"I have no enemies, and no hatred."

Liu Xiaobo

INTRODUCTION

Liu Xiaobo (pseudonym: Lao Xia) was a Chinese author, critic of the Chinese political system and human rights activist who put up resistance, particularly in Beijing, and publicly campaigned for reform of China’s political system and freedom of expression. Despite repeated imprisonment, political persecution and threats, he continued his work. He is regarded as a symbolic figure of resistance against authoritarian regimes. Until the very end, he firmly believed in universal human rights, democracy and freedom, which he believed would one day be recognised in China. The dissident, one of the leading figures of the Chinese democracy movement and a key drafter of Charter 08, succumbed to cancer in Shenyang on 13 July 2017 at the age of 61 – after China refused to provide him with medical assistance abroad.

THE STORY

Liu Xiaobo’s Life and Work

Childhood

Liu Xiaobo was born on 28 December 1955 in Changchun, Jilin province, People’s Republic of China. When he was 14 years old, he was sent to the Dashizhai People’s Commune, located in the north-east of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and stayed there, together with his parents, until 1973. In 1974 he graduated from high school but was then sent back to his home province of Jilin as an ‘educated youth’ to work on the land in the San’gang People’s Commune.

Liu Xiaobo’s work

Liu Xiaobo is seen as one of the most influential dissidents and one of China’s harshest critics. In his last statement he writes “Merely for publishing different political views and taking part in a peaceful democracy movement, a teacher lost his lectern, a writer lost his right to publish, and a public intellectual lost the opportunity to give talks publicly. This is a tragedy, both for me personally and for a China…” (Xiaobo 2013, S. 379).

He initially worked as a construction worker for a company in Changchun in 1974 before joining the Chinese Department at Jilin University one year later. Shortly afterwards, he founded the poetry society ‘The Pure Heart’ with six fellow students in 1978. In 1984, Xiaobo obtained his master’s degree in Chinese literature and taught at the same institute until 1986. At this time, he was already publishing controversial articles on aesthetics and literary criticism. In the same year, he began his doctoral studies at the Chinese Institute of Beijing Normal University, which he completed in 1988 as a Doctor artium (Latin for ‘master of the arts’). From this point onwards, he received many invitations to appear as a visiting scholar at various international universities, for example in Oslo, Hawaii, New York and Australia – even after his arrest on 6 June 1989.

Arrests, imprisonment and political persecution

Liu Xiaobo was arrested on 6 June 1989 for ‘incitement to counter-revolution’ and was imprisoned for 20 months. Three months later, he was expelled from the civil service. This arrest is just one in a long series of many. For example, he was imprisoned for six months in 1995 for his involvement in democracy movements and again on 8 October 1996 and sent to a camp in Dalian, China, for three years of re-education through labour. In this camp, he married his second wife Liu Xia, although they were not officially married until 1998. He was arrested again in December 2008 on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power. However, his official arrest only took place on 23 June 2009 for ‘incitement to subvert state power’, whereby he was sentenced to eleven years in prison and stripped of his political rights for two years. In May 2010, he began his sentence in Jinzhou prison in Liaoning province, which is around 500 kilometres from his home city of Beijing and where he remained until shortly before his death. In addition, the Chinese government blocked any circumstances and information related to him. Xiaobo himself reported that his electronic devices, internet connections and phone calls were monitored and tapped by the Chinese government and police. His writings were banned and he was often prevented from leaving his home by the Chinese police. He lived with his wife Liu Xia in the dormitory of the Bank of China, Qixiancum in the district of the city of Beijing in Building 10, Block 1, Room 502. Every year at times of ‘sensitive occasions’ such as the anniversary of 4 June (the anniversary of the Tian’anmen massacre) or important political decisions, he was placed under house arrest and obliged not to meet anyone and not to leave the house. His telephone and internet connection were partially switched off.

Image 1: Liu Xia

He was mainly accused of ‘incitement to undermine the state government through slander and defamation and to overthrow the socialist system’, character assassination of the ruling party and ‘attempted incitement to overthrow the current government’. In addition, the court was of the opinion that he had violated Article 105, Paragraph 2 of the ‘Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China’. This paