Chinese Advocate of Quake Victims Sentenced Over E-Mails

REUTERS

Tanm Zueron, a political activist in China, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for “inciting suberversion of state power”. The evidence: Zueron’s emails from 1989 remarking on the Tianamen Square Massacre. This is not a case that just popped up spontaneously after 11 years. The reason for Zueron’s conviction is more complex than just emails.

In 2008, Sichuan suffered from “deadly” earth quakes. More than 80,000 people died in the disaster. 7,000 classrooms collapsed. The quake sparked controversy in China. Did the earth quakes in China merely speed up the collapse of poorly constructed schools? Several schools buckled during the earth quake, taking thousands of children’s lives with it, but nearby buildings (including a school for wealthier children) stood untouched. Parents demanded an answer from the Chinese government. The government said they were conducting investigations on the structure of the building; however no answers were given to the people.

With a video camera and a passion to uncover the truth, Zueron began to conduct his own investigation to see if poor construction was the culprit to the tragedy. Within no time, Zueron was taken into custody and charged for “inciting suberversion of state power”. In the trial, the Sichuan Quake was never mentioned. Zueron advocates believe that the quake was purposefully left out because the government new that conviction for his investigation would cause a huge public reaction. The courtroom was closed to the public. In fact many advocates and friends of Zueron who wanted to attend the trail were physically prevented from doing so by Chinese officials. The Chinese government seemed very intent on silencing Zueron, no matter the actual offense.

Others who have publically spoken out about government corruption in the construction of the schools have also been silenced or accused of some offense. Ai Weiwei’s blog which kept a list of all of the kids killed by the earth quake was censored by the Chinese government. Huang Qi, an advocate of investigating the Sichuan Quake, was charged for possessing state secrets. Overall, the Chinese government has made it a priority to shut down its critics.

Zueron’s trial “shows the Chinese legal system has taken a big step backward. Tan’s ‘crime’ was entirely one of speech, of conscience.” – Ai Weiwei

Public School

This article is a great critique of prioritizing collective equality. In the Quake the public school for poorer families collapsed, while the other elementary school for wealthier families stood unharmed. This raises the question, how equal is China? Yardley states that “nothing is more central to the social contract in China than schools”. The quake exemplifies a weakness in the practice of communism. Not only can you question the plausibility of true collective equality, but also Zueron’s case exemplifies the cost of giving away individual freedom for higher collective equality. This case obviously exemplifies the insignificance of individual rights in China. When faced with a crisis, the government exercises its high level of autonomy to keep the public’s trust and loyalty. The earth quake shows that the government doesn’t have to answer to anyone; they publicize the message they want the people to hear and stop all those who argue against it. This really makes me wonder whether the communist ideology can be practiced without corruption. Finally, this article really made me realize the extent of the limitation of Chinese citizen’s individual rights. Is freedom of speech really worth giving up for an unequal society? It seems to me that if China exercises high autonomy, they should at least uphold their end of the bargain (or contract) and create an equal society where, for example, schools for both the poor and the rich are structurally safe.