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I. Foreword
A hundred years have passed since the writing of China¹s first constitution.
2008 also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the
appearance of Democracy Wall in Beijing, and the tenth of China¹s signing of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are approaching
the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy
student protesters. The Chinese people, who have endured human rights
disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include
many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal
values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the
fundamental framework for protecting these values.
By departing from these values, the Chinese government¹s approach to
³modernization² has proven disastrous. It has stripped people of their
rights, destroyed their dignity, and corrupted normal human intercourse. So
we ask: Where is China headed in the twenty-first century? Will it continue
with ³modernization² under authoritarian rule, or will it embrace universal
human values, join the mainstream of civilized nations, and build a
democratic system? There can be no avoiding these questions.
The shock of the Western impact upon China in the nineteenth century laid
bare a decadent authoritarian system and marked the beginning of what is
often called ³the greatest changes in thousands of years² for China. A
³self-strengthening movement² followed, but this aimed simply at
appropriating the technology to build gunboats and other Western material
objects. China¹s humiliating naval defeat at the hands of Japan in 1895 only
confirmed the obsolescence of China¹s system of government. The first
attempts at modern political change came with the ill-fated summer of
reforms in 1898, but these were cruelly crushed by ultraconservatives at
China¹s imperial court. With the revolution of 1911, which inaugurated
Asia¹s first republic, the authoritarian imperial system that had lasted for
centuries was finally supposed to have been laid to rest. But social
conflict inside our country and external pressures were to prevent it; China
fell into a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms and the new republic became a
fleeting dream.
The failure of both ³self-strengthening² and political renovation caused
many of our forebears to reflect deeply on whether a ³cultural illness² was
afflicting our country. This mood gave rise, during the May Fourth Movement
of the late 1910s, to the championing of ³science and democracy.² Yet that
effort, too, foundered as warlord chaos persisted and the Japanese invasion
[beginning in Manchuria in 1931] brought national crisis.
Victory over Japan in 1945 offered one more chance for China to move toward
modern government, but the Communist defeat of the Nationalists in the civil
war thrust the nation into the abyss of totalitarianism. The ³new China²
that emerged in 1949 proclaimed that ³the people are sovereign² but in fact
set up a system in which ³the Party is all-powerful.² The Communist Party of
China seized control of all organs of the state and all political, economic,
and social resources, and, using these, has produced a long trail of human
rights disasters, including, among many others, the Anti-Rightist Campaign
(1957), the Great Leap Forward (1958­1960), the Cultural Revolution
(1966­1969), the June Fourth (Tiananmen Square) Massacre (1989), and the
current repression of all unauthorized religions and the suppression of the
weiquan rights movement [a movement that aims to defend citizens¹ rights
promulgated in the Chinese Constitution and to fight for human rights
recognized by international conventions that the Chinese government has
signed]. During all this, the Chinese people have paid a gargantuan price.
Tens of millions have lost their lives, and several generations have seen
their freedom, their happiness, and their human dignity cruelly trampled.
During the last two decades of the twentieth century the government policy
of ³Reform and Opening² gave the Chinese people relief from the pervasive
poverty and totalitarianism of the Mao Zedong era and brought substantial
increases in the wealth and living standards of many Chinese as well as a
partial restoration of economic freedom and economic rights. Civil society
began to grow, and popular calls for more rights and more political freedom
have grown apace. As the ruling elite itself moved toward private ownership
and the market economy, it began to shift from an outright rejection of
³rights² to a partial acknowledgment of them.
In 1998 the Chinese government signed two important international human
rights conventions; in 2004 it amended its constitution to include the
phrase ³respect and protect human rights²; and this year, 2008, it has
promised to promote a ³national human rights action plan.² Unfortunately
most of this political progress has extended no further than the paper on
which it is written. The political reality, which is plain for anyone to
see, is that China has many laws but no rule of law; it has a constitution
but no constitutional government. The ruling elite continues to cling to its
authoritarian power and fights off any move toward political change.
The stultifying results are endemic official corruption, an undermining of
the rule of law, weak human rights, decay in public ethics, crony
capitalism, growing inequality between the wealthy and the poor, pillage of
the natural environment as well as of the human and historical environments,
and the exacerbation of a long list of social conflicts, especially, in
recent times, a sharpening animosity between officials and ordinary people.
As these conflicts and crises grow ever more intense, and as the ruling
elite continues with impunity to crush and to strip away the rights of
citizens to freedom, to property, and to the pursuit of happiness, we see
the powerless in our society‹the vulnerable groups, the people who have been
suppressed and monitored, who have suffered cruelty and even torture, and
who have had no adequate avenues for their protests, no courts to hear their
pleas‹becoming more militant and raising the possibility of a violent
conflict of disastrous proportions. The decline of the current system has
reached the point where change is no longer optional.
II. Our Fundamental Principles
This is a historic moment for China, and our future hangs in the balance. In
reviewing the political modernization process of the past hundred years or
more, we reiterate and endorse basic universal values as follows:
Freedom. Freedom is at the core of universal human values. Freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association,
freedom in where to live, and the freedoms to strike, to demonstrate, and to
protest, among others, are the forms that freedom takes. Without freedom,
China will always remain far from civilized ideals.
Human rights. Human rights are not bestowed by a state. Every person is born
with inherent rights to dignity and freedom. The government exists for the
protection of the human rights of its citizens. The exercise of state power
must be authorized by the people. The succession of political disasters in
China¹s recent history is a direct consequence of the ruling regime¹s
disregard for human rights.
Equality. The integrity, dignity, and freedom of every person‹regardless of
social station, occupation, sex, economic condition, ethnicity, skin color,
religion, or political belief‹are the same as those of any other. Principles
of equality before the law and equality of social, economic, cultural,
civil, and political rights must be upheld.
