With the spread of the revolutions in the Middle East, Chinese authorities have been cracking down on dissidents to suppress the call of a “Jasmine Revolution” against the government. In what seems like a reversal of the Red Scare, the police have been investigating for a network of rebels, who are believed to be an “anti-China” force, supported by Western societies to undermine the Communist Party and promote a liberal democracy.
Earlier this month, Ran Yunfei, a Chinese blogger and magazine editor, was detained for “inciting subversion of state power.” “Basically, it’s the crime of expressing your opinions,” explained Wang Yi, a Christian activist. Liu Xianbin, another political activist, has been sentenced to ten years in prison for calling democratic reforms.
Recently Ai Weiwei, a high profile artist, who designed Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” for the 2008 Summer Olympics, was arrested for “suspected economic crimes”. His whereabouts remain unknown. Weiwei’s arrest has brought international concern, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for his release. Besides these prominent figures, Wei Qiang, a 21-year-old former art student, who attended a pro-democracy protest two months ago in Beijing, was sentenced to two years in a labor re-education camp.
According to Amnesty International, more than 100 online activists have been arrested, threatened by security forces, or have gone missing. Liu Anjun, a dissident of petitioners’ rights who has been freed, described how the police interrogated him for information about other democracy activists and human rights lawyers. “They were trying to build up links among everybody, trying to get me to tell them who was supporting what,” said Liu.
Joshua Rosenzweig, a researcher in Hong Kong for the Dui Hua Foundation, stated that the Chinese “…mentality is still based on the conspiracy of the revolutionary cell. The idea of a counter-revolutionary clique has never really gone away in China.” This fear partially comes from the country’s historical roots, as pro-democracy movements in 1989 were supported by the United States and other Western powers.
With China’s rapidly growing economy, Chen Jiping, a senior security official, believes that Western forces are bringing up human rights issues to weaken Communist control. In a similar light regarding the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident, Liu Xiabo, one source noted, “It’s not just a general sense that the Western governments supported the Nobel decision; it’s a real belief that it was dreamed up in Washington as a way to attack China.”
It is widely debated whether a jasmine revolution can bloom. With an emerging, stable middle class and tight restriction on the freedom of speech and expression, it seems doubtful that demanding changes will be realized. However, with the power of the Internet to possibly influence and assemble around China’s 450 million users, China’s political future is indeterminate.
