HONG KONG CONTACTS DISCUSS THE MEANING OF "WEI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HONG KONG 002908

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH
SUBJECT: HONG KONG CONTACTS DISCUSS THE MEANING OF "WEI
QUAN"

REF: A. CPP20051228501005

B. CPP20060510515011

Classified By: E/P Chief Simon Schuchat. Reasons: 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: According to Consulate contacts, the Chinese
term "wei quan" is being used with increasing frequency to
describe a broad range of protests occurring in China, as
well as the work of a group of mainland lawyers and
citizens/activists involved in these protests.
While there is no direct English translation, it has been
variously described as "defense of rights," China's "civil
rights movement," and even a possible euphemism for human
rights ("ren quan"). One contact contended that as Chinese
citizens had become more aware of their rights, they had
become more willing to speak out and protest against
perceived violations of those rights. While some contacts
felt that "wei quan" was a lawyer-led movement, others saw
"wei quan" as a more organic movement, with no real leaders
at the moment. According to one journalist, several "wei
quan" lawyers have been harassed or detained, but that on the
whole, the Beijing authorities appeared to tolerate the use
of the term "wei quan." The Hong Kong-based "Wei Quan"
Lawyers and Movement Concern Group recently issued a
communique that called for an end to the harassment of "wei
quan" lawyers and called for the implementation of the basic
rights of the citizens as stated in the PRC constitution.
End Summary.


"Wei Quan" -- What Does It Mean?
--------------


2. (C) In recent weeks, poloff met with a number of NGO
contacts and journalists to discuss "wei quan," an indigenous
Chinese term used with increasing frequency to describe the
work of a group of mainland lawyers and citizens/activists
involved in protests against a variety of alleged injustices,
including unpaid wages, land grabs, unsafe work conditions,
environmental abuses, etc. While there is no direct English
translation, the term has been variously defined as "defense
of rights" or even a "civil rights movement." No two
contacts agreed on a definition, its impact on China's human
rights situation, or on whether it should be called a
movement; however, all agreed that the increased willingness
of Chinese citizens, with assistance from some dedicated
lawyers, to demand their legally guaranteed rights was
overall a positive development.


3. (C) In recent years, by the PRC Government's own
admission, PRC citizens have participated in tens of
thousands of protests against a variety of injustices.
Although the origins of these protests are unique and
different, mainlanders increasingly describe them
collectively as "wei quan." During a June 16 meeting,
Director of Research & Communications Robin Munro of China
Labour Bulletin portrayed "wei quan" as an indigenous
movement and an important development in China's human rights
field. He contended that as ordinary citizens had became
more aware of their constitutional rights and had those
rights violated by corrupt local officials or "local power
holders," they had became more willing to speak out and
protest against perceived injustices.

A Code Word for Human Rights?
--------------


4. (C) Most contacts who defined "wei quan" in human rights
terms believed it had some advantages over "ren quan," which
is the usual Chinese term for human rights. Historically,
said Munro, the human rights movement on the mainland had
never fully developed because of accusations that it had
foreign origins. Unfairly or not, "ren quan" was perceived
as an external term which had been forced into the Chinese
lexicon. The origin of "wei quan," on the other hand, was
indigenous and clearly Chinese. Liu Baopu, the son of Zhao
Ziyang's aide Bao Tong, speculated to poloff on June 21 that
"wei quan" was an abbreviation for "wei hu ren quan" or
"uphold/defend human rights." According to Liu, the Chinese
term "wei quan" had "a few nice features: 1) If "wei hu ren
quan" (uphold/protect human rights) was politically
sensitive, then the abbreviation "wei quan" would not sound
so sensitive, although it had the same meaning; and 2) It
was not, initially, on the key word list used by the Chinese
internet police. Ironically, said Mark Allison, Researcher
for Amnesty International during a July 12 meeting with
poloffs, a Chinese citizen's human rights ("ren quan") are

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guaranteed by the constitution, but the Chinese term had,
unfortunately, become politically sensitive. "Wei quan,"
although perhaps a euphemism for human rights, appeared to be
tolerated by the mainland authorities for now.

