Once again, a “messenger” died quietly in the “Middle Kingdom” fighting consistently for peaceful political reform. With the demise of liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace laureate, the regime in Beijing failed to hide from the world that China was really scared of a man who simply demanded human rights for his countrymen and a change in the “one party rule” of the Communist Party of China (CPC). liu and a group of fellow activists started an initiative called Charter-08 on December 10, 2008. It was a manifesto of human rights and democracy in China.
This Charter finally brought death to him on July 13, 2017, while he was serving an 11-year prison term in China. The world knows much better how the socialists in China will react to people like him. Probably, he was also quite aware of what could happen to him eventually. Now, it is time to uncover the mystery behind this historic charter, about the life and living of the writer and political thinker liu, and the subsequent actions initiated by Beijing against this crusader of human rights.
The Charter-08 exemplifies a rare citizens’ movement that strongly urges the Chinese people to work together for bringing forth major changes in society. This historic manifesto was formulated along the lines of “Charter 77” of Czechoslovakia, wherein more than 200 Czech and Slovak intellectuals established a loose union to appeal to their Government to respect human and civil rights both within and outside the country in January 1977. Besides, this charter is also a testimony to the fact that time has come for due recognition of the Chinese people’s years of incessant search for freedom of choice of their representatives.
Most importantly, it was born at such a crucial juncture in 2008 that marked the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the appearance of the Democracy Wall Movement in Beijing, and the tenth anniversary of China’s signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and approaching to the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. By virtue of all these, the charter and liu unknowingly set the stage for a new chapter in the age-old Chinese civilisation.
Thus, it was, in fact, different from all earlier and the recent dissident actions, including the one launched by the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement known as Umbrella Movement. Why was it giving sleepless nights to the Chinese leaders starting from Hu Jintao to the current President Xi JinpingIJ Precisely, the deteriorating law and order situation in China today is compounded by the reality that reforms pertaining to political matters and rule of law have practically stalled for decades now. The Communists in China do not wish to shake the status quo in their country. In fact, on December 9, the Chinese State Security Police arrested liu hours before the online release of the Charter 08. What hurt the bosses in the CPC is the appeal for transition to constitutional democracy in China by liu and his team in the charter. Afterwards, in the weeks that followed the authorities detained, interrogated and searched the residences of more than hundred of the initial 303 signatories of the declaration. After prolonged detention, liu was convicted of “inciting subversion of State power” and handed him an 11-year jail.
Certainly, liu wanted to fight the system, but he had no intention to overthrow it. He wanted to practice what has already been prescribed in the current Constitution of China (1982). Article 33 of the Constitution says that “the State respects and guarantees human rights” and states that all Chinese citizens “enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration” and “freedom of religious belief” (Articles 35 and 36). Sadly, the same Constitution also makes it clear that all such guarantees of rights and freedoms must be subject to “the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the guidance of Marxism-leninism and Mao Zedong Thought”. Frankly, this overarching dogma of the Constitution practiced by the successive leadership in Beijing has strangled the very spirit and reality of the basic freedoms in the country. Therefore, all these precious rights documented in the Constitution have become null and void over the years. They are simply on paper. And today, the CPC decides everything — from the grassroots to the National People’s Congress — as there is no single opposition to it.
The “Recommendation-1 of the Charter-08” states, “We should recast our present Constitution, rescinding its provisions that contradict the principle that sovereignty resides with the people and turning it into a document that genuinely guarantees human rights, authorises the exercise of public power, and serves as the legal underpinning of China’s democratisation”. Thus, the CPC is really fearful of the charter and its activists as they called for a “new Constitution”. The Charter clearly exposes the deceitful façade of the Government, which tries to make the ordinary Chinese feel that the existing Constitution is the sacred rule of law. But the reality is that the CPC is above the law, in fact it is the “Supreme law”. The party’s control over all organs of the Government and the judiciary is total.
