----Commentary----
Two events shadowed China's President, Hu Jintao, as he arrived in America on Nov. 14 to attend the week-long G-20 summit. Both prefigure the inherent instability that the Chinese government brings to the world community.
Hu Jintao arrived in the States shortly after the election of Barack Obama. He stood in a country energized through the processes of democracy. The post-election euphoria emphasized that the mighty economic engine, however hobbled, and the technological prowess of America are not the sources of its power.
That power is a by-product of its political structure, which, however imperfect it may be, continually allows America to renew itself and to overcome differences and divisiveness as it proceeds towards its constitutional vision of justice, liberty, and equality.
The America that Hu Jintao saw before him must have given him pause as two recent events revealed the precarious nature of China's ascendancy to the status of world superpower and gave shape to the shadows that follow him.
The first event took place in Europe. Imprisoned Chinese dissident Hu Jia was awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Oct. 23, 2008. Hu Jia, whose work has focused on bringing awareness to issues like AIDS, the environment, and the 1989 pro-democracy movement, had been arrested and convicted of subversion after he presented video testimony to the European Parliament about the human rights situation in China.
EU Parliament President, Hans-Gert Pttering, said the prize was meant to demonstrate that "the European Parliament firmly and resolutely acknowledges the daily struggle for freedom of all Chinese human rights defenders". The Chinese government expressed its anger at the European Union decision, insisting Hu Jia was a criminal, and described the EU action as "gross interference in China's domestic affairs."
It is appropriate that the prize awarded to Hu Jia was named after the Soviet era dissident, Andrei Sakharov. A noted Soviet physicist, Dr. Sakharov was one of the few people of his time who foresaw the demise of the Soviet Union. He formulated the phrase that defined the inherent problem with tyrannical one-party systems: "the world community cannot rely on governments who do not rely on their own people".
The other shadow that haunts Hu Jintao took shape at Harvard University on Nov. 7, 2008. Under the mantra of "Respecting differences; embracing universal values; united for a democratic future for all," over sixty leaders and representatives from the diverse ethnic and religious groups that comprise the Chinese population, attended a three day conference.
Working within a framework of interactive forums, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, as well as persecuted faiths such as House Church Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners, reached out to one another and shared their burden of repression at the hands of the Chinese Government. At the end of the conference, the participants issued a unanimous declaration of unity of purpose and strategy toward their common goal of freedom and democracy.
This conclusion was aptly expressed in a recent statement made by his Holiness the Dalai Lama, following my audience with him this past summer, "It's only wishful thinking that the Chinese government give freedom to the Tibetans and not to the Han Chinese majority or the Uyghurs at the same time.
"It is also impossible that the Chinese government would give freedom only to the Falun Gong practitioners and not to the underground Christian church members. And the dictatorial threat hanging over Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau can be alleviated only through the continued fighting and successful effort for freedom by the people in Mainland China. Therefore our striving for freedom is an integrated one and cannot be separately carried out."
The historic nature of this declaration cannot be underestimated. Never before in Chinese history have so many groups unified under a joint resolution of purpose for achieving shared goals of freedom, human rights, and the rule of law. This joint declaration can be read in full at the Initiatives for China website (www.initiativesforchina.org).
These two events point to the inevitable drive for change in China, one showing the repressive and divisive nature of the Communist party in the governance of its citizens and its equally corrosive approach to its relationships with other nations; the other signaling that, as with all tyrannies, a government cannot hold a gun to its people forever.
My congratulations to the brave stance of the European Parliament and to the patriots who attended the Conference at Harvard. Welcome to the future, Hu Jintao.
Dr. Yang Jianli, a 1989 Tiananmen Square survivor and a former prisoner of conscience in China, holds a PhD in mathematics from UC Berkerly and a Ph.D. in Political Economy from Harvard University. He is currently a Harvard University Senior Fellow and President of InitiativesforChina, the Boston based pro democracy movement that coordinates actions that advance a peaceful transition to democracy in China. For more information visit www.initiativesforchina.org