John Kennedy, GlobalVoices
Carrying on from the incident in which three independent candidates for local level People’s Congress elections in Jiangxi were prevented from taking part in their election, candidates from other areas around China have yet to enter election periods but face no shortage of problems of their own.
The candidacy wave remains small, but is still a top discussion topic online.
More prominent participants in the movement such as media workers Li Chengpeng and Yao ‘Wuyue Sanren’ Bo have become less vocal about their individual campaigns (Yao recently quietly announced his resignation from the China Daily newspaper, ostensibly to work on his campaign) in recent weeks. One candidate who has moved more into the limelight has beenHangzhou-based post-80s advertising agency employee and locally-known commentator on the real estate market, Xu Yan. The focus on Xu seems driven largely by his civics lesson approach to campaign preparation.
In early July, Xu began weekly posting of videos [zh] online in which he discusses in detail issues that he plans to address, if elected, as well as educating on topics such as division of powers in the current system and the particular responsibilities which come with the role of district-level People’s Congress representative. As with most other independent candidates around China, Xu’s been busy on Weibo, organizing volunteers, constituent meet-ups and answering questions.
One recent exchange Xu had on Weibo suggests that [zh] one of his immediate challenges will be in overcoming skepticism:
//@everyoneisfree1:如果å¾å½¦çœŸçš„得到了浙江çœäººå¤§çš„支æŒï¼Œæˆ‘建议大家人肉一下å¾å½¦å’Œæ”¿åºœéƒ¨é—¨çš„关系,99.99%çš„å¯èƒ½æ€§æ˜¯é‡Œé¢æœ‰çŒ«è…»ã€‚
哈哈,我跟政府当然有关系1ã€æ”¿åºœåº”是民众选举;2ã€è´¢æ”¿æ˜¯çº³ç¨Žäººæ供。å¦ï¼Œäººå¤§ä¸æ˜¯æ”¿åºœï¼Œå‚选也ä¸ç”¨å¾—到人大的支æŒï¼Œæ˜¯è¦å¾—到选民支æŒã€‚
//@everyoneisfree1:回å¤@人代å‚选人å¾å½¦: 全国的独立候选人都éåˆ°äº†æ‰“å‡»ï¼Œå”¯ç‹¬ä½ å¾—åˆ°äº†äººå¤§çš„æ”¯æŒï¼Œè¿™ä¸€ç‚¹ï¼Œä½ ä¸è¦è¯´ä»€ä¹ˆå®˜è¯å¥—è¯ï¼ŒçžŽå都能看è§
回å¤@everyoneisfree1:我是有åŽå°ï¼Œå¦‚果我åšå¾—好,选民就是我的åŽå°ã€‚å¦å¤–,选举ä¸æ˜¯çœ‹äººå¤§æœºæž„支æŒï¼Œè€Œæ˜¯é€‰æ°‘支æŒã€‚å½“ç„¶ï¼Œæ¬¢è¿Žä½ çš„è´¨ç–‘ï¼Œä¹Ÿæ¬¢è¿Žä½ è°ƒæŸ¥ã€‚
Then on July 14, Xu came on Weibo with an update on his plans for an offline meet-and-greet with local voters:
ã€è°ƒæ•´ç¬¬ä¸€é˜¶æ®µé€‰æ°‘集ä¸æ‹œè®¿çš„安排】原计划7月16日起开始进行的选民集ä¸æ‹œè®¿å®‰æŽ’,调整为电è¯ã€é‚®ä»¶ã€å¾®åšç§ä¿¡ç‰æ–¹å¼çº¦å®šæ‹œè®¿æ—¶é—´ã€æ‹œè®¿æ–¹å¼åŽè¿›è¡Œ“一对一”拜访。详è§ä¸‹å›¾ï¼Œ
Xiamen-based independent candidate Yao Jincheng also had the idea to start meeting with local constituents and has said he will take his campaign to people’s doors. Today, he merged a Q&A outside a coffee shop with an apparently aimless donation drive [zh] he organized on Weibo to collect local residents’ old and used clothing. Yao received a fair amount of clothing donations for his unspecified purpose, and the event went off without a hitch.
In Shanghai, businessman Xia Shang has not been so lucky. Xia wrote on Weibo that he was visited on July 12 by China’s Ministry of State Security, and announced the following day that he was notified that two companies he runs, one in interior design services and the other selling Pu’er tea, have been randomly selected for a tax audit. Xia says his companies had no problem passing China’s annual tax inspection, which concluded last month.
