IN OUR print edition this week, we reported on the trial of Xu Zhiyong, a prominent political activist charged with “assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place”. Though we went to press before there was a verdict, there was little doubt as to what it would be. Now the verdict is in: Mr Xu was convicted, and sentenced to a four-year prison term. This was less than the maximum possible sentence of five years.
The news was announced January 26th through a microblog feed (here, in Chinese) belonging to the No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in Beijing. The one-day trial was held at the heavily guarded courthouse (pictured above) in the western part of the city on January 22nd. Mr Xu and his lawyers declined to mount a defence, decrying the proceedings as nothing more than theatre. Mr Xu did try to read a lengthy statement, but was stopped before he could finish.
Mr Xu is one of the founders of the New Citizens Movement, which in general terms calls on Chinese citizens “not to act as feudal subjects” but “to take seriously the rights which come with citizenship” according to China’s own constitution. In specific terms, the group has, among other things, called on Chinese officials to disclose their personal assets in order to combat corruption.
It is this call that authorities seem to find most threatening. The “disruption” Mr Xu is charged with causing refers to small and peaceful demonstrations that have occurred since he wrote about his ideas in 2012, in which other activists displayed banners urging asset disclosure for officials.
In principal, Chinese authorities would seem to agree with Mr Xu and his supporters. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) came into force in 2003 and, in Article 52.5, says its adherents “shall consider establishing\” effective financial disclosure systems for appropriate public officials and appropriate sanctions for non-compliance. China signed the convention in 2003 and ratified it in 2006.
China’s commitment to “consider establishing” such an asset disclosure regime is of course fairly weak tea; its response to Mr Xu and other citizens advocating the same thing, on the other hand, offers a fairly strong hint as to how the government\’s “consideration” is going thus far.
In his statement Mr Xu tried to tell the court, “By trying to suppress the New Citizens Movement you are obstructing China on its path to becoming a constitutional democracy through peaceful change.”
At the trial, the presiding judge reportedly stopped Mr Xu ten minutes in to the reading of his statement, calling it “irrelevant to the case”. But it is undoubtedly relevant to many of the biggest issues facing China today and is well worth an airing. It can be read in the original Chinese here, and in English translation here.
via Dissent in China: Xu Zhiyong’s verdict | The Economist.
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