
of Li who, interested in the technology's potential for solving such
unusual medical problems, assumed the role of detective.
Sifting through nearly half of the 2,000 responses, he found nearly 100
physicians and chemists who suggested thallium toxicity. He quickly
transmitted the news to Zhu's friends, who in turn informed the Beijing
doctors and the young woman's parents.
Zhu's parents insisted that the suggestion of thallium poisoning be
taken seriously, bringing in specialists to test for the heavy metal.
Urine, blood, spinal fluid, hair and nail samples were studied, and on
April 28, the cause of her coma became clear.
"I got a call at 6 a.m. from Bei," said Li. "It was definitely thallium
poisoning." She had nearly 100 times the normal amount of thallium in
her blood, and 1,000 times more in her nails, he said.
"The hair loss was the big clue," said Hamilton of the New York City
Poison Center, who had seen the message on the Internet. "Of all the
possible heavy metal poisonings, thallium is distinctive because of
that."
Hamilton used e-mail to advise Li, who passed along the information to
doctors in Beijing. "It's not surprising the doctors there didn't think
of thallium toxicity," Hamilton said, "there have only been sporadic
reports of it."
The case had a more sinister side. "Ninety percent of cases of thallium
poisoning are intentional," said Li.
Thallium's popularity as a poison has been noted by the London-based
Campaign for a Free Iraq, which in 1992 said the metal was often used
by Iraqi security forces to slowly kill Saddam Hussein's opponents.
No source, or suspect, has yet been found for Zhu's poisoning, and her
friends can suggest no obvious motive for foul play.
After making the diagnosis, the next step was to find a treatment.
All the toxicologists Li consulted-from Los Angeles to Colorado to New
York-agreed: Zhu must be given a dye called Prussian blue, commonly
found in chemistry labs.
Thallium molecules are trapped in the dye, and when Prussian blue is
excreted from the body in urine and feces, so is the thallium. Dialysis
would help the process along, cleaning the blood of the heavy metal.
By May 3, Prussian blue was being fed to Zhu through a tube in her
nose. The thallium began to leave her body, along with the brilliant
blue dye. At one point, even her perspiration was blue. As her thallium
levels dropped, she began to get better.
"On May 30, she showed the first sign of some neurological recovery,"
Li said. "Her parents stood close to her bed, and her blood pressure
and pulse went up. They went down again when her parents left. She was
excited."
Zhu remained in the intensive care unit until June 8, when she was
moved to a regular ward because she finally could breathe without the
help of machines. She has not yet regained consciousness.
Beijing doctors still are using Prussian blue to clear the last of the
thallium out of her system, but experts don't hold out much hope that
she will recover completely.
"There are reports of patients getting better after an acute
poisoning," Hamilton noted. "Unfortunately, she had toxic levels for
half a year." He said it is not clear how thallium inflicts damage to
the nervous system.
While health professionals hope to develop the Internet to respond to
more cases, Li and Valentino noted that a specialized computer network
of medical knowledge already exists on the Internet. UCLA has a system
in place to transmit radiology images and reports to centers in
Florida.
"A 'med-web' offers a mechanism for communicating this sort of
mysterious case to people who have the sub-specialized expertise to
recognize it," Valentino said.
Appropriately, e-mail was the medium Zhu's mother used to send a letter
thanking those who helped her daughter.
"Now I decide, the moment my daughter gets awake, the first thing I'll
tell her at once will be how . . . many friends from all over the
world, though unacquainted ever before, have been helping her."
Copyright (c) 1995 Chicago Tribune Company. All rights reserved.
Record Number: 0D7033B903256395
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Rescue on the Internet
Reader's Digest [08/01/1996]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the young woman lay dying, two college students sent an
international SOS through cyberspace
"Hi, This is Peking University in China, a place of those dreams of
freedom and democracy. However, a young 21-year-old student has become
very sick and is dying. The illness is very rare. Though they have
tried, doctors at the best hospitals in Beijing cannot cure her; many
do not even know what illness it is. So now we are asking the world-can
somebody help us?
Here is a description of the illness:
EMThe young woman-her name is Zhu Ling - is a student in the chemistry
department on.... "
BEI ZHICHENG, a science student at Peking University, sat upright in
his chair, the phone receiver pressed to his ear" You'd better go see
Zhu Ling," a friend told him. "It may be the last time."