Lawyers Leading the "Wei Quan" Phenomena ...
--------------


5. (C) Several mainland lawyers have played an important role
in the "wei quan" movement and have been credited with
leading the movement. For example, during the June 4
candlelight vigil in Hong Kong, a recorded message from
Tiananmen Square leader Wang Dan was broadcast to the crowd.
Wang paid tribute to the lawyers by saying, "We also see that
the "wei quan" movement, led by the lawyers, has already
developed on a spectacular scale."


6. (C) James Wang, a reporter for "Yazhou Zhoukan" (a Hong
Kong-based Chinese-language political affairs weekly
magazine) also sees the "wei quan" lawyers as a crucial
component of the movement. The magazine's December 25, 2005
issue named China's "wei quan" lawyers the "person of the
year" (a summary of the article is located at ref A). Wang
told poloff on July 3 that most of the lawyers he interviewed
had not intended to be part of a cause or even get involved
in human rights work -- some would never even think of
referring to themselves as "wei quan" lawyers. Instead, many
of them, with background in commercial law, might have begun
by helping an individual file a lawsuit to recover lost
wages, but later realized that the individual case was part
of a bigger picture, at which point issues such as upholding
the rule of law or an individual's constitutionally
guaranteed rights assumed greater meaning. Many of the "wei
quan" lawyers pursue their cases at great personal risk and
come under official scrutiny, said Wang, but have begun to
rely on other "wei quan" lawyers for moral support.


7. (C) Wang said that most of the lawyers he spoke with were
extremely "rational" and moved forward with their cases
cautiously. Wang said he considered Gao Zhisheng to be a
little reckless in his actions (i.e. submitting an open
letter to President Hu Jintao criticizing abuse of Falun Gong
adherents). While Gao has attracted attention from the
international media for cases that he has litigated, he has
also been the target of official harassment. Wang speculated
that Gao was purposefully being provocative towards the
Chinese authorities in order to be arrested and become a
"martyr." It appeared to Wang that Gao sought greater
publicity, even at the expense of a possible arrest or even
detention. Wang has heard from sources that mainland
authorities are trying their best to refrain from arresting
Gao, because doing so might bring him even greater moral
authority.


8. (C) Separately, Allison told poloff that "wei quan"
lawyers had to be very careful about the cases they pursued.
Perhaps aware that more mainland lawyers were taking on civil
cases to test the legal limits of the system, the PRC lawyers
association had issued a new directive restricting the number
of clients a lawyer could accept in a single case. Allison
speculated that this essentially would prevent "wei quan"
lawyers from pursuing class action suits.

... or Capitalizing on "Wei Quan" Cases?
--------------


9. (C) Not all of our contacts were convinced that lawyers
were at the forefront of the "wei quan" movement. Roseann
Rife, Hong Kong Program Director of Human Rights in China
(HRIC),told poloff on June 30 that there was still a lack of
understanding about how Chinese citizens defined "wei quan,"
and she did not believe lawyers necessarily were leading the
movement. She opined that the "wei quan" protests were a
healthy way for ordinary citizens to vent their frustrations,
but was concerned that if Chinese citizens began to rely
solely on court judgments for justice, then they might get
caught up in an endless cycle of lawsuits against corrupt
officials or landlords. Even a court ruling in a citizen's
favor would not guarantee payment of a settlement, which
might lead to an increase in people's overall frustration
levels. Simply focusing on the legal angle of "wei quan"
protests was not sufficient; it also was important to truly
understand the phenomenon itself before labeling it a
lawyer-led movement, said Rife. To that end, HRIC was
planning to survey "wei quan" blogs and publish a report on
the issue. (Note: Poloff conducted an informal survey of
"wei quan" websites on "google.cn" and got results for over 7

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million websites. End Note.)


10. (C) Journalist and veteran China analyst Johnny Lau took
a more cynical view of the emerging "wei quan" movement in a
June 12 conversation with poloff. While acknowledging the
positive aspects of ordinary citizens demanding protection of
their life, property, health, and other rights, Lau cautioned
that the Central Government might see the "wei quan" movement
as "rebellious," especially if protestors made efforts to
organize on a broader scale. Lau also offered a more
supply-sided explanation to the proliferation of the "wei
quan" term: mainland lawyers were educating more citizens
about their rights, which in turn brought in more business to
these same lawyers. As individuals better understood their
rights, it increased the probability they would hire a lawyer
if they believed those rights had been violated. Moreover,
some lawyers might reason that if they took on high profile
"wei quan" cases, then the ensuing attention from the local
and foreign media might help generate more business for their
law practices, as well as offer some protection against
possible arrest.

