
Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit - sharetea
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/26/chinese-activists-family-taken-away-over-letter-calling-for-xi-jinping-to-quit
======
Mikeb85
Here's the letter: [http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/03/open-letter-devoted-
par...](http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/03/open-letter-devoted-party-
members-urge-xis-resignation/)

One of the lines, a veiled threat to his safety:

> We are worried that this type of inner-Party power struggle may also bring
> risks to the personal safety of you and your family.

~~~
studentrob
Wow this letter is fascinating. It is really well written to educate people
about policies around which they could rally. I wonder how many Chinese have
read this. Probably not much will come of it but it is cool to see some people
sacrificing themselves to educate the population. I think Chinese are, on
balance, in a greater state of fear / hypochondria than even Americans. They
can't even protest. Who knows though, maybe we will live to see free speech in
China. That would be nuts.

------
forrestthewoods
Disney will threaten to stop filming in Georgia over an anti-LGBT law. But
they will gladly enter a business partnership with the communist Chinese
government to build a theme park.

~~~
maratd
More context here: [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433238/disney-
georgia-...](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433238/disney-georgia-gay-
discrimination-bill-religious-liberty-law)

------
jimrandomh
Does anyone have a link to the letter itself, preferably in English
translation? Making sense of this story depends a lot on the content of that
letter and on whether any accusations in it are true.

~~~
Mikeb85
Here you go: [http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/03/open-letter-devoted-
par...](http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/03/open-letter-devoted-party-
members-urge-xis-resignation/)

It does contain threats to Xi Jinping and his family for his anti-corruption
campaign, so that may explain the state's reaction.

> We are worried that this type of inner-Party power struggle may also bring
> risks to the personal safety of you and your family.

------
elevensies
Does anyone care to speculate on the odds that the Communist Party of China
loses power/control in the next 5 years? 10 years? From the other side of the
world I don't have any idea how likely this is, and I never see anyone discuss
it.

~~~
DougN7
After the Arab Spring, I wouldn't be surprised.

~~~
studentrob
What connection do you see between Arabs and Han Chinese that would make them
follow suit? Also China has tight controls over its internet. They watch it
very closely, and anyone attempting to circumvent these controls to promote
civil disobedience is dealt with severely. They're smart and not smart at the
same time. They don't crack down on people who use VPN to read news, use
Facebook etc. But they will throw you in prison, and threaten you with the
safety of your loved ones, if you seem to be "causing trouble" among masses.
Not smart because this keeps their country weak. But that's who's in power.

------
awinter-py
Crappy rule of law sucks for activists but it's awesome for the construction
industry. Anytime you're stuck in traffic next to highway construction in the
west, just imagine the chinese coming in with a cement truck and finishing the
project overnight.

We're going to see more of this behavior as their economy continues to tank.
They're solving a real problem -- how do you explain to 500 million poor
people why the gaokao is stacked to stop them moving up?

At least china has a solution. Every large & diverse country is going to be
facing this problem within a decade. Rich people are going to have access to
some really awesome stuff (VR video games, 10x adderall, stem cell plastic
surgery -- you name it) and it won't be a meritocracy.

~~~
dominotw
The chinese tolerate this because the economy is growing at an incredible
pace. They wouldn't risk a revolution( and possibly disrupt the growth)for
freedom of speech.

The govt legitimizes its actions by offering improved living standards for
everyone.

~~~
awinter-py
If by 'incredible' you mean 'unbelievable' I agree. Neutral metrics like
electricty usage suggest growth is a few points under the official numbers.

I don't agree that suppression of speech is a strategy for increasing growth.
It's 100% about suppressing dissent for the 'lifestyles of the rich and
famous' that the top CPC officials are living.

The iranians tried suppressing political activity in the 70s and it went
sideways -- the ultra-religious were the only people left with the ability to
hold political meetings because they overlapped with their prayer sessions,
and so the radical clerics took over.

In china, there's probably a group that is under less supervision but not
fully sharing the wealth -- maybe the police, maybe the army, maybe the lower
tiers of the party. Watch for revolution from this corner.

------
outside1234
We are still getting cheap manufacturing there - so don't expect any support
from the US govt

~~~
sharetea
Not true.

