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A Beautiful China – Twenty Two – A Beautiful China

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A Beautiful China – Twenty Two – A Beautiful China

Xu Zhiyong, translated by Leo Timm, January 19, 2025


Note From the Editor

Born in 1973, Dr. Xu Zhiyong (许志永) is a legal scholar, pioneer of China’s rights defense movement, and a founder of the New Citizens Movement. On April 10, 2023, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of “subverting state power.” Before this, he had served a separate prison term from 2013 to 2017 for his Citizens Movement activities during Xi Jinping’s first wave of crackdowns on civil society after coming to power in late 2012. Between the two prison stints from 2017 to the end of 2019, Dr. Xu wrote A Beautiful China (《美好中国》), a collection of 24 essays. It is a review of his journey and that of his generation’s struggle for a better China in what often appeared to be a hopeful era of rapid economic development and political awakening; it is also a vision for a China free of the totalitarian yoke. Dr. Xu Zhiyong’s imprisonment is a textbook example of how the paranoid Communist leadership deploys its rubber-stamp judiciary to imprison China’s brightest and bravest. Dr. Xu has since early this year been sent to Lunan Prison (鲁南监狱) in Shandong province to serve the remaining 10 years of his sentence – if the communist regime in China will last that long. Late last year, from the detention center in Linyi, Shandong, Dr. Xu wrote to China Change via his lawyers to express his wish that A Beautiful China be translated and published on this website. Honoring Dr. Xu’s work and his sacrifices for the sake of his country, today we begin serializing a translation of his 24 essays. 

Yaxue Cao

February 12, 2024


Twenty Two

A Beautiful China

Questions about China

Why is China so corrupt?

It’s a society of guanxi, that is, “connections.” What are “connections”? Privilege and corruption. A vast web of interlinked interests creates a system where officials protect one another. To get anything done, you need connections; without them, even basic tasks become difficult. Bribes are so ubiquitous that even getting a child into kindergarten may require one. Tragically, relying on connections has become a way of life for many in China.

Just looking at the officially reported corruption cases is quite a shock. In the space of five years, more than a million Party members and officials were disciplined, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Even the lowest-level bureaucrats manage to embezzle hundreds of millions. Shoddy construction is rampant, from roads to bridges to high-rises. Despite constant indoctrination in the Party’s “ideals and convictions,” corrupt officials keep emerging. Despite endless anti-corruption campaigns over the last 70 years, corruption has only continued to worsen.

Every country has corruption, but it differs vastly between democracies and authoritarian regimes. In democratic countries, a free press exposes corruption, an independent judiciary investigates it, and opposition parties relentlessly pursue the offenders. Corrupt officials become public pariahs. In authoritarian systems, however, the Party controls everything, and top leaders have the final say. Judicial institutions cannot act independently. Agencies like disciplinary commissions, procuratorates, and supervisory committees are often just for show. Forget about independent media or opposition parties – there are none. When civil groups in India launched the large-scale “I Paid a Bribe” campaign against corruption, some in China tried to replicate it. Within a week, their websites were shut down. Who can seriously believe the authorities’ anti-corruption efforts are genuine?

Why is China so unfair?

Despite claiming to be socialist, China’s wealth gap is among the largest in the world. Even more alarming is that the immensely wealthy rarely earn their riches through ability or virtue but through power. Power makes you invincible. While ordinary people toil day and night to make a living, those with connections can secure massive infrastructure projects over a meal or a phone call, earning more in a single deal than the average person could in several lifetimes.

Even pensions are tiered. High-ranking officials enjoy villas, security personnel, personal attendants, and virtually unlimited benefits. Retired civil servants receive pensions nearly equal to their salaries, slightly less for public institution workers, while corporate retirees get pensions only about half of their pre-retirement wages. For hundreds of millions of rural citizens, pensions have risen from 60 to just 90 yuan a month over the past decade.

Scenic areas are dotted with luxurious retirement facilities exclusively for high-ranking officials. Most public hospitals have “cadre healthcare zones” and special wards. In 2013, a single hospital stay for a retired provincial-level official reportedly cost 3 million yuan. The expenses afforded to higher-ranking officials are unimaginable. Officials, making up just 0.6 percent of the population, consume 80 percent of state healthcare funding; meanwhile, 1 billion ordinary citizens share only 10 percent. For hundreds of millions in rural areas, serious illness reimbursements cover only about half the costs, and medical expenses remain a leading cause of poverty.