liu was one of the most famous dissident Chinese leaders, and he was able to create global awareness about the dark side of China’s rule of law and the ruthless attitude of the successive leadership in power. It seems he was very happy about the life of a dissident when he wrote in 1992, “If you want to enter hell, don’t complain of the dark; you can’t blame the world for being unfair, if you start on the path of the rebel.” This clearly demonstrates how he was simply ready to accept the hard realities of China’s prison life under the close surveillance of the State. He became the second person to receive the Nobel Prize in prison — the other was German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who won the award in 1935 while languishing in a Nazi concentration camp under Adolf Hitler’s rule. The life and death of liu clearly highlights the cost of political defiance in China for the man who struggled to get justice for fellow democracy activists since the bloody crackdown of the Tiananmen Square. Though many gave up demanding democracy due to extreme pressure and ruthless treatment meted out to them by the Government, he stood firm and made it a mission of his life. That’s why when the Nobel Committee awarded him the prize for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”, he was not allowed to travel to Norway to receive the same. Hence, the entire ceremony was marked by an “empty chair”. This brought him more laurels and soon he became a figure-head for human right advocates outside the mainland without even knowing much about his work as the authorities had severely censored all types of news and views across the country.
Further, the authorities in China have tightened control over all kinds of activities related to freedom of assembly, association and expression. Particularly, after the coming of Xi to power in 2012, the crackdown on civil rights activists has risen enormously. The interference of the CPC on the criminal justice system has risen to all-time high. And this campaign has already extended beyond the mainland i.e. Hong Kong. Hence, the Charter-08 has strongly highlighted the entrenched conundrum of China’s lack of an impartial judiciary since the beginning. This indirectly supports the authorities to penalise the dissident political and religious leaders, and civil society groups. The Recommendation-4 of the Charter demands that “the rule of law must be above the interests of any particular political party and judges must be independent. We need to establish a constitutional Supreme Court and institute procedures for constitutional review. As soon as possible, we should abolish all of the Committees on Political and legal Affairs that now allow Communist Party officials at every level to decide politically sensitive cases in advance and out of court.” This emboldens the CPC and its functionaries both at the Government and at party levels to derail all rights-based campaigns, protests and organisations within the country.
As liu’s friends, fans and sympathisers have all quietly marked the traditional Chinese observance of the rituals after his death, Western Governments and his supporters are worried about the security of his wife liu Xia, who has been living in West Beijing. last seen in official pictures showing her lowering an urn containing her husband’s ashes into the sea, her whereabouts remain unknown to the rest of the world. This has happened only after concerns came from human right activists and strong demands by various foreign governments that Beijing lift all restrictions on her movement. Ironically, liu Xia has so far not charged by the Chinese authorities for anything despite her support to her husband’s entire campaign against the Government. There were rumours that she has been forced by police to go on a vacation in the south western province of Yunnan, where she has few friends.
Now the moot question is how the West should have responded to the liu saga and what kind of impact it could have on Beijing in the coming daysIJ Mostly, the Western Governments have typically responded with cynicism and timidity to China in regard to its treatment given to the dissidents in the past. When the G-20 meet was held in Germany early this month, Xi was very much present among the rest of the Western leaders and incidentally, the deteriorating health condition of liu was making headlines around the same time. Alas! Not a single leader raised the issue or had a discussion with his or her Chinese counterpart. The reasons for not making a hullabaloo are economic concern: for the West, China has turned out to be a big economic saviour. And, after the 2008 global financial crisis, China has shown to the world how it can survive such a crisis and can move further. This has tipped the balance further towards the country and its market-friendly authoritarian model of development has grabbed the attention of many developing countries of Asia. This rightly shows how business interests prevail over human rights issues as no country can compromise its growth index with anything else. It was legendary Deng Xiaoping, who in the early 80’s opened the country’s economy to outside world saying that “A fundamental contradiction does not exist between socialism and a market economy”. Equally, the Western Governments took this opportunity and encouraged their corporate houses to invest in this huge market. So, then why to complain about the reform-minded Deng when he was offering billion-plus to the greedy enterprises which were always in search of new marketsIJ This was plain and simple. That is why around the same time when Deng was crushing the Democracy Wall Movement across China and jailing activists like Wei Jingsheng for 15 years, almost all the leading Western Governments maintained their deafening silence, except making some sharp diplomatic statements. But all was not well when the mighty Deng openly took on the Tiananmen Square protesters, resulting into the deaths of many. Then, indeed it was really fashionable for the West also to talk about the gross violation of human rights and abuse of State power in China. But by 1990s, a thriving Chinese economy once again caught the attention of the West. Therefore, the frontline critics such as the US, Britain, etc, smartly manoeuvred their way to establish “human-rights dialogue” just to separate human rights issues from business deals so as to make both back home liberals and Chinese administration happy.