Republicanism. Republicanism, which holds that power should be balanced
among different branches of government and competing interests should be
served, resembles the traditional Chinese political ideal of ³fairness in
all under heaven.² It allows different interest groups and social
assemblies, and people with a variety of cultures and beliefs, to exercise
democratic self-government and to deliberate in order to reach peaceful
resolution of public questions on a basis of equal access to government and
free and fair competition.
Democracy. The most fundamental principles of democracy are that the people
are sovereign and the people select their government. Democracy has these
characteristics: (1) Political power begins with the people and the
legitimacy of a regime derives from the people. (2) Political power is
exercised through choices that the people make. (3) The holders of major
official posts in government at all levels are determined through periodic
competitive elections. (4) While honoring the will of the majority, the
fundamental dignity, freedom, and human rights of minorities are protected.
In short, democracy is a modern means for achieving government truly ³of the
people, by the people, and for the people.²
Constitutional rule. Constitutional rule is rule through a legal system and
legal regulations to implement principles that are spelled out in a
constitution. It means protecting the freedom and the rights of citizens,
limiting and defining the scope of legitimate government power, and
providing the administrative apparatus necessary to serve these ends.
III. What We Advocate
Authoritarianism is in general decline throughout the world; in China, too,
the era of emperors and overlords is on the way out. The time is arriving
everywhere for citizens to be masters of states. For China the path that
leads out of our current predicament is to divest ourselves of the
authoritarian notion of reliance on an ³enlightened overlord² or an ³honest
official² and to turn instead toward a system of liberties, democracy, and
the rule of law, and toward fostering the consciousness of modern citizens
who see rights as fundamental and participation as a duty. Accordingly, and
in a spirit of this duty as responsible and constructive citizens, we offer
the following recommendations on national governance, citizens¹ rights, and
social development:
1. A New Constitution. We should recast our present constitution, rescinding
its provisions that contradict the principle that sovereignty resides with
the people and turning it into a document that genuinely guarantees human
rights, authorizes the exercise of public power, and serves as the legal
underpinning of China¹s democratization. The constitution must be the
highest law in the land, beyond violation by any individual, group, or
political party.
2. Separation of powers. We should construct a modern government in which
the separation of legislative, judicial, and executive power is guaranteed.
We need an Administrative Law that defines the scope of government
responsibility and prevents abuse of administrative power. Government should
be responsible to taxpayers. Division of power between provincial
governments and the central government should adhere to the principle that
central powers are only those specifically granted by the constitution and
all other powers belong to the local governments.
3. Legislative democracy. Members of legislative bodies at all levels should
be chosen by direct election, and legislative democracy should observe just
and impartial principles.
4. An Independent Judiciary. The rule of law must be above the interests of
any particular political party and judges must be independent. We need to
establish a constitutional supreme court and institute procedures for
constitutional review. As soon as possible, we should abolish all of the
Committees on Political and Legal Affairs that now allow Communist Party
officials at every level to decide politically-sensitive cases in advance
and out of court. We should strictly forbid the use of public offices for
private purposes.
5. Public Control of Public Servants. The military should be made answerable
to the national government, not to a political party, and should be made
more professional. Military personnel should swear allegiance to the
constitution and remain nonpartisan. Political party organizations shall be
prohibited in the military. All public officials including police should
serve as nonpartisans, and the current practice of favoring one political
party in the hiring of public servants must end.
6. Guarantee of Human Rights. There shall be strict guarantees of human
rights and respect for human dignity. There should be a Human Rights
Committee, responsible to the highest legislative body, that will prevent
the government from abusing public power in violation of human rights. A
democratic and constitutional China especially must guarantee the personal
freedom of citizens. No one shall suffer illegal arrest, detention,
arraignment, interrogation, or punishment. The system of ³Reeducation
through Labor² must be abolished.
7. Election of Public Officials. There shall be a comprehensive system of
democratic elections based on ³one person, one vote.² The direct election of
administrative heads at the levels of county, city, province, and nation
should be systematically implemented. The rights to hold periodic free
elections and to participate in them as a citizen are inalienable.
8. Rural­Urban Equality. The two-tier household registry system must be
abolished. This system favors urban residents and harms rural residents. We
should establish instead a system that gives every citizen the same
constitutional rights and the same freedom to choose where to live.
9. Freedom to Form Groups. The right of citizens to form groups must be
guaranteed. The current system for registering nongovernment groups, which
requires a group to be ³approved,² should be replaced by a system in which a
group simply registers itself. The formation of political parties should be
governed by the constitution and the laws, which means that we must abolish
the special privilege of one party to monopolize power and must guarantee
principles of free and fair competition among political parties.
10. Freedom to Assemble. The constitution provides that peaceful assembly,
demonstration, protest, and freedom of expression are fundamental rights of
a citizen. The ruling party and the government must not be permitted to
subject these to illegal interference or unconstitutional obstruction.
11. Freedom of Expression. We should make freedom of speech, freedom of the
press, and academic freedom universal, thereby guaranteeing that citizens
can be informed and can exercise their right of political supervision. These
freedoms should be upheld by a Press Law that abolishes political
restrictions on the press. The provision in the current Criminal Law that
refers to ³the crime of incitement to subvert state power² must be
abolished. We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes.
12. Freedom of Religion. We must guarantee freedom of religion and belief
and institute a separation of religion and state. There must be no
governmental interference in peaceful religious activities. We should
abolish any laws, regulations, or local rules that limit or suppress the
religious freedom of citizens. We should abolish the current system that
requires religious groups (and their places of worship) to get official
approval in advance and substitute for it a system in which registry is
optional and, for those who choose to register, automatic. |
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狗仔卡
樓主
