World

Chinese Communists Criticize Country’s Free Speech: ‘False Democracy’

BEIJING (AP) — A group of Communist Party elders in China have issued a bold call to end the country’s wide-ranging restrictions on free speech, just days after the government reacted angrily to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo.

In an open letter posted online, the retired officials state that although China’s 1982 constitution guarantees freedom of speech, the right is constrained by a host of laws and regulations which should be scrapped.

“This kind of false democracy of affirming in principle and denying in actuality is a scandal in the history of democracy,” said the letter, which was dated Monday and widely distributed by e-mail.

It called on the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, to scrap restrictions on publication and implement a system of post-facto review as many other nations did long ago.

“Our current system of censoring news and publications is 315 years behind Britain and 129 years behind France,” the letter said.

Censorship has become so reflexive and restrictive that even passages urging political reform were expunged from official media reports on speeches by Premier Wen Jiabao, the letter said. Wen has drawn attention in recent weeks with a series of unusually direct calls for the communist system to evolve.

“Not even the nation’s premier has freedom of publication,” the letter said.

China implements overlapping and usually unwritten rules and regulations on what can or cannot be published, but the final call is made by the Communist Party’s shadowy Central Propaganda Department. Members of the department regularly notify editors about what topics are taboo, usually by telephone to avoid leaving a paper trail, with the list changing constantly depending on events.

The letter described the department an “invisible black hand” and questioned what right it had to override both the government and the premier.

Signatories to the letter include Li Rui, the former secretary to revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, and other retired high officials in state media and the propaganda apparatus who were once themselves responsible for enforcing strict censorship.

While making no direct mention of Liu’s Nobel Prize, the letter further spotlights China’s tight restrictions on freedom of speech and other civil rights.

Liu, a 54-year-old literary critic, is now in the second year of an 11-year prison term after being convicted of inciting subversion over his role in writing an influential 2008 manifesto for political reform.

China‘s government has denounced Liu’s prize as an attempt to interfere in its political and legal systems and said it would harm relations with Norway, where an independent committee presents the Nobel Peace Prize each year.

The government insists it guarantees freedoms and points to vast improvements in incomes and quality of life among its citizens as evidence that the one-party authoritarian system is best suited to the country’s realities.

Calls to the National People‘s Congress’ news office rang unanswered on Wednesday.

Li, who is in his 90s, is hospitalized and could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could most other signatories to the letter.

However, Wang Yongcheng, a retired professor at Shanghai’s Jiaotong University who signed the letter, said it had been inspired by the recent arrest of a journalist who wrote about corruption in the resettlement of farmers for a dam project.

“We want to spur action toward governing the country according to law,” Wang said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

“If the constitution is violated, the government will lack legitimacy. The people must assert and exercise their legitimate rights,” he said.

Comments (39)

1 2
  • SummerB
    Posted on October 14, 2010 at 4:45am

    With this article & Indonesia revoking book-banning, it seems that many dictorial countries are moving toward democracy. Nice to see. Now, all we have to do is maintain our freedoms.

    Report Post »  
  • Lone Wanderer
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 10:31pm

    Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s nice to see the beginning of the end of chinese censorship policies. How long until there’s a “China” devision of The Blaze?

    Report Post »  
  • Contrarian51
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 10:13pm

    It will be interesting to see if China actually starts allowing free expression or if we just find out there’s a new batch of dead “Communist Party elders in China” showing up soon.

    Not saying that it will be but this has the potential to be a big deal.

    Report Post »  
  • Ronko
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 10:00pm

    China‘s a joke I can’t believe this country is going to overtake the USA in a couple years and become a bigger superpower. This is the same country 21 yrs ago that killed protesters because they didn’t want the protest to spread around the country.

    Report Post »  
  • Patrick in AZ
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 5:58pm

    The Communist Chinese are paying President Obama’s salary – I wonder if those foreign donations bother him.

    Report Post » Patrick in AZ  
  • saneromeo
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 5:03pm

    This is scary. Before the European Union was formed there was about a 20 year period of homogenization in laws and regulations that occurred so that when they decided to unite, it would all work together. I see the world doing the same thing right now, China advocating free speech?!, Ahmendijad calling on the Pope to unite against secularism?!, almost all of south/central America filing amycus briefs on a U.S. constitutional matter!?, the Kyoto accord?! Add these things together
    and you have global geovernance…
    check spp.org to read about the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America signed by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

    Report Post » saneromeo  
  • BoilitDown
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 4:41pm

    This is a defining moment in China’s history. The fact that it was posted online is incouraging. We’ll just have to pay attention to where it goes from here.

