The CCP and the Dalai Lama

Question: Could the CCP handle the Dalai Lama situation any worse than it does?

Answer 1. - No. The way that the CCP reacts to the Dalai Lama is a PR train wreck in the eyes of many across the world.

Answer 2. – The CCP needs the Dalai Lama for internal control and management and doesn’t really care whether people in the West get it or not.

So, which answer is right?

Well of course they’re both right.

Through the eyes of a Westerner

Every time Dalai Lama rocks up to another western capital to hob-knob with the latest leader we get to see the worst side of the CCP that is usually kept under wraps and hidden behind their Italian suits and expensive, leather loafers. The shrill condemnations easily crack the all too familiar mask of cool-aloofness that is usually presented to the world on other pressing, global matters. A quick scan through the comments section on the BBC or CNN websites reveals that the same old rebukes get regurgitated over and over again exclaiming that westerners don’t understand China. They know nothing about Tibet and if it’s ok to shout “Free Tibet” then it’s ok to shout, “Free Northern Ireland” or “Free Texas,” which of course… it is ok. Proving the ignorance and banality of their arguments.

Oddly enough, the CCP tries to turn the game back on the west by flirting with the likes of President’s Al Bashir of Sudan and Mugabe of Zimbabwe. However, rather than slam-dunking a feeling of, “Well how do you like it when WE meet people you don’t like?” The entire action falls flat on its face and China comes across as petty, naïve and malign. After all, President Al Bashir, indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal, was in China on a full state visit to sure up support for his new country and trade Sudanese oil for Chinese arms. Meanwhile the Dalai Lama, Noble Peace Laureate, gets squirreled away to the White House Map room to talk about world peace and Tibetan human rights in a hurried, 45minute slot. No arms deals for Tibetan rebels, no resource and trade negotiations or talk of using the UN veto to protect the Dalai Lama’s next conniving plan to de-stable Tibet and split it from China.

Why such a contrast?

Because this is the reality of the situation. The Dalai Lama is not a separatist rebel leader on a global campaign to usurp the CCP and help the West carve up China, but a religious leader and western icon. The Dalai Lama’s fame in the West does not come from his dogged resistance to the CCP. It comes from teaching Buddhism and writing books on world peace. If the CCP simply chose to marginalize the Dalai Lama and completely ignore any messages he gave on Tibetan human rights then it would quickly fade from the congested newswires and he would be left talking about what he knows best, Buddhism to starry-eyed national leaders.

So, why doesn’t the CCP just blot out any internal news of the Dalai Lama and erase him from the collective consciousness?

Certainly they have exceptional experience in doing this - think Zhao Ziyang.

Simply put, the Dalai Lama, a wolf in sheep clothing, that wants to split China is entirely created by the CCP for internal consumption. The CCP could bury news of his world-wide actions but instead chooses to flaunt it in the face of the Chinese people across state media to prove its argument that the West still has machinations to jealously rip a rising China apart.

So what you have is a circular argument entirely created by the CCP, where the Dalai Lama’s role is pivotal in keeping the loop going,

1. The only thing that holds China together is the CCP

2. The West wants to split China

3. They use puppets like the Dalai Lama to do this

4. Every time the West meets with the Dalai Lama it is proof of its real intentions to split China

5. Return to 1.

According to Global Times, “The Dalai Lama is played as a card by the US government,” against China. In reality, the only newsworthy sound bite for western media outlets when a president meets the Dalai Lama is that China so vociferously reacts to it. It would barely make the news otherwise.

Conversely, it is the CCP that constantly wants to keep the Dalai Lama in everyone’s conciseness to remind the Chinese people of the evil things they’re being protected from. This is why the Chinese media acted so objectionably to the so-called resignation of the Dalai Lama this year. As it effectively sidestepped the considerable effort the CCP has invested in over the years into making him a national bogeyman that can stir up patriotic feeling within China.

Without key players like the Dalai Lama and Rebiya Kadeer, the CCP loses significant pieces in its arguments for national legitimacy. This is why they are not willing to let them step out of the spotlight, no matter where they go in the world.

