华人民主书院在台开学 网上促华民主

    
    来源：美国之音　记者: 丁力
   
    华人民主书院董事会成员在记者会上，左起：陶君行，何俊仁，郑宇硕，王丹，顾忠华，林佳龙，曾建元　图片来源: 华人民主书院
    


书院董事、中华大学行政管理系教授曾建元在开学典礼上表示，希望书院的课程能够突破中国言论封锁，让中国大陆的朋友都能学习。
   
    王丹等海外民运人士和郑宇硕等海外学者办的华人民主书院举行开学典礼。王丹希望通过网路与青年的结合、两岸四地的结合以及学习与参与的结合，使民主成为华人的共同事业。
   
    华人民主书院（New School for Democracy）选择10月1日，也就是中华人民共和国国庆节举办开学典礼，地点在台北的台大校友会馆。主办方期盼互联网能集结公民社会，尤其是年轻族群的力量，推动各地华人社会，尤其是中国大陆的民主化进程。

*风雨之喻*
   
    书院开学那天，台北正值秋风秋雨，民主书院董事会主席兼讲师王丹以天气来比喻。
   
    他说：“它有一定象征意义，本来民主的路就会有风风雨雨，但是我们还是要努力，所以我称之为风雨兼程。另一方面，10月1号也是中共建政的日子，这一天赶上狂风暴雨，我觉得所有的极权政府，最后总会走到风雨飘摇的末路上去，如果跟民主发展背道而驰的话，都会有风雨飘摇的一天。”
   
    民主书院在网上授课，香港城市大学政治学讲座教授郑宇硕是校长兼教师。郑宇硕表示，书院刚起步，资源极为有限，教学内容不足，但考虑到民主运动不能停步，因此克服万难开展工作。
   
    书院董事、中华大学行政管理系教授曾建元在开学典礼上表示，希望书院的课程能够突破中国言论封锁，让中国大陆的朋友都能学习。

*三个结合*
   
    王丹告诉美国之音：“华人民主书院成立的目的可以用三个结合来代表。一个就是网络和青年的结合，我认为这是未来中国民主的希望所在；第二个就是两岸四地包括海外华人民主力量的结合，华人民主书院是第一次做这样的努力，我认为这样的结合是整个华人社会民主的希望；第三个结合，我觉得，对于青年学生，对于学员来讲，一方面是学习，他们参加民主书院，也是一种参与，把学习和参与结合在一起，对个人来讲，是提升民主素质的必要途径。”
   