China angered by Hillary Clinton tweet on women's rights
[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-
china-34377406](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34377406)

"Mr Xi has come under fire for hosting the summit as several women's rights
activists were held earlier this year for planning a demonstration against
sexual harassment on public transport."

~~~
studentrob
For sure our politicians make a lot of criticisms. Not sure what parent post
meant by no support but if they meant military yeah let's hope the US stays
out of another country's business for once! I couldn't see anything good
coming from US involvement in a Chinese civil war. It'd spark a world war at
worst.

------
Negative1
Are they scapegoating or is it very likely they have evidence he was the one
to write the letter? He is quite adamant he did not write it but the Chinese
Government seems quite competent at getting information and it seems
counterintuitive to just blame some random schmuck.

------
sehr
Wasnt China getting better about things like this for a while there? What
happened?

~~~
johnzim
You could certainly be forgiven for thinking that - the CCP still did most of
the same stuff, it was just less blatant about it. Xi Jinping has been taking
a slightly more 'robust' approach.

China had a period of greater international exposure leading up to and then
after the olympics so they naturally took a less aggressive approach - think
house arrest rather than re-education camp.

In addition, compared to Mao and the actions of the Politburo during and after
the Tiananmen Square Massacre, almost everything looks 'better'.

The CCP is trying to walk a tightrope between a stronger role in a globalised
world and running the sort of insular police state which is its bread and
butter. This sort of thing does leak out from time to time, but for every
report which meets the outside world, there are others which don't catch the
media's attention.

[https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-
pacific/ch...](https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-
pacific/china/)

------
shmerl
I wonder what is the balance now between social dissent and power in China. At
some point any dictatorship will crumble if people don't want to accept it
anymore.

------
dominotw
Didn't some guy go to jail in Canada for sending angry tweets to woman.

Edit: why the downvotes?. This pertains to freedom of speech online in
democratic west.

~~~
andromeduck
It's worse than that. They had an argument, she blocked him then felt harassed
when she logged out and searched his tweets.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Elliott](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Elliott)

>because Guthrie continued to respond to Elliott's tweets, the judge said
Elliott didn't know he was harassing her, even though he knew she had blocked
his account.

[http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/twitter-
harassmen...](http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/twitter-harassment-
trial-verdict-1.3415112)

~~~
dominotw
> Elliott is believed to be the first Canadian prosecuted solely for tweets

Oh wow, thats horrific. I am not sure what is worse; being "taken away" for
posting a letter to the president in a communist country or actually going to
jail in a democracy for sending tweets.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
IIRC he was eventually cleared/charges dropped/something (too lazy to google),
but that's meaningless since he still lost his job, got his name dragged
through the mud and generally screwed over.

------
sharetea
There have been disappearance of Hong Kong booksellers by the Chinese
government, as reported here: [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-
china-35480229](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35480229)

as well as bookstores in Hong Kong airport being replaced by "Chinese
friendly" ones [http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-
community/artic...](http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-
community/article/1931064/hong-kong-airport-cuts-back-bookshops-page-one)

~~~
markdown
> replaced by "party friendly" ones

FTFY

~~~
studentrob
Depends who defines Chinese, the party or other Chinese :). My impression is
the party fears democracy and free speech not only because they could lose
power to other Chinese, but also because they perceive that the US could
install a President through media and PR campaigns.

I don't think it would happen that way, but it seems like a valid criticism
given what the US government did to Latin American countries 40 years ago. I
don't have any idea of how to convince China of that belief other than
pointing out how weak that makes them seem.

I sometimes wonder if certain politicians and US businessmen are fine with
China the way it is. As it is in its oppressed state, it is a cheap source of
loyal labor. Despite growth, there are still plenty of poor people there
filling manufacturing industries.

------
vinceguidry
> The Chinese government has consistently and strongly denied any complicity
> in human rights abuses, but says those who break the law must be punished.

The Chinese government wouldn't know what a human rights abuse was if one
waterboarded it in the face.

~~~
dominotw
> The Chinese government wouldn't know what a human rights abuse

Yea its not like they are lifting millions out of poverty every year.

