China's Other Voices
Wu'er Kaixi (Uerkesh Davlet), student leader of the protests in 1989, today Secretary General of the Taiwan Parliamentary Human Rights Commission calls for additional pressure on China.
A candle vigil on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre. Photo: WikiCommons.
By Wu'er Kaixi
As Ukraine defends its sovereignty against Russian aggression, it is also time to remember another struggle for freedom and democratic sovereignty that has been unfolding for decades in China.
It is a struggle that most people hear little about because China has become so capable at suppressing news that reaches the outside world, but occasionally we hear of concentration camps in Xinjiang, of forced Han Chinese educational curricula in Tibet, of imprisoned human rights lawyers, of disappeared petitioners who have been dispossessed of their land and other abuses of power.
The one massive abuse of power by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that everyone has heard of is the one that I participated in as a student leader, forcing me into exile 34 years ago.
Today it is usually referred to as the Tiananmen Square Massacre – the CCP’s brutal crushing of a peaceful pro-democracy movement.
I, and other survivors and exiles of that tragedy, today call again for renewed global pressure on Beijing to respect human rights and the rule of law.
Our numbers have grown over the years as China – rather than becoming more open, more tolerant and more accommodating of the diversity of its population – has become an even less tolerant regime than the one I petitioned in my youth.
Today we are joined by Hong Kong democracy activists, Tibetan and Uyghur freedom fighters, and other dissidents who have suffered under the CCP’s tyranny. We appeal to the world to stand with us, as you did in 1989, and to echo our demands directly to the Chinese regime.
We call on China to:
• Dismantle the “Great Firewall” that censors the internet and blocks access to information.
• Release China’s hundreds of thousands of prisoners of conscience.
• Rescind Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
• Stop the genocide of the Uyghur people and end all other suppression of so-called ethnic groups such as the Tibetans.
It is time, for example, that the Chinese regime respected the rights and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong, who have been living under a draconian national security law that violates the promises made by Beijing in the Sino-British Declaration and the Basic Law. And it must end its brutal campaign of repression and genocide against the Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang, where more than a million people are detained in concentration camps.
The four demands listed above should not be negotiable. They are the minimum requirements for China to be considered a responsible member of the international community – a community that collectively upholds the universal values of human dignity and freedom. The demands also speak to the aspirations of millions of Chinese people who have been silenced and oppressed by the CCP for decades.
If China meets these demands, we will be ready to engage in further dialogue and cooperation on issues such as media freedom, judicial independence, civil liberties and democratic reform. These are not only our rights as Chinese citizens, but also our duties as global citizens. We dream of a world in which China is a partner, not an adversary – a nation that can work with other nations to build a more peaceful and prosperous world.
This is not something we should wait to happen; 34 years ago, we witnessed the massacre of our fellow students and citizens who were peacefully protesting for a more inclusive future, for a future in which the people were allowed to have their say.
But the reality is that the regime has grown more powerful, more aggressive, threatening its neighbors and undermining the rules-based international order – and that has happened because the world has failed to hold China accountable for its atrocities and abuses.
We urge the leaders and people of the free world to stand with us and amplify our voices. We urge the leaders and people of the free world to make our demands the basis for any engagement with China. We urge the leaders and people of the free world to make our demands a condition for all further economic and trade relations with China.
We urge them to act now, before it is too late.
Wu'er Kaixi is a former student leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and a democracy activist.
Editing for clarity by Chris Taylor
Note to subscribers
Apologies for the lengthy delay in posts but I have recently moved from Bangkok to Taipei, where I’m taking up the role of China correspondent with RFA. ChinaDiction will be more sporadic in future and focused on guest editorials and book reviews with China/Taiwan focus.
Chris