Chinese must help themselves in preserving the legacy of Liu Xiaobo
Robert Delaney says rights activists pushing the cause of Liu and his wife must focus their efforts on convincing their compatriots of the need for change, rather than depend on US support
“The dearth of foreign leaders willing to criticise Mr Xi publicly has added to a sense of despair and isolation among activists,” a recent New York Times report said. “Many say they feel abandoned by the United States in particular, and they worry that President Trump will prioritise trade with China at the expense of human rights.”
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Anyone invested in Liu Xiaobo’s cause, Western or Chinese, should know this, and also be familiar with the chasm between present-day Chinese culture and Liu’s ideals.
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There have been countless attempts by reformers in China over the past two centuries to bring more democratic principles into China’s government. Experiments with more pluralistic forms of governance – during the Qing Dynasty, the Republican period, or since 1949 – have always reverted to autocratic means. If these efforts have taught us anything, it is that the two cultural orientations are incommensurable.
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This is not to suggest that Chinese are incapable of understanding and appreciating the value of the democratisation of political rights. Liu himself followed a long line of dissidents who tried to bring equal political rights to China. P. C. Chang (Zhang Pengchun), for example, co-authored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the Nationalists’ regime in mainland China crumbled. As noted China scholar John Pomfret points out in his recent book, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: “Like many of China’s towering liberals, [Chang] and his work to fuse the traditions of East and West have been forgotten on mainland China.”
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No one can say when, or if, the larger Chinese community will push for better treatment of dissidents. Greater numbers of mainland Chinese are parking their wealth in the US and trying to get their children into US high schools and universities, possibly an indication that they are more inclined to support political reform at home. Cynics might argue that environmental pollution and corruption are fueling the exodus among Chinese with the resources, not political yearnings.
However, if enough of them come to the conclusion that discordant, activist voices play a key role in addressing the problems they are fleeing, they might become more vocal in support of people like Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia.
Robert Delaney is a US correspondent for the Post based in New York