    Report Post »  
  • wash1776
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 3:19pm

    Just because this communist country is carrying our debt doesn’t give them the right to run our affairs. They ought to just shut up.

    Report Post »  
  • jamesctheman
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 3:10pm

    This isn’t some shocking revelation coming from the Chinese. They’re Communnists. They don’t like people speaking out against the government. Total control of your life kinda thing. Social countries have always done this so no one will actually talk about how bad things really are or if they can speak out there’s not really anything politically they can do about it. Not enough people willing to stand behind the movement. In America we are a little different. We have this little wild streak in us that makes reject the re-establishment because there has been a lot of changes in the government since our founding. This is why the Tea Party/9/12 ers & the like have risen up. We want to stop the move towards a restrictive government & policies that impede our liberty & business. So I’ll take my free speech & keep it thank you.

    Report Post » jamesctheman  
  • Contrarianthinker
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 1:41pm

    Let’s cheer on those who advocate for free speach. If China moves more and more to free markerts and provides greater freedoms, she will easily out strip the USA economically and politically. FWIW, I’ve moved most of my investments out of the USA to countries in the Far East. Voting with my dollars will catch the attention of both the GOP and DP that they better restore quickly our freedoms and the Constitutional Republic. It’s a form of boycott but making me a lot of money too. Try it, you’ll like it.

    Report Post »  
  • Endstatism
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 1:02pm

    Free speech is under attack worldwide. Western Europe is heading toward totalitarian style control on speech under the guise of protecting groups from being offended. We all know whats going on in Russia and Venezuela. You can be sure if the progressives get their global governance, freedom of speech, expression and the right to dissent will be severely limited if not completely outlawed

    Report Post » Endstatism  
  • Masamune
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 12:53pm

    I’ll believe it when I see it China.

    Report Post »  
  • imareader
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 12:44pm

    On the ‘black hand’ topic.. it could never happen here…Right?
    ‘WaPo Reports DHS Will Keep Its Probe Secret on Drunk-Driving Illegal Alien Who Killed Nun’
    ..”The Obama administration will not release the results of an investigation into why an illegal immigrant with two drunken-driving convictions went almost two years without a deportation hearing before a crash that killed a nun, a senior official said.
    …The inquiry is complete, but Homeland Security does not plan to make the results public, according to the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter…”
    http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2010/10/13/wapo-reports-dhs-will-keep-its-probe-secret-drunk-driving-illegal-alien-

    Report Post »  
    • untameable-kate
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 2:48pm

      Obama era transparence equals complete and utter information blackout Otherwise it is too hard to keep the Obamazombies in line.

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
  • historypaper
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 12:08pm

    The author of the open letter will be killed?

    Report Post » historypaper  
  • starman70
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 12:04pm

    When old line Communists complain about censorship and encourage free speech,the situation must really be bad.

    Just look what Obama and his goonie at the FCC want to do to talk radio and free thought in America. Welcome to libturd America!

    Report Post »  
    • M31Sailor
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 3:45pm

      Star
      We are never gonna hear from these elders again. They will be fertilizer for rice paddies or mixed in with the lead paint on all those McDonalds happy meal toys
      Sailor

      Report Post » M31Sailor  
  • Amerigo Vespucci
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 11:47am

    What China needs is an old fashioned Revolution…Yes, many will die. But men who live without freedom are already dead. They just don’t know it.

    Report Post » Amerigo Vespucci  
  • powhatan
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 11:05am

    People..it is going to be a bumpy ride…but we will keep our liberties and get those back that have been stolen!

    Report Post » powhatan  
  • EqualJustice
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 10:15am

    GET READY for Global Governance and that might mean China rules? Check this out from the Director of National Intelligence!
    http://www.foia.cia.gov/2025/2025_Global_Governance.pdf

    Report Post » EqualJustice  
  • chickenlittle
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 9:25am

    How long before the Chinese come over to claim what they have bought and paid for? We’ve been selling the U.S. to them for years. Should be the biggest foreclosure sale in the history of the world… and guess who’ll be evicted?

    @FREE2B… I eat a lot of rice… I buy at Sam’s Club in quantity… all produced in Iowa! We grow our own rice, but anything manufactured, the Aisians do for us.

