December 11, 2008
On Rights Day, China Hails Gains and Detains Protesters
By ANDREW JACOBS
BEIJING China celebrated International Human Rights Day on Wednesday with newspaper editorials and television commentaries hailing what they called the countrys unremitting efforts and nonstop progress in promoting free speech and individual rights.
The day was busy for public security officials, sent to quell a protest by about 40 people who rallied outside the gated headquarters of the Foreign Ministry. After about 30 minutes of calling for free elections and demanding a crackdown on corruption, the demonstrators were herded onto buses and taken away.
Wednesday was the third day of detention for Liu Xiaobo, one of Chinas most prominent dissidents. Friends and relatives said he was being held for his role in drafting a bold public letter that demands political, legal and constitutional reform.
The letter, posted on the Internet and signed by 303 Chinese academics, artists, farmers and lawyers, coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a product of the United Nations and a foundation for human rights laws around the world.
In recent days, the police have also detained several other signers, including Zhang Zuhua, a political theorist and rights advocate, who was told the letter was a serious affront to the ruling Communist Party. After 12 hours of questioning, Mr. Zhang was sent home, although the authorities kept his passport, four computers, some books and money.
I told them, this is just a civilian proposal and theres nothing to be afraid of, he said by phone shortly after his release. But they said senior officials attach great importance to it. I dont think this is the end of it yet.
Human rights advocates said they were especially worried about the fate of Mr. Liu, who may be charged with inciting subversion of state power, a more serious crime that carries a three-year term. It would not be his first experience in the Chinese penal system. He spent 20 months in jail for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. In 1996, he was sentenced to three years of hard labor for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party.
Such experiences have done little to quiet Mr. Liu, 53, a former philosophy professor who directs the Independent Chinese PEN Center, a group of writers who advocate for broader free speech.
The letter that Mr. Liu and others wrote does not mince words. It calls the current political system disastrous and blames the government for stripping people of their rights, destroying their dignity and corrupting normal human interaction. Among the charters 19 recommendations are a new constitution, legislative democracy, freedom of religion and an independent judiciary.
Authoritarianism is in general decline throughout the world, the letter says. In China, too, the era of emperors and overlords is on the way out. The time is arriving everywhere for citizens to be masters of states.
Pu Zhiqiang, a free speech lawyer and one of the signers, said the authorities should embrace the letter as a set of suggestions to help them reach the goals they have annunciated in their laws and directives. Were not saying anything new here, Mr. Pu said. This is not some plot to overthrow the Communist Party.
He acknowledged that the letter was making a big splash, and with the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown six months away, the authorities are wary of any public agitation. This only shows they lack confidence in their rule and are afraid to confront history, he said.
Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher in Hong Kong for Human Rights Watch, said he feared that the prosecution of Mr. Liu would signal a harder government line against political dissidents. In recent years, he noted, public security officials have largely tolerated Mr. Lius advocacy, but the letter may have crossed a line.
It cuts across social classes and brings together people from all over the country, Mr. Bequelin said. This kind of thing traditionally rings alarm bells in police headquarters.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the letter or Mr. Lius detention, saying that he knew nothing about either. China Daily, a state-run newspaper, observed Human Rights Day with a full-page article piece by Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office.
The article documents what Mr. Wang called Chinas three-decade pursuit of human rights, noting that China has 229 laws and 600 administrative decrees that protect individual rights. China added respecting and protecting human rights to the Constitution in 2004, he added.
I firmly believe that so long as we unswervingly implement the constitutional principle of respecting and protecting human rights, constantly improve democracy and the rule of law, our society will become more harmonious and people will live a still better life, he wrote.
But he ended with a warning that pushing China would poison international relations and harm the development of human rights. All people of all countries should enjoy freedom and equality, he wrote. But restrained by economic development level, cultural traditions and social systems, people have different understandings and demands with regard to human rights.
On Rights Day, China Hails Gains and Detains Protesters
By ANDREW JACOBS
BEIJING China celebrated International Human Rights Day on Wednesday with newspaper editorials and television commentaries hailing what they called the countrys unremitting efforts and nonstop progress in promoting free speech and individual rights.
The day was busy for public security officials, sent to quell a protest by about 40 people who rallied outside the gated headquarters of the Foreign Ministry. After about 30 minutes of calling for free elections and demanding a crackdown on corruption, the demonstrators were herded onto buses and taken away.
Wednesday was the third day of detention for Liu Xiaobo, one of Chinas most prominent dissidents. Friends and relatives said he was being held for his role in drafting a bold public letter that demands political, legal and constitutional reform.
The letter, posted on the Internet and signed by 303 Chinese academics, artists, farmers and lawyers, coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a product of the United Nations and a foundation for human rights laws around the world.
In recent days, the police have also detained several other signers, including Zhang Zuhua, a political theorist and rights advocate, who was told the letter was a serious affront to the ruling Communist Party. After 12 hours of questioning, Mr. Zhang was sent home, although the authorities kept his passport, four computers, some books and money.
I told them, this is just a civilian proposal and theres nothing to be afraid of, he said by phone shortly after his release. But they said senior officials attach great importance to it. I dont think this is the end of it yet.
Human rights advocates said they were especially worried about the fate of Mr. Liu, who may be charged with inciting subversion of state power, a more serious crime that carries a three-year term. It would not be his first experience in the Chinese penal system. He spent 20 months in jail for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. In 1996, he was sentenced to three years of hard labor for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party.
Such experiences have done little to quiet Mr. Liu, 53, a former philosophy professor who directs the Independent Chinese PEN Center, a group of writers who advocate for broader free speech.
The letter that Mr. Liu and others wrote does not mince words. It calls the current political system disastrous and blames the government for stripping people of their rights, destroying their dignity and corrupting normal human interaction. Among the charters 19 recommendations are a new constitution, legislative democracy, freedom of religion and an independent judiciary.
Authoritarianism is in general decline throughout the world, the letter says. In China, too, the era of emperors and overlords is on the way out. The time is arriving everywhere for citizens to be masters of states.
Pu Zhiqiang, a free speech lawyer and one of the signers, said the authorities should embrace the letter as a set of suggestions to help them reach the goals they have annunciated in their laws and directives. Were not saying anything new here, Mr. Pu said. This is not some plot to overthrow the Communist Party.
He acknowledged that the letter was making a big splash, and with the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown six months away, the authorities are wary of any public agitation. This only shows they lack confidence in their rule and are afraid to confront history, he said.
Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher in Hong Kong for Human Rights Watch, said he feared that the prosecution of Mr. Liu would signal a harder government line against political dissidents. In recent years, he noted, public security officials have largely tolerated Mr. Lius advocacy, but the letter may have crossed a line.
It cuts across social classes and brings together people from all over the country, Mr. Bequelin said. This kind of thing traditionally rings alarm bells in police headquarters.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the letter or Mr. Lius detention, saying that he knew nothing about either. China Daily, a state-run newspaper, observed Human Rights Day with a full-page article piece by Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office.
The article documents what Mr. Wang called Chinas three-decade pursuit of human rights, noting that China has 229 laws and 600 administrative decrees that protect individual rights. China added respecting and protecting human rights to the Constitution in 2004, he added.
I firmly believe that so long as we unswervingly implement the constitutional principle of respecting and protecting human rights, constantly improve democracy and the rule of law, our society will become more harmonious and people will live a still better life, he wrote.
But he ended with a warning that pushing China would poison international relations and harm the development of human rights. All people of all countries should enjoy freedom and equality, he wrote. But restrained by economic development level, cultural traditions and social systems, people have different understandings and demands with regard to human rights.
