Charter 08 Special Section

1. Charter 08 Overview

Beijing. December 10, 2008. “A hundred years have passed since the writing of China’s first constitution. 2008 also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the appearance of Democracy Wall in Beijing, and the tenth of China’s signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are approaching the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy student protesters. The Chinese people, who have endured human rights disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values.

By departing from these values, the Chinese government’s approach to “modernization” has proven disastrous. It has stripped people of their rights, destroyed their dignity, and corrupted normal human intercourse.“ Opening statement from Charter 08, signed by over 300 leading Chinese intellectuals, journalists, lawyers, and professors. Since its appearance on the Internet, several thousand more Chinese citizens from all walks of life have signed this document.

2. Charter 08

Charter 08, a manifesto signed by over 300 leading intellectuals, journalists, and lawyers, cites the ruling communist party for not protecting the universal human rights of its citizens and proposes 19 specific recommendations including direct elections of legislators, the establishment of an independent judiciary, as well as protection for the freedoms of religion, speech, and assembly. In aggregate, Charter 08 is a sweeping but measured roadmap for democratic reform in China. It has been cited as the most definitive call for change since the 1989 democracy movement that resulted in the Tiananmen Square Massacre almost 20 years ago.

Charter 08 Translation (The Chinese version signed by 303 Chinese Citizens and published online in December 10th, 2008; more people signed afterward)

I. Foreword
A hundred years have passed since the writing of China’s first constitution. 2008 also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the appearance of Democracy Wall in Beijing, and the tenth of China’s signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are approaching the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy student protesters. The Chinese people, who have endured human rights disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values. Read more…

3.The significance of Charter 08

Charter 08 is significant is several ways:

1) Charter 08 draws a stark contrast between the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the situation in China. The charter was published on the Internet on December 10, 2008, the 60th anniversary of the UN adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, to which China is a signatory. The juxtaposition of Charter 08 with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly was intentional and paints a stark contrast between the universal rights defined by the United Nations and the situation in the world’s most populous country, a member of WTO, a leading trading partner of the U.S., and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. According to the Charter, “By departing from these values, the Chinese government’s approach to modernization has proven disastrous. It has stripped people of their rights, destroyed their dignity, and corrupted normal human intercourse”.

2) Charter 08 was published with over 300 signatures of leading Chinese intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, and scholars from all over China. The scope and nature of the signatories lays bare the level of discontent by Chinese society with their government. It also put to rest a conventional wisdom widely promoted by sinologists and academics in the U.S. that the chinese people are happy with their government and/or China is slowly making progress toward human rights.

3) Charter 08 is measured in tone, cogent in its analysis, and detailed in its recommendations. Such a well-reasoned and dispassionate document signed by so many prominent people makes it very difficult for the Chinese government to dismiss it or the signatories by their usual labels of “terrorists” or “subversives”. According to Nicholas Bequelin, of Human Rights Watch “ The people who signed this are people with a lot of moral authority. Their endorsement makes people who are not dissidents think seriously about the proposal”.

4) Charter 08 is the culmination of a year of turmoil and discontent leading up to and following the Olympics. From the earthquake in Sichuan Province, which revealed the corruption of the state that resulted in the needless deaths of thousands of innocents, to the desperate cries of protest from the Tibetan people, to the forced evictions of hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents in the name of “Olympic Beautification”, to the arrest of Aids activist Hu Jia at the same time the European Parliament awarded him the Andrei Sakarov prize for Freedom of Thought, to the persecution of Christian Church Minister Paster Bike and other underground Christian churches, the list goes on, the systematic repression of the people of China is well documented. Placed in this context, the Olympic games were a very expensive charade, at the expense of the Chinese people, designed to lull the world into perceiving a China that does not exist. In summary Charter 08 is a reasoned and studied wake-up call for the Western Democracies. A wake up call that cries for the moral and assertive support of the United States of America.

4. Chinese Government Reaction to Charter 08

In an all too typical exercise in Orwellian Doublethink, the Chinese government celebrated Human Rights Day by arresting and interrogating citizens calling for human rights . Unfortunately the reaction of the Chinese Government was predictable and, with a certain irony, validates the premises detailed in Charter 08. Even before the Charter’s appearance on the Internet, signatory and prominent intellectual, Liu Xiaobo was arrested and interrogated. Other signatories were put under tight surveillance. While predictable, the actions of the Chinese government clearly indicate the low level of regard it has for its citizens and the high level of fear it has of any event or action that exposes its tenuous claim as the sole legitimate leader of the Chinese people. It is also important to note that the reaction of the Chinese government has been relatively muted. This is no doubt due to the world wide attention garnered by Charter 08.in the western media. This prefigures the need for continued pressure on the Chinese government to take Charter 08 seriously by acting in good faith with the petitioners.

