Since first emerging in Tunisia, the “Jasmine Revolution” has faced much resistance, especially in Libya, Yemen and Syria. In China, too, any suggestion of a Jasmine Revolution has been met with severe suppression. In February, when the revolution had just started, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said he approved of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, claiming that the suppression of the student movement had been necessary. After two months of bombardment by NATO forces, Qaddafi remains resolute, refusing to step down or go into exile.
Despite frequent civil unrest and unprecedented levels of international pressure, China continues to suppress human rights supporters and dissidents, as well as Christian churches. It seems that neither the Libyan nor the Chinese totalitarian regime will just disappear, although it is likely the Libyan regime will fall first, owing to Western military intervention. China, on the other hand, has been intensifying the suppression of its people — starting with its strong objection to the human rights activist Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) winning the Nobel Peace Prize — fearing the spread of the nascent Jasmine Revolution of North Africa and the Middle East into China.
From April this year, the Beijing Shouwang Church has been holding services outdoors, persisting even though the Chinese government has responded by arresting worshipers every Sunday for the past seven weeks, and putting still more worshipers and preachers under house arrest. The church has refused to back down and the government has kept up its suppression. Similar treatment has been given to other churches throughout China, such as the Shanghai Wanbang Xuanbao Church, Guangzhou Liangren Church and the Early Rain Reformed Church in Chengdu.
The Shouwang Church began in 1993 as a bible study group of less than 10 people. By 2005, after merging with similar churches, it had expanded into a large church of a thousand members and began renting offices for meetings. In 2006, it applied for permission to establish a church, and the State Administration for Religious Affairs insisted that it obtain an official Three Self Church license. The church declined, wanting to maintain its independent status. After this, the government turned down its application and took action to suppress it, making sure that no one would rent the church members the premises they needed. On Nov. 1, 2009, the church held a get-together in a park, followed by a bigger outdoor service the week after. Nobody was arrested during this time because US President Barack Obama was visiting China at the time.
Later, when the church had purchased a property with funds it had raised itself, the government ensured that it did not receive the keys. The outcome of this was that, having nowhere to hold its services, the church members continued to congregate in outdoor locations and the authorities continued the arrests.
This is by no means an isolated case: There have been many examples of confrontation with the government recently, similar to these clashes with church groups, but by no means restricted to religion. The Mothers of Tiananmen — a group consisting of mothers of the student victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre who are seeking recompense — for example, has been shunned by the government, and has had its progress hindered and its members detained. It is truly amazing that a totalitarian regime such as this has survived for as long as it has.
Chiu Hei-yuan is a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Sociology.
TRANSLATED BY KATHERINE WEI
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