The Rights Protection Movement Leadership in South

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 014013 SIPDIS C O N F I D E N T I A L SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/16 TAGS: PHUM PGOV ECON SOCI CH SUBJECT: The Rights Protection Movement Leadership in South China: Choosing Battles Wisely REF: A) Guangzhou 11684; B) Beijing 06612; C) 05 Bejing 16423 ¶1. (U) Classified by Consul General Edward Dong. Reason 1.4 (d). Summary -------------- ¶2. (C) The rights protection movement in China, a QvirtualQ network of democracy activists throughout the mainland, is gaining force and membership. This is the vision optimistically espoused by Guo Feixiong, a leader from the South China branch of the rights protection movement, whom Consulate officers met on April 20. During the meeting, Guo discussed his leadership role in the 2005 Taishi incident in Guangdong Province and his goals for the movement to use legalistic, non-violent protest opportunities to spread grass-root-level democracy across China. End summary. Background -------------- ¶3. (C) On April 20, Econ/Pol Section Chief and Poloff met with one of South ChinaQs leading democracy activists, Yang Maodong, better know by his pen-name, QGuo FeixiongQ. Consulate officers met with Guo for about one hour. Guo discussed his involvement in the July 2005 Taishi incident in GuangdongQs Panyu district as well as the Rights Protection Movement in China, undoubtedly ChinaQs most dynamic and innovative democracy movement today (see ref B on Taishi and ref C on the movement). Guo helped lead the Taishi incident, in which villagers legally protested the removal of a corrupt village leader. As a result, he was held in prison for three months from September untill December 2005. Guo planned to travel to the United States on April 30 for a State Department Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) conference and was at the Consulate to apply for his visa. ¶4. (C) Guo expressed his gratitude for U.S. support of the Chinese democratic movement. He emphasized that economic freedom in China is not enough. Guo said, additionally, democratic and media freedoms must also be improved, which can only occur through greater U.S. pressure of China. He then emphasized the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right (Note: this is understandable given the movementQs connection with foreign and domestic religious groups, see ref B, end note). Although he himself is not Christian, his wife is Protestant, and he believes that the treatment Protestants, Catholics and Muslims receive at the hands of Chinese officials is quite severe. Taishi: Understanding South China Protest Methods -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) When asked how activists heard of the Taishi villagersQ problems Guo said that he had not known of the villagersQ initial efforts to protest the actions of a corrupt village official. Instead, a group of villagers contacted him in at his law office in Guangzhou and asked for his help. Guo gave the villagers some advice on how to legally fight their case. Eventually the problems in Taishi became known to other activists. They decided to use Taishi as a chance to test the legal system of protest combined with a media campaign to focus world attention on problems in the Chinese countryside. Activists additionally tested other methods of protest, including the use of older women protestors and limited hunger strikes. Guo mentioned he had met on a number of occasions with the South China Morning Post and other journalists. In all, between 30-40 QelitesQ from throughout the Chinese democracy movement descended on Taishi to help with the protest. These elites included lawyers, intellectuals, activists, authors, and journalists. Guo said the biggest sources of such elites often are from cities such as Shanghai and Beijing; however, during Taishi, the majority of participating elites were from Guangzhou. Guo considered the protest method highly effective since many different world media sources focused attention on the issue. ¶6. (C) Guo compared Taishi with the December 2005 Dongzhou incident and the recent April 12 protest in Bomei village (near Shantou, Guangdong Province) (ref A). Guo said both the Dongzhou and Bomei protests had three problems: 1) the protest lacked elites; 2) villagers used violence against the police; and 3) villagers did not focus on elections. GUANGZHOU 00014013 002 OF 003 Guo argued, elections, not land compensation and improved water infrastructure projects, are what attract world-wide and eventually domestic Chinese attention. In contrast to the Dongzhou and Bomei village incidents, his Movement strives for legal and completely peaceful protest methods. The QRights Protection MovementQ: Vision and Tradecraft -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Guo commented on the make-up of the QWei Quan Yun DongQ (The QRights Protection MovementQ),describing the Movement as ChinaQs Qmost important democracy movementQ with several thousand members throughout China. In GuoQs interpretation, the movementQs mission is to focus on democratic election rights. The Movement wants to legally encourage elections at the village, county, and township level. Guo hopes that as elections become a protected right, democracy will spread upwards through the six levels of government and throughout the country. As democracy spreads, China will eventually become a rule of law nation. The first step is to make the media (foreign and domestic) aware of the need for elections in China and eventually the masses in China will begin to care as well. ¶8. (C) Because of Central Government surveillance, Guo said he and his fellow activists try to avoid