Like Freedom? Free Xu Wenli

Sandra Fu

"The Chinese government continues to enforce egregious human rights violations yet is still free to enjoy friendly relations (read: trade) with the U.S." (photo: freexu.org)

The twelve months following the September 11th attacks have allowed us time to reflect not only on our previously unimaginable vulnerability, but also on the struggles and oppression of people less fortunate than us. While my heart goes out to the innocent victims of 9/11 and their families, I can nevertheless console myself with the thought that Americans live in a democracy where they possess the constitutional right to have their voices heard. And no one, not even President Dubya and his paranoid bible-thumping Attorney General, can take that away from us.

Which is why it is important to support the heroes of other cultures and countries whose personal sacrifices are sometimes so extreme as to be nearly incomprehensible to the average American.

I'm speaking specifically about Xu Wenli, a proponent for democracy in China. Twenty-one years ago, the Beijing police took Wenli from his home, away from his wife and daughter, and held him for one year without a charge or visitors. In a secret trial, they charged him with "illegally organizing a clique to overthrow the government" -- although he was simply a pro-democracy campaigner -- and assessed him fifteen more years in prison, twelve of which were spent in solitary confinement.

When he was finally released, his continued political activism landed him in jail just three years later. In an unfair 1998 trial that did not meet international standards, Xu Wenli was charged with organizing the China Democratic Party in an attempt to "subvert state power" and sentenced to another thirteen years. An abhorrent injustice that added insult to injury, the sentence further complicated Wenli's fragile health -- he is suffering from liver disease and not receiving proper medical attention.

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"I think that there's been a lot of difficulty in defining what is American, what is considered American. There's a lot of difficulty with acceptance within our community of foreignness at this time."

"America embodies mimetic relations of rivalry. The ideology of free enterprise makes of them an absolute solution. Effective, but explosive. Competitive relations are excellent if you come out of it the winner. But if the winners are always the same then, one day, the losers overturn the game table."

"The aptly named Carney thought that Asian-Americans would find 'Two Wongs Can Make it White' cheeky and irreverent? Maybe if they, like Abercrombie &Fitch, weren't thinking..."

"My father's side of the family had the good fortune to be on the route of the first missionaries bringing Christianity to Korea, so we jumped on the Jesus bandwagon before it got all crowded with Buddhist poseurs..."

Xu Wenli is a prisoner of conscience and deserves to be set free. Please take the time to visit the Free Xu Wenli website, where you can sign a virtual Wall of Democracy to express your support. But, more importantly, you can obtain pre-written letters to various government officials. Print out several and encourage your friends to take action also. I felt it was the least I could do to help a courageous man who has sacrificed his life in hopes of helping his people experience the freedom Americans take for granted until something like September 11th reminds them just how lucky they are. After all, the Chinese government continues to enforce egregious human rights violations yet is still free to enjoy friendly relations (read: trade) with the United States.

So put pressure on your politicians to condemn the Chinese government's heinous retraction of its citizens' civil liberties. Perhaps with time and many more brave pro-democracy supporters from around the world, Xu Wenli's dream can be realized and his sacrifices justified.

11 September 2002