‘A democratic China must be realized in our time, we cannot saddle the next generation with this duty’ – Xu Zhiyong’s Court Statement
‘A democratic China must be realized in our time, we cannot saddle the next generation with this duty’ – Xu Zhiyong’s Court Statement
Xu Zhiyong, April 9, 2023
Dr. Xu Zhiyong (许志永) is no stranger to those who have followed the emergence of civil society in China in the early 2000s to its being silenced by the continuous suppression, more severe under Xi Jinping. Xu Zhiyong’s career began from providing legal assistance along with a team of rights lawyers to disadvantaged Chinese seeking justice, and evolved into the New Citizens Movement around 2010. The movement chiefly concerned itself with calling upon Chinese to become true citizens, exercising their rights and shouldering their responsibilities as citizens to transition China into a democracy through nonviolent means. The activists organized regular citizens’ gatherings around the country, promoted equal education rights for children of migrant workers, and participated in grassroots elections of people’s representatives as independent candidates, among many other causes. Xu Zhiyong was imprisoned during the crackdown on the New Citizens Movement in 2013, serving four years. In February 2020, he was again detained after a gathering in Xiamen, Fujian province. He was tortured during the first six months in secret detention, or RSDL. Held in Linshu County detention center (山东临沭县看守所) in Shandong province, along with fellow citizens movement leader Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜), Xu and Ding were tried in June 2022 for “subversion of state power.” They are expected to be sentenced on Monday, April 10, 2023, Beijing time. Not allowed paper and pen, and with slim chances of being allowed to speak in court, Dr. Xu dictated the following statement, to be released before his sentencing. — The editors
‘A democratic China must be realized in our time, we cannot saddle the next generation with this duty’ – Xu Zhiyong’s Court Statement
I have a dream, a dream of a China that is beautiful, free, fair, and happy. It is a democratic China that belongs to everyone on this land, not to any one ethnicity or political party. It is truly a country of the people, its government chosen by ballots, not violence.
The people regularly elect legislators, mayors, governors, and presidents, whose power comes from the people, and is owned, governed, and shared by the people. People are no longer the pretense with which the dictator claims his legitimacy; people are no longer the silent ants as dynasties rise and fall; they are the real masters of the country. The rulers are no longer occupiers perched high above the people, but humble servants. They compete fairly and are elected by the people for their merits. Power succession is no longer a struggle of life and death, but a process celebrated by the people.
“When the Great Way bears sway, the world’s affairs would be conducted for the public benefit only.” It’s been three thousand years, the Chinese nation will inevitably sail out of the historical Three Gorges towards a modern civilization. A democratic China must be realized in our time, we cannot saddle the next generation with this duty.
It will be a China with the rule of law. We shall have legislative democracy: people elect their representatives to make laws through democratic procedure that represent the interest of the majority. No rulers can impose malignant laws on the people, nor will there be extralegal laws in the name of discipline and order. We shall have strict and impartial law enforcement: the laws shall be enforced by an elected government, and no individual or organization shall be above the law, nor shall the disadvantaged be excluded from the protection of the law. We shall have a fair and just judiciary: judges shall be independent, serving the law and not any other interests, delivering judgment according to the dictates of law and conscience.
Law will no longer be a tool of class dictatorship, but the standard for fairness and justice. Judges are no longer the “knife handle” with which the privileged to concentrate power, but the guardian of justice. In a China with the rule of law, all powers move in its order, people believe in and trust it, and justice flows downward, like an ever-flowing river. That’s a free China.
I abhor a society where power is unrestrained and human nature is distorted, and where a few bureaucrats decide what 1.3 billion people should believe and speak, what news they should listen to, and what movies they should watch. They’ve built a high firewall to isolate China from the civilized world. They’ve kept millions of internet inspectors, police, and commenters to beat down people’s voices. They’ve created an air-tight surveillance network using ubiquitous cameras and big data that renders everyone naked. They’ve also invaded the spiritual world of the people, burning crosses, demolishing Buddhist seminaries, and forcing newer and native religions into exile.
Freedom can’t be absolute, to be sure. But that’s not a reason to smother liberty. The human race has its standards inked into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Chinese constitution also claims freedoms for the people, and it cannot forever be an empty “I Owe You” promise.