using phones and email as much as possible. Nevertheless, the movement finds creative ways to remain effective. For example, recently Guo helped advise a protest in Henan in Xinxiang village, though police had barred him from physically traveling to the area. Using cell phone calls and friends, Guo was able to pass messages and advice to activists on how to best protest. Perhaps the most effective method the Movement uses is internet articles. Under the name QGuo FeixiongQ, Guo will speak into the phone to a friend who takes down his words and posts articles on-line. In March 2006 alone, Guo said he had 20 such articles published, which he says have had a great effect on the movement. Cooperation with Urban Labor Rights Groups? -------------- ¶9. (C) Guo said urban labor rights activists and rural protesters rarely mix, though he has been consulted by a few groups which are working together on the legal aspects of labor issues. In his opinion, the labor rights movement was much less developed than the rural democracy movement. Moreover, he is convinced a democratic revolution will occur from the countryside first. Government Pressure: A Tightening Noose? -------------- ¶10. (C) Throughout the meeting, Guo complained about the effects of increased government censorship and personal harassment in his life. He argued that without the media controls on rural protests and on his journal articles, the movement would be much more successful. Guo personally faces a 24/7, constant intrusion on his cell phone, internet correspondence, and in his human interactions. He cannot attend many local activist meetings at present because police will stop him or even will stand in front of him on the street. Therefore, he must send friends to attend the meeting in his place. Friends are also afraid to meet with him because they might go to jail after even one encounter with him. ¶11. (C) Moreover, the Movement itself is receiving the highest levels of state attention. Guo said beginning in February 2006, the Rights Protection Movement was labeled an official enemy of the state. Guo said he was certain of this infamy, because in March alone he was stopped in four different provinces (Beijing, Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangdong) and told that the Movement was an enemy of the state. Future of the Movement -------------- ¶12. (C) Guo believes the chances of the movementQs success (despite government pressure) is quite good. The PRM hopes to focus on smaller, more achievable goals. By end of 2006, Guo wants 1,000 QindependentQ representatives throughout China at the various village, county, and township levels. The Movement will focus on local level election rights and, he believes elections eventually will move up and spread throughout the whole country. But he said, a handful of individuals in the Movement is not enough. There needs to be a sufficient number of members so that if one person is rendered ineffective due to police tactics, others can pop up elsewhere. He optimistically believes that in two years time, the Movement will continue GUANGZHOU 00014013 003 OF 003 to grow and be a much larger force throughout China. Comment: Fertile Ground in South China? -------------- ¶13. (C) Among the 87,000 protests in China last year, there are some small, durable links. Not all of the protests are atomistic spasms related to extremely parochial interests (although the majority of protests surely fall in this realm). Instead ChinaQs national-level rights protection movement seems to be gaining strength and selecting useful targets for protest opportunities. The Movement has many advantages. It is made-up of educated elites with access to international journalists, academics and other activists throughout China. The Movement seeks legalistic methods focused on election rights, which hopes to put pressure on local-level democracy. Moreover, its birdQs-eye perspective on the country affords it the chance to select specific weak points to pressure the government for democratic change. South China will remain fertile ground for implementing this strategy because of its access to foreign media in Hong Kong and a high likelihood of continued protests over corruption, land rights, and land compensation. Or Scorched Earth? -------------- ¶14. (C) However, the Movement has a great challenge before it. Despite Guo FeixiongQs optimistic predictions, the likelihood of even 1,000 QindependentQ local representatives seems difficult to achieve, and the Movement can be expected to suffer continued harassment of activists and poor national recognition due to government censorship. The Chinese Central Government puts enormous resources and attention into censoring any information about rural protests that might lead to further unrest. Moreover, the Government also spends great effort tracking and blocking activists. However, it does not appear that the Central Government has carried out a systematic crack- down on the activist Qelites,Q upon whom much of GuoQs current strategy rests. The Government has been much less reticent about suppressing protesters. The Government has expressed little interest in expanding local elections. However, acknowledging the legitimacy of rural complaints over the past two or three years, Chinese leaders have paid greater attention to rural equity issues. Most recently, they have insisted that land compensation be quickly and fully paid, based on market value. Also, the 11th Five- year Plan, begun in 2006, places a premium on bringing the benefits of the city to rural areas through its QBuilding the New Socialist CountrysideQ program, likely an effort to mitigate on-going rural complaints. ¶15. (U) Embassy Beijing has cleared this cable. DONG