(C-AL6-01852) South China Rights Protection Part I:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 032368

SIPDIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L

SIPDIS
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM AND DRL
PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/16
TAGS: PINR PGOV PHUM SOCI CH
SUBJECT: (C-AL6-01852) South China Rights Protection Part I:
Funding Legal Activists and the Future

REF: A) Guangzhou 32364; B) Secstate 182540; C) Guangzhou
32161; D) Guangzhou 29575; E) Beijing 06612


1. (U) Classified by Consul General Robert Goldberg.
Reason 1.4 (d).


2. (C) SUMMARY: Rights activists in South China believe
that access to money and the ability to organize and
address issues of concern are among the key problems they
will continue to face in the future. They know that
foreign donors might be willing to fund them, but are often
unaware of how to obtain money. Some of them believe that
well-known activists such as Gao Zhisheng and others use
law firm earnings to fund legal activism, while others
mentioned the National Endowment for Democracy, Human
Rights in China, China Labor Bulletin and overseas Chinese
as possible sources. Many activists point to labor rights
protection, in which many NGOs are involved, as an area for
future organization. Discussion over the future of the
movement in the aftermath of the detention of Gao Zhisheng
(August) and Yang Maodong (September),aka Guo Feixiong, is
divided between greater activism and more low key, long-
term strategies, the latter of which will be examined in a
second cable. END SUMMARY.


3. (C) A number of South China activists connected with
the Rights Protection Movement ("weiquan yundong," ref E) -
a loose network of lawyers, journalists and other activists
- have recently discussed with Congenoff their
understanding of possible funding sources for legal
activists and long-run strategies.


4. (C) Lin Xinyu (protect),a dissident writer from Fuzhou,
Fujian province (ref C),who claims he has been a human
rights activist for 20 years, believes that Gao Zhisheng
likely earned money early in his career from his private
law firm, which was later used for rights protection
activities. Lin said that some activist lawyers working on
low-paying rights protection cases sometimes ask for
"voluntary money" from their defendants to fund their
activities. Lin believes that (besides the United States)
Italy, Germany and Canada are the largest foreign donors to
activists. He claims to have been offered money by the
Xi'an activist, Lin Mu, now recently deceased, and Nanjing
activist Yan Tianshui, but he refused because he is already
receiving money from his family and considers outside money
to be "too sensitive."


5. (C) Tang Jingling (protect),a lawyer known among
activists for defending Taishi villagers in 2005 in their
attempt to remove corrupt village leaders, also recently
told Congenoff that Gao Zhisheng's money likely came from
his lucrative law firm. Tang said that if lawyers opened a
law firm before 1994, they could "make a lot money" without
having to rely on personal connections such as judges or
companies. Gao reportedly opened his law firm in 1995 but
was nevertheless very successful in the 1990s. Tang said
that by law, a law firm must have at least RMB 1 million
(USD 125,000) starting capital and some law partners can
earn up to RMB 10-20 million a year (USD 1.25-2.5 million).


6. (C) Tang has continued as a political activist despite
difficulties with authorities. In September 2006, Tang was
detained in Guangzhou while trying to travel to Hong Kong
(Note: Tang is still planning to sue the Shantou City
government because they illegally confiscated his passport,
ref D. End note.). In November 2005, he lost his law
license, but earns money by providing unofficial legal
advice to groups (for example in Shenzhen, ref A).


7. (C) Li Xiaolong (protect),a Nanning-based activist who
previously worked with the Beijing-based rights protection
group Empowerment and Rights Institute (EARI),thought
Gao's money came from the National Endowment for Democracy
(NED). Li said that he personally never received any
overseas money, but wishes he had. He is upset that many
Chinese dissidents who flee to America and do not support
Mainland activists. Xiaoxia (Sasha) Gong (protect) from
the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center said specifically that Gao
Zhisheng was funded by the NED, Human Rights in China, and
China Labor Bulletin - the latter also receives funding
from the Solidarity Center. Gong, who previously worked
for Radio Free Asia (RFA) in Washington, stressed the
importance of the rights protectionists for RFA in China,
because activists are "virtually the only information

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sources and audience" for the broadcasting company. The
South China Morning Post's Guangzhou correspondent, Leu
Siew Ying (who is herself an overseas Chinese from
Singapore),said that many overseas Chinese are
increasingly donating money to rights activists. Leu said
that Guo Feixiong's Guangzhou apartment/office was likely
paid for by a private overseas donor.