I yearn for a free China where power can not run amok, where our freedom to believe in a religion or an -ism is a personal choice and cannot be interfered with by those in power, and where we have the freedom of speech without large-scale censorship and political restriction, and no one is imprisoned for expressing their political beliefs. In a free China, we have the freedom to participate in public affairs without fake and manipulated elections, without such a thing as “wanton talk” [about the communist leaders]; everyone has the freedom to form a political party or association. In a free China, we are free to live our lives without Big Brother watching over everything we do, and privacy and dignity are not to be trampled by those in power. In a free China, people thrive to bring the rebirth of our ancient civilization in which we live in truth and become the best of ourselves without being bent out of shape by power.
In today’s China, people have no rights; resorting to connections to get things done is a common sense of the Chinese. Injustice exists in every country, but in China, it’s something else — no independent judiciary, no free media, no dissenting voices, and “anti-corruption” is how the rulers eliminate their perceived rivals. In China, the greatest injustice is the one-party rule, a privileged group monopolizing the political and economic lifeline of the entire country. People are exploited and burdened by high gas prices, high housing prices, and high taxes, but the exploiters say they lose money year in and year out.
I yearn for a fair and just China without it being permeated by such ills. I want a China where civil servants are clean and honest, serving the public interest, not making gains for themselves, where each person has equal access to education without being discriminated against by urban vs. rural household registration or by wealth. Let parents be free of the anxiety of choosing schools for their children by eliminating the difference between key schools and ordinary schools. Let people have equal access to job opportunities in public service based on their merits, not their connections, belief, political party, or gender. Let the Chinese enjoy equal benefit of retirement regardless where they live, in the countryside or cities; whether they are public servants or employees of businesses, their pension should match proportionally to their pre-retirement salary; and elderly in even the poorest countryside should have enough pension to live a dignified life. Let us have fairness in health care, enjoy free health coverage for major illnesses whether they are government officials or average people, and let no one be impoverished because of medical bills.
In a China where public interest is served, the powerful have check and balance, the weak have protection, each fulfilling their duty, exercising their abilities, and finding their places. From cradle to grave, the young and old shall live a life of love and smile without being consumed by anger and anxiety. I abhor a society where people guard against each other and inflict pains on each other. From young, we are taught not to trust strangers. We hide ourselves behind masks. We do not help an elderly who falls on the ground. Apathy may exist in every society, but in China, it’s something else: this country is built on class struggle and ruthless power. The government has no moral principles, and the society has no conscience. Marxist materialism deprives people of a spiritual world, stemming the source of love.
I long for a nation full of love, a China free from the darkness of its ancient fears; a people of faith who respect heaven and love humanity, aware that “there are deities watching three feet above one’s head” (头顶三尺有神明); a people who believe in the interdependency of life and that we all are born of — and shall return to — the same spiritual wellspring. Living in this world, we find ourselves in a diversity of experiential roles in pursuit of our happiness; we have our differences, we have our disagreements, there is suffering, but there is no devil. We may be immersed in the sentiments of our roles, yet at the same time, standing from a loftier vantage, we can take a broad view of the decisions we make in our respective roles. In this there is no hate, just benevolence and mercy. To love oneself, and cultivate one’s life in this world in perfection of the soul; to love our family and friends as part of the love and thankfulness that come with life; we love each other as strangers, greeting each other with smiles; to love our enemies, facing them with with an unfettered spirit of sympathy instead of spite, animosity. To love all life and the spirit of all things; to love the eternal, mortal earth. In a China full of love, there shall be no devil, no enemies, no power struggle in the dark. We shall be sincere, simple, compassionate, with pure faces, bright eyes, and smiles of innocence. That is our China reborn.
For over 2,000 years, the land of China has shivered in the shadow of Emperor Qin. Even with the renaissance of the Tang and Song, the backwardness of today was nothing short of inevitable. The path to the rebirth of Chinese civilization must come from on high, from the Lord in heaven, from the bountiful spiritual realms of our ancestors. There exists a China in full bloom, partaking in the current of Western democracy and science, rejuvenated in the glory of Eastern civilization. For thousands of years, the different nations of man have arrived at the global village by a variety of paths, each people with vast differences under one roof. The clash of civilization, spurred by the gulf in religious traditions, has already occurred; humankind needs to find a new path on which to journey into the future; this is China’s heavenly mandate, the vast spiritual plain left to us by Heaven above, from which a new civilization must rise.
