Dr. Yang Jianli, Harvard Fellow, President Initiatives for China.
Not long ago, working with Freedom Now, I helped facilitate the signing of an open letter from fifteen Nobel Prize Laureates urging the world leaders to lobby Chinese President Hu Jintao for the release of Liu Xiaobo. Many other international rights groups have made similar efforts. So far, these efforts have born little fruit. Liu Xiaobo is still serving his time in prison as a “criminal” in China; his wife is still under house arrest, her connection to the outside world completely cut off. Liu Xiaobo has hoped that Liu Xia will accept the Nobel Peace Prize on his behalf. However, as the award ceremony is drawing near, such hope is dimming. As Liu Xia’s entrusted facilitator to work with the Nobel committee to prepare for the ceremony, I must, once again, call upon the Chinese government to allow Liu Xiao to accept the Peace Prize on behalf of Liu Xiaobo.
This appeal is based on fundamental standards of any civilized society and out of sincere hope that the Chinese government will take a sincere and symbolic step to improve its human rights record. After Liu Xiaobo was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, I participated in various discussions concerning the news, public and private. Even though people involved in these discussions have free access to information, they have questioned the difficulties facing the pro-democracy movement in China. To find answers to such questions, one only needs to take a plain look at the grim reality in China. Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison based on a preposterous verdict. The Chinese government has completely confined Liu Xia illegally, cutting off all her ties to the world. Ever since Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel was announced, more than a hundred of Liu Xiaobo’s supporters have been kept under house arrest or sent back to their place of origin by force. Liu Xia has invited a group of Chinese activists and friends to attend the ceremony, but almost all those who live in China are banned from leaving the country. As the organizer who is responsible for finalizing that list, I regret to say that it is highly unlikely that any of Liu Xiaobo’s friends living inside China will be allowed to leave China for Norway. Please bear in mind that China boasts the largest government system of the world. This government disregards its own legal system, oppresses dissidents at will, depriving them of their basic human rights. For decades, the Chinese dissidents have been struggling for human rights and democracy under extremely difficult conditions, against a government that doesn’t play by any political rules. What they have achieved is therefore exceptionally admirable.
Perhaps, the Chinese government will soon give me another strong evidence for my argument. On December 10th, 2010, the world may see an empty seat on the stage of the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony. I hope that will not happen. After all, the notion of democracy and rule of law are embraced by people from different walks of life in China. In the meantime, China has made tremendous economic progress in the past three decades, showing the world its potential for change and progress. Why will the Chinese government let an empty seat in the Nobel hall ruin its image of “reform” and “opening up”, which took 30 years to establish? China can and will change. I don’t want the empty seat in Oslo go down in history as the new image of China.
Liu Xiaobo has famously declared “I have no enemies” when facing his 11-year imprisonment. After Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Peace Prize, Chinese netizens created a scenario where the Chinese government parrots: “I have no friends.” Though a joke, such parody reveals the Chinese government is, by its nature, conceited and weak, ignorant and touchy. In the Chinese government’s logic, the West always has “a despicable purpose” of inciting subversion of Chinese state power; and whatever I, a dissident in exile, have to say is nothing but a conspiracy. Nevertheless, I still want to say that it will be a welcomed scenario, if not a win-win situation, for the Chinese government and the civil force in China, if Liu Xia is allowed to accept the prize on behalf of her husband. For the international community and Liu Xiaobo’s friends abroad, December 10th is a day to celebrate, regardless of whether Liu Xia shows up in Oslo or not. Of course, her presence will greatly enhance the glory and happiness of that moment. For the Chinese government, Liu Xia’s presence in Oslo will nullify the symbolic significance of the empty seat, therefore saving its international image. This is a compromise that the Chinese government needs to make.
Yes, the Chinese government must learn how to compromise. Although for now it can arrest Liu Xiaobo and make Liu Xia disappear at will, it cannot curb the rising civil force in China. More importantly, as the world raises its human rights standard, serious breaching of human rights in China will trigger an international reaction. After all, the pursuit of freedom and human rights has no borders. Ironically, the Chinese government’s harsh sentence on Liu Xiaobo weighed in the Nobel Committee’s decision to award him this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Similarly, if the Chinese government insists on acting against universal values, and ignoring the surging request from its people and the international community, the Liu Xiaobo controversy will keep fermenting. The Chinese government will find itself in a series of difficult situations.
I am aware of the logic of all dictatorships. They believe in tangible force and power, but ignore the invisible current of conscience. I will not hold my hopes high in terms of persuading a dictatorship to make a sensible choice. However, since civilization is the only way to crash authoritarian rule, I believe that every individual, including Chinese government officials, is capable of making sensible choices. I hope that together we can choose a better future for our society, wisely and responsibly. In fact, I believe that the Nobel Committee’s decision is not a humiliation of China. Rather, it is a signal from the international community calling for positive change in China. It urges the Chinese government to confront its fear, ignorance and weakness, and to choose a new political path. As a “criminal”, Liu Xiaobo adheres to the principle of “peace, reason and non-violence”. Under his inspiration, I call upon the Chinese government to show a basic civilized stance in handling Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel award. The award ceremony is just days away, time is running out, this is the last chance for the Chinese government to avoid continuing humiliating itself. I hope that Chinese leaders will seize the opportunity to demonstrate their wisdom and the ability to compromise.
More and more Chinese have come to realize that it is time for China to transcend its centuries of blood-stained politics and incorporate itself into the civilized world. Politicians in China must give up the attitude of ignorance and hatred, the ideology of suspicion and opposition. They must approach our world from a new perspective. This is why Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel glory will play an important role in China’s future. We are all called upon to face the difficult challenges of today and tomorrow, and the Chinese government and its leaders should not exclude themselves from the process. Giving up ruling by pure force is a compulsory political course that the Chinese leaders should take.
December 10, 2010 is the day for Liu Xiaobo and all dissidents in China. It is also the day for China.