Cracking the Whip

MIA TURNER BeijingAfter a secret two-hour trial, a court in southern Hunan province last week sentenced labor organizer Zhang Shanguang to 10 years in prison. His offense, according to his family, was giving an interview about rural unrest in China to the U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia. A week earlier, three veteran activists, Xu Wenli, Qin Yongmin and Wang Youcai were sentenced to 13, 12 and 11 years in jail, respectively. Their crime: subversion by attempting to set up the China Democracy Party (CDP), the country's first political opposition group since 1949. Last week the People's Daily announced the arrests and sentencing of 10 people in Beijing and Tianjin for selling unspecified illegal political publications. They were given prison terms ranging from three to 13 years.What's going on here? Only months ago China was being praised by the international community for what appeared to be a blossoming of political tolerance. Western journalists were buzzing about a new Beijing Spring reminiscent of the 1989 student movement. Writers and academics were growing outspoken, and politically provocative publications were becoming accessible. In September Beijing welcomed Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on a high-profile visit. A few weeks later, China even signed the U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.Spring has clearly turned to winter, and human rights observers are wondering why. Some believe that the perception of greater tolerance was merely an illusion. They note that in the months before U.S. President Bill Clinton's historic trip to China last June the government could afford to be flexible. It was a very important visit for China, says a Beijing political scientist. Nothing was to happen that could turn Clinton away. Dissidents capitalized on the moment. In late June activists in eastern Zhejiang province tried to register the CDP and unexpectedly were treated with relative tolerance. In the weeks that followed, branches were set up in 11 cities nationwide.Some activists were not surprised by the clampdown that followed. They see it as proof that China's communist leadership will never be serious about human rights, no matter how many international covenants it signs. Yet other observers believe the spring thaw was real, and that the subsequent chill betrays a new insecurity at the top. The arrests symbolize the greater problems facing the government both politically and economically, says a Western diplomat in Beijing. Unemployment, labor unrest and a slowdown in domestic growth have the Chinese government increasingly concerned about maintaining control. Within a period of six days last month, President Jiang Zemin made two hard-line speeches that highlighted the government's priorities. Stability, said Jiang in an address to judicial and public security organs on Dec. 23, is the country's top concern. Jiang insisted: Any factors that could jeopardize our stability must be annihilated in the early stages.One manifestation of Jiang's uneasiness is a set of administrative regulations announced in November. The new rules make it virtually impossible to establish any organization, let alone a political party, without state approval. Last week the government went one step further: it published a judicial interpretation of the crimes of subversion and splitting the country. From now on artists, authors, publishers, musicians and filmmakers could face anywhere from three years to life imprisonment if found guilty of inciting to subvert state power, a more expansive restatement of existing offenses. They don't want anything to upset the supremacy of the Communist Party, says the Western diplomat.PAGE 1|Of course, China has always insisted on the supremacy of the party. But these days Jiang has more reason to be concerned about the communists' tenure. For one thing, the economy is under severe pressure. Last week the government reported that it came close to hitting its ambitious 8% growth target for 1998, though some foreign economists were skeptical: the Asian financial crisis and China's campaign to close unprofitable state-owned industries are thought to be taking a heavy toll. Unemployment is rising, and protests among workers and farmers are sprouting all over the country. Armed with banners calling for democracy and rule of law, 200 angry villagers in the southern city of Guiyang took to the streets in late October, protesting a government land-redevelopment plan. A month earlier, thousands of disgruntled investors, whose savings had disappeared in questionable investment schemes, staged daily protests in Guangdong province.In addition, Jiang wants the December 1999 handover of Macau to go smoothly; a recent wave of violence among organized-crime factions in the Portuguese colony does not bode well. There are also a number of important and sensitive milestones to get through, including the 10th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, the 50th of the founding of the People's Republic and the 80th of the May 4 Movement, an early student-led protest. Traditionally, anniversary celebrations in China have been occasions for unrest.Jiang will be facing his greatest challenges within the party. After lying low for a few years, hard-line critics are once again raising their voices. In a speech made last June but published only in December, veteran Marxist ideologue Deng Liqun broke a three-year silence and detailed the ills that plague the economy. In recent years, what I have seen and heard makes me feel quite worried, said Deng. The 83-year-old former propaganda chief criticized China's growing income inequality, pointing out that 48 million people in the countryside live below the poverty line and more than 30 million workers have been laid off, while the number of millionaires has grown to more than a million. Deng warned against overemphasizing economic reform. In some people's hearts, they don't believe anymore that socialism can save China, but they believe capitalism can save China. According to Deng, the Party must unite and correct such ideological flaws. He declared: In the final analysis, the key [to solving China's problems] lies in our party.The proliferation of domestic problems has made China less concerned about international reaction to its treatment of dissidents. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao condemned foreign media criticism of the recent political sentences with more than the usual vigor. There is no conflict between the trials and our efforts to safeguard human rights, said Zhu. He claimed the government was still abiding by the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While China has yet to ratify the covenant, it continues to win praise abroad for signing it. Even the recent arrests have produced a relatively low-key reaction overseas. The United States said that, although it deeply deplores the sentences and called for the immediate release of the dissidents, it believes that China has made progress in human rights, much of it linked to the Clinton visit.Ultimately, the Chinese government would prefer that dissidents go overseas, where they often lose their effectiveness. Xu refuses to budge. I told them I would not leave as long as I don't have total freedom here, he told TIME shortly before his arrest. Others, however, have opted to leave. Last month, activists Liu Nianchun and Yao Zhenxian left for the U.S.The dissident community, within China and without, has never doubted the government's resolve to maintain control. Xu anticipated his arrest and had his bag packed when police arrived. But even after his harsh sentencing, he remains undaunted. In a statement written from jail while in handcuffs last week, Xu condemned his so-called open trial as a means of political persecution, but said he would not appeal the decision. History will make a correct judgment on me and the China Democracy Party, he concluded. For Xu and others, however, that judgment may be a long way off.|2