Against Chinese regime’s imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo
Tuesday, 29 December 2009.
For democratic rights, release all political prisoners
chinaworker.info
On 25 December 2009, Chinese authorities sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power" (deprivation of political rights for 2 years). The harsh sentence imposed on Liu was intended as a warning to all those who are challenging the dictatorship.
Liu Xiaobo, a well-known pro-democracy dissident, has been detained, arrested, and sentenced repeatedly for his peaceful political activities, including participation in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. In October 1996, Liu was sentenced to three years in a labour camp for allegedly "disturbing public order" with criticisms of the Communist Party of China. On 8 December 2008, Liu and other pan-democrats were detained by the authorities for launching a campaign for "Charter 08" (calling for bourgeois democracy and a multi-party system in China). After a yearunder house arrest and prison, on 25 December, a Beijing court sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison.
During the trial, in Beijing, Hong Kong and some other cities in China, hundreds of pro-democracy supporters held protests and demos to support Liu Xiaobo. The policemen also detained and imposed house arrest on several of them, including Tiananmen Mothers' spokeswoman Ding Zilin. In Hong Kong, the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and 5 April Action Committee also organised a protest in front of the Central Government's Liaison Office. On 27 December, Hong Kong residents protested at the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Six of them (including 2 reporters from Hong Kong newspaper MingPao) were detained by Shenzhen police for several hours.
During 2009, the Chinese regime has kept strict repression and control over political dissent and the internet. Apart from Liu Xiaobo several political dissidents, including pan-democratic right wing figures but also left wing activists, such as Maoists, have been sentenced and detained inside of China. Meanwhile, some Chinese and foreign dissidents were also banned from entering China and Hong Kong. This showed that the Chinese regime is increasingly worried about its rule and any challenges as a result of economic crises and political unrest.
However, even massively increased repression will not secure the future of the Chinese dictatorship. As events in Iran show, repression cannot succeed indefinitely to prevent a mass movement.
Chinaworker.info does not support "Charter 08" and its capitalist economic demands politically, but strongly defends all dissidents' basic democratic rights and opposes the one-party dictatorship and its repression. The Chinese working class and masses should not put hopes in the Western bourgeois governments and media, their crocodile tears over "human rights and democracy" does not aim to win basic rights and interests for the Chinese masses. If some official protests over Liu's case have been louder than usual this is mainly because these governments are increasingly worried about the "rising power and independence of the Chinese government and its national capitalists" as shown during COP15 meeting in Copenhagen recently.
Chinaworker.info believe that the crucial fight for democratic rights and an end to repression must be based on the solidarity of the Chinese working class and international working class, relying on working class movement from below and linking worker's rights to trade unions and to strike with socialist struggle to end dictatorship.
chinaworker.info
On 25 December 2009, Chinese authorities sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power" (deprivation of political rights for 2 years). The harsh sentence imposed on Liu was intended as a warning to all those who are challenging the dictatorship.
Liu Xiaobo, a well-known pro-democracy dissident, has been detained, arrested, and sentenced repeatedly for his peaceful political activities, including participation in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. In October 1996, Liu was sentenced to three years in a labour camp for allegedly "disturbing public order" with criticisms of the Communist Party of China. On 8 December 2008, Liu and other pan-democrats were detained by the authorities for launching a campaign for "Charter 08" (calling for bourgeois democracy and a multi-party system in China). After a yearunder house arrest and prison, on 25 December, a Beijing court sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison.
During the trial, in Beijing, Hong Kong and some other cities in China, hundreds of pro-democracy supporters held protests and demos to support Liu Xiaobo. The policemen also detained and imposed house arrest on several of them, including Tiananmen Mothers' spokeswoman Ding Zilin. In Hong Kong, the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and 5 April Action Committee also organised a protest in front of the Central Government's Liaison Office. On 27 December, Hong Kong residents protested at the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Six of them (including 2 reporters from Hong Kong newspaper MingPao) were detained by Shenzhen police for several hours.
During 2009, the Chinese regime has kept strict repression and control over political dissent and the internet. Apart from Liu Xiaobo several political dissidents, including pan-democratic right wing figures but also left wing activists, such as Maoists, have been sentenced and detained inside of China. Meanwhile, some Chinese and foreign dissidents were also banned from entering China and Hong Kong. This showed that the Chinese regime is increasingly worried about its rule and any challenges as a result of economic crises and political unrest.
However, even massively increased repression will not secure the future of the Chinese dictatorship. As events in Iran show, repression cannot succeed indefinitely to prevent a mass movement.
Chinaworker.info does not support "Charter 08" and its capitalist economic demands politically, but strongly defends all dissidents' basic democratic rights and opposes the one-party dictatorship and its repression. The Chinese working class and masses should not put hopes in the Western bourgeois governments and media, their crocodile tears over "human rights and democracy" does not aim to win basic rights and interests for the Chinese masses. If some official protests over Liu's case have been louder than usual this is mainly because these governments are increasingly worried about the "rising power and independence of the Chinese government and its national capitalists" as shown during COP15 meeting in Copenhagen recently.
Chinaworker.info believe that the crucial fight for democratic rights and an end to repression must be based on the solidarity of the Chinese working class and international working class, relying on working class movement from below and linking worker's rights to trade unions and to strike with socialist struggle to end dictatorship.
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