The Qianlong-Dilemma

After reading Eric Li’s piece in Global Times, Modernity's grip challenged by China's rise, it drew me once again to a recurring question I’m getting into the habit of asking people,

“Outside of China’s rapid monetization …. that’s MONETIZATION not modernization, of its land and human capital, how exactly is China’s rise manifested?

Where is China leading the world?

Li certainly seems to think that China’s rise is more than just economic. He alludes to other great qualities of the historical Chinese nation that needs to be openly debated in the modern Chinese nation. This really goes to the heart of the question I keeping asking without getting a satisfactory answer,

Just what is rising China offering?

What does China, the great nation, represent outside of economic mercantilism run by an elite, authoritarian board of aloof directors?

Li and other commentators emphatically refer to China offering an alternative way to the West’s liberal democracy and universal rights but always seem to fall short of suggesting just exactly what that is.

Oddly, Li uses Emperor Qianlong to make his point that the days of Western supremacy are numbered in the face of what he calls a “credible” alternative from a rising China. From where I’m standing, the mistakes of Qianlong certainly are a good lesson for modern day China, but Li has got his simile all topsy-turvy. Rather than the West facing a modern day version of the Qianlong-Dilemma, it is in my view history repeating itself once again with the top echelons of the Chinese ruling elite closing themselves off to what the outside world is offering. This time, instead of it being knick-knacks, today it is the free flow of ideas from other countries that is being sanctioned and held at arms length by the xenophobic Chinese ruling class.

Just as Emperor Qianlong decreed that the great Chinese nation had no need off anything McCartney was offering, likewise it is all too familiar to hear the CCP decree that Chinese people have no need for concepts like, universal human rights, individual freedoms, freedom of the press, freedom of association and freedom of information and anything else that challenges its dominance. According to the CCP, and just like Qianlong, anything that China needs can be found within China’s vast lands and long history.

Qianlong closed the door to trade and sealed China’s fate. Likewise the CCP’s main job these days seems to be closing doors and sealing up cracks to cocoon itself and the Chinese nation from any untoward outside influence it deems polluted. Crazily, the latest Internet search block in China is former president’s Jiang Zemin health! It would seem that there are no limits to the CCP paranoia and rather than learning from Qianlong’s mistake they are exceeding him in his pious, insular tendencies.

We all know what happened to Qianlong and his descendants and it remains to be seen how the princely descendents of the CCP will deal with this new 21^st century “fork in the road”.

Open up or close up … what’s it going to be CCP?

Or maybe they can open up some parts of China but keep the majority of it under tight control? Well, that’s been done before and we all know what an unmitigated disaster that was.

Which brings us around to my initial question again. If China is so keen to shutdown outside ideas, what is China offering in their stead? When McCartney turned up on Qianlong’s doorstep with his ships full of 18^th century oddities we all knew what the West was trying to peddle and that remains the same today. Writer after writer are happy to spill pots of ink proclaiming that China doesn’t need these ideas to become great. However, the inkpot seems to dry up once it is time to offer the alternatives. Of course Li would proffer that China first needs to confidently debate its great history and treasure trove of ideas and then present them to an expectant world in a coherent way. Which seems to be relying on history a little too much as a means in itself. As the age old saying goes, “history waits for no man”. Likewise the world neither has the patience of the inclination for China to engage in a great debate upon what righteous ideology it wishes to bring to the table. The world is looking at China now and assessing what it stands for NOW, not in the past or the future … NOW.

So, the CCP’s short-sighted policy of, “making China number one by any means,” and then deal with the consequences later really isn’t indicative of a major, future power that has the potential to usurp the West. We are constantly told that the Chinese civilization stands for harmony, benevolent rule and peaceful coexistence, but when we look at the China the CCP has created we see none of these. Do we have to take it on faith alone that the CCP will get around to the “good stuff” just as soon as they’ve quelled all dissent, maximized all profits and utilized all resources in the making of their interpretation of an urban utopia? Until this day comes, you can forget about harmony and peaceful existence… and benign rule? Well, that’s just not practical in a time of national development.