Also in the election prevention news, Li Chengpeng, mentioned above, has had Internet service to his home cut off since July 3, and continues to complain on Weibo that numerous daily calls to his service provider have had no effect. Reportedly, one netizen had their Taobao store shut down and was investigated by police after printing and selling this t-shirt with the independent election campaign’s unofficial ‘One person, One vote, Changing China’ slogan:
In Jiangsu province, post-80s independent candidate He Peng has also been questioned by police—not due to his candidacy, he says, but for blog posts regarding local politics. He is among those considered by some to to more entertainment than serious would-be legislators. He’s been more active on Weibo, promoting himself and trading one-liners with followers, than he has been in formulating a vision for his campaign. But He is also one of the few announced candidates to have made their own adverts. When challenged, he has brought forth his strong views on the current political system and democracy in general. One recent exchange touched on the fear which many share—not that the current regime will collapse, but one which still stretches back to the Cultural Revolution—that with any change to the current system comes the possibility that extremists will take over the country again:
ç”°å“žçš„å¾®åš “体制ã€æ°‘主”是人民的政æƒï¼Œæ˜¯äººæ°‘的。è°è¦æ¥å?åšå†³äººè‚‰ä»–ï¼(7月12æ—¥ 17:28)
æ£å®¢ 回å¤@ç”°å“žçš„å¾®åš:那倒ä¸å¿…。告诫我的人也许是出于好æ„。å¯ä»–们也许忽略了“宪政民主”æ£æ˜¯è§£å†³ä¸€åˆ‡æ°‘ç”Ÿé—®é¢˜çš„æ ¹æœ¬ã€‚æˆ–è€…åªå°†å‚选一事å•çº¯ç†è§£ä¸ºè‰æ ¹è¿›å…¥ä½“制而å¯ä¸ºå¹³æ°‘å‘出呼声。实际上å‚选的最大æ„义在于告知大家,我们å¯ä»¥é€šè¿‡ç惜自己手ä¸çš„一票,æ¥é€æ¥è¾¾æˆæŸç§æƒåˆ©ä¸Šçš„平衡。西瓜与èŠéº»çš„é“ç†ã€‚(7月12æ—¥ 21:41)
He: Well, there’s no need for that. The people who warn me about the dangers involved probably mean well. But they may also have overlooked the fact that “constitutional democracy” is at the center of resolving people’s livelihood issues. Either that or their understanding of the civic participation in elections trend is simply that the grassroots are gaining a voice for the common person by becoming part of the system. In fact, the greatest significance in taking part in the elections is that it tells people that by valuing the votes which we hold in our hands, we can gradually bring some balance to certain interests. It’s likethe sesame seed vs. the watermelon.
He, however, seems OK with the idea of a change in the political system. From another exchange:
作为一个基层人代å‚选人谈“体制ã€æ°‘主”是对本身定ä½ä¸æ¸…ï¼Œä½ åº”è¯¥åšçš„æ˜¯è°ƒç ”å¹¶è§£å†³é€‰åŒºæ°‘ä¼—å…³å¿ƒçš„é—®é¢˜ã€‚
——在我看æ¥è¿™å®Œå…¨æ˜¯èˆæœ¬é€æœ«ã€‚当下ä¸å›½æ²¡æœ‰ä»€ä¹ˆæ¯”“体制ã€æ°‘主”问题更严é‡çš„伤害我选区人民的利益。å¦ä»»ä½•äººä¹Ÿéƒ½æœ‰èµ„æ ¼å’Œå¿…è¦è°ˆè®º“体制ã€æ°‘主”é—®é¢˜ï¼Œæ— è®ºä»–æ˜¯å¦å‚选人代。
He: To me, this would mean completely ignoring the purpose of being elected and focusing on the trivial. In today’s China, there isn’t a single bigger threat to the interests of my district’s voters than problems with the system and democracy. Everyone has both the qualification and the obligation to talk about the system and democracy, regardless of whether or not they’re seeking to be elected as a representative.
Commenting on He’s campaign ad(left), one reader makes the perennial claim that people just aren’t civilized enough to handle things like freedom, human rights or democracy without sending the country down the toilet. He replies:
回å¤@清风入帘:有时候,乱也未必是一件å事。如å°æ¹¾çš„乱,为了选票或观点政客打架公民看æˆã€å³ä½¿æ€»ç»Ÿè´ªè…也得关进监狱ç‰ï¼Œå¤§çº¦åœ¨å¾ˆå¤šå¤§é™†äººçœ¼é‡Œå·²ç»“ä¹±”å¾—ä¸æˆ“体统”了,但其公民社会ä¿éšœä½“ç³»æ˜¯å¤§é™†ä»»ä½•åŸŽå¸‚éƒ½æ— æ³•ç›¸æ¯”çš„ã€‚
å¯å¤§å¤šæ•°äººå¹¶ä¸ä¼šæœ‰è¿™æ ·çš„è§è¯†ã€‚所以就需è¦ä¸åœçš„é‡å¤å¸¸è¯†ï¼Œå‘Šè¯‰é‚£äº›ç¬‘è¯å°æ¹¾è®®ä¼šæ‰“架的人:打架是伤害ä¸åˆ°æ™®é€šå…¬æ°‘的,相åå¯èƒ½ä¸ºä»–们带æ¥å¥½å¤„ï¼Œå› ä¸ºæ‰“æž¶è€…åªæœ‰æ›´å¤šè€ƒè™‘公民æƒç›Šæ‰è¢«è®¤å¯ã€‚而举手和ç¡è§‰å´ç»è¾¾ä¸åˆ°è¿™æ ·çš„效果。政客的é¢åè·Ÿæˆ‘ä»¬æ— å…³ï¼Œæ”¿å®¢çš„æ”¿ç»©æˆ‘ä»¬å´å¾—验收。
And down in Guangdong province, where declared candidates include high school and university students and lawyers, Shenzhen-based lawyer Li Zhiyong’s (left) approach has been to merge canvassing with his lawyer work. Last weekend, at an outdoor legal advice clinic, Lifound himself in trouble after using the venue to discuss his politics:
在为社区居民æä¾›æ³•å¾‹å’¨è¯¢çš„æ—¶å€™ï¼Œå®£ä¼ äº†é€‰ä¸¾æ³•å¾‹çŸ¥è¯†ï¼Œå‘ŠçŸ¥å±…æ°‘æˆ‘å‡†å¤‡å‚选区人大代表。社区工作站领导说ä¸å¯ä»¥å‘Šè¯‰å±…民自己å‚选的事。ä¸å†ä¸ºæˆ‘æœåŠ¡å±…æ°‘æ供方便。OK.以专业æœåŠ¡å±…民,还是我的宗旨。我将继ç»é€šè¿‡å„ç§æ–¹å¼ä¸ºå±…æ°‘æ供公益法律æœåŠ¡ã€‚
Originally Published at GlobalVoices: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/07/17/china-independent-candidates-busy-building-up-support/
Leave Your Comments