The spiritual staples we offer to humankind are not the writings on the bamboo strips found in the tombs of our ancestors, but the revelation heard by the people of this age: to perceive the natural world and ourselves from a higher perspective. This is an age of a new civilization, inspired by a new philosophy and new faith in God: that is the China for which the people of this world yearn, and China will surely become the greatest nation on earth. That shall happen when we are rid of dictatorship, in a free and democratic China. The energy and enthusiasm of 1.3 billion people set free shall usher in the world’s greatest technological advances, the most brilliant culture, and the most prosperous economy. We shall have a powerful military, not for conquest of land or resources, but to bring the sword of righteousness to those corners of the earth yet freed of tyranny and injustice. Ours shall be the leading thought and culture, not imposed upon the world by force, but spread near and far through its inherent merit.
Someone who lives by the adage that “friendship is fleeting but interests are eternal” is bound to be a failure, and the same is true of a nation. In diplomacy there shall be mutual benefit and success, based on moral obligation. Those treacherous tyrants will never be our comrades. We have a duty to extend aid to those peoples still writhing under the jackboot of dictatorship, to help them partake in human civilization. This is not just a moral responsibility, but also our redemption.
We must have the courage to move on from the injuries done to our country in the 20th century. A great nation, truly confident, must not remain forever mired in its historical grievances. We must work together to create a splendid future for Asia, while operating on the basis of mutual benefit, cooperation, and competition with the developed countries to build a new liberal-democratic world order. Humanity needs a world government to keep the peace, protect the environment, fight disaster, and explore outer space.
You are born in China, and you don’t need a reason to love her. It’s a seed planted in your soul. But loving China means to make her better through our efforts.
To that end, I’ve been imprisoned three times. The first time, they accused Gongmeng (公盟, Open Constitution Initiative), a nonprofit public interest organization, of evading taxes. The second time, they accused us of “disrupting public order” by pressuring the government to allow children living in Beijing with parents without Beijing household registration to take college entrance exams in Beijing. This time, I’m charged with “subversion of state power” for expressing my desire for a beautiful China and for calling on Chinese to become real citizens.
Why is it “subversion” to aspire to be real citizens? Why is it “subversion” for Chinese to exercise their core values and pursue democracy and freedom? Why is it “subversion” for them to sing “Arise! Those who do not want to be slaves,” which is the opening stanza of the national anthem of China? How hypercritical and absurd their regime is! How rotten it is!
I’m proud to suffer for the sake of freedom, justice and love. I do not believe they can build national rejuvenation on the quicksand of lies. I do not believe the Chinese nation is destined to authoritarianism and slavery. I don’t believe freedom can be forever imprisoned behind high walls. And I do not believe the future will forever be a dark night without daybreak.
For more than 30 years, from a teenager running in a snowstorm to an adult sitting in a prison cell waiting for daybreak, my life has been one arduous journey toward a dream that was also the dream of generations of Chinese before me. “A beautiful China” was the goal Mr. Sun Yat-sen’s failed struggle and regret; it was in Lin Juemin’s (林觉民) last letter to his wife before execution; it was Lin Zhao (林昭) and Yu Luoke (遇罗克)’s song of youth; and it was the blood-stained declaration of Tiananmen students.
More than a century has passed. The Chinese nation has gone through tribulations to reach a modern civilization. Today, that sacred mission has fallen on the shoulders of our generation.
Citizens, compatriots! The mighty current of the world surges forth. The rebirth of Eastern civilization shall rise like the morning sun; the great historical shift unseen in three millennia shall come to an end with our generation. Let us shoulder the duty of this great era together as citizens, and welcome a China that blossoms in the warmth of spring!
