Not long ago, another protest and demonstration in China was brutally shut down by the Chinese government. Once again, the eyes of the world looked to China as it saw yet another example of basic human rights being thwarted. Once again, the hearts of people concerned with the miserable conditions of the powerless were saddened.
The protest took place when the police of Weng An County released a suspect who had allegedly raped and murdered a teenage girl. It is believed that the suspect is a relative of a local police officer. The victim’s relative went to the police station demanding justice; instead he was badly beaten by the police. This vicious cover-up then led hundreds of thousands of people to the street creating one of the biggest protests in recent years.
We strongly condemn the dark dictatorship in Weng An County. We strongly condemn the communist crackdown on the lawful protest in Weng An.
It is widely known that it is not just Weng An where human rights are in the dark. Chinese citizens have generally been a submissive people. What is extraordinary is that in this submissive nation over one hundred thousand protests are taking place every year-even though there has been no precedent for success, and even though all of the participants are well aware of the grave risks ahead of them.
No matter how hard the Communist Party tries to cover up their crimes by decorating their windows of nationalism with all kinds of celebrations, their true brutality is constantly being revealed by their crackdowns on people’s peaceful protests, their carte blanche to destroy citizen’s homes, and their flouting of the laws and trampling on the rights of ordinary citizens. The Communist Party is a dictatorial regime that squeezes people economically, sticks to its dictatorship politically, and functions in such a way as a criminal organization would.
To such an inhuman government we have to say loudly: Enough is enough! To terminate this political system we can depend only on ourselves and on the awakening of our citizenship power. Awakening of citizenship requires those few already awakened people to lead and to proclaim their rights. The power of citizenship will grow in these uphill battles. We sympathize with and support those people in Weng An County to fight for their rights and life. And we sympathize with and support any people in China to fight against oppression, exploitation, and corruption, and for those who fight for human rights and democracy. But we advocate non-violence, and want all participants to follow this principle exclusively.
Non-violence is not just a moral principle, it is a sound strategy used by democracy and human rights activists. The Communist Party is adept at violence, but well equipped police are not necessarily strong when they try to suppress non-violent protests because they are in a weak position both morally and psychologically. Therefore, the strategy of non-violence is to take advantage of our strength in non-violence versus their weakness in violence. If we were also engaged in violence, it would only provide an alibi for the communists to crack down on the pro-democracy movement, thus increasing risks and decreasing the opportunities of involving more people. Ultimately, it weakens our power. Non-violence will put the Communist Party in a morally vulnerable position and help win over the people in the middle, and also soften the opposition forces. This strategy will lead our protest to a success.
To promote non-violence doesn’t mean non-action, it is simply promoting actions of non-violence. Non-violence can be put into two categories: passive non-violence and active non-violence. Passive non-violence involves non-cooperation, no cooperation with any political activities with the Communist government, no implementation of the Communist policy or lukewarm attention to the task of the government, no participation in any of the government celebrations, no part in the communist festivals, boycotting the communist TV propagandas and newspapers, staying away from any communist promotion of their “Shining Models”, abandoning the communist jargons, civil disobedience to the laws and decrees that are unconstitutional.
Active non-violence includes organized pro-democracy activities and movements, such as demonstrations, protests, sit-ins, school or factory strikes, fasting, seminars, open funerals for victims, gatherings in someone’s honor, refusal of evil taxes, and so on. For active non-violence, we need a tangible goal each time so that we can pressure the Communist Party into a compromise.
Non-violence will result in crackdowns and persecution, but we should never give up easily, which must be our rule. The best way to develop our movements is to build up around a “gathering point.” What is a gathering point? It is some kind of the organizational form that is already in existence such as a school, union, the associations, churches, or clubs. We can create some new “gathering point” to be a draw to activists. Meanwhile, we can utilize all kinds of communication tools, such as the internet, phone text messages, emails, which can turn all networks into a huge power base. This can break isolations. When each individual joins others to become a bigger group, it will cause a chain reaction, and multiply our power.
Finally, and ever so importantly, we extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to Li’s family members on Li Shufen’s tragic death. We propose to all people across China and the world that we hold a vigil and ceremony this Sunday, July 6, from 10 to 11AM. We should always remember this sad day. Let us take up our citizen’s responsibility as we protect our children from being the next victims of the communist dictators.
We firmly believe that citizen power, based on the peaceful non-violence movement, will eventually conquer the power of the Communist Power.
Yang Jianli
