Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: CHN35725 Country: China Date: 12 November 2009 Keywords: China – Charter 08 – Signing Online – Treatment of Signatories & their families – Internet Monitoring This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein. Questions 1. What is Charter 08? 2. Is it possible to sign the charter online? 3. Is it possible for a signatory to the Charter to be traced by Chinese authorities, with the result that family members in China were then questioned by the PSB? RESPONSE 1. What is Charter 08? Charter 08 is an open letter issued on 9 December 2008 by a group of 303 Chinese individuals including “writers, intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, retired Party officials, workers, peasants, and businessman”. Charter 08 calls for legal reforms, democracy and protection of human rights in China. A translation of Charter 08 into English by Human Rights in China (HRIC) is included as Attachment 1: This year is the 100th year of China’s Constitution, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Democracy Wall, and the 10th year since China signed the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. After experiencing a prolonged period of human rights disasters and a tortuous struggle and resistance, the awakening Chinese citizens are increasingly and more clearly recognizing that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal common values shared by all humankind, and that democracy, a republic, and constitutionalism constitute the basic structural framework of modern governance. A “modernization” bereft of these universal values and this basic political framework is a disastrous process that deprives humans of their rights, corrodes human nature, and destroys human dignity. Where will China head in the 21st century? Continue a “modernization” under this kind of authoritarian rule? Or recognize universal values, assimilate into the mainstream civilization, and build a democratic political system? This is a major decision that cannot be avoided. …The “reform and opening up” of the late 20th century extricated China from the pervasive poverty and absolute power in the Mao Zedong era, and substantially increased private wealth and the standard of living of the masses. Individual economic freedom and social privileges were partially restored, a civil society began to grow, and the calls for human rights and political freedom among the people increased by the day. Those in power, as they were implementing economic reforms aimed at marketization and privatization, also began to move from a position of rejecting human rights to one of gradually recognizing them. In 1997 and 1998, the Chinese government signed two important international human rights treaties. In 2004, the National People’s Congress amended the Constitution to include language to “respect and safeguard human rights.” And this year, [the government] has promised to formulate and implement a “National Human Rights Action Plan.” However, this political progress stops at the paper stage. There are laws but there is no rule of law. There is a constitution but no constitutional governance. And there is still the political reality that is obvious for all to see. The power bloc continues to insist on maintaining the authoritarian regime, rejecting political reform. This has caused corruption in officialdom, difficulty in establishing rule of law, and no protection of human rights, the loss of ethics, the polarization of society, warped economic development, damages in the natural and human environments, no systematic protection of the rights to property and the pursuit of happiness, the accumulation of countless social conflicts, and the continuous rise of resentment. In particular, the intensification of hostility between government officials and the ordinary people, and the dramatic rise of mass incidents, illustrate a catastrophic loss of control in the making, and the anachronism of the current system has reached a point where change must occur (‘Charter 08’ 2008, Human Rights in China website, 9 December http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/press?revision%5fid=89851&item%5fid= 85717 – Accessed 23 July 2009 – Attachment 1). The fundamental concepts of Charter 08 are freedom, human rights, equality, republicanism, democracy and constitutionalism. Specific demands of Charter 08 are as follows: • Amend the Constitution; • Separation and balance of power; • Democratise the lawmaking process; • Independence of the judiciary; • Public institutions should be used for the public; • Protect human rights; • Election of public officials; • Urban and rural equality; • Freedom of association; • Freedom of assembly; • Freedom of expression; • Freedom of religion; • Citizen Education; • Property Protection; • Fiscal Reforms; • Social Security; • Environmental Protection; • Federal Republic; and • Transitional Justice (‘Charter 08’ 2008, Human Rights in China website, 9 December http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/press?revision%5fid=89851&item%5 fid=85717 – Accessed 23 July 2009 – Attachment 1). An article dated 30 January 2009 in The Washington Post reports that more than 8,100 Chinese people have signed Charter 08, making “Charter 08 the largest pro-democracy movement Beijing has know since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests”. An article dated 27 June 2009 in The Huffington Post by Minky Worden, Media Director for Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that Charter 08 has now collected close to 10,000 signatures (‘Virtual Groundswell’ 2009, The Washington Post, 30 January http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012903758.html – Accessed 11 November 2009 – Attachment 2; and Worden, Minky 2009, ‘Liu Xiabo and China’s Future’, The Huffington Post, 27 June http://www.huffingtonpost.com/minky-worden/liu-xiaobo-and-chinas-fut_b_221843.html – Accessed 12 November 2009 – Attachment 3). 2. Is it possible to sign the charter online? According to Nicholas Bequelin of HRW, people are signing Charter 08 online (Adams, Jonathan 2009, ‘Charter 08 worries China’, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 January http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0107/p06s01-woap.html – Accessed 11 November 2009 – Attachment 4). Charter 08 was circulated via websites, emails, blogs, message boards, chat rooms, instant messaging devices and text messages despite the “massive firewall operation of Chinese authorities.” The Chinese Human Rights Defenders report that beginning on the evening of 26 December 2008 searches for Charter 08 on three of China’s search engines, Baidu, Google and Yahoo, returned no relevant results, however, it continued to spread. According to The Christian Science Monitor, “Websites publishing Charter 08 have been blocked, though it’s easily found using a proxy server.” According to Nicholas Bequelin of HRW, “This text is having a lot of impact – people are debating and signing it online…This is a landmark in terms of its appeal, and [the] attention that it has provoked.” According to The Washington Post, “Thanks to that technology, the new democracy movement has been able to amass a virtual crowd of supporters” (Adams, Jonathan 2209, ‘Charter 08 worries China’, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 January http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0107/p06s01- woap.html – Accessed 11 November 2009 – Attachment 4; ‘Over One Hundred Signatories Harassed Since Launch of Charter 08’ 2009, Chinese Human Rights Defenders website, 9 January http://crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class98/200901/20090108141140_12945.html – Accessed 11 November 2009 – Attachment 5; and ‘Virtual Groundswell’ 2009, The Washington Post, 30 January http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012903758.html – Accessed 11 November 2009 – Attachment 2). An article dated 31 January 2009 in The Irish Times reports that when Charter 08 first appeared online in mid December 2008, “its impact was limited”, that is until ordinary people started circulating the document and declaring themselves supporters. The article provides information on Tang Xiaozhao who received a copy of Charter 08 via email. Tang, a 30 year old cosmetology student from Shanghai agreed with the petition but did not want to get involved. After a few days, Tang “signed the document, sending her full name, location and occupation to a special e-mail address.” Tang posted a blog entry in December 2008 entitled “I signed my name after a good cry” and 17 of her online friends also signed. On 13 January 2009, Tang’s blog was shut-down by the Chinese authorities. Tang states, “I know exactly what may happen to me since I signed my name, but I am not afraid anymore.” The article provides further details: WHEN TANG Xiaozhao first saw a copy of the pro-democracy petition in her inbox, she silently acknowledged that she agreed with everything in it but didn’t want to get involved. Tang, a pigtailed, 30-something cosmetology student, had never considered herself the activist type. Like many other Chinese, she kept a blog where she wrote about current events and her life, but she wasn’t political. A few days later, however, Tang surprised herself. She logged on and signed the document, sending her full name, location and occupation to a special e-mail address. “I was afraid, but I had already signed it hundreds of times in my heart,” Tang says. Hers is the 3,943rd signature on the list that has swelled to more than 8,100 from across China. Although their numbers are still small, those signing, and the broad spectrum from which they come, have made the human rights manifesto, known as Charter 08, a significant marker in the demands for democracy in China, one of the few sustained campaigns since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.