The first stanza of “It’s Time,” a poem by Chinese writer Zhu Yufu’s is rousing:
It’s time, people of China! It’s time.
The Square belongs to everyone.
With your own two feet
It’s time to head to the Square and make your choice.
(Translation by A.E. Clark)
On Jan. 31, the poem, which was circulated online, was cited by prosecutors in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou as evidence that the veteran dissident had ‘incited subversion of state power,’ a charge that has resulted in long prison sentences for other activists in recent months. In court, Zhu, who turns 59 this month, was accused of using the poem as a rallying cry for an attempt by Chinese democracy activists to inspire a Jasmine Revolution-style uprising in China. The anonymous online activism—which may have been less a coherent movement than a few isolated appeals for reform—failed. Since last spring, when the Arab world began its democratic convulsions, Beijing has cracked down tightly on dissent, detaining or jailing dozens of people who have dared to speak out against the government and its policies. Those who have been targeted include writers like Zhu, lawyers, journalists and artists, among others.
Zhu spent seven years in jail from 1999-2006 for helping found the China Democracy Party, an unregistered organization that was quickly crushed when the authorities jailed its leaders. While behind bars, the former magazine editor was forced to spend time in solitary confinement, a common tactic for breaking recalcitrant political prisoners. He then was sentenced to another prison stint in 2007-09 for supposedly pushing a police officer.
Prosecutors told the court that Zhu, in addition to his poetry-writing, had engaged in fundraising for political prisoners and had given interviews with foreign media that he used to attack the Chinese government and its governing ideology, according to Human Rights in China, the New York-based NGO. (A verdict in Zhu’s case is likely this month.)
In late January, Human Rights Watch, another New York-based watchdog, released its annual list analyzing human-rights conditions all over the world. China did not fare well:
Against a backdrop of rapid socio-economic change and modernization, China continues to be an authoritarian one-party state that imposes sharp curbs on freedom of expression, association, and religion; openly rejects judicial independence and press freedom; and arbitrarily restricts and suppresses human rights defenders and organizations, often through extra-judicial measures.
The government also censors the internet; maintains highly repressive policies in ethnic minority areas such as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia; systematically condones—with rare exceptions—abuses of power in the name of “social stability” ; and rejects domestic and international scrutiny of its human rights record as attempts to destabilize and impose “Western values” on the country. The security apparatus—hostile to liberalization and legal reform—seems to have steadily increased its power since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. China’s “social stability maintenance” expenses are now larger than its defense budget.
The People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, published an indignant rebuttal on Jan. 29, one of many official media responses to the Human Rights Watch report:
It seems that some Western countries and NGOs have set out to attack China over its human rights issues. They first assume that human rights are being ignored, then seek evidence from rumors, and make speculations to blindly accuse China of violating human rights with the real purpose of distorting China’s international image.
It is acknowledged that China’s human rights development is at an unprecedented stage and current progress is significant.
Why does the West still hold a prejudice against China’s human rights? The only reason is that the Cold War mentality and ideological hegemony still prevails. As long as China is a socialist country, the West will insist on distorting its image and see China as a threat to the Western system.
There’s also another line of defense used by supporters of the Chinese government: China has lifted millions out of poverty, they say, which is a fundamental human-right accomplishment. That is true—and it’s a remarkable achievement. But does that excuse a government for a continuing crackdown on those who dare to question the authorities? After all, only in countries like China can words of verse, however stirring, invite prison time.
Here’s the last stanza of Zhu’s poem:
It’s time, people of China! It’s time.
China belongs to everyone.
Of your own will
It’s time to choose what China shall be.