Defending Citizens' Rights
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| Thu, 05-13-2004 - 12:59pm |
Defiant Chinese lawyer relishes
defending citizens’ rights
By Boris Cambrelen, Agence France-Presse Writer
BEIJING—Xu Zhiyong has one of the most challenging jobs in China—defending the downtrodden and journalists who have stepped over lines drawn in the sand by the country’s communist rulers.
But the charismatic Beijing lawyer relishes the chance of doing his bit to prod China toward becoming a country that guarantees personal freedoms.
“The state used to regulate all the actions of individuals. Today people have the right to a private life,†Xu told AFP. “I want to help further push back the state’s intervention in people’s affairs.â€
He picks cases he feels can make a difference for Chinese citizens.
Today Xu is defending Yu Huafeng, former vice chief editor of the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolitan Daily), who was sentenced in March to 12 years in jail for graft.
He is also representing Cheng Yizhong, the former editor in chief of the same paper, who has been formally charged with corruption.
Yu was convicted by a Guangzhou court for handing out bonuses to the paper’s editorial staff; a practice that reporters say is normal in the media industry as state-owned newspapers increasingly become market-oriented.
Rights groups say the men were arrested because the newspaper went too far in testing the limits of China’s tightly controlled media.
As well as exposing the SARS cover-up last year, which led to the sacking of the health minister, the paper’s in-depth reports on the beating to death in police custody of an educated migrant worker also rattled the government.
The exposure of police brutality nationwide resulted in the police losing their power to jail anyone in China not carrying proper identification, work papers or money.
“It was the beginning of the end of that system,†said Xu, who hails from a small village in the central province of Henan.
The journalists’ case has drawn international attention to the plight of China’s media and the government’s attempts to muzzle it.
Reporters Without Borders this week challenged Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to publicly explain the prison sentences, saying they damaged the credibility of the government’s reform policy
“Newspapers are still regulated by the state but in fact these days they actually function like companies,†said Xu. “If we manage to change the verdict in these cases, it will probably have a great influence on the statute of the media.â€
Still only 31, Xu has seen his star rise and is part of a pool of like-minded professionals who are battling a judicial system riddled with corruption.
But in a country that rarely tolerates dissent, or threats to communist rule, his stance has won him enemies.
“Some people accuse me of not respecting the independence of the justice system,†he said.
“But the difference to developed countries is that this independence does not exist in China, and we must fight against the forces that prevent it from existing.â€
While he wants to be optimistic that things will change, and believes the government will have to accept that repression is not a solution in the long-term, he knows there is a difficult road ahead.
“China needs lawyers who fight for the rights of the citizens,†he said defiantly, while acknowledging that a glaring opportunity has already been missed.
“During the last century, China was at a crossroads between reform and revolution. Unfortunately revolution was the choice.â€
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2004/may/14/yehey/opinion/20040514opi6.html#

Wonder why we haven't amassed tens of thousands of troops, tanks, armored carriers and the like and marched into China to liberate THOSE oppressed people.
What?
No oil there?
Dang.
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"If you don't stand up for something, you'll lie down for anything." -- B
>"Still only 31, Xu has seen his star rise and is part of a pool of like-minded professionals who are battling a judicial system riddled with corruption."<
This young man has an uphill battle.
I think there is more reasons that lack of oil. For example we need them to talk to NK.
He also risks being thrown in prison. At the present the government is tolerating his actions, at anytime they could decide enough. I really don't think China wants to move toward Democracy--time will tell.
He also risks being thrown in prison. At the present the government is tolerating his actions, at anytime they could decide enough. I really don't think China wants to move toward Democracy--time will tell.
It is only through efforts and risks taken by people like him that anything will change.
James
janderson_ny@yahoo.com
CL Ask A Guy
James
janderson_ny@yahoo.com
CL Ask A Guy