Opinion: Chinese intellectual Ran Yunfei on China’s Rights and Liu XiaoboReclaiming
China’s rights Liu Xiaobo, An author of the ‘08 Charter calling for
constitutional reform in China, has been detained. He must be freedBy Ran YunfeiThe
60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights witnesses
more human rights violations in China. A couple of days ago, police in
Shanghai detained Liu Xiaobo, an intellectual and human rights
activist, who had been in and out of prison in the last two decades
because of his activism.The reason this time is the ’08
Charter, a document calling for constitutional reform in China,
initiated by Liu Xiaobo and his colleagues, and signed by more than 300
people, including me. Hearing the news, I felt not only angry, but also
pity towards the authorities whose fierce reaction can’t disguise the
fear underneath. One will always claim and protect one’s rights. No
authority can stop that.As ordinary people, we just want to
live a normal and peaceful life. But we want to live it with dignity.
The coming economic crisis has made many people more alert to their
rights, or lack of them. In China, the current crisis is not only the
consequence of a global economic crisis, but also the result of a
corrupt and authoritarian one-party system. Many people live a hard
life not because of the downturn of the world economy, but because
their rights have been taken away by the authorities. I know many
intellectuals like Liu Xiabo who champion a peaceful and non-violence
approach to achieve political reform. However, others may not be so
patient. There have already been numerous instances of social unrest in
China recently. To make things worse, the authorities seem to know only
one response: to suppress any incident, which inevitably worsens the
crisis.This critical social situation is the circumstance under
which Liu Xiaobo and his colleagues produced the ’08 Charter. It is
moderate, reasonable, pragmatic, dedicated to reaching reconciliation
after revealing the truth. People’s rights and society’s interests are
at its heart. It is not perfect. But among all the documents I have
ever signed, it is the most important one.For the last century,
Chinese people have sacrificed life and blood in the hope of achieving
a constitutional republic. What we eventually got was more brutal rule.
We can’t blame it all on tradition or culture. It also has something to
do with the shortsightedness of many people, who ignored the bottom
line to chase immediate gains, and sacrificed the future for short-term
compromises. We understand that we have to compromise, which is part of
democracy, but we must insist upon certain principles, such as respect
for human beings and protection of basic rights.The ’08 Charter
is a non-partisan document. Efforts were made to reach a compromise.
Our aim is to save, not to destroy, the society we are in – a society
that is highly volatile, increasingly divided and threatened by
deepening economic crisis. But the authorities, who are so used to
controlling society using inflexible and violent means, won’t even
tolerate the existence of a document that calls for sensible, moderate,
pragmatic approaches. Arresting Liu Xiaobo and interrogating many other
signatories shows that the authorities are now descending to the threat
of violence. Such a threat will only ignite more resistance.I
am calling on the Chinese authorities to recognise the will of the
people, to gradually implement political reforms, to give hope back to
the people. We know hope will give people extraordinary motivation to
live their life and to change their behavior. A community with no hope
will only release destructive energy. People within the establishment
can’t detach themselves if the communities around them collapse. In
other words, if the authorities fail to protect people’s rights, they
won’t be able to protect themselves later on. Some may believe money
and power can save them. They can’t.Chinese people still don’t
have the human rights they deserve. For 60 years, people of this land
have been waiting for the day of freedom and democracy. In the last 20
years, people like Liu Xiaobo have fought for human rights on our
behalf. Today in China, when we enjoy some freedom and rights, we
shouldn’t forget what people like him have done for us. I urge the
authorities to release Liu Xiaobo as soon as possible. I also call on
the government to start to reform the political system so that it can
effectively protect people’s rights.–This piece originally appeared in Chinese on bullog.cn. It is translated and reprinted by Boxun News. The views expressed here are those of the writer and they do not
reflect or endorsed by those of the Central Tibetan Administration.