China’s time maybe approaching but look what the CCP is blatantly engaging in as it so vociferously rejects Western values

• Systemic corruption
• Entrenched cronyism
• Paranoid isolationism
• Personal repression
• And a cavalier development at any cost

Are these the factors that make up the CCP's credible, alternative world view?

It reminds me of an old 1980s advert from the US, where an old woman would visit her local fast food restaurant and scream,

“Where’s the beef?”

Insinuating that the burger contained little or no beef. In the case of China, where is China’s beef? What does it stand for? What qualities does the CCP practice at home and export abroad?

That’s an open question… please feel free to answer it

Is it just me?

Well, now it seems it wasn’t….

On May 22nd I wrote on my Facebook status,

“Is it just me... or is China's Global Times website swaying, ever so slightly, from hard to soft...? It's almost imperceptible”.

What I was referring to was a) The very mellowing tone that Global Times seemed to be taking in its editorials, calling for moderation and tolerance and b) a slow drying up of editorials on anything remotely contentious, despite their being heaps of great news to feast upon.

With all the recent talk of the fractious undercurrents pulling the CCP from left to right I thought maybe I was imagining things. Imagining that the journalists were choosing to keep themselves below the radar until they could determine which direction The Party would choose.

However, it seems that I’m not alone in my musings.

On the 27th May, China Media Project also seems to be scratching their heads at the abnormal behaviour and dulcet tones of the China Daily.

One can only surmise that there are some powerful forces at work behind the scenes in China pulling The Party hither and thither and the media is doing the smart thing and taking cover in mediocrity.

Read the CMP article here

What’s up with the People’s Daily?

General Luo Yuan is back!

After a couple of months hiatus – which strangely started on 25^th Jan, General Lou is back in the news, and this time singing from Deng Xiao Ping’s hymn sheet.

No longer is he the cutting edge of the PLA’s more assertive stance, as he was in 2010. This time, he’s the poster-boy for the modest Deng policy of hiding one’s capabilities and not drawing attention to one’s self. This old strategic chestnut is now en vogue again in CCP circles, so as to detract from the ever-increasing demands for real political change that is sweeping the world in the form of the Jasmine Revolutions.

Here’s in latest interview from China.org.cn

China is no threat to the U.S.: General

The state of Sino-U.S. ties will be decided by the U.S., because China has always maintained a constructive attitude and is committed to preserving a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship in the 21st century, Major General Luo Yuan told China.org.cn on during the CPPCC session.

China will not change its policy towards the U.S. as its national power grows, said Luo, who is deputy secretary general of the China Society of Military Science and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. China's traditional culture and national character emphasize modesty and prudence, and China will neither seek hegemony, nor pose a threat to the United States, he added.

"We are very clear about our realities," said Luo. "I have visited former revolutionary base areas in remote and border areas and found that people there are still living in poverty." He said that as a visiting scholar abroad he saw quite clearly that China still lags far behind western countries. Those who see China as a threat to the United States and believe that China is competing for world leadership with the U.S. should go to western China and have a close look at how people live there, Luo said.

Well-informed Americans understand that China is not capable of posing a threat to the United States, Luo said. "Those who say China is a threat to the U.S. are just playing the ‘China card' to achieve other goals, such as increased military spending, shifting the public's attention from domestic issues and avoiding blame at home, or forming alliances with other counties."

According to the Major General, there is no country in the world capable of constituting a military threat to the United States. "China has never sent surveillance aircraft and ships to the U.S. East Coast or West Coast, but the U.S. regularly carries out surveillance activities in the South China Sea and East China Sea." Those who know China understand that China neither wants to nor has the power to pose a threat to the U.S., Luo added. "The China threat theory is utterly absurd."

But Americans who know little about China see China as a monster because China is a socialist country led by a communist party, said Luo. They believe there is a structural conflict between China and U.S. Moreover, they don't believe China can develop peacefully without seeking hegemony, because there is no precedent. Previously all big powers achieved their goals through waging wars or pillaging.

When asked how to enhance mutual trust between China and the U.S., Luo said China should address American doubts and explain its military strategy to the world, as well as demonstrating by its actions that it is pursuing peaceful development.

