As predicted by a few prescient bloggers in 2003, the ascension of Hu ushered in a new age of compassion and openness, finally bestowing on the people the freedom to speak one’s mind without fear of retribution or censure.
Chinese police blocked a private observance Monday of the anniversary of deposed Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang’s death, detaining the organizer and putting activists under house arrest.
The move underscored the government’s ongoing sensitivity over Zhao, purged from his position in 1989 after sympathizing with pro-democracy protests centered around Tiananmen Square.
Officers detained Li Jinping, a Zhao family friend, on Sunday, taking him from his Beijing home a day before he planned to hold the memorial service marking the Jan. 17, 2005, death of Zhao, who spent his last 15 years under house arrest after being ousted for expressing sympathy with the protesters.
“I don’t know where my brother is,” Li’s sister said by telephone. “We can’t find him. We have no way to get in touch with him.” She refused to give her name for fear of retribution.
Qi Zhiyong, who had been planning to go to attend the ceremony, said Li “is a very brave man.”
Li had better be “a very brave man”; he’s just been thrown head first into the mouth of hell. I hope he finds it consoling to know that the Party’s reforming.
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By kevin
But if he had held that ceremony, things probably wouldn’t have been very stable, and GDP growth may have been effected…
January 11, 2006 @ 9:38 am | Comment
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By Ed
China is not stable because the CCP’s principle of authority so weak. That is the root of the problem.
Not someone wanting to go to a friend’s funeral – this is only a symptom of the above.
January 12, 2006 @ 5:59 pm | Comment