Bei's former high-school friend, Zhu Ling, lay near death in a Beijing
hospital, Just a month before, on March 7, 1995, the young woman, a
chemistry student at the city's Tsinghua University, had been stricken
with dizziness, severe abdominal cramps and a burning pain in her hands
and feet. Then her hair began to fall out in clumps. Her parents rushed
her to Peking Union medical College Hospital (PUMC). One of China's
best, but she slipped into a coma.
Bei remembered Zhu Ling as a cheerful, pretty girl, a wizard in math
and science, as well as a gifted musician. Now she lay trussed up with
plastic respirator tubes, looking like a moth in a spider's web. " The
doctors are doing all they can," her mother told Bei as she sponged the
girl's baldhead. Zhu's dizziness and searing pain in her hands, feet
and joints suggested to her doctors a major neurological disorder. But
a spinal tap had revealed no abnormality. Tests for arsenic and lead
poisoning –which might have occurred accidentally in Zhu's chemistry
lab-were also negative.
Despite her mother's stubborn hope, it was clear to Bei that the best
doctors in China seemed powerless to save Zhu Ling.
"Virtual" Medicine. "There has to be some way to help her," Bei told
his roommate, Cai Quanqing, when he returned to the dormitory." Maybe
we could try the Internet," Bei Suggested.
Cai was one of the few undergraduate students with an Internet e-mail
(electronic mail) address at the university. Cai was supposed to use
the Internet for academic research. But both students knew that foreign
medical experts could be contacted through computer "news-groups,"
electronic bulletin boards where individuals with a common interest
exchange information. " There can't be any rule against trying to help
a friend," Bei insisted.
Cai agreed. Scrolling through an on-line directory, Bei located several
"sci.med" newsgroups. "We can start with these," he said.
By the afternoon of April 10, the two young men had drafted their SOS
in English. " This is Peking University in China," it began, "a place
of those dreams of freedom and democracy. However, a young, 21-year old
student ahs become very sick and is dying. The illness is very rare.
Though they have tried, doctors at the best hospitals in Beijing cannot
cure her; many do not even know what illness it is. So now we are
asking the world –can somebody help us?"
Bei and Cai summarized Zhu's case history from reports her parents had
given them, and closed with an urgent plea:" We are Zhu Ling's friends
and we are desperate to help her."
Bei sat beside Cai as he tapped the final keys and hit the "Enter"
button. "It's on its way," Cai said.
Within seconds, their message was transmitted through telephone
circuits and satellites to other Internet-linked computers at hospitals
and universities in Cleveland, Ohio; Wunstorf, Germany; Berkeley,
Calif; New Delhi, India; Edinburgh, Scotland; and scores of other
"sites" on the global information superhighway.
Although the two young mean did not realize it, their unusual attempt
to marshal medical expertise to diagnose an illness and treat a patient
in the intangible world of cyberspace would spark an overwhelming
international response.
Troubling Consensus. That evening, in the study of his brick row house
in Washington, D. C. Dr. John W. Aldis, 49, sat at his computer reading
bulletins by members of TROPMED, an electronic forum for
tropical-medicine specialists. Suddenly he was riveted by a message
from two Chinese students that had been forwarded by Dr. David
Freedman, TROPMED's moderator in Birmingham, Ala. "Probably best to
respond directly to the sender," Freedman suggested.
Aldis had served as a U.S embassy physician in Africa and Asia for 20
years, and his last post was in Beijing. He knew the doctors at PUMC
and had great respect for their expertise. But somehow a diagnosis had
eluded them.
The next morning, Aldis handed a printout of the Internet message to
Dr. martin Wolfe, a state Department colleague. They should definitely
check for thallium levels," Wolfe said, noting that Zhu was a chemistry
student who had suffered rapid hair loss, a sign of possible heavy
metal poisoning.
Thallium is a bluish-white metal, similar to lead, which is sometimes
used in rat poison. If ingested by humans, it concentrates in nerve
tissue and can lead to paralysis and death. But like most physicians,
Aldis had never encountered a single case of human contamination.
Aldis forwarded copies of the students' plea to other State Department
doctors and Internet colleagues at the University of Michigan, urging
them to help search for specialists who could make a quick diagnosis.
Several responded, and that night Aldis sent an email message to
Beijing. One doctor, Aldis explained was concerned about a severe auto
immune disorder called myasthenia gravis and a viral illness called
tropical spastic paraparesis, as well as Guillain Barre syndrome. Aldis
also noted that thallium poisoning could have produced Zhu's symptoms,
and he asked for more clinical information.
Bei and Cai received Aldis' reply less than 24 hours after they sent
their SOS. But in the next two weeks, as more than 600 e-mail messages
from around the world piled up in Cai's Internet mailbox, a troubling
consensus emerged.