Is the U.S. encircling China?

During her visit to the Asia Pacific last October, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that the U.S. was not seeking to contain China.

But the U.S. has strengthened its military cooperation with Taiwan; it has also enhanced ties with its five military allies in the Asia-Pacific region, and its alliances with Japan, S. Korea and Philippines cover both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. It has gained access to military bases in many South Asian countries and has built a strategic partnership with India; it has also built a dozen military bases in Central Asia under the pretext of fighting terrorism. The U.S. has also tried to woo Mongolia, Luo said.

Is the U.S. encircling China? Please take a look around China, Luo said. "The U.S. constantly urges China to increase transparency in its military strategy. We would also like them to explain to us their military intentions."

Americans believe that their values are best and they are determined to spread them across the world and maintain their dominant position in the world. Because China's social system, ideology and cultural traditions differ from theirs, they are unwilling to allow China to fully integrate into the international community, but they cannot ignore 5000 years of Chinese civilization, Luo said.

Three barriers to Sino-U.S. military ties

Major General Luo said that China has made great efforts to develop sound and stable military ties with the United States: China publishes a defense white paper every two years and has participated in the UN Military Budget Transparency Mechanism and the Conventional Weapons Registration System. China has also invited many U.S. high ranking military officials to visit China, including Robert Gates, who visited the Second Artillery Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) during his recent China tour.

But three issues still hamper Sino-U.S. military relations: arms sales to Taiwan; frequent reconnaissance missions by U.S. ships and aircraft in China's waters and airspace; and U.S. legislative limits on military exchanges with China, Major General Luo said. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2010 and the Delay Amendment set restrictions on military exchanges with China in 12 areas.

Sino-U.S. relations in 2011

Luo said Sino-U.S. relationship should improve and develop smoothly this year as the U.S. has just held mid-term elections and the general elections are some time off. But accidental factors could not be avoided, such as the Taiwan issue and the Korean Peninsula issue, Major General Luo said. "If the U.S. sells F-16 CD fighter aircraft to Taiwan, it will definitely harm Sino-U.S. relations."

Dispatch: China's 'Jasmine' Rallies

STRATFOR China Director Jennifer Richmond says the Jasmine protests do not pose an existential threat to the Communist Party of China, but illustrate a new and significant ability to organize across provinces.

Editor’s Note: Transcripts are generated using speech-recognition technology. Therefore, STRATFOR cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.

The second round of “Jasmine” rallies was held across cities in China on Feb. 27. This comes a week after the first round on Feb. 20 happened after an anonymous letter was posted on Boxun.com encouraging Chinese citizens to gather peacefully in protest of the Chinese Communist Party and in support of political reform. We see this happening as revolutions and protests have rocked the Middle East, however we do not see a contagion effect happening in China. At the same time, there’s a growing disenchantment with the Chinese Communist Party over issues like rising inflation. The timing seems right for people to try to carve out some political space.

The foundation of the Chinese Communist Party’s legitimacy has been economic growth for the past 30 years. Economic growth, and not ideology, has bolstered its authority and when economic growth wanes, the voices of the disenchanted become more audible. We have seen protests rising across China in the past few years, but most of these protests remained isolated over a single issue. What’s most significant about the Jasmine rallies is they have been able to organize cross-provincially over a single issue of political reform. The state has responded to these calls for organization with a massive crackdown on all information pertaining to the Jasmine rallies. They’ve gone so far as even to block “Jon Huntsman,” the U.S. ambassador’s name in China, who was seen at the Wangfujing Beijing protest on Feb. 20. Citizens and activists have been rounded up and journalists have been roughed up, underlining the Communist Party’s concern for these rallies.

So far the organizers of the Jasmine rallies remain unknown but are soon to be dissident outside of China. They’ve been undaunted by the security crackdown and continue to call for these protests every Sunday, and they’ve also found innovative and creative ways to get around the censors. For example, after the Feb. 20 protest, the first protest, for the second protest they suggested calling them “liang hui,” which means “two meetings.” The two meetings which actually begin this week are the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress. By using the term “liang hui,” censoring this term would not only censor anything pertaining to the Jasmine rallies but would also censor these two upcoming very important meetings, which would not be in the central government’s best interest. Moreover, at these meetings get under way this week, security is already going to be very tight.