5. The reaction of the people of China

Despite the government’s efforts to remove it from the internet, Charter 08 continues to surface and has gathered an additional 5000 signatures in less than a week. This signatories come from all walks and levels and areas of Chinese society, including journalists, TV personalities, government workers, actors, and farmers. According to a report in The National, the Chinese Google search engine has registered over 119000 hits for the Chinese words for Charter 08. Significantly, Zeng Jinyan, an activist and wife of jailed dissident, Hu Jia, spoke out despite her husbands predicament and her own house arrest, the Charter she said, articulated what all social strata want to say.”

6.World Reaction to Charter 08

The worldwide reaction to Charter 08 has been swift and pervasive. In a Wall Street Journal commentary, Victor Havel, the former president of the Chech Republic, stated that “The Chinese government should learn well the lesson of the Charter 77 {a document authored by Chech dissidents in 1977} movement: that intimidation, propaganda campaigns and repression are no substitute for reasoned dialogue.” Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch commented that Charter 08 represents “the sketch of a real civil society”. Over 150 leading US and European intellectuals, including author Salman Rusdie, Umberto Eco, Seamus Heaney issued an open letter calling for Liu Xiaobo’s release. In an article published in the UK paper “The Guardian”, Catherine Sampson noted “There is evidence for the animosity the document cites around the country in myriad small protests. Until this year, grievances have focused largely on local government corruption. Now, just like governments around the world, the Communist party is struggling to contain economic fallout. They are all too aware that without the promise of wealth, or if that promise crumbles, then their claims to legitimacy crumble as well.” The Taiwan news observed “Both the launching of the “Charter 08″ campaign and the predictable crackdown by the PRC’s Chinese Communist Party regime merits concern and support from Taiwan’s 23 million people for many reasons, not the least of which is the paramount importance of political change in China for the survival of Taiwan’s own democracy or national existence.” Over 160 leading Chinese intellectuals living overseas issued a letter in support of Charter 08. These people include the writer, Ha Jin, and the Princeton University historian Yu Ying-shih. The Dalai Lama has also publically supported the Charter.

7. U.S. Reaction to Charter 08

Capitol Hill December 10th Press Conference coinciding with the anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At a December 10th Capitol Hill press conference coinciding with the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, leading human rights activist and Congressional leaders decried China’s Human Right record. Dr. Lee Edwards of the Heritage Foundation said that China has yet to speak the truth regarding its violations of the rights of its citizens. He saidthat such truth must be the basis for building a solid foundation for bilateral relations with the US. In the conference’s concluding remarks Initiatives for China President, Harvard Senior Scholar, Dr. Yang Jianli said that if anyone thinks China is moving in the right direction on Human Rights “let them go to Beijing and exercise anyone of the articles in the Universal
Declaration, then “see what happens”. Holding up a copy of Charter 08, Dr. Yang challenged anyone who doubts that Chinese citizens really want Human Rights to “see this petition”. He concluded that Democracy will come to China because “A government cannot hold a gun to its citizens forever.”

Tom Lantos Commission Co-Chairs Issue Letter to U.S. Ambassador to China Asking Him to Demand the Immediate Release of Liu Xiaobo.

“The U.S. Embassy in Beijing must serve as an island of freedom in a sea of repression” Congressmen Frank Wolf of Virginia, and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Congressional Human Rights Commission, wrote a strongly worded letter to the U.S. Ambassador to China objecting to the “apparent silence” of the U.S. Embassy following the arrest of Liu Xiaobo, a longtime democracy advocate, university professor, and signatory to Charter 08. Mr Xiaobo was arrested shortly after the publication of “Charter 08”. In the letter, Congressmen Wolf and McGovern pressed Ambassador Randt to demand Mr. Liu Xiaobo’s “immediate and unconditional release”. State Department Issues Statement Regarding “Harassment of Chinese Signatories to Charter 08”

In a statement issued on December 11, 2008, U.S. State Department Spokesman, Sean McCormack, expressed the deep concern of the United States with reports that Chinese citizens have been “detained, interrogated and harassed as they prepared to commemorate Human Rights Day”. The statement called on the Chinese government to release Liu Xiaobo and to “cease harassment of all Chinese citizens.”

Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch, Sophie Richardson, Praises Courage of Signatories.“By affixing their names to the Charter, the signatories knew they would face official retribution. Their courage must be recognized, and their actions defended.”

8. Letters of Support

9. Op/Ed articles

1. Charter 08 and political change in China
Written by uln on December 25th, 2008

Barely two weeks after the publication of the Charter 08, it has already become old news, lost in the indifference of Western media (with notable exceptions), and erased in China by the cold intervention of the censors. I want to examine here the importance of this document and give some more thought to it and its possible impact. Read more…