Does China lack funds for pensions and healthcare? With annual fiscal revenues exceeding 10 trillion yuan, most of it is spent on government operations, maintaining stability, and overseas financial aid. The country is caught in a vicious cycle: the costs of maintaining stability drains national wealth, leaving little for healthcare or pensions, leading to greater inequality, which in turn creates more instability — and thus even more stability maintenance expenditure.

China is a hierarchical society enforced by brute power. 1.3 billion people are organized into a pyramid: those with power and influence at the tip, the weak and helpless at the base. There are no limits on the powerful, who control all resources. Without ballots, who bothers to give you equality?

Why are the people so lacking in conscience?

Toxic milk powder, gutter oil, Sudan Red dye, clenbuterol… The dining tables of Chinese people are filled with strange and alarming ingredients. Farmers don’t eat the vegetables they grow, distillers don’t drink the alcohol they produce, and parents don’t trust vaccines made in China.

A 9-year-old boy was murdered, stabbed countless times  with a screwdriver while dozens of bystanders watched for half an hour without intervening against the killer. A young girl in white was hit by a car near a sidewalk, and passersby turned a blind eye as she lay there until another vehicle ran her over. On a public bus, a passenger assaulted the driver as the rest sat back, watching passively until the bus lost control and plunged into the Yangtze River. A brick kiln using enslaved children operated in broad daylight, right next to a village where the locals pretended not to see what was happening. Lu Xun’s stories of “blood-soaked steamed bun” continue to play out day after day in our midst.

In Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, melamine-tainted milk powder inflicted lifelong harm on countless infants. Their parents had nowhere to seek justice. Corrupt officials were removed from office only to be quickly reassigned to new posts elsewhere. Fake vaccines reappear almost annually, leaving thousands of parents crying out in despair. One mother, known online as “Sister Thirteen,” was imprisoned while petitioning for her child who was disabled by a tainted vaccine.

The ruling elite enjoys exclusive food supplies; who cares about what’s on the dinner tables of average people? Their power comes from the barrel of a gun; who listens to the cries of the people? As they believe politics is the art of seizing and keeping power by any means necessary, how could such a society ever foster honesty or trust?

Why have the people become so timid?

Whenever an “Emperor’s New Clothes” parade is put on, the media and internet flood with applause, drowning out the lone child speaking the truth. Everyone pretends not to hear.

Totalitarianism controls everything: the media, the internet, the police, prosecutors, courts, enterprises, and communities…… Censorship has a legacy spanning thousands of years; speaking the truth comes with a price. Posts are deleted, accounts silenced or revoked; individuals are interrogated or detained across provinces. Everyone lives in fear.

This is a society in which everyone has lost their dignity. Entrepreneurs bribe officials for fear of tax audits. Lawyers avoid taking on so-called sensitive cases to avoid disbarment. Journalists shy away from addressing social issues for fear of being cancelled. Teachers indoctrinate their students with lies, fearing unemployment. Even academic papers and artistic creations are subject to the whims of bureaucrats. Power without morals, driven by greed and deceit, suppresses goodness and fosters evil, poisoning society. People adapt to the jungle, using any means necessary for personal gain. In the process, they humiliate, degrade, and destroy themselves.

This nation has been held hostage by the interests of one group and one party for far too long. The “People’s Republic” operates on the bandit logic of “seizing power to keep power.” They monopolize land, oil, natural gas, telecommunications, and highways, exploiting every opportunity to squeeze the people of wealth while claiming operational losses. They hoard the best medical resources, raise healthcare costs endlessly, yet poor people still cannot afford to get sick. When they decide to demolish your home, they use the courts and law enforcement by day to issue notices, and send gangs by night to smash your windows. If you resist injustice and refuse to accept your fate — whether you’re a victim of forced demolition, a demobilized soldier, a private school teacher, a P2P investor, a Falun Gong practitioner, a house church member, a pneumoconiosis patient, or a victim of tainted vaccines — you become a target of “stability maintenance” or are outright labeled an enemy. Their “stability above all else” crushes the freedom, dignity, and happiness of the Chinese people.

This country must change.

I Have a Dream

I have a dream, that of a beautiful China. A China that is free, just, and happy.

A democratic China.

A nation where power does not come from the barrel of a gun but from the votes of the people, where governance does not rely on lies but on virtue and competence. A country where the people regularly elect county chiefs, mayors, governors, legislators, and the president, where multiple political parties compete freely, giving people real choices and true ownership of their government.

In this China, the people are no longer an abstract concept. They are no longer subservient subjects or insignificant “commoners,” silently enduring great upheavals like ants underfoot. Leaders are no longer lofty occupiers but humble servants. Politics becomes the shared public life of every citizen, a noble pursuit to promote the welfare of all. Transitions of power are not storms of violence but popular celebrations — a festival of democracy. It will be a nation truly owned by its people, a land of political civility and a home for free individuals.

