Chinese detainee
anxious for home

Wen Kai is being held as 1 of 29
witnesses to a killing at sea

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By Craig Gima
cgima@starbulletin.com

Raised in a rural area of China hundreds of miles away from the ocean, Wen Kai had no idea what to expect when he and some friends signed up to work on the Taiwanese fishing vessel Full Means No. 2.

Today he sits behind bars at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu, where he has been held since April 1, even though he has committed no crime. Wen is one of 29 material witnesses being held by the U.S. government after shipmate Shi Lei allegedly killed the boat's captain and first mate about 800 miles south of Hawaii.

Dressed in a beige prison garment, the 21-year-old from China sat in the visitor's area of the detention center Thursday and discussed his plight with the Star-Bulletin.

"We're caught in between in this situation. There's nothing we can do," Wen said, through translator Yao Chou. "I wish to go home."

When he will be able to go home is uncertain.

Videotaped depositions in the case were supposed to be finished today, but that deadline apparently has been extended.

When Wen and his shipmates are released, the attorney for the company that owns the fishing vessel says they must finish their labor contracts and go back to sea on the Full Means No. 2.

"But for the criminal case, they would be on the boat still fishing," said Bryan Ho, a Hawaii attorney who is representing the vessel's owner.

Ho said attorneys for the crew members told him most of them want to go home, although some hope to stay in the United States.

The owner, Ho said, believes that if the federal government wants to send them back to China, the United States -- not the fishing company -- should pick up the cost.

Home for Wen is Sichuan province, China's most populous state, located in the southeastern part of the country, on the border with Tibet. It's also known as Szechwan under the old system of spelling and is famous for its spicy food.

Wen said he grew up on a farm and had never been on a fishing boat until 15 months ago. He and some friends went to a labor agency and signed a contract to work on the boat for three years. The pay: $130 a month.

"When I signed contract, the contract said work hours only 16 hours a day," he said.

Instead, Wen said, he worked 20 hours a day setting out fishing lines. Life on the ship was "too tiresome" because of the long working hours and short time to rest, he said.

The boat never came in to shore. A tanker refueled them, and other boats resupplied them and took the shark fins they harvested.

"In the morning we let the lines down. Then we had our meal. Then we pulled line back up," he said.

In comparison, even life at the federal detention center is better, he said.

"Every day on the boat, you work all day. Here you sleep and eat," he said and laughed.

Wen's interview at the new detention facility near the airport took several weeks to arrange, and the warden initially turned down the Star-Bulletin's request to interview detainees from the Full Means No. 2.

The Star-Bulletin and KITV 4 News filed a motion in federal court last month seeking an order to allow the detainees to talk to the media, but withdrew it after the prison agreed to KITV's request to talk with three prisoners provided the detainees and their attorneys agreed to it.

Wen, while agreeing to be interviewed, did not want to go on camera.

His court-appointed attorney, Myles Breiner, said he would allow his client to be interviewed about his circumstances but not the alleged crime.

Wen and prison officials said the detainees are housed in one module at the detention center.

They sleep two to a cell and share a large common area. They do not mix with other prisoners. Every day, they wake up at 6 a.m. and go to bed at 10 p.m. There is a daily lockdown when they have to return to their cells for a head count. Otherwise, they play chess or pingpong and watch television.

The television programs, however, are in English. Prison officials did rent some Chinese-language videos, Wen said.

Wen said he has not been able to contact his family because he does not have their number or address. Prison officials said when the detainees were taken off the ship, their belongings, including address books, were put into storage, and the detainees did not have access to them.

He said the mood among the detainees is "pretty good." When asked if it helps that they are getting $40 a day in witness fees, Wen nodded yes.

Chou, who also has done translation work for the detention center and for the federal court in this case, said Wen is one of the shyer crew members. He asked that the Star-Bulletin not use his picture.

The detainees do not get to go outside, but they were taken on a field trip to Pearl Harbor and got to walk around.

Wen said he does not really have any thoughts about Hawaii or about being allowed to go free while the depositions are being finished.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I stay outside, I still don't understand the language. I want to go home."