Future of Rights Protection Movement
--------------


8. (C) Tang Jingling told Congenoff recently of a meeting
he had with other important South China activists,
including Lin Xinyu, Shenzhen-based Zhao Dagong from the
Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC),and Dongguan-based
Li Weizhong from China Labor Watch. The group agreed there
are three main problems to the future development of rights
protection: money, organization/leadership, and media
coverage. First, Tang said that money is "the bottleneck
of rights protection." Although the activist community
tries to support individuals who are effectively promoting
rights protection, funds are insufficient. Second, the
group believes that the Rights Protection Movement lacks
strong organization and leadership and hopes to emulate the
organizational structure and independent media resources of
the Falun Gong. According to Tang, there are "too many
heroes, but not enough leaders;" consequently, the rights
protection network "remains weak." Tang did not believe
that Gao or Guo could return to provide leadership as he
expects their trials will not take place until 2007, either
before or after the 17th Party Congress. The group
discussed other possible leaders for a more-organized
rights protection network, including: Wang Youcai, Wei
Jingsheng, Xu Wenli, Wang Dang - all in America - and Xu
Wangping, currently in Chongqing. Additionally, the group
was concerned about how to recruit the next generation of
talented activists. Lin specifically wanted the USG to
focus on encouraging China to liberalize its restricted
media, which he believes is the most hindering factor to
the spread of the rights protection. He plans to write an
article on the fact that China, unlike most countries of
the world, does not have a law specifically dealing with
the media.

Importance of Labor NGOs
--------------


9. (C) Tang and Lin agreed that urban labor rights
protection, more than rural unrest, is perhaps the most
important area of future activism. Lin said that migrant
workers often have higher social status and educational
levels than rural protestors, and could better understand
the theories behind rights protection. Moreover, the
Central Government seems to have allowed labor NGOs to
flourish across China, because they see a value in a stable,
educated work-force. Tang, who used to work for China
Labor Watch, said that the Pearl River Delta has over 100
labor NGOs alone, with about 70 percent of them in Shenzhen,
most of them being very small operations. Sasha Gong also
agreed that labor has real potential for rights reform in
China because workers have better access to information and
protests would be closer to major media sources.


10. (C) Labor legal aid groups have also been much more
successful at aquiring money. Gong said that the
Solidarity Center provides approximately USD 50,000 a year
to Zhou Litai, a labor rights protection lawyer, who
provides legal services for about 800 migrant workers.
Other labor legal aid groups are also successful such as
"Little Bird" (xiaoxiao niao),which receives money from
the USG, German government and soon the International
Republican Institute (IRI). Gong also mentioned that
Peking University's Center for Women's Law Studies and
Legal Services receives from the American Bar Association.

Future of Movement: Political Gains vs Longevity
-------------- ---


11. (C) Tang believes the movement should become even more
political. Specifically, he hopes to see more independent
candidates, petitions and protests. He said that last year
the movement was mostly composed of lawyers and journalists,
but it now needs more activists with political skills. On
August 15, Tang started a "Non-cooperation campaign" to
encourage people to either boycott their local election or

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to vote for independent candidates. Instead of voting for
party members, Tang hopes people will mail their ballots to
him. He plans to collect the ballots as proof of the
people's dissatisfaction with the CCP. So far Tang says he
has received 55 votes from 20 provinces and that both Asahi
news in Japan and Taiwan National Radio have written about
the movement.


12. Other activists disagree with Tang, seeing the need to
build organizational and leadership capabilities before
engaging in more high-profile activities. These activists
take a long-term approach, arguing that a more robust
rights movement requires fewer "symbolic heroes" (Gao
Zhisheng and Guo Feixiong) and more "leaders."

Comment
--------------


13. (C) The activist movement in China has changed from
the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident - an overt call for
regime change - to the 1998 China Democracy Party - an
overt organized organization - to the Rights Protection
Movement, a loose, "virtual" network of activists that is
without a unified mission, representation, or bureaucracy.
The Rights Protection Movement in South China remains
disjointed and is centered around small nodes of activists
(namely in Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen and Nanning)
united by overseas websites, liberal academic institutions,
and independent media such as RFA and Voice of America.
Information can be shared between these nodes quickly and
freely; however, most governments or foundations would find
it not only risky, but also logistically difficult to
systemically fund these activists.


14. (C) Activists complain there are many effective
individual activists, but no organized connection between
groups. The difficulty these activists face is how to
leave their underground status and organize in a manner
that will not lead to a crackdown from the government. So
far there is no effective solution to this problem. As
leaders such as Gao and Guo have been detained, new leaders
have emerged and are compelled to continue pushing for
short-term gains. Notably, Tang Jingling has become more
political since the detention of Guo Feixiong in what
appears to be an attempt to replace Guo as South China's
rights protection leader. Tang's call for more protests
and petitions could lead to his arrest.


15. (C) Activists say that South China's traditionally
more liberal environment has allowed a number of rights
protection-related NGOs. One success story is the
progressive Guangdong Humanistic Association (protect),
which is registered with the government, has high-level
party connections, and controls its own independent media
source (although the group is now facing increased
pressure). Some also point to the work of Guangdong's
numerous labor NGOs (though these groups have also been
stymied, ref A),which are slowly educating workers on
their rights and connecting them in groups beyond
government control.

GOLDBERG