As sensitivities within the state government grow, the margin for error in showing restraint gets slimmer. We’ve seen the Chinese government show restraint particularly this past week on Feb. 27, where they used cleaning crews mainly to disperse the crowd versus any show of outward force. And, in general, both the Chinese Communist Party and the domestic citizens want to avoid a revolution. However, as China continues to face up mounting economic troubles, the Chinese Communist Party faces a growing legitimacy crisis, and if it is unable to properly manage the economic troubles that it faces, this may give rise to a more coherent and organized group unlike the Jasmine protest that has the ability to actually form an opposition to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s authority.

Attribution to www.stratfor.com

Why the Jasmine Protests in China are an enormous success

After listening to a well-known, local China commentator exhort on RTHK that the “Jasmine Revolutions in China aren’t working,” I feel I have to immediately present an argument to the contrary.

Fortunately for revolutions, they don’t have to rely on out-of-date commentators for ideas on how to frighten an authoritarian government.

According to the commentator, he suggested that the heavy Chinese clamp down in Beijing had achieved its goal of nipping any pro-democracy protests in the bud. This kind of limited thinking is trapped in the mindset that protests are only successful if we see 10,000 unarmed people being ruffed up by over-zealous, masochistic, security-police. As practically no protesters turned up to the Wangfujing yesterday, and the international media was too busy being roughed up itself to get any shots of placard waving democracy protesters, then the CCP won. The protests were stamped out.

However this couldn’t be further from the truth. The Jasmine Protests in Beijing were a stunning success, and here’s why…

Firstly, we have to ask, what is the purpose of an anti-government protest?

Is it to get beaten up and make great news?

Of course not!

Protests are designed to make an unresponsive, unapproachable government sit up and take note. This can happen in many ways. Recently in the Middle East it has taken the form of tens of thousands of people going to the street. For the most part it seems to be working, but this form of protest is not suitable for China at the moment. As we all know, the CCP has already killed unarmed democracy protesters once in the past and there’s no reason to believe they wouldn't do it again to protect their ever growing, selfish interests. If it was good enough for paramount leader Deng Xiao Ping, it certainly would be good enough for this generation of mediocre leaders, who are wrestling to hang on to power in and ever changing China, that sees them being slowly sidelined.

The extreme lengths the authorities went through to crack down shows how frightened the CCP is. A CNN report described seeing hundreds of police cars, an unknown amount of plain and regular security forces, mysterious building sites popping up and water trucks blocking the main shopping through-way in the nation’s capital. Officials may pat themselves on the back for thwarting the protests, but they’re just too foolish to realize that they were the protest. It didn’t need thousands of people on the street to prove how desperate and weak the government is, the security forces happily demonstrated this.

Protest by proxy… it is beyond sublime.

For a protest to work, it doesn't need loads of shouting people. There are many ways to protest, and they're effective if the government takes note, which it clearly did.

China is famous for putting spin on all manner of things and dubbing it, “Chinese characteristics.” Well, I do believe the organizers have created a whole new way of protesting with “Chinese characteristics,” that puts its fragile government on notice. The beauty of this style of proxy-protest is that the protesters don’t even need to show up to make their point heard. If the Jasmine revolution can succeed with applying the pressure on the government to close down significant parts of Beijing on the threat that there may be a protest then they have them on the run.

After all, if we read what the protesters want, they request a government free from corruption that is governed by the people. Now, if the governments only answer to this is to oppress the people further then their argument is vindicated and their protest is highly successful.

Meanwhile, not only are they successful in turning Beijing on its head as leagues of security men try to catch mystery protesters in the shopping districts of Beijing, the Jasmine Revolutions are making the Great Firewall look ridiculous. They have hijack more and more search terms that for the most part are just simple generic terms. Whether by design or accident, this is the greatest attack on internet censorship China has ever had and is a testament to the supple skill of the protest organizers.

Modern China is reinventing the art of protest in the face of the more and more draconian measures by the CCP to cling on to power.

