Judge Rules Chinese Man Who Beat Government Official Over Sterilization Not Qualified for Asylum

The act was one of revenge, not a political statement, the district judge ruled

The 8th Circuit denied asylum to a man who beat a Chinese government official in retaliation, rather than as a political act, after his wife was sterilized.

In 1984, Ze Bei Zheng and his wife had a second child in violation of Chinese law. Zheng and his wife escaped to another city to avoid arrest, but government officials confiscated their furniture while they were gone. When the couple returned home, officials arrested Zheng's wife and Zheng escaped by jumping out of a second-story window. Zheng's wife was then taken to a hospital and underwent forced sterilization.