It is a China under the rule of law.

In this China, laws are the collective covenant of the people, crafted through democratic processes by elected legislators, representing the majority and embodying fairness and justice — laws worthy of trust and faith.

Law enforcement is strict yet just; police uphold justice with diligence. The judiciary is independent; judges are guardians of justice, loyal to the law and their conscience. Even those without power or influence have recourse to fairness, as justice forms the bedrock of the state.

The rule of law encompasses all powers. The scales of justice do not tilt for anyone, nor do they disregard the weight of any individual. No authority stands above the law, and no individual is excluded from its protection.

In this China, the law is no longer a tool for class domination. The police and urban management officers (chengguan, 城管) are not enforcers for the powerful and the privileged . Judges are no longer the “knife handles” of those in power. In this China under the rule of law, everyone enjoys safety, freedom, and fairness.

It is a free China.

In this China, we have freedom of faith. There is no tyrannical force demolishing churches, burning crosses, or coercing monks and nuns to raise national flags in their monasteries. We have freedom of speech. There are no firewalls, no silencing, no post deletions, no account bans, and no accusations of “inappropriate comment.” We have freedom of public assembly and association. Elections are not manipulated. NGOs are not strictly controlled or arbitrarily shut down. We have personal freedom, free from Big Brother’s omnipresent surveillance cameras everywhere.

Every morning, we breathe the air of liberty. The land, like this season of spring blossoms, flourishes with green life beneath blue skies and white clouds. There are boundaries and rules, just as there are seasons, rivers, roads, cities, and villages. But these boundaries and rules are not designed to stifle the growth of every blade of grass or to quash the diversity of life. Freedom flows through humanity and nature alike, like air and water.

I dream of living in a free nation. A China free from the brute rampaging of tyrannical power. A China of free people. A land where, like the budding shoots of spring, the arms of the people stretch upward, warm and vibrant, lifting up the rebirth of an ancient civilization in the East. Generation after generation, we will live in a free country, where everyone lives authentically, growing into the best of themselves.

That is a fair and just China.

Heaven created this splendorous world, where differences among people will always exist — different talents, personalities. But these differences should not mean hierarchies of power or dignity. They are not meant to divide us, breed hostility, or cause harm, but to inspire love, mutual aid, and unity, coming together to weave a tapestry of beauty and joy.

There will be equal opportunity in education. The era of segregation by household registration — hukou — will be forever a thing of the past. The gap between urban and rural areas, east and west, will diminish. Public schools will no longer be divided into key and ordinary ones, there will be equal investment and equal quality of teachers. Compulsory education will be free, and the state will provide food and board for impoverished children. There will be no anxiety about school choice, no shame in poverty, and no crushing academic burdens. Chinese children will enjoy happy childhoods, with fair opportunities and a hopeful future.

There will be equal opportunities for development. No profession will be seen as a “noble” or “low-class” one. A president and a cleaner will simply have different roles, with no commands or obedience outside the law, no arrogance or servility rooted in power or status. Regardless of household registration, political affiliation, religious belief, or job title, every field will be equally open, and everyone will find a suitable place based on their abilities and virtues.

There will be a fair welfare system. There will be a unified and equitable pension and healthcare system regardless of profession, identity, region, or household registration. Major illnesses will be treated for free. The unemployed will receive relief. The elderly will have social security. Even the poorest will live with dignity, while the homeless will have food, clothing, and shelter.

The powerful will be constrained by checks. No one will stand above the law. Politicians, entrepreneurs, artists, and other successful individuals will enjoy no special privileges. On the contrary, as public figures, their rights to reputation and privacy will be more constrained. Insulting an ordinary person will be defamation; criticizing a politician will be free speech.

The weak will have protection. No one will exist outside the law’s shelter. Those wronged will see justice restored. Victims of disasters — earthquakes, floods, unsafe vaccines, toxic milk powder — will receive state aid. The widowed, orphaned, elderly, and lonely will all have a place to belong, a source of love, and the promise of happiness.

It will be a China filled with love.

China will be a nation with faith. People will believe in their oaths, trusting that “divinities are watching three feet above one’s head.” They will trust in law and justice, guided by the eternal moral principles of the universe. They will believe in goodness, with a warm and radiant light shining in every soul.