It’s a David and Goliath struggle, and we all know how that ended.

Jasmine Revolution in China???

So, reports are trying to suggest that the call for a Jasmine Revolution in China have been created by the CCP to snag all the pro-democracy protesters early.

Personally, I don't believe they're that brave or smart... but here's the full translation, you can make your own mind up whether it's a genuine call for Jasmine Revolution or a disingenuous move by CCP

ENGLISH TRANSLATION for Jasmine Revolution in China

In an open letter, the organizers of the “Jasmine Rallies” have called on the people to gather every Sunday at 2:00 p.m. to push for an end to corruption, an independent judiciary, and a government supervised by the people. The letter urges people to participate in an act of non-violent non-cooperation” by “strolling, watching or pretending to pass by.” Open Letter to the National People’s Congress from the Organizers of the Chinese Jasmine Rallies [English Translation by Human Rights in China] First, we would like to thank every participant of the Jasmine Rallies. Your participation has already made the authoritarian government very nervous. Your presence has made the Chinese government understand that they must choose between these two paths:

1. The Chinese government will genuinely fight corruption and accept the supervision of the people.

2. Suppress popular protest, continue corruption, and continue to refuse the supervision of the people. Every Chinese person with dreams hopes that China will become prosperous, rich, and powerful, that the people will not have to worry about food and clothing, that the government is upright and honest, and that the judiciary is impartial and just. But twenty years have passed [since the 1989 Democracy Movement], and what we are witnessing is a government that grows more corrupt by the day, government officials who collude with vested interests, and a citizenry that has not benefitted from the reform, opening up, and economic development. On the contrary, the people have to endure high goods and housing prices, and do not have health care, education, or benefits for the elderly. An what about ten years from now? Will we face a government even more corrupt? A judicial system even more opaque? Will vested interests give up their vested interest? Every good and honest Chinese person, please think: So much public housing has been sold to individuals, so many state-owned enterprises and so much land have been sold, and nearly all state-owned property has been sold off. But where has all the money from these sales gone? It goes without saying that state-owned property belongs to the entire people. But what did the people get? Led by an authoritarian regime, the opaque process of privatization has made a small number of people rich, but what did the vast number of ordinary people get? Every good and honest Chinese person, please think: When Japan, Korea, and Taiwan were in the process of industrializing, they were able to make the overwhelming majority of their people prosperous. Why is it that during China’s industrialization the ordinary people are becoming poorer? Why is it that in just the last few decades China has gone from being a country with the smallest gap between the rich and the poor to one with the largest? It is because the unfair system has made a small number of people incredibly wealthy, and the vast majority of people remain poor.

Every good and honest Chinese person, please think: Every year the government uses public money to eat and drink, buy cars, visit foreign places, and raise salaries for officials; yet it doesn’t have money to spend on health care, education, benefits for the elderly, or other basic needs. The vast majority of Chinese people do not have basic health care, education, or benefits for the elderly. Not to mention Europe, America, Japan, or Korea; our welfare system is far behind those of India, Russia, or Brazil. When other countries use the majority of their tax money for the welfare of their people, where does our tax money go? Every good and honest Chinese person, please think: At present the renminbi ranks first among world currencies in terms of quantity in circulation. This serious “over-issuing” of currency has brought about a vicious cycle of inflation inside China. The excessive printing of currency is recklessly diluting the value of the people’s wealth. Because the renminbi is not an international currency, it is China’s ordinary citizens who are out of luck. The meager income of China’s ordinary people must support goods and housing prices similar to those in Europe and America. On the one hand the government excessively prints money, and on the other hand it uses administrative means to keep housing prices low is this some sort of mockery?

