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.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese