Word: charters
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Chinese people, who have endured human-rights disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include many who see clearly that freedom, equality and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values," states Charter 08, a 4,000-word document that was posted on a U.S.-based, Chinese-language website on Dec. 9. (See pictures of life on the fringe in China...
...English translation by China scholar Perry Link was subsequently posted on the website of the New York Review of Books. In his introduction, Link notes that the document takes its title and inspiration from Charter 77, which was issued in January 1977 by Czech and Slovak intellectuals calling for human rights in Czechoslovakia and abroad. Like its historical predecessor, Charter O8 recalls moments throughout Chinese history when intellectuals felt an obligation to speak out against shortcomings of the state, such as the 100 Days Reform of 1898, when scholars pressed the crumbling Qing dynasty to reform...
...Chinese government's approach to 'modernization' has proven disastrous," the charter states. "It has stripped people of their rights, destroyed their dignity and corrupted normal human intercourse. So we ask: Where is China headed in the 21st century? Will it continue with 'modernization' under authoritarian rule, or will it embrace universal human values, join the mainstream of civilized nations and build a democratic system? There can be no avoiding these questions...
...government reacts to the document - and the people who signed it - remains to be seen. Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent human-rights attorney in Beijing, says he signed the charter because he supports its emphasis on freedom and democracy. "Not only do I approve these ideas, I believe the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government have no reason not to approve them," Pu says. "These are not bad ideologies. The charter does not advocate violence, nor does it aim to destroy the current social order...
...most prominent former official on the list. It also includes activists such as Liu Xiaobo and Ding Zilin, who co-founded the Tiananmen Mothers group after her teenage son was killed in the 1989 crackdown. Several prominent lawyers and writers who are actively working and publishing also signed, giving Charter 08 more clout than it would carry if it were the work of only politically isolated dissidents. "It seems like a varied bunch, and I think the Internet helped bring these people together," says Joshua Rosenzweig, a Hong Kong-based official with the Dui Hua Foundation, a human-rights group...