许志永法庭陈述：美好中国
我想有一个梦想，美好中国，美丽且自由，公正、幸福。那是民主中国。天下仍是天下人之天下，非一族一党之江山，真正人民的国家，政权出自选票，而非枪杆子。
人民定期选举议员、市长、省长、总统，权为民所赋，民有、民治、民享。从此，人民不再是独裁者遮羞的幌子，不再是王朝轮回中默默无闻的蝼蚁，而是国家真正的主人。从此，执政者不再是高高在上的占领者，而是谦卑的服务者，他们公平竞争，人民择优聘任。从此，政权更替不再刀光剑影，血雨腥风，而是人民节日的庆典。
大道之行，天下为公，三千年了，中华民族必将走出历史的三峡，走向现代文明。民主中国，就在我们这一代，绝不把责任推给下一代。
那是法治中国。立法民主。人民选出自己的代表，通过民主程序制定法律，代表最大多数人利益。没有统治者强加于人民的恶法，也没有纪律、规矩之名的法外之法。执法严明，人民选出政府执法为民，没有任何个人和组织凌驾于法律之上，也没有任何弱者在法律保护之外。司法公正，法官独立，除了法律，没有别的上司，以法律和良心公正裁判。
从此，法律不再是阶级专政的工具，而是公平正义的尺度。从此，法官不再是特权集权的刀把子，而是正义的守护神。从此，法治天下，所有权力都在法治秩序中，人民以法治为信仰，公平正义如大水滔滔。那是自由中国。
我厌恶权力横行，人性扭曲的社会。少数官僚决定13亿人信什么主义，说什么话语，听什么新闻，看什么电影。他们筑起高文化防火墙，隔离了中国与文明的世界。豢养数百万网监、网警、网评员，扼杀人民的声音。他们用数亿摄像头和大数据打造密不透风的监控网，使国人在权力面前，如同赤身裸体。他们还侵入人们的精神世界，焚烧十字架，拆毁佛学院，迫使本土新宗教流亡世界。
没有绝对自由，但这绝对不是恣意扼杀自由的理由。人类文明有普世的标准，那是写在世界人权宣言，也写在中国宪法里的自由权利，不能永远是一张白条。
我渴望一个自由的国度，没有权力怪兽横行的中国。我们有信仰自由，信什么宗教，什么主义是个人天性，权力不得干涉。我们有言论自由。没有大规模删帖封号，政治言论无禁区，再也不会有人因为表达政见而身陷囹圄。我们有公共参与自由。没有虚假的被操控的选举，没有“妄议”，每个人都有组党、结社、参与公共事务的自由。我们有个人生活自由。没有老大哥无处不在的眼睛，每个人在权力面前有隐秘、有尊严。自由中国，人民如春天蓬勃生长的嫩芽，托起古老东方重生的文明。每个人免于权力扭曲，活在真实之中，成长为最好的自己。
没有绝对的自由，中国人没有权利。可悲的是，有事找关系成了中国人的常识。每个国家都有不公平，而中国不一样。没有独立的司法，没有自由的媒体，没有不同的声音。反腐仍为统治者清除异己的驭官之道。中国最大的不公平是专制，一个特权集团垄断全部国家权力和经济命脉。高油价、高房价、高税收，处处盘剥。人民不堪重负，而盘剥者却说自己年年亏损。
我渴望一个公平、正义的国家，没有特权关系弥漫的中国。有受人民制约的权力，清白廉洁、当官不为发财而是为公共服务；有公平的教育，不分户籍、城乡与贫富，每个人都有平等受教育的机会。公立学校不分重点与普通，家长们免于择校的焦虑；有公平的择业机会，不分信仰、党派、性别，公共职位平等的向所有人开放，每个人不需靠权力关系，只需靠才能品德就能找到合适的位置，创造自己幸福的生活；有公平的养老，不分城市、乡村、公务员、企业，养老金与在职工资比例大体相等，最贫穷的乡村里的老人也有养老金足以过上体面的生活；有公平的医疗，不分官员、平民，大病免费医疗，再也不会有人因为生病而贫困。
公益中国，强有制约、弱有保障，各司其职、各尽其能、各得其所。从摇篮到墓地没有那么多愤怒焦虑，每个人脸上幸福的笑容，那是充满爱的中国。我厌恶戒备，冷漠，互害的社会，从小被教育不要相信陌生人。毒奶粉，地沟油，假疫苗，瘦肉精荼毒多年。人人带着厚厚的面具彼此戒备，看到老人倒在地上绕道走。每个社会都有人情冷漠，而中国不一样。这个国家的根基是阶级斗争，是兵不厌诈的枪杆子。包括国家权力陷与丛林，毫无底线，社会失去了良心的基石。唯物主义教化多年，人们的精神世界一片荒芜，而人心离弃了彼岸的精神世界，爱便成了无源之水。
我渴望一个充满爱的国度，没有恐惧记忆、阴霾笼罩的中国。一个有信仰的民族，敬天、爱人，头顶三尺有神明。相信生命同根，源自同一精神家园，也归向那里。在此世经历不同的角色为体验幸福，有差别、有分歧、有伤害，而没有魔鬼。我们沉入自己的角色悲欢，亦在高处回望地上的自己不同的抉择和不同的角色。没有仇恨，唯有慈悲。爱自己，修行此世，完美灵魂；爱亲人朋友，生命之爱，亦有感恩；爱陌生人，彼此微笑；爱仇敌，只有同情没有嗔恨、敌意与捆绑的灵魂；爱众生，万物之灵；爱生生不息的尘世。充满爱的中国，没有魔鬼，没有敌人，没有黑暗丛林。我们真诚、简单、善良，一张张干净的脸，澄净双眸，纯真笑容，那是我们重生的中国。