Is "Wei Quan" a Movement?
--------------


11. (C) Han Dongfang, Director of China Labour Bulletin, was
adamant in a recent newspaper column that the disparate "wei
quan" protests were part of a broader movement forming in
China and described it as "China's emerging civil rights
movement." In a May 10 "South China Morning Post" article,
Han wrote that "Chinese citizens are starting to stand up for
their rights and they are doing so collectively" (ref B).
"This loose but broad-based social movement" is a significant
development in the field of Chinese human rights, said Han.
"These have been prompted by a wide range of issues, all
related to the growing problems of social injustice, economic
inequality and poor governance that have come in the wake of
two decades of economic reform." "The new movement's
strength lies in its avoidance of political rhetoric and
focus on issues of social justice, livelihood and local
governance...A wide range of social actors -- rights lawyers,
social scientists and academics, investigative journalists,
and even some local legislators -- have begun supporting the
local citizens' groups involved." Not all of our contacts
agreed with Han's assessment that "wei quan" was an emerging
civil rights movement. Roseanne Rife said she wanted to
reserve judgment on the impact and significance of the
numerous "wei quan" protests for now, but she believed the
"wei quan" phenomena was much more organic and less organized
than described by Han.

Beijing Tolerant of "Wei Quan," So Far
--------------


12. (C) Beijing had not initiated a broad crackdown on the
use of the term "wei quan" so far, said Han Dongfang. More
worrying, in Han's opinion, has been the reaction by "local
power holders" of hiring thugs to intimidate and threaten
local protestors. In June 2005, for example, about 250 armed
individuals launched a raid in Dingzhou, Hebei province
against protestors camped out on land requisitioned without
proper compensation by a power plant, killing at least six.
A court later found that the Dingzhou party secretary had
ordered the raid. Han worried that the use of thugs and
violence to disperse "wei quan" protestors pointed to a trend
toward lawlessness.

Hong Kong Support for "Wei Quan" Movement
--------------


13. (C) On June 28, legislator and Democratic Party Vice
Chairman Albert Ho and several Hong Kong academics convened a
press conference to issue a communique, "To Pledge Support
for the 'Wei Quan' Movement and 'Wei Quan' Lawyers Who
Struggle on the Chinese People's Behalf for Their Right of
Existence and the Development of Their Rights." The
communique criticized the PRC government for protecting the
interests of local officials and businessmen and for
neglecting the rights of the peasants and workers. The
communique called upon the Chinese government to stop
persecution of "wei quan" leaders and lawyers and made the
following appeals: 1) release blind activist Chen Guangcheng;
2) stop the harassment of "wei quan" lawyers; 3) investigate
incidents in Shanwei and Panyu Taishi village as well as the
planned torture of Falun Gong "wei quan" activists; and 4)
implement the basic rights of the citizens as stated in the
PRC constitution. The communique was signed by

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representatives of the "Wei Quan" Lawyers and "Wei Quan"
Movement Concern Group. (Comment: The majority of Hong Kong
democrats have been selective of the human rights issues they
comment on for fear of retaliation from the PRC Government
who views mainland human rights issues as politically
sensitive. End Comment.)


14. (C) Law Yuk-kai, Director of the Hong Kong Human Rights
Monitor, told poloff on June 28 that all of the media in Hong
Kong had been invited to attend the event, but that the only
media outlet to send a reporter was "Epoch Times" (a Falun
Gong owned newspaper). Law speculated that the press
conference and communique were not reported in the following
day's newspapers because most Hong Kong editors would be
reluctant to report on Chinese human rights issues,
especially if it included mention of Falun Gong. Law said it
was not at all surprising that the Hong Kong media did not
cover the "wei quan" press conference. Besides, the editors
would likely use the excuse that their reporters were busy
covering Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Chairman Jia Qinglin's visit to Hong Kong.
Sakaue