Every good and honest Chinese person, please think: It is a matter of course that officials, when disclosing their wealth, should accept the supervision of the people, and that the government, when publishing details of tax revenues, should accept the supervision of the people. However, the Chinese people have no such power. We have been waiting for decades. Even if we wait for another ten years, we will not be able to get this kind of power. Should we keep on waiting? Are you willing to wait another 10 years, 20 years, 30 years? In short, without pressure from the people, absolutely no authoritarian government would take the initiative to respect the people or accept the people’s supervision. What we need to do now is to put pressure on the Chinese ruling party. If the party does not conscientiously fight corruption and accept the supervision of the people, then will it please exit the stage of history. We call upon each Chinese person who has a dream for China to bravely come out to take an afternoon stroll at two o’clock on Sundays to look around. Each person who joins in will make it clear to the Chinese ruling party that if it does not fight corruption, if the government does not accept their supervision, the Chinese people will not have the patience to wait any longer. We do not necessarily have to overthrow the current government. As long as the government fights corruption, the government and officials accept the people’s supervision, the government is sincere about solving the problems regarding judicial independence and freedom of expression and gives a timetable, we can give the ruling party time to solve the problems. We can call a stop to the strolling activities. We have been waiting for decades, if the government is sincere about solving the problem, we do not mind waiting a little longer. However, if the government is not sincere about solving the problems, but only wants to censor the Internet and block information to suppress the protests, the protests will only get stronger. As more and more people find out about “jasmine rallies,” there will definitely be more and more Chinese people joining in. We don’t care if we implement a one party system, a two party system, or even a three party system; but we are resolute in asking the government and the officials to accept the supervision of ordinary Chinese people, and we must have an independent judiciary. This is our fundamental demand.

We do not support violent revolution; we continue to support non- violent non-cooperation. We invite every participant to stroll, watch, or even just pretend to pass by. As long as you are present, the authoritarian government will be shaking with fear.

China belongs to every Chinese person, not to any political party. China’s future will be decided by every person. We ask that the government and officials accept the supervision of the people, that the details of tax collection be published, and that taxes are genuinely "collected from the people, and used for the people." These basic requests are not the least bit excessive. For our country’s future, for the fundamental rights of our children and future generations, please bravely come out. The Chinese people’s thirst for freedom and democracy is unstoppable (as Wen Jiabao said during an interview on CNN). If you are unable to participate in the strolls, please tell every Chinese person near you: We need an upright and honest government. We need the right to supervise government tax collection. We need the right to scrutinize officials’ wealth. We need the right to publicly criticize the government. These are the fundamental rights of every Chinese person. Please tell every Chinese person near you: Non-violent non-cooperation is the only path for Chinese democratization. Please use word-of-mouth to break through the news blackout and come show your support.

The Chinese people rely on themselves to fight for their rights. We should not even dream that an authoritarian regime would take the initiative to award us these rights. Please joinus in non-violent non-cooperation to make the Chinese government respect the basic rights of the Chinese people.

Time: Every Sunday starting on February 20, 2011 at 2 pm. (If the

Chinese government is sincere about solving problems such as corruption and public supervision, we will send out a notice

stopping the action.)

Rally Locations:

Beijing: in front of the McDonald’s on Wangfujing Street

Shanghai: in front of Peace Cinema at People’s Square

Tianjin: below the Drum Tower

Nanjing, [Jiangsu Province]: the entrance of Silk Street

Department Store at the Drum Tower Square

Xi’an, [Shaanxi Province]: the entrance of Carrefour on Beida

Street

Chengdu, [Sichuan Province]: under the Statue of Chairman Mao

at Tianfu Square

6

Changsha, [Hunan Province]: the entrance of Xindaxin Building at

Wuyi Square

Hangzhou, [Zhejiang Province]: the entrance of Hangzhou

Department Store at Wulin Square

Guangzhou, [Guangdong Province]: in front of the Starbucks at the

People’s Park

Shenyang, [Liaoning Province]: in front of the KFC at North

Nanjing Street

Changchun, [Jilin Province]: in front of Corogo Supermarket at

Democratic Avenue of West Culture Square

Harbin, [Heilongjiang Province]: in front of Harbin Cinema

Wuhan, [Hubei Province]: in front of the McDonald’s at Jiefang

Avenue and the World Trade Plaza

People who are in cities not listed here, please go to the central square of your city.

We ask websites to help spread this statement, thank you!

One of the organizers of China Jasmine Rallies (Posted on Boxun by a friend on February 21, 2011.)