"Consider testing the patient for thallium poisoning," urged Dr. Ted
Macarthur, a retired pathologist from Canberra, Australia. Dr. Jack
Rozental, chief of neurology at V.A. Lakeside Medical Center in
Chicago, concurred, adding that Zhu's hair, nails and urine should be
analyzed.
Dr. David Bullimore, a medical lecturer in Leeds, England suspected
than Zhu may have been poisoned deliberately, a suspicion seconded by
others.
Aldis followed the case on the Internet, and on April 18 he received a
communication from Bei and Cai: the PUMC doctors weren't convinced that
Zhu's illness was heavy metal poisoning. Aldis found this puzzling.
Zhu's case was being managed by chief neurologist Li Shun Wei and Chen
De Chang , chief of the critical care unit. The doctors were working
furiously to keep Zhu alive, and they didn't have time to read the
scores of e-mails that Zhu Ling's parents brought to them.
When Aldis finally reached Chen by phone, the Chinese doctor was
exasperated at Bei and Cai. " These students are causing so many
problems," Chen said.
"Dr. Chen," Aldis said soothingly, " the students are not the problem.
The patient is the problem."
Chen assured him they were doing everything they could to save Zhu. He
then suggested Aldis contact Li Shun Wei. Aldis faxed a letter to the
neurologist stressing the need to test for thallium poisoning.
But the case was out of Aldis' hands. He had to leave Washington to
attend a medical conference in Hawaii, where he would not have access
to the Internet for several crucial days.
Bei and Cai took their messages to Zhu's parents, who pressed the
doctors repeatedly to check for thallium poisoning. To their shock,
they learned that PUMC laboratory was not equipped to test for that
heavy metal.
Zhu's parents insisted on taking samples of their daughter's blood,
urine, hair and fingernails to Professor Chen Zhenyang at the Beijing
Institute of Labor Hygiene and Occupational Diseases for tests.
"Now we can only wait," Zhu Ming Xin told her husband.
Blue Sweat. A week earlier at U.C.L.A School of medicine, graduate
student Xin Li, 27, was checking his e-mail when a message from a
Chinese university alumni group caught his eye. " Please read and
forward to as many people as possible," it said of Bei's SOS. " This
girl desperately needs help."
Li, who had graduated from a Chinese university before entering the PhD
program at U.C.L.A. was developing computer techniques to transmit
medical imagery from distant sites to major medical centers- part of a
new field called telemedicine. He immediately e-mailed Cai and Bei,
urging them to keep him apprised of Zhu's condition.
A telephone call jolted Li awake at 6 a.m. on April 28. "It is thallium
poisoning!" shouted Bei. Zhu's parents had just received the lab
report: the levels of thallium in Zhu's system were massive- as much as
1000 times above normal.
Bei said the PUMC doctors wanted to treat Zhu with British
Anti-Lewisite (BAL), a drug developed during World War II as an
antidote to poison gas. "There is not much BAL in Beijing," he added. "
They will have to get some from other cities. "
Li sought the advice of his department chairman, Dr. Richard Steckel,
one of America's telemedicine pioneers. " Your need a first –rate
toxicologist, " Steckel told him. " Try the L.A. County Poison and Drug
Information Center."
"BAL," explained Dr. Ashok Jain, co-medical director of the center, "is
not used for thallium poisoning. " He told Li that the proper treatment
combined oral doses of an industrial dye called Prussian Blue,
filtration of the poisoned blood through a dialysis machine, and
intravenous potassium chloride.
"Get the doctors started now," Jain warned Li. " This is extremely
critical. " Drs. Robert Hoffman and Richard Hamilton of the New York
City Poison Center, whom Li also called, agreed and offered further
recommendations.
Li tried to fax the treatment plan to the PUMC administrator's office,
but the phone rang endlessly without an answer. Then he realized that
the fax machine would have been locked up for the May Day holiday
weekend.
Instead Li e-mailed the plan to Dr. Aldis, who was now back in
Washington. Aldis, in turn, faxed the doctors' detailed regimen to a
friend at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, who rushed it to the hospital.
Over the next few nights, Li relayed anxious questions from the doctors
at PUMC to the American toxicologists: How pure must Prussian Blue be?
Was risky dialysis really necessary? How could they prevent overdosing
with potassium chloride? Li's replies stressed that the Americans had
reached a firm conclusion: "Begin using Purssian Blue therapy
immediately. " With a day Zhu Ling's thallium levels began to drop. Ten
days later, thallium was no longer detectable in her spinal fluid. Then
as she kept vigil at the bedside, Zhu's mother was shocked to see
metallic blue beads of perspiration glistering on her daughter's face.
