Even the renowned rights lawyer Pu Zhiquiang has been caught up in the arrests since 2012. But the democratic push won’t stop
Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang
Pu Zhiqiang speaking to reporters at the Chongqing higher people’s court in southwest China’s Chongqing municipality, 28 December 2012. Photograph: Yongping Xu/EPA
Saturday 24 January 2015 06.59 EST
China’s civil society has little cause for optimism in 2015. The country is now seeing the worst crackdown on lawyers, activists and scholars in decades.
Since Xi Jinping became China’s leader in 2012, at least 500 human rights activists and dissidents have been arrested and sentenced to prison. Rights defenders, minorities, NGOs, the internet, underground churches, universities, journalists and writers have all suffered severe controls and persecution. The authorities have taken their policy of “stability maintenance” a step further – to eliminate China’s nascent civil society altogether. Xi is seeking to destroy the people’s ability to resist by stopping the rise of activist leaders and uprooting all the nodes of civil society, which has been quietly growing for the past 10 years.
The Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, rights lawyer Tang Jingling, activist Xu Zhiyong and many others have all been arrested or jailed.
Even so, almost no one would have thought that renowned human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang too would lose his freedom. He enjoyed people’s love and respect, and had found ways to bolster both his cases and his own reputation even through state-owned media outlets.
Pu has a knack for hitting the nail on the head when analysing problems, and great foresight for larger issues. He is generous in aiding friends facing difficulties. Tall, handsome, with a strong voice, he fought evil with fury and righteousness in court. In a democratic system, he would have been a charismatic leader.
Yet in the blink of an eye he became a political prisoner charged with the crimes of inciting subversion of state power, picking quarrels and provoking trouble, illegally obtaining personal information and inciting ethnic hatred.
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