William Farris @ Stanford has published the following wealth of information about the upcoming trial of lawyer Xu Zhiyong which will commence June 22. 2022
Here’s what he says via China LIS LAW
1/# Teng Biao @tengbiao has tweeted that Xu Zhiyong's trial will commence on June 22, so for the next few days I'll be posting to this?about #??? and the decade-long efforts to silence him, starting with how PRC Internet companies are censoring information about him. . .
— William Farris (@wafarris) June 18, 2022
Teng Biao has tweeted that Xu Zhiyong’s trial will commence on June 22 – https://twitter.com/tengbiao/
I hope that our country can be a free and happy one. No person need betray their conscience. Everyone needs only rely on their talent and character to find their position in life. A simple and happy society, where the goodness of humanity may find its apex, and its malice finds its nadir, where honesty, trust, kindness, and helping one another becomes commonplace, where there is not so much anger and anxiety, and there is a pure smile on every face.
The China Daily once described Xu as a “human rights lawyer,” “well-known for his active role in guaranteeing rights of migrant workers,” and an “expert specializing in education policy.”
- http://covid-19.chinadaily.
com.cn/china////2009-04/07/ content_7653585.htm - https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
china/2009-09/02/content_ 8648496.htm - https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
en/doc/2003-12/17/content_ 291055.htm
On January 1, 2020, Xu published an article on his website titled “Change — A 2020 New Year’s Message” (?? — 2020????). Some excerpts:
Enter 2020 in the march of history: another wave of crackdown against civil society is sweeping across China: NGO worker Cheng Yuan (??) in Changsha has been arrested; Pastor Wang Yi (??) in Chengdu was handed a heavy nine-year prison sentence; the last few days have seen the detentions of Ding Jiaxi (???), Zhang Zhongshun (???), Dai Zhenya (???), Li Yingjun (???), Huang Zhiqiang (???).
Where is China heading? Can it sail through the historical gorges and move towards the broadway of modern civilization without upheaval? What choice is each Chinese going to make? Do we struggle in the quagmire of dictatorship, or rise to the call of a constitutional democracy? I ask each and every member of the Communist Party and each and every citizen to weigh an answer.
. . . .
What is the “China Dream”? What is the real intention behind its semantic mimicry of the dream of freedom that every American cherishes? Under its pretty appearance is disregard for institutions, values, and culture. The number of “Confidences” has grown from three to four, but is it real confidence? Its guiding ideology is nothing but bogus socialism. Its one-party system distorts the market and impedes economic development. Its path, defined by thirty years of class struggle and thirty years of economic development, is a self-contradiction. As for its culture, it embraces Marxism-Leninism, while thoroughly smashing the Confucian tradition and pillaging the Chinese civilization.
Personnel: Xi Jinping has chosen nepotism over talent, personal loyalty over integrity. His government endeavored to drive the “low-end” people out of the capital to the anger of hundreds and thousands of people; it tried to “clean” the cityscape by using force to remove signs of businesses, and was met with all-around condemnation. Without any sense of shame, his administration penned articles denouncing constitutionalism and beating the drum for one-man rule. No theory and no talent, he believes in the personal cult of himself. China has no shortage of capable men and women, how can he possibly enjoy popular support with such a narrow mindset?
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. . . .
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Translation: https://chinachange.org/2020/
Chinese Original: https://cmcn.blog/2020/02/10/%
On February 4, 2020, Xu Zhiyong published an open letter dated January 20 entitled “A Written Admonishment Urging Retirement” [???]. Some excerpts:
The first infected person appeared on December 1, 2019; by the end of the month Wuhan’s hospitals were full of them. Yet the local police intimidated the eight doctors who tried to raise the alarm and CCTV set about “dispelling rumors.” These acts of connivance were aimed at preventing the truth from getting out. By January 12, 2020 at the latest, when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention published details of the genetic makeup of the virus, you should have been completely aware of what was going on but you continued to delay releasing information about the actual situation. Your prevarication led to an unconfined and explosive spread of what is now a nationwide epidemic. The lessons of 2003 are right there in front of your eyes. Do you really mean to tell us that you are completely out of touch and lacking any sensitivity to these facts?1
Translation: Geremie R. Barmé, https://www.chinafile.com/
On February 15, 2020 Xu Zhiyong was taken into detention by Chinese authorities.
Over the years I’ve blogged a fair amount about the PRC government’s prosecution(s) of Xu, and how PRC Internet companies have censored information about Xu:
- Sina Weibo Censors Call to Release Those Who Called for Disclosure of Officials’ Assets: http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2013/06/sina-weibo-censors- call-to-release.html - Xu Zhiyong Detained (Again), China’s Web Sites Censor It (Again): http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2013/07/xu-zhiyong-detained- again-chinas-web.html - After Lawyer Xu Zhiyong is Detained His Baidu Encyclopedia Entry Disappears: http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2013/07/after-lawyer-xu- zhiyong-is-detained-his.html - China’s Web Sites Censor Searches for Information on Lawyer Xu Zhiyong’s Detention: http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2013/07/chinas-web-sites- censor-searches-for.html - China’s State Media Talks About Xu Zhiyong, While China’s Social Media Bans Discussion: http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2013/08/chinas-state-media- talks-about-xu.html - Xu Zhiyong Sentenced to 4 Years Imprisonment – A Chronicle of Recent Related Censorship: http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2014/01/xu-zhiyong-sentenced- to-4-years.html - Baidu Censors Results for Xu Zhiyong’s Closing Statement to the Court: http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2014/01/baidu-censors-results- for-xu-zhiyongs.html - As Two More New Citizens Movement Participants Are Convicted, Baidu and Sina Begin Censoring “New Citizens Movement”: http://blog.feichangdao.com/
2014/02/as-two-more-new- citizens-movement.html - After Court Affirms Xu Zhiyong’s Conviction, New Citizens Movement Web Site Disappears From Baidu Search Results: https://blog.feichangdao.com/
2014/04/after-court-affirms- xu-zhiyongs.html
Most recently I translated the indictment of Xu’s girlfriend, Li Qiaochu – https://blog.feichangdao.com/
I’m attaching a PDF of my translation of the 2014 court judgment imprisoning Xu for his attempts to raise awareness of migrant laborer issues. Its from my casebook – “State Prosecutions of Speech in the People’s Republic of China” – available as a free PDF download on my website here – https://www.feichangdao.com/
For those on Twitter, I’ve started a thread where I’ll be sharing this and other information about Xu over the next few days: https://twitter.com/wafarris/