    Report Post » chickenlittle  
    • chickenlittle
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 9:41am

      How timely was the post I wrote above? I just saw this on another site…

      http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/China_stakes_claim_to_S_Texas_oil_gas_104753969.html

      Report Post » chickenlittle  
    • EqualJustice
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 10:24am

      I live in an apple growing state and our local grocery stores sell apple juice and other apple products using apples from EVERYWHERE BUT our state. (Paraguay, Uraguay, Brazil, China.. etc etc etc) This has been going on for years. Many orchards can’t compete with all the Government and EPA regulations and are slowly going out of business altogether. Imagine they can’t sell an apple cheaper than one from so far away? There is no level playing field in many industries now. Without a lot of the same regulations, you are sure to get an inferior product. Such a shame and I know they use chemicals that are BANNED here. What’s the point then?

      Report Post » EqualJustice  
    • thepatriotdave
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 11:40am

      To EqualJustice,

      You reminded me of an un-acceptable situation where I live.

      Back in 2008 our county had one million dollars left over in their budget so they started to look for ways to spend it. In 2009 they found it. They paid an OUT-OF-STATE sign company to make very artsy looking informational signs the were to be installed over the county (we have 16 sign companies right here in our county, most of which could have done the job).

      The signs were installed in Jan and Feb of this year. Within 4 months these signs started to come apart. All the lettering, with all that important info on the signs literally began to peel off. As each month goes by the problem gets worse. They are NOT fixed yet. The reason is… the OUT-OF-STATE sign company is trying to figure how much they will charge to fix THEIR SIGNS!

      Government is broken even on the local level. If anyone here is ok with this situation, then DO NOT vote in Nov.

      PatriotShops.com

      Report Post » thepatriotdave  
    • chickenlittle
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 12:08pm

      Very first paragraph ties this to the multi-billion dollar Chinese investment in the Texas oil and gas article in the link above… Remember way back in the E.U. days, when central committees decided which country could grow which things. One story reported on fruit trees being uprooted in Britain because another country was awarded the apple market…Elections here are focused on diverting attention from serious, long-building concerns. Much more is at stake than promises and personalities.

      Report Post » chickenlittle  
  • free2bme1961
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 8:46am

    Woa,,,I can’t eat rice every day : ( have they been shipping mass quantities over here yet……?

    Report Post » free2bme1961  
  • barrycooper
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 8:42am

    I think it now needs to be admited that China has evolved into simple Fascism. The irony, of course, is that Fascist was–for the hive-mind–just as bad an insult as bourgeois and imperialist.

    The reality, of course, is that the Chinese have simply recreated a new ruling aristocracy that is more repressive than nearly any in their history. They have more technology, so they can find and stifle critics more quickly. It bears some resemblance to their Qin Dynasty, which ruled with an iron fist, and sought to purge the land of all documents that did not originate with the government. They held mass book burnings, and–since many learned people had memorized large parts of their tradition–buried scholars alive, which is a treatment one saw revived under Mao.

    Clearly, the “People” who matter are the ruling class, who are simply bourgeois elitists dominating the actual workers of China. And China is clearly a Republic for that small group–they can vote amongst themselves–but a fascist tyranny for everyone else.

    Surely there are more persons of genuine conscience there who can recognize how farcical it is that they even PRETEND that they have liberated anyone, or that whatever gains they are making now could not have been made without killing ten’s of millions of people.

    LIberation means rights. If they grant rights–particularly the right to vote on who represents you–then and only then will the “Republic” in their name will stop being a lie.

    Report Post »  
  • LLATPOH
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 8:18am

    What‘s disturbing is the report Beck held up a week or two ago saying that China’s system is now the ideal one.

    Oh, the job we have to do.

    Report Post »  
  • chazman
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 8:08am

    Communism sucks …

    Report Post »  
    • adifftake
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 8:31am

      and kills by the millions.

      Report Post »  
    • thepatriotdave
      Posted on October 13, 2010 at 10:56am

      They learned well from thier neighbors to the north, the Soviet Union. I got this from another blog. This is a statement from a little unknown historical figure who helped to make Communism stick in the Soviet Union. We need to pay close attention to what he said!

      “We asked for freedom of the press, thought, and civil liberties in the past because we were in the opposition and needed these liberties to conquer. Now that we have conquered, there is no longer any need for such civil liberties.”
      -Bukharin, 1917

      PatriotShops.com

      Report Post » thepatriotdave  
  • WestOfThePecos
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 7:54am

    “The letter described the department an “invisible black hand” and questioned what right it had to override both the government and the premier”..This could have been Van Jones or any of Obama’s Czars..

    Report Post » WestOfThePecos  
  • LibertarianEven
    Posted on October 13, 2010 at 7:49am

    So it would seem that all the other countries in the world are very keen on Free Speach, while we go in the other direction. We used to lead in this area.

    Report Post » LibertarianEven  
1 2

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love