    王丹是中国八九民运学生领袖，被逮捕和判刑，后来流亡美国，成为哈佛大学历史学博士，现在是台湾成功大学客座专家。中国官方及其支持者声称他是国际反华势力的棋子。
   

温家宝还在纸上谈兵 政改是只议不改

美国之音    2011-10-01 08:55:12

中国国家总理温家宝星期五晚在国庆62周年招待会上发表讲话时再次呼吁要进行政改。温家宝的“改革”理念到底只是纸上谈兵还是能付诸实施？观察人士发表了不同的看法。 这位中国总理在星期五的讲话中，再次提到政治改革的问题。他说：“继续推进经济体制、政治体制、文化体制、社会体制等各个方面的改革，破除影响经济发展与社会和谐的体制机制障碍，不断激发经济社会发展的活力。” 自从温家宝2003年就任中国国家总理以来，曾十多次在多种场合公开谈论政改，但这种呼吁都没了下文，不了了之。北京的人民大学的张同新教授认为，中国的政改不是没改，而是在逐渐改进，不懂中国国情的人看不出来。 张同新说：“它不是过去我们提了以后没做，而是在逐渐改进的基础上，再进一步在原有的基础上再向前推进一步。实际上它(政改)是这个意思。这点呢一般外电和不懂中国国情的人看不出来，以为你们体制怎么还是那样啊。政改总是有个循序渐进的过程，要适合中国发展的情况，所以它不可能像一般人想象得那样去做，只能根据中国经济发展的需要、中国政治进步的情况，逐步逐步地来向前推进。 ” 六四事件后被捕坐牢的北京独立作家江棋生则认为，中国政改毫无进展，而且目前也不会有进展。 江棋生说：“共产党高层对基层对中国社会的基本情况，应该说有些人了解得比较清楚，有些人出于原有的意识形态立场和他们既得利益的强大诱惑就看得不是那么清楚。这两部分人都有，但这两部分人共同加在一起，都还没有认为中国需要认真的政治制度改革。他们觉得现在这一套、吴邦国的“五不搞”、加上一些民生措施，还能够延续下去。” 外界对温家宝和胡锦涛的关系也众说纷纭。江棋生说，胡温是否同调很难判断。他说：“因为胡是第一把手，温是第三把手，如果说胡不同意这么做，温最多只能说一两次；你要说他同调，两人搞政治体制改革，那就不会老是沦为空谈。 ” 但无论胡温是否同调，温家宝的讲话，使得中国党内最高层的不同看法可以为老百姓所得知。江棋生认为这反映了中共最高层的强人政治的时代已经过去了：“作为第一把手的胡锦涛比较平庸，就会出现下面胡锦涛做一套、薄希来唱一套这样一种现象。” 中国排名第三的温家宝呼吁政改，排名第二的吴邦国则强调“五不搞”，即不搞多党轮流执政，不搞指导思想多元化，不搞“三权鼎立”和两院制，不搞联邦制，不搞私有化。人民大学研究中共党史的张同新教授却不认为共产党内存在对立观点，他说，这更多是外界、尤其是外媒的误读。 张同新说，中共党内领导人的意见总体上应该是一致的，只是说法上、语言表达上有所差距而已。他还表示，中国共产党内无争斗、有民主。 《华尔街日报》记者墨儒思(Russell Leigh Moses)在自己的专栏中表示，温总理坦率的发言和语调更有大势已去的味道。他说，对中共而言，有这样一种危险--温家宝是对的，而其他人是错的。但是还有一种更大的危险--如果这些关于政治改革的呼吁石沉大海，那么历史就没有重写的可能了。

Rights Defender Guo Feixiong Released from Prison; Remains Committed to Rights Work

 

2011-09-13

Case Update

Guangdong-based rights activist and writer Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄), also known as Yang Maodong (杨茂东), was released from the Meizhou Prison in Guangdong Province on September 13, 2011, after serving a five-year sentence on conviction of “illegal business activity.”
Guo told Human Rights in China (HRIC): “I am still the same person as five years ago. No amount of ‘special treatment’ [in prison] would make me more radical or weaken me. My conviction in defending the rights of people has not changed in the slightest.”
He is thankful to those in China and overseas who have shown their concern for him and his family over the past five years. “I will never forget the help they gave me,” Guo said.
Before his imprisonment, Guo had worked as a legal advisor with the Beijing Shengzhi Law Firm and, in 2005, helped the villagers of Taishi in Guangdong to remove their corrupt village chief. In September 2006, he was detained for “illegal business activity” and was held for 15 months before being tried in November 2007. In addition to the prison term, Guo was fined 40,000 yuan.
His wife Zhang Qing (张青), who currently lives in the United States, told HRIC that Guo's conviction was purely “a product of torture.” She said that, lacking evidence and in order to obtain a confession, “the Guangzhou and Shenyang police tortured him by using abominable measures.”
During his detention Guo was subjected to many acts of torture, including being:

• Interrogated for 13 consecutive days and nights without sleep,
• Tied down to a wooden bed for 42 days with his arms and legs shackled, and
• Hung from the ceiling by his arms and legs while the police electrocuted his genitals with a high voltage baton.

When he was transferred to Meizhou Prison in December 2007, Guo was brutally beaten by an inmate while 200 others watched. He went on hunger strike several times to protest his abuse.
His ordeal has seriously damaged his health and left him frail. But he said: “I don’t care who did what to me in the past. … I want to work hard to help bring about tolerance and reconciliation. … I am filled with optimism for the future.”

Dissident Suffers Beatings in Detention

 

2011-09-29

Chinese authorities may have repeatedly beaten a Mongolian writer in custody.

Photo appears courtesy of SMHRIC

Huuchinhuu displays a contusion on her forehead, July 20, 2011.

An ethnic Mongolian dissident writer has been subjected to repeated harassment and beatings by authorities while in detention in northern China, according to new photos obtained by a Mongolian rights group.

