Scant Support in Taipei for Liu Xiaobo Release

Sam Hargadine, ContributorLast Modified: 11:51 a.m. EDT, 1 March 2013

CHINA - The Taipei Times reported Thursday that several human rights activists from Mainland China have formally petitioned the Taiwanese President to assist in the release of Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel laureate.

Liu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for his work criticizing one party rule in China. He was unable to collect his prize due to his current eleven-year prison sentence.

In Taipei, exiled Chinese are pressuring the island’s democratically elected President, Ma Ying-jeou, who they say ought to file grievance with Beijing over the treatment of Liu.

Wang Dan, a petitioner, stated: “As a nation that stands behind universal values of human rights, I hope that Taiwanese will not forget their obligations to help promote human rights protection around the world, including in China.”

Wang later asserted that it would be unwise for the Taiwanese people to ignore Liu Xiaobo’s plight because it could harm cross-strait exchanges if China “remains a superpower in human rights violations.”

The opposition party in Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), emphasizes differences with the mainland and flirts with the idea of declaring independence from China. They have taken to the petition and are also pressuring the current President to make an official statement of support for Liu.

Despite this, President Ma is unlikely to act. He did not formally receive the petitioners when they delivered their appeal to the Presidential Office. Additionally, Ma’s democratic mandate largely rests on Taiwan’s desire for peaceful and profitable relations with the mainland. Antagonizing Beijing on this subject will do little to help that aim.

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Yu Jie, Chinese Dissident | U.S. Asylum?

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 22:43 PM EDT, 16 January 2012

CHINA - Yu Jie, age 38,  is a writer and Chinese dissident who was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Yu has been a strong proponent of freedom of speech and an active participant in China's human rights movement. In 2006 as vice-president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center he and two other dissidents met with President George W. Bush at the White House.

On Friday, January 13, 2011, Yu petitioned for exile in the United States, vowing to give a graphic account of the year he was confined under house arrest, including episodes of torture endured by he and other Chinese dissidents during last year's crackdown.

Yu has openly expressed his own views about the increased suppression of free speech in China, and as one of China's most prominent Christian dissidents, he is vociferous in his condemnation of the Communist Party's antipathy toward religion and political criticism.

Unlike Liu Xiabo, who is currently jailed by the Chinese government, Yu is allowed to travel. Liu was convicted in 2009 on charges of inciting subversion and sentenced to 11 years in jail. His jailing and secretive house arrest of his wife Liu Xia, have become the focus of an international outcry over China's punishment of dissent.

Yu said authorities became heavy-handed after Liu Xiaobo, won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Similar to Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi; Yu was confined under house arrest in an attempt to intimidate and silence him. As the Arab Spring spread across the Middle East the Chinese Communist Party directed police to detain hundreds of dissidents, activists and protest organizers to quash similar uprisings.

The announcement by Yu of his desire to seek asylum, precedes a possible visit to Washington by Chinese leader-in-waiting, Vice President Xi Jinping. China's Communist Party is preparing for a leadership handover late this year to Vice President Xi, and the party is determined to fend off challenges to its rule by tightly controlling its media image.

Yu's writings have been censored in mainland China, and 5 years ago after he drew nationwide attention because his dissidence, his works were banned completely. However, his writings continue to be published in Hong Kong and abroad.

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Liu Xiaobo | The Power of Words

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 14:07 PM EDT, 27 December 2009

CHINA - This blog addresses many issues regarding human rights and seeks to encourage the reader to act even if it is through sharing a post or video. Somewhere in the world today, some person or group of people are being treated inhumanely. We blithely read about such abuses, but we live in a society where we can insulate and anesthetize ourselves to their suffering.

It is true that sometimes all of the evil and hatred in the world seems ubiquitous and insurmountable, and the natural human reaction is to shrink away and adopt a protective sphere around family and personal friends, or to remain silent and bury one's head like the proverbial ostrich. These however are not the only choices available to us.

In Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the spoken word is accorded with reverence because of the creative power inherent in thought, which leads to spoken communication, which leads to action otherwise known as creation. It is a simple concept, but in our current world where spiritual, faith-based, intangible concepts are under attack as being childish and atavistic, the need to control our thoughts and words and thus what we creatively manifest is of the utmost importance and urgency.

In the recent past, we have had many great souls stand up on behalf of humanity, however, just as many quietly but effectively work in the shadows and are never elevated onto the world stage. People like Nelson Mandela, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. are notable and internationally recognized figures. Now Liu Xiaobo joins their ranks as one who is less known today, but who may in the future be the defining face of freedom of speech in China.  Because of this Xiaobo was  sentenced this past Friday to 11 years imprisonment by the Chinese government.

The video below was disseminated to Amnesty International supporters with instructions to share it with as wide an audience as possible. Although I am not an ardent supporter of the United Nations, because I feel it has not lived up to the ideals for which it was created; I also recognize that its ineffectiveness lies in its membership, which is composed of individuals who are representatives of governments and corporations with interests that are often contrary to human dignity and well-being.  This does not, however, diminish the power of the dream, for in dreams are the realities of tomorrow.

The poem by Martin Niemöller, a Protestant pastor and social activist sums up the essence of this post, and will I hope provide you with a reminder that tyranny and abuse does not stop with its intended victim.

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

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