Liu Xiaobo and Human Rights in China

The Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ (United Nations 1948). In western countries, the postulate of human rights, individual freedom, and democracy are foundations of civil liberties. However, the People’s Republic of China, also known as mainland China – an official member of the United Nations Council on Human Rights, is still notorious as the largest civil liberties trespasser in modern history. Although “China’s Charter 08” was an effort to reclaim China’s approach to ultimate civil liberties, it actually emerges a discordant society in which mainland Chinese citizen’s fundamental human rights are infringed.

In order to find the answer to this problem, the Beijing’s regime’s attitudes toward the concepts of freedom of speech and “China’s Charter 08” will be analysed. Furthermore, the case of Liu Xiaobo, the author of “China’s Charter 08” will be used to assess and support the analysis.

“China’s Charter 08”, was co-authored by Liu Xiaobo, a political dissident, activist and former academic who was awarded 2010’s Nobel Peace Prize. When the document was first published in 2008, it was signed and advocated by more than 300 Chinese activists, academics, dissidents, and other pre-eminent people in Chinese political society (Foster 2010).The document requires political reforms and advocates a conclusion to single-party rule in China. Then goes on to propound a blueprint for ultimate political and social change which is ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’ (Link 2009). This ambitious charter is not only requiring for individuals freedom and human rights. It also asks for new constitution, federated republic, separation of powers, civic education, social security and protection of the environment. However, its co-author Liu Xiaobo was arrested two months after the publication and imprisoned for 11 years for the crime of “subversion of state power” (Drezner 2009). There is no doubt that under Beijing’s regime’s point of view, “China’s Charter 08” has been labelled as a reactionary propaganda and Liu Xiaobo is known as a die-hard who attempted to stage a coup d’état against his own government.

As the case may be, people were just idealizing that China, the economic tiger, the cultural dragon, would regard freedom of speech and political dissent as fundamental civil liberties as they have relaxed economic laws and permit their citizens to cumulate giant fortunes. But the answer is a big no, it appears that Beijing’s regime would chastise without mercy any activists, political dissidents, etc… who dare to criticize the decay government or require political reforms (Sotheby’s Institute of Art 2011). Over the last twenty years, hundreds of prominent political figures, activists, dissidents have been apprehended, some simply sinking into oblivion or disappearing into custody. Liu Xiaobo is perhaps the most prominent and noticeable of those detained with his prestigious Nobel peace Prize for standing up to the Beijing’s regime and requiring political reforms regardless of the government’s savage contradiction. Without any doubt, China’s government has stripped its citizens of their rights, annihilated their dignity, and contaminated fundamental civil liberties. And this leads to a set of questions: ‘Where is China headed in the twenty-first century? Will it continue with "modernisation" under authoritarian rule, or will it embrace universal human values, join the mainstream of civilised nations, and build a democratic system?’ (Link 2009).

Mainland China is one of the very last five communist countries in the world. The regime is controlled by the Communist Party of China (CPC) who implements serious constraints in multiple human rights extents. The Party demarcates fundamental human rights for all Chinese citizens, such as, the freedom of press, assembly, religion, speech, demonstrate, etc. However, the validity of these ultimate rights is not granted to the citizens and the infringements of human rights are still confronted by Western countries. Some conspicuous annihilation of dignity and outrage of human rights in China include media censorship, wrongdoing of capital punishment, inequality of rural-urban, and insufficiency of political and religious freedom, especially the serious intervention to the Tibet Autonomous Region. Although the freedom of speech is claimed as an ultimate right in the Chinese constitution, it is frequent spoken but less practiced. Constituents of the Communist Party of China are required to be irreligionists. Trespass of this rule can confine their financial prospects and even be expelled from the Party. In addition, censorship of media extinguishes any judgment towards Beijing’s regime and members of human rights organizations risk being apprehended (Ramzy 2010). The most obvious example for this restriction is the case of Liu Xiaobo. In western countries, he is best known as the leader of Chinese dissidents and awarded prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. But very few people inside mainland China have ever heard his name either have a chance to read the “China’s Charter 08” (Human Rights house foundation 2010). This leads to another question: Why the Beijing’s regime suppresses the Charter? The document does not mention anything about dialogue, but it does criticise a little bit about the nature of Beijing’s regime (Lam 2008). And of course, there is no authenticated statement from the government except the distinction between the government stated on Liu Xiaobo and that disseminated worldwide that he is a brave Chinese human rights defender (Human Rights house foundation 2010). Some questions rose up from western society: Is 21st century the moment that Beijing’s regime corrupted? Or will history repeat itself in which there will be another bloody crackdown of a mass disturbance (Drezner 2010). And has ‘Big Brother is watching you’ (George Orwell 1948, p. 3) been upgraded to a whole new level?

In conclusion, “China’s Charter 08” is a liberating document from liberal perspectives, an extraordinary effort to redeem the progress of approaching basic civil liberties in mainland China. It actually reveals a disturbance society in which mainland Chinese citizen’s ultimate human rights are encroached, which can be observed thoroughly via the troublesome story of Liu Xiaobo. It is obvious that freedom of speech is the basic postulate of human rights, the provenance of humanity, and the genesis of truth. To restrain freedom of speech and human rights, the Beijing’s regime is isolating itself from the rest of the world as well as its own people (Xiaobo 2008).

Reference List

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Foster, P 2010, ‘Nobel Peace Prize: the Fundamental Principles of Charter 08’, Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph – Telegraph, 10 Dec. Available from: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8192479/Nobel-Peace-Prize-the-fundamental-principles-of-Charter-08.html>. [19 May 2011].



Human Rights House Foundation 2010, The Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo Highlights the Fight for Democracy, Human Rights House Foundation, Available from: <http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/15202.html> [21 May 2011].



Lam, O 2008, ‘China: Charter 08, to Be Free and Fearless’, Global Voices, 15 Dec. Available from: <http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/12/15/china-charter-08-to-be-free-and-fearless/> [21 May 2011].



Orwell, G 1948, ‘Chapter 1’, in Nineteen Eighty Four, Secker and Warburg, London, pp. 3.



Ramzy, A 2010, ‘China Blocks News on Nobel Winner, Charter 08 Essayist Liu Xiaobo’ TIME, 11 Oct. Available from: <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2024755,00.html> [21 May 2010].



United Nations 1948, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, Available from: < http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml> [22 May 2011].



Xiaobo, L 2008, ‘Nobel Prize: Liu Xiaobo's Final Statement’ BBC, 10 Dec, Available from: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11971698>. [22 May 2011].