An online campaign has urged people in 13 Chinese cities to rally every Sunday to press for government transparency and free expression, following a call last week for Middle East-style protests.
The new call, posted this week on the overseas-based Web site Boxun.com, appeared to be from the same group behind a mysterious Web campaign for protests last Sunday echoing those rocking the Arab world.
That earlier call to action sparked a heavy police turnout at designated protest sites in Beijing and other cities. They appeared lightly attended, however, and free of major incident.
“What we need to do now is to put pressure on the Chinese ruling party,” the renewed appeal said. “If the party does not conscientiously fight corruption and accept the supervision of the people, then will it please exit the stage of history.”
Apparently attempting to make a statement without falling foul of China’s security forces, participants were urged not to take any overt action, but encouraged to merely show up for the 2pm “strolling” protests.
“We invite every participant to stroll, watch, or even just pretend to pass by. As long as you are present, the authoritarian government will be shaking with fear,” it said.
China’s government has indicated growing unease over the wave of Middle East unrest, heavily censoring or blocking media reports and online discussion of the upheaval, which has toppled presidents in Tunisia and Egypt.
The call for weekly “Jasmine rallies” — a reference to Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” — was labeled as an “open letter” to China’s rubber-stamp parliament.
The National People’s Congress is scheduled to open its annual session on March 5.
The online appeal appeared to set the stage for a protracted, but low-pressure bid to push the Chinese Communist Party for change, using the heavily policed Internet and word-of-mouth to get the message out.
The letter echoed a number of the Arab grievances, including anger over government corruption, a lack of transparency and official accountability, and the stifling of freedom of expression.
“If the government is not sincere about solving the problems, but only wants to censor the Internet and block information to suppress the protests, the protests will only get stronger,” it said.
Police turned out in force at the gathering site in central Beijing on Sunday, but there were no overt demonstrations.
At least two people were seen being taken away by police, one for cursing at authorities and another who shouted: “I want food to eat!”
No mention of the new protest call could immediately be seen circulating on China-based Web sites or blogs.
Other cities covered under the new call range from Harbin in the far northeast to Guangzhou in the south.
Chinese authorities have so far detained two people for spreading the earlier protest appeal on the Internet, while another was in custody after making public statements at a demonstration site in Harbin, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.
Human rights campaigners say police have taken away at least 100 activists or rights lawyers amid official unease after the Middle East problems and as authorities tighten security for the parliament session.
US-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday criticized the crackdown and in particular the disappearance of three noted Beijing-based human rights lawyers — Teng Biao (滕彪), Tang Jitian (唐吉田) and Jiang Tianyong (江天勇).
“The authorities have failed to give any reason or formal notification to their relatives, and all three are believed to be at risk of ill-treatment and torture,” it said in a statement.
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
SCAM CLAMPDOWN: About 130 South Korean scam suspects have been sent home since October last year, and 60 more are still waiting for repatriation Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia were yesterday returned to South Korea to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of Korean criminal suspects from abroad. The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow Koreans out of 48.6 billion won (US$33 million), South Korea said. Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon International Airport aboard a chartered plane, the suspects — 65 men and eight women — were sent to police stations. Local TV footage showed the suspects, in handcuffs and wearing masks, being escorted by police officers and boarding buses. They were among about 260 South
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
RSS