China: “08 Charter” Signers Arrested and Questioned by Police · Global Voices
Bob Chen

08 Charter, a collective statement drafted by non-official scholars, signed by hundreds of supporters, including famous writers, lawyers, professors and many other dissidents, sketches a blueprint for the democracy prospect in China.
It calls upon Chinese government for more positive response to people’s demand for human rights and political reform. It concerns issues such thw separation of power, better social security system, religious freedom, and election of public positions. Different from many past appeals, it doesn't stop simply at the call for anti-corruption action, but more into a deeper level of a constitutional change. In format, it emulates the anti-Soviet Charter 77 declaration of the Czechoslovak.
Catherine Sampson, writer on Guardian UK, commented the Charter as “one of the boldest calls for change to have emerged since the bloodshed of 1989 all but silenced dissent in China.”
The timing of its release is quite sensitive. 10, Dec is the World Human Rights Day, also the 60th anniversary of the United Nation’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a key human-right pact China as one of its signers. Moreover, 2008 is an uncommon year for China. Except for the glorious Olympics, the year is more gloomy than inspiring that the earthquake and snowstorm wreak havoc; the financial crisis impacts the daily life of Chinese, and along the year, riots, violence and protests frequents the country. The prosperity and stability brought by continual GDP growth and iron-handed ruling is undermined by the uneven distribution of wealth and justice.
Most of the problems point to the controversial political system of China, on which the 08 Charter criticizes in its prelude:
特别是官民对立激化和群体事件激增，正在显示着灾难性的失控趋势，现行体制的落伍已经到了非改不可的地步。
And now the charter, itself, is likely to push the conflict to the culmination.
A high-handed response
Its birth and release to public is more than dramatic.
The Charter was planned to be publicized on exactly 10, Dec, the Human Right Day. 303 signatures have been collected, marking the first phase of the campaign. As soon as it is released, a public signature-collection movement will be launched.
However, on 8, Dec, Liu Xiaobo, one of the most prominent dissident in China, also an initiator of the campaign, was raided and arrested by secret police, along with another scholar, Zhang Zuhua, who was released soon. But their houses were ransacked, computers and other personal items taken away.
Interviewed by Deutsche Welle, Zhang recalled:
大约有20多名警员身着警服闯到我家中，出示了传唤通知书和搜查证，然后把我带到万寿路派出所进行讯问，长达12小时。同时留下11位民警在我家进行了一 个大搜查。把我家里的几台电脑，包括我妻子的电脑，还有我的很多书籍和私人物品–我和我太太的现金、存折、银行卡全部抄走，留下了很厚一沓的扣押物品文 件清单。
Not as lucky as Zhang, Liu Xiaobo has been detained for all the week till now. No sign yet shows that he will be released in short time. Liu was born in 1955. After the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, he had been imprisoned as a major planner. After being released, he kept writing on to lash out at the anti-democracy deed of the authority, in and out of prison frequently.
On Telegraph UK, a detailed account of what happened is presented. As the article marked, one of the most politically sensitive demands in the Charter is for the western-style separation of powers – the legislature, the executive and the legal system – which has been publicly discussed but ruled out by Communist Party leaders. But more than that, item 18 in the Charter, which proposes China to shift into a federal republic, is what the authority cites the most to charge against the signers, because it is thought be a clear threat to the state regime.
Though signers have claimed they only want a reform within the current political framework, the authority is well unsettled. More questionings, home arrests and confiscations are going. Rumor says every single signer will be “treated” by police.
Independent Chinese Pen Center, an association advocating the freedom of writing and publishing, which Liu-xiao used to preside over, is greatly affected because many of its members have signed the charter. They documented what happened to them in these days on the internet.
Dang Guangsheng, a poet, posted that he got a taste of how efficient the secret police are:
去附近的“步瑞祺电脑城”，正在柜台看耳机时，有人拍了拍我的肩膀。我一看，是个陌生的30多岁的穿着休闲服的人。他问“ 老管吗？”我说“是”。他说“借一步说话。”我有些诧异，又有些想笑，心想：这人还比较文明。我问道“你认识我吗？”他说“你不是管党生吗？”我说“是 ”，他扶着我胳膊说“没有找错”。然后把我带到门口，说“我是市公安局的，想找你了解些事情，请配合一下”，并掏出来“人民警察证”给我看了一下，里面名 字还没有看清楚，他就收了起来。说实话，我当时的第一个念头就是想跑。但是，一方面他强“扶”着我胳膊，一方面感觉跑也没有什么意思，何况以前也有过类似 的事情。
The author was then taken outside the door, and invited to a guest box in a restaurant. A talk, apparently friendly but actually tit-for-tat and strained, followed.
“我们开门见山吧。最近你比较活跃啊。”
“哪些方面？”
“最近签名比较多啊”
沉默……
“零八宪章看过没有？还有那个《营救刘晓波博士告全国人民书》？”
“看过”
“签名了没有？”
“签名了”
“好，谁让你签名的？”
“自己”
“在哪里看见的？”
“网上”
“哪个网？”
“到处都有”
“你知不知道问题很严重？”
“不知道”
“你怎么和刘晓波搞到一起去了？怎么认识他的？”
“我没有和刘晓波搞到一起去，也基本不认识他。”
“那为什么要声援营救他？”
The author gave a long reply this time,
“因为从80年代起我就喜欢他的文章，还有我认为零八宪章只是表达当代民主政治的基本原则和价值追求，对促进中国民主法治有很大促进作用，代表着很大一部分人的政治理想，为这个抓人是没有道理的。从法律上讲，宪法明确规定保障每个人的言论自由权利”
“你怎么知道抓他是因为零八宪章的？”
“那是因为什么？
“How do you know that Liu was detained for the 08 Charter?”
“Then for what?”
He was silent this time.
Finally, after making sure that the author knew little about who are running the movement and how it was done, the detective let him go. The author commented at the end of the blog entry:
出来以后，我想中国的公安有时工作效率还是比较高的。譬如对“零八宪章”。如果把这效率用在反腐败上多么好。
也许是杞人忧天。为了防止我突然“消失”，我还是把今天的事情写了出来。
现在外面是晴天，还是老话：我坚信乌云遮不住太阳。