status of religious freedom, expression of opinions and the rule of law in China, BosNewsLife learned Monday, May 1.
Tuesday’s summit, organized by the independent Hudson Institute and the Institute of Chinese Law & Religion follows Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington, where his American counterpart George W. Bush urged him to allow more "freedom of worship" and democracy.
"This is a rare opportunity to dialogue with high-profile Chinese activists and dissidents who
participate in this conference despite grave risks to their personal safety," said the organizers.
Opening remarks were to be made by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, James R. Keith.
RENOWNED DISSIDENT PARTICIPATES
Participants include internationally renowned dissident author Yu Jie, Yang Maodong also known as Guo Feixiong, assistant to human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, legal scholar and activist Li Baiguang, and Wang Yi, author of China’s most read dissident website, according to a program obtained by BosNewsLife ahead of the event.
Yu is the author of several works in Chinese, including Fire and Ice, a collection of essays which first appeared in 1998 and sold over one million copies by 2000. While he received international awards, his books were banned from China although his most recent work, A Son of Tiananmen Square, was published in Hong Kong in 2005.
Yang, an independent academic, writer, and self-educated legal advisor, gained international reputation as a persecuted rights defender as he was "beaten, arrested, and detained for his work with Taishi villagers seeking to remove a corrupt official from power," organizers said.
He advised villagers to practice passive resistance and worked on their behalf to attract the attention of international media, posting online news and commentary. Yang was detained over three months last year and allegedly beaten on February 4 this year while being detained for 12 hours.
HIDING IN FEAR
He hided in fear for his life but emerged four days later to issue an open letter of protest to President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao regarding "excessive use of force, censorship, forced evictions and government sanctioned violence against human rights attorneys." Yang was arrested once more but amid international pressure released a day and placed under "residential surveillance," investigators said.
Among others participating in the summit is pro-democracy writer Wang Yi whose web log was closed down in the fall of 2005, just days after being nominated for two awards sponsored by the German radio station, Deutsche Welle, and Reporters Without Borders. Earlier in 2003, he was banned by the Chinese government from teaching for 18 months.
Li represented the first farmer to bring an administrative suit against Chinese State Council and has since brought legal action against the government oh behalf of over 100,000 peasants. A former university professor, freelance writer, legal professional, peasants right advocate and legal scholar, he was imprisoned three times, most recently in late 2005 for 37 days for providing farmers with legal advice in their battle against "illicit land seizures" carried out by the government, rights activists say.
He is also one of the founding members of the Association of Human Rights Attorneys for Chinese Christians and one of Asia Newsweek’s Persons of the Year of 2005. Human rights lawyers Gao Zhisheng, Fan Yafeng and Zhang Xingshui also accepted invitations to speak, but "were prevented by the Chinese government from attending the Summit," organizers said.
SURVIVING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
One of them, Gao Zhisheng, survived an alleged assassination attempt on January 16 after his involvement in recent projects included the representation of Pastor Cai Zhouhua, a Christian house church leader currently imprisoned for printing and distributing Bibles and investigations into possible atrocities against the practitioners of Falun Gong,
However "all of the participants place themselves in danger by taking part in this conference and have been subjected to imprisonment, harassment, and persecution for their efforts to bring freedom to China," the Hudson Institute and the Institute of Chinese Law & Religion said.
Chinese authorities have denied human rights abuses saying that Christians are free to worship in the official churches. However rights groups such as Open Doors say most of China’s estimated up to 80-million Christians prefer to worship in ‘house churches’.
VATICAN CONCERNED
In a related development the Vatican has asked China to suspend the consecration of a bishop approved by the state-controlled church but not by the Vatican. The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association does not recognize the authority of the pope in Rome, but an informal agreement allows the Vatican to review and consent to the consecration of the candidates.
The summit, open for the public and media, was to start Tuesday, May 2, at 8:30 am Washington time at the Hudson Institute, 1015 15th St., NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, D.C., 20005. Another roundtable discussion was planned for Wednesday, May 3, from 10 am till 11:30 am Washington time. More information was available via (1) 202-974-2413 or e-mail esther@hudson.org (With reports from China).