There will be love for every person. In this world, there is deceit, theft, and murder — much wrongdoing. But there are no demons. Human nature is inherently good. No matter how heinous, everyone, deep down in his or her soul, yearns for truth, kindness, and beauty. While people will have their disagreements, no one will see the other as a demon. Reverence for the divine and compassion for all beings will prevail. People will uphold their beliefs while respecting those of others.

Some will bear more suffering — the poor, the disabled, the emotionally impoverished. Yet because of love, they will not be rejected but instead pitied. Intelligence, wealth, health, and status are gifts from heaven. The rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick, the successful and the struggling — each compliments the other. Helping the weak will not be mere charity but an act of gratitude.

People will love themselves, their families, and even strangers. Love will be a faith, as we pass on the love bestowed by heaven above. Kindness will fill every heart. In this interconnected world, we will warm one another.

I dream of a happy China, brimming with the energy of love. A nation of simple, sincere, and kind people. A life without fear or distrust. A life free of lies and pretenses. From childhood to old age, faces untainted by filth, smiles that remain pure and innocent.

A Great Country

China will be a country that the world admires.

“There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests” — to make this one’s creed inevitably leads one to become a failure of a person, and the same applies to nations. Without faith, sincerity, and love, relying purely on cold strategic calculus under the guise of international politics will only earn disdain.

Diplomacy is just like how to behave as a human being. Only by being upright, open, just, and merciful — being a truly good person — can one earn friends all over the world.

This land has been steeped in shady intrigues. We must instill a new faith and values in this nation — not those of seizing power to rule the nation, nor about resorting to any means necessary to achieve one’s selfish desires, nor about shrewd and ruthless scheming. Instead, this ancient civilization shall be revived by simplicity, sincerity, and kindness.

As leaders of a new civilization, our enemies are not democracy, freedom, or human rights, but poverty, disease, and tyranny. A great nation does not inspire fear, but love.

We will have a strong military, not to occupy lands or bully the weak, but to address tyranny, conflict, and mass killing that still exist in the world. We will take pride in defending justice and standing for justice wherever it is needed.

Helping Africa and Central Asia build roads and ports will not be for expanding our influence or exploiting resources, but simply because the people there need assistance. Business is business, aid is aid. With simplicity and sincerity, our actions will align with our beliefs. We will be grateful for the opportunity to lift others out of poverty and weakness.

Whether between individuals or nations, wealth will not come from robbery or warfare, but from cooperation and mutual benefit. Earth’s resources are sufficient for all to live happy lives. Over the past century, global wealth has multiplied several times, and the exploration of new energy sources has just begun. The power of technology — wisdom granted by heaven — is limitless.

We repent for the suffering inflicted on neighboring peoples in the 20th century. We bear a responsibility to help those still struggling under authoritarian enslavement, to dispel darkness, and to share the achievements of human civilization. No matter how tempting the benefits may be, we shall never make friends of dictators and oppressors.

For historical grievances with neighboring nations, we will seek reconciliation based on truth and justice. The shame of one’s ancestors should not be an eternal burden for future generations, nor should it hinder peace, development, and happiness for the next. Transcending historical resentments and cultural divides, we will have the wisdom to lead Asia toward cooperation and a brighter future.

With the developed nations, we will engage in fair competition and genuine collaboration. We are not the bitter, resentful losers of the 20th century; we are leaders of a new civilization. Together, we will advance the causes of global trade, environmental protection, space exploration, disaster relief, and the preservation of a new order of freedom and democracy.

A nation is not a shield for human rights violations. We will oppose tyranny, aggression, and injustice anywhere in the world. This planet should not be ruled by imperial domination, but rather a happy home for a civilized humanity.

Born in this land, we do not need a reason to love it. It is a seed planted in us by heaven, deep in every soul. Freedom, justice, and love — this is my vision of a beautiful China. It is the lofty ideal in Tan Sitong’s (谭嗣同) defiant smile as he faced death, the final roar of Chen Tianhua (陈天华) as he leapt into the sea, the last heartfelt letter of General Dai Anlan (戴安澜) before his death in battle, and the blood-stained declarations of the students in Tiananmen Square.

As successors, we continue the lineage of our ancestors, with the brilliance of their spirits illuminating the depths of our own souls. I am fortunate to live in China during this great era — this final age of despotism, this vast spiritual wilderness. I am willing to dedicate all my life, everything I have, to one dream: a China of democracy and rule of law, fairness and justice, freedom and happiness, technological advancement, economic prosperity, and cultural and political leadership in a new order of human civilization.

Our beautiful China will be one that deserves the pride of every citizen, the respect of all humanity, and our everlasting devotion.

December 30, 2019


Chinese original: 许志永《美好中国之二十二:美好中国》

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