But the New York toxicologists quickly explained that a small amount of
Purssian Blue was being excreted in her sweat. .
Zhu rose slowly from her coma until at last, on August 31, her mother
felt a faint movement of the young woman's hand.
"Lingling," her mother said, her voice chocked with emotion, " are you
back? " Zhu Ling answered by squeezing her mother's fingers.
Zhu Ling's recovery can be monitored on an Internet web page
established by Xin Li. Click here to view it.
Chinese officials are currently investigating what appears to be a
deliberate attempt to murder Zhu Ling using heavy metal poisoning.
alienguest
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The First Large-Scale International Telemedicine Trial: ZHU Ling's Case
(English)
Wikepedia On ZHU Ling (English)
Yahoo groups (Mostly English)
MSN spaces ( Some Internet posts translated into English)
Baidu Zhu Ling Bar (Chinese)
Sina BBS (Chinese)
MSN spaces (Chinese)
Google Helpzhuling Group (Chinese)
Help ZHU Ling Chinese Site (Chinese)
SOHU: ZHU Ling Forum (Chinese)
Tianya BBS: About ZHU Ling (Chinese)
Taobao: Fund raising T-shirt Sale shop (Chinese)
alienguest
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Sign the Guest Book
Name Comments
Help ZHU Ling Foundation Message Signed on 2006/7/31 18:36:47 USA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guest, Thanks for your feedback. The date of the article you mentioned
has been revised to September 1996 based on limited background
information on this article. If you know the right date of publication,
please let us know. Many thanks! Many thanks!
GUEST Message Signed on 2006/7/27 21:06:28 美国
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祝福朱令。向朱令父母致以最高敬意！
媒体报道里的女友文章时间写错了。请纠正。
Zuocheng Xu Message Signed on 2006/7/5 13:38:14 US
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祝福朱令和双亲！
bfyyg Message Signed on 2006/6/23 13:20:23 canada
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I am the cyber-member, BingFengYuYangGuang, of Baidu Zhuling Ba.
However, the website refuses me to enter again for several days
already. Could anyone in China reveal if it is closed, or not? Thx in
advance!
chang Message Signed on 2006/6/19 5:01:53 Mali,Africa
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朱令,为了你的父母和关心你的人,康复起来!
Hi Message Signed on 2006/6/16 13:03:38 US
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Best Wishes!
天若有情 Message Signed on 2006/6/15 16:49:28 USA
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深深地祝福朱令和朱爸爸朱妈妈！天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑！
杏园细雨 Message Signed on 2006/6/15 5:14:16 杭州
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祝福朱令，早日康复！祝朱爸爸朱妈妈健康长寿！
愿凶手早日得到报应！
北京老乡 Message Signed on 2006/6/8 2:46:47 Hamburg
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暑假可能可以回国探亲了。特别想去朱令家把捐款直接给到朱令的父母。因为如果从德国电汇到美国，手续费很贵。不知道怎么去朱令家。
衷心祝福 Message Signed on 2006/6/6 18:50:23 US
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衷心希望朱令的健康不断进步,早日康复!关于令令近况的描述让我既心酸又喜悦,
无论她的身体状况是多么恶劣,
她都是那么有性格和精神的一个孩子!感谢所有给予令令帮助的人们!让我们继续努力,使正义得彰!
Guest Book
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sign the Guest Book
Name Comments
Tina Zhou Message Signed on 2006/5/26 18:42:45 UK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
革命尚未成功，同志仍需努力！！！从心底里支持这善良和正义的行动！！！
wneat Message Signed on 2006/5/25 9:57:28 USA
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Best wishes to Lingling!
Hi Message Signed on 2006/5/23 21:16:38 China
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we never wait
pray for justice Message Signed on 2006/5/23 18:51:34 US
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Words can not utter my sadness after knowing this case and i can only
pray for justice to arrive this tragic family and poor girl of my age.
best wishes!
清华师哥 Message Signed on 2006/5/23 18:18:51 美东
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祝朱令师妹早日康复! 希望凶手早日得到报应!
GoodWish Message Signed on 2006/5/23 18:01:45 U.S
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Bless.
alienguest
上搬来的)，怎么出来的顺序乱七八糟的? :(
实在是对不起，大家只好讲究着看了。
珍珠E
回头大家整理一下，尽量编辑出一个简洁的英文朱令案梗概。英文好的网友都来参与吧。