The New York-based Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) said in a statement Thursday that it had received new information showing Govruud Huuchinhuu, a former activist in the 1981 Mongolian student movement, with severe bruising on her face and arms.

“SMHRIC obtained a written communication and new photos dated from July 20 to July 30, 2011, showing that Ms. Huuchinhuu Govruud … was frequently beaten by police from the Tongliao city Horchin district Public Security Bureau in eastern [Inner] Mongolia,” the statement said.

Huuchinhuu has been held in Tongliao city under “enforced disappearance” since Jan. 27, when she was released from the hospital following treatment for a stroke.

SMHRIC said Huuchinhuu, an activist and member of the banned Southern Mongolia Democratic Alliance (SMDA), is shown in a photo dated July 20 with a swollen contusion on her forehead, which was “likely caused by a blow from a baton.”

It said fresh bruises on her elbow and the area surrounding her eyes on photos dated July 22, 23, and 30 suggest “she had been beaten multiple times within an interval of 10 days.”

An officer who answered the phone at the Horchin district Public Security Bureau said he had no knowledge of Huuchinhuu being brought to the station.

“We have received no news of the missing person and she has never been detained at our facilities,” the officer said.

Members of Huuchinhuu’s family could not be reached by phone.



House arrest

Huuchinhuu was placed under house arrest on Nov. 11 last year after a brief detention by the Tongliao city Public Security Bureau for rallying Mongols online to gather and show their support for SMDA chief Hada on his expected release from prison.

Hada, who completed a 15-year jail term for “splittism” and “espionage” on Dec. 10 last year, is believed to have been released, but later taken into custody again with his wife and son.

During her house arrest, Huuchinhuu had extremely limited access to the outside world. Her Internet and phone lines were cut off by authorities and more than 20 police in two vehicles guarded her home 24 hours a day.

Huuchinhuu was admitted to the hospital under round-the-clock police guard in late December, but suffered from severe headaches for more than a month before being given medicine to temporarily relieve her pain.

She was believed to have been released from the hospital on Jan. 27 and immediately placed into police detention.

In a November interview, Huuchinhuu said she had not been presented with any legal documents during her arrest.

The U.S. Congressional Executive Commission on China said at the time that Huuchinhuu's house arrest “may have amounted to a form of home confinement that lacks basis in Chinese law.”

Mongolian activist

Huuchinhuu is an active member of the SMDA, an ethnic Mongolian organization that seeks the protection of Mongolian culture, language, and identity, and eventual independence from Chinese rule.

She has written two books dealing with the problems faced by China’s ethnic Mongolians, and hundreds of political essays.

Both of her books, The Stone-hearted Tree and Silent Stone, were recently banned by the Chinese authorities and withdrawn from bookstores.

Huuchinhuu is also a keen advocate of press freedom, helping to run a number of online Mongolian discussion forums, all of which have now been shut down for posting "separatist content" and “discussing ethnic problems."

In August 2007, she was deemed a “possible threat to the national interest and state security of China” after applying for a passport to travel to Mongolia. Her passport application was rejected and she was informed by the Tongliao Public Security Bureau that she could not travel abroad for five years.

Govruud Huuchinhuu was detained by police in the city of Tongliao on Nov. 11, 2010. RFA

Police Detain Nanjing Activists

 

2011-09-08

The group had tried to provide help to a women's-rights campaigner and his family.

RFA

Screen grab of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng from a video showing his life under house arrest.