The impact of such reaction to China from the West in no way helps the lone human right fighter like liu in the mainland and others in Hong Kong. Particularly, Xi, who is popularly known as an incarnation of Mao, is unlikely to listen to any Western appeal even for allowing liu’s wife to travel abroad if she wants at all. The silence on the part of the West largely undermines the cause of the pro-democracy advocates. All the Western leaders should have loudly spoken about liu, but by gauging the mood of these so-called champions of democracy, we can safely say that they quietly sided with Xi for exploiting their own commercial benefits from the huge markets in China. By now the writing on the wall has become clear to the world: “China matters to all. It’s an emerging economic engine”. But then we all, including China, would be a party to derail the prophetic words inscribed in the UN’s Universal Declaration, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. How does this affect China when the citadels of democracies are simply putting their back to the credentials of human dignity and freedomIJ
It may so happen that there will either be no place for peaceful protest or there will be another “revolution” in China. And this time, the uprising will aim at overthrowing the decaying socialist system. China’s aggressive market socialism will not be able to take the country further. Certainly, liu has done his work. Now, the rest of the international community must take it forward. At least for safeguarding the basic human rights enshrined in the UN declaration. Hope, the Charter-08 will invigorate many more like liu to raise the voice of dissent in China. The West should put pressure on Beijing. Else, the haggard and old-style Communists who have been ruthlessly governing the billion-plus Chinese in the name of upholding the People’s Republic of China will continue suppressing the genuine freedom across the country. China’s one-party rule of the CPC is clearly afraid of any kind of opposition, whether it emerges from within or outside. It always remains a mystery why the Chinese leadership is wary of popular protests despite having one of the largest armies in the world and governing the country in the name of the common people. With liu’s sad demise, the Chinese people in particular and the rest of the world in general must see to it that there is enough place for debate, dialogue and discussion (as it is guaranteed in the Chinese Constitution itself) in China so as to move beyond what once an uppity Deng proclaimed “Do not debate! Is one of my inventions”. The conceited and decrepit Communists must understand that the hoi-polloi in China today live in a globalised world though they are not accessible to popular international social media outlets except the “Weibo”, the officially permitted outlet. The unwieldy expansion of the country’s influence across the world does not signify the greatness of the Chinese State; rather it should make enough room for its people to live in a free world. Flagrant violation of basic freedoms might be the death knell for the largest socialist regime in the world. The journey towards a China free from the iron fist of the CPC and the worn out Maoism is not surely Timbuktu, but can be reached, that is what the Western liberals believe. But it might take more time and may demand persistent fights from many more like liu.
Fighting a dogmatic socialist establishment would be a Herculean task for anyone, including a group of human rights activists. And what Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei recently revealed truly reflects the true character of the regime: “China is such a society (where) the Government is very arrogant and will never listen to or negotiate or tolerate these kinds of ideas. It’s not only liu Xiaobo, before him millions lost their lives.” Whatsoever it may be, the decadent socialists in China finally ensured a lasting legacy for the Nobel Peace laureate. As he was secretly buried in the sea, many feel that like the sea waves, his ashes will spread the message of democracy wherever the water flows. But certainly it demands a second revolution to change China probably!
(The writer is an expert on international affairs)