2000多年，秦之阴霾笼罩华夏。虽有唐宋复兴，近代的落后实属必然。中华文明重生的根在上头，那里有昊天上帝，有祖先丰美的精神世界，有春暖花开的中国，融入近代民主科学之潮流，重生为辉煌的东方文明。数千年来，人类不同族群沿着不同的道路走到今日的地球村，同一屋檐下精神世界巨大差异。基于不同宗教、文明的冲突已经出现。人类需要新的道路一起走向未来，这是中华的天命，上天留下这片精神旷野，为长出新文明。
我们奉献给人类的精神食粮不是祖先墓地的竹简，而是我们这一代聆听的启示：在更高处认识自然，认识自己。这是上帝新的哲学信仰引领新文明时代，那是世人景仰的中国，中国一定会成为世界上最伟大的国家。那一定是专制结束之后，自由、民主的中国。13亿人共同发出激情活力，创造出世界上最发达的科技，最灿烂的文化，最繁荣的经济。我们有强大的军事，不会占领土地，掠夺资源，只为世上还有暴政与不义等待我们仗剑天涯。我们有最先进的思想文化，不靠强力推广，而是靠它自身的魅力吸引世界，传播四方。
以“没有永远的朋友，只有永远的利益”为信条，做人一定失败，国家也一样。外交有互利共赢，更有道义担当，独夫民贼永远不是我们的朋友。对于那些至今仍在专制铁蹄下挣扎的人民，我们有责任伸出援手，帮助他们分享人类文明。这是道义责任亦是自身救赎。
20世纪，给我们身心伤害的国家，我们有勇气放下历史包袱。一个真正自信的大国不会永远沉湎于历史的伤痛，我们携手共创亚洲的美好未来；对于发达国家，我们有互利、有合作、有竞争，共同缔造自由民主世界新秩序。人们需要世界政府以维护和平，保护环境，救助灾害，探索外太空。
谁让你生在中国呢？对这个国家的爱是不需要理由的，那是上天根植于每一个灵魂深处的一粒种子。爱中国就要努力使她更美好。为美好中国我一生三次入狱：第一次。他们指控公盟一个从无盈利的公益机构偷税；第二次，他们指控我们推动随迁子女就地高考扰乱公共秩序；这一次因为表达美好中国的梦想，倡导大家做公民，我被指控颠覆国家政权。
做真公民就是颠覆？践行他们的核心价值观，追求民主自由就是颠覆？唱义勇军进行曲，起来不愿做奴隶的人民就是颠覆？他们的政权何其虚伪荒诞，何等腐朽不堪。
为自由、公义、爱，我以受苦为荣耀。我不相信谎言的流沙之上能够筑起民族复兴的大厦；我不相信强权与奴役是中华民族永恒的宿命；我不相信自由的春风永远隔离在高墙之外；我不相信漫漫长夜永无明日。
30多年了，从暴风雪中狂奔的少年到黎明之前静待天明，我的人生走在同一条路上，这曲折坎坷的路延续了先贤的梦想。“美好中国”那是孙中山先生一生的奋斗与遗憾；那是林觉民写给妻子的痛心绝笔；那是林昭、遇罗克们以身殉中华的青春之歌；那是1989天安门广场上莘莘学子的泣血宣告。一个多世纪了，在通往现代文明的道路上中华民族历经坎坷磨难。如今神圣使命落在我们这一代人的肩上。
公民们，同胞们，世界潮流浩浩荡荡。东方文明重生之朝阳即将喷薄而出，三千年之大变局将在我们这一代完成。让我们以公民的姿态扛起来伟大时代，迎接春暖花开的中国！
Related:
Indictment of Citizens Movement Advocate Xu Zhiyong — A Full Translation, October 6, 2021.
Citizens Movement Advocates Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi Indicted for Subversion on Scant, Slanderous ‘Evidence’, China Change, September 25, 2021.
Four Years Afar, Xu Zhiyong, September 16, 2018.
The Last Ten Years, Xu Zhiyong, 2013.
Who Is Xu Zhiyong (1) — An Interview with Teng Biao, April 10, 2014.
Who Is Xu Zhiyong (2) — An Interview with Teng Biao, April 13, 2014.
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