Police in eastern China have detained the brother of blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng —who is being held under house arrest with his family in Shandong —after he traveled to Nanjing to meet with rights activists and supporters.
Nanjing-based rights activist He Peirong, known by her online nickname as @pearlher, said Chen Guangfu was taken away on Thursday by police, who showed no documentation, after he met up with her and other activists concerned about Chen and his family.
"Six of them charged in all of a sudden," He said, adding that the whole group was taken down to the police station. "The state security police were already waiting there."
"They were wearing plain clothes, and they produced no identification," He said.
She said Chen Guangfu and a group of fellow activists had met up at a hotel in Nanjing, and police used the excuse that they had failed to register their arrival at reception to take them to the police station.
"After they were done checking our identification, they said they wanted us to cooperate with their investigation," He said. "We told them we had no duty to cooperate with them."
She said police had snatched away her cell phone after she took pictures of the raid. "They hurt me," she said. "My hand is cut and bruised."
Attempt to provide help
He Peirong said the activists had been trying to find a way to get money to Chen, who has been incarcerated by local officials in his own home with scant food or possessions along with his wife Yuan Weijing and the couple's school-age daughter.
The Tianwang64 rights website reported the raid, saying that the entire group was taken to the police station to make statements, after which Cheng Guangfu was escorted back to his home county of Yinan, in Shandong.
"The state security police officers who are in charge of minding [Chen Guangfu] took him back with them," said Tianwang founder and Sichuan-based activist Huang Qi.
"[Chen] Guangcheng's brother will probably get taken back to Shandong now," Huang said. "His name is Chen Guangfu."
He Peirong said Chen was eventually taken away, and that one of her fellow activists was beaten by police.
An officer who answered the phone at the Bailuzhou police station where He and her group were taken did not deny the incident.
"You had best speak to her yourself," he said, before hanging up.
Concern for activist, family
Chen's supporters said recently they were concerned for the fate of blind Shandong-based activist Chen Guangcheng and his family, saying the family has been totally cut off from the outside world following nearly a year of unofficial house arrest.
Chen, 38, a self-taught lawyer who has persistently campaigned for women's rights issues, was confined to his home since his release at the end of a jail term of four years and three months for “damaging public property and obstructing traffic” handed down by the Linyi municipal court in August 2006.
Chen had exposed abuses like forced abortions and sterilizations by local family planning officials under China’s “One Child” population-control policy. He had served the full jail term in spite of repeated requests for medical parole.
Journalists and concerned netizens, including He Peirong, have reported being turned back by officials or gangs of men brandishing sticks when they tried to visit Chen's home.
Chinese authorities use house arrest, known in Chinese as "soft detention," as a means of containing and intimidating activists.
Chinese authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on dissent around the country following online, anonymous calls early this year for a "Jasmine" revolution inspired by uprisings in the Middle East.

Election Candidates Held in Beijing

 

2011-09-30

Chinese authorities block election bids by independent candidates.

AFP

Officials count votes at local elections in Wuhu, eastern China's Anhui province, March 20, 2008.

Authorities in Beijing are holding a group of activists under house arrest and administrative detention after they tried to register as independent candidates in district legislative elections, which are usually controlled by the ruling Communist Party.

"All 13 of us independent candidates are now under guard," said Han Ying, who applied to stand for elections to the local tier of her National People's Congress (NPC) ahead of a November poll.

"There are strict orders not to allow any of them to come to my home," said Han, who had planned to launch her election campaign on Friday morning.

The attempt to field ordinary citizens to run against Party-backed candidates, who are not used to serious political opposition, has spread across China, with activists coordinating their attempts online, campaigning on each other's behalf, and trading advice and tips.

"There are a lot of plainclothes officers near my house, and the police come to my home every day to stop me from campaigning and to stop me from meeting with journalists," said Han, from a basement room in another apartment building where she was being held.

She said the police had set crowd barriers some distance from her home and were not allowing journalists to go beyond them.

"If I try to make a phone call they snatch away my cell phone," Han said.

"There were about seven or eight uniformed police and a lot more plainclothes police, and a lot of people from the neighborhood committee," she said.

'Explaining' the rules

Han said she was being held in a small room along with some police officers and some of her local neighborhood committee, who were trying to "explain" the election rules to her.

"I told them I understood the rules, but they insisted on telling me all over again," Han said.

"I told them they didn't have the right to curb my freedom, nor to confiscate my cell phone. They haven't let me go home yet," she said.

An employee who answered the phone at the Wanshousi police station declined to comment.

"We don't really know the situation," the employee said. "You need to ask the Haidian district police station's propaganda department."

A second independent candidate, Ye Qingchun, confirmed there was a strong police presence outside Han's home. She said she was also being held by police at her home in Beijing's Xicheng district.

"This morning I went to the gates of Han Ying's [apartment complex] after a very fierce argument," said Ye, whose police minders eventually agreed to take her there in their car.

"We took a turn near the gates and saw the situation there," she said. "I sat there in the police car but there was no way I was going to be allowed to get out," she said.

Police block entrance

Ye said she saw a large crowd of people at the gate of Han's apartment complex, and at least two police vehicles, as well as a group of people including police at the entrance to the building.

Han said the police intended to prevent her from campaigning in the NPC elections, which take place on Nov. 8 in the capital.

"Their main purpose is to stop me campaigning," she said. "I told them that I was operating within the framework of the law, and that I hadn't broken the law in any way."

Three other candidates had been detained by police on Thursday, fellow campaigners said.

Among them was Wu Lihong, who had been given 15 days' administrative detention by the Chaoyang district court, according to her friend, Wei Hongmei.

"Three people: Wu Lihong, Qi Yueying, and Li Shanlin were all detained," Wei said. "The [other two] were originally Wu Lihong's representatives, arguing her case with the court."

"I don't know why, but they all ended up getting 15 days' detention for obstructing public servants in the course of their duties."

He Depu, a former member of the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP) who stood as a candidate for provincial elections in 1980 and 1998, said the detentions were directly linked to Wu's attempt to run for her district-level NPC.

"This definitely has to do with her NPC election candidacy," said He, who was himself briefly detained by police last week after he tried to help the 13 Beijing-based candidates with their campaign.

"This is a terrible blow to Wu Lihong, because she will no longer be able to campaign as an NPC candidate for that whole time."

'Getting it wrong'

He said the authorities appeared to be gaining confidence in dealing with independent election bids.

"They are getting this badly wrong, because in the end they will lose public trust," he added.

Dozens of political activists across China have joined the campaign to file applications to stand for the elections, in spite of official warnings that there is "no such thing" as an independent candidate.

Official media have said that anyone hoping to stand for elections this year to the district-level congresses will first have to clear "due legal procedures," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

However, activists are hoping to use a clause in the election rules which allows anyone with the endorsement of at least 10 constituents to seek nomination.

Some of the candidates come from the least privileged groups in society, including those who have been forcibly evicted from their homes, or who have long campaigned for their legal rights.

Apart from a token group of "democratic parties" which never oppose or criticize the ruling Communist Party, opposition political parties are banned in China, and those who set them up are frequently handed lengthy jail terms.

More than two million lawmakers at the county and township levels will be elected during nationwide elections, held every five years, in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships from May 7 through December of next year.

国殇日，在泰国民主人士举行抗议活动

      10月1日，是中华民族国殇日，中国人追求半世纪的民主与共和在这一天彻底沦陷，至今依然沦陷。在泰民主人士这一天于大雨中在中共驻泰国大使馆前举行抗议及纪念活动，呼吁独裁者胡锦涛等人早日下台，早日还政于民。同时，他们还籍此机会，举行了辛亥百年纪念活动，在此重申了中国人的百年共和诉求。
     参加本次活动的有中国民主党东南亚委员会主席林大军、中国民主党广西党部总协调人覃夕权、工党东南亚委员会副主席王家辉、在泰民运人士段井刚、李焕明等人。
     在泰民主人士也籍此活动，呼吁泰王国有关部门，早日释放前年国殇日、六.四纪念日在中共驻泰大使馆前举行合法抗议活动而被捕的胡汉民、于盛、姜野飞、赵俊卿等民主人士。同时，也呼吁国际人权组织、海外民运组织关注和帮助这些被捕人士，争取他们早日自由。
     在泰民主人士于活动中表示，现实固然沉重、悲凉，民运也暂时处于低潮，但他们会在黑暗中坚持，在黑暗中寻找光明，活动将会不断举行。活动的目的既是抗议与纪念，也是黑暗中民运人士勇气与坚持力的展示。
     林大军先生说：“其实这种活动我每年都举办，每年都参加，只要中国没有民主，我们会一直坚持。在中华民族的分裂节，我就要用这种方式，提醒中共仍有不同声音在发出。同时，我们也要用这种方式纪念狱中的战友，纪念民主共和的先烈们。”
    
     博讯记者 李焕明
     2011年 10月1日
    
     抗议现场
    

     林大军在布置抗议现场
    

     左一：王家辉
    

     右一：段井刚 右二：林大军 右三：李焕明
    

     右一：覃夕权
    

     左一:王家辉 左二：李焕明
    

     姜野飞
    

     赵俊卿
    

     左一：于盛 右二：胡汉民
    

     2009年6月4日被抓现场