Australian Man's Harrowing Account Of 5 Years In A Chinese Prison: "They Beat Me For 2 Days"

Australian citizen Matthew Radalj has spoken out about his traumatic experience of being imprisoned in China for nearly five years. He described being subjected to torture, psychological abuse, forced labour, and inhumane living conditions at Beijing No. 2 Prison, a facility that holds many international inmates.

According to the BBC, Mr Radalj claims he was unjustly convicted after a dispute with shopkeepers at an electronics market over the cost of repairing a mobile phone screen escalated into a fight. He alleges he was coerced into signing a false robbery confession, believing resistance was futile in a system with a near-100% conviction rate and hoping it would shorten his sentence. Court records show his confession partially succeeded, resulting in a four-year sentence.

Physical Abuse and Harsh Rules

He described his initial experience in Chinese detention as brutal. Upon arrival, he was subjected to a "transition phase" in a separate centre, where he faced physical abuse and psychological torment. He recounted being beaten for two days straight after his arrest on January 2, 2020, and being forced to sign documents without food, water, or sleep for 48 hours.

During the 'transition phase", prisoners were subjected to extremely harsh rules. "We were banned from showering or cleaning ourselves, sometimes for months at a time. Even the toilet could be used only at specific allotted times, and they were filthy - waste from the toilets above would constantly drip down onto us," he recounted. 

He was later transferred to the regular prison where inmates bunked together in crowded cells and lights were never turned off. Basic activities like eating took place in the same confined space.

The prison population was diverse, comprising inmates from various countries, including Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Britain, the US, and others. Many were convicted of drug-related offences, often acting as drug mules.

Psychological Torture

Mr Radalj claimed that prisoners were subjected to psychological torture, including a "good behaviour points system." In theory, inmates could earn points for actions like studying Communist Party literature, working in the prison factory, or informing on fellow prisoners. Accumulating 4,200 points supposedly led to sentence reductions. However, he claimed the system was impractical, requiring maximum points for over three years, and was instead used to manipulate and torture prisoners psychologically.

He alleged that prison guards intentionally waited until an inmate was close to earning a reward or privilege before penalising them for minor infractions, nullifying their accumulated points at critical moments. These infractions included, but were not limited to, hoarding or sharing food, straying from a designated line while walking in the hallway, improperly hanging socks on a bed, or standing too close to a window.

Food Reduction as Punishment

Former inmates described frequent food reduction as a common punishment. Meals consisted mainly of cabbage in dirty water, occasionally with carrot or minimal meat, paired with plain mantou bread, leaving most prisoners malnourished. The nutrient-poor diet, combined with limited exercise, caused weak upper bodies and bloated stomachs from excessive mantou consumption. Inmates could buy extra rations like noodles or soy milk using family-funded accounts, but this privilege was revocable. Radalj, for instance, was denied purchases for 14 months for refusing to work in the prison factory assembling goods or propaganda leaflets.

In addition, prisoners were forced to work on a farm growing vegetables, but were not allowed to eat them. Instead, the produce was harvested and buried, with the farm being showcased to visiting officials as a propaganda tool. Punishment for possessing stolen produce was severe, with solitary confinement for up to eight months. Some prisoners reported occasional "showcase" meals with protein when officials visited. In some cases, prisoners who worked in the kitchen would steal better food for distribution, leading to power struggles and conflicts between different groups, such as Nigerian and Taiwanese inmates, over access to limited resources.

Solitary Confinement

Mr Radalj also mentioned how a power struggle over food distribution in the prison led to a brawl between African and Taiwanese inmates, with him caught in the middle. As punishment, he was sent to solitary confinement for 194 days. In the small, bare cell, he had limited light, reduced food rations, and no reading materials or human interaction. He described the psychological toll, including talking to himself and questioning his sanity. 

"You start to go crazy, whether you like it or not, and that's what solitary confinement is designed to do… So you've got to decide very quickly whether your room is, really small, or really, really big. After four months, you just start talking to yourself all the time. The guards would come by and ask 'Hey, are you okay?'. And you're like, 'why?'. They replied, 'because you're laughing'."

According to Mr Radalj, Chinese prison officials also staged fake "propaganda" moments to present a rosy picture of prison life. In one instance, a "computer suite" was set up, and prisoners were told they'd have access to email. However, the computers were not connected to the internet, and prisoners were instructed to "pretend" to use them for filming purposes. After the photo opportunity, the computers were packed away and never used again, revealing that the staged setup was intended solely to deceive visitors and media.

Secret Journal

Mr Radalj secretly kept a journal during his imprisonment by writing tiny sentences inside COVID masks with the help of North Korean prisoners. Many prisoners couldn't contact their families due to a lack of funds or unregistered phone numbers. His journal became a way for other prisoners to pass on messages to their families, and they shared their contact details with him before he was released, hoping he would help them get in touch with their loved ones.

Instead, he hid the bundle and later sewed the notes into the lining of his jacket before being released, hoping to pass on the information to the prisoners' families.

He wrapped the notes in a COVID mask, sealed with hoarded factory tape, and tried swallowing the egg-sized bundle. However, he couldn't keep it down, and the guards became suspicious. He gave up and hid the bundle instead.

On his release date, October 5, 2024, he slipped the notes in the lining of his old jacket. Despite guards searching his room and questioning him, suspecting he was hiding something, the notes remained undetected. It wasn't until he was safely on the plane that he checked his jacket and found the notes still hidden inside.

His release and life after jail

Upon his release, Mr Radalj was warned by a policeman not to return to China for 10 years. After arriving in Australia, he was reunited with his father and later married his long-time girlfriend. Despite still struggling with anger and recovery, Mr Radalj has dedicated himself to helping his former inmate friends by contacting their families and lobbying their embassies. This effort has not only aided his transition back to life but also given him a sense of purpose and gratitude for his freedom. He feels a deep responsibility to those he left behind, and his experiences have given him a new appreciation for life's simple things.

"With freedom comes a great sense of gratitude. You have a deeper appreciation for the very simplest things in life. But I also have a great sense of responsibility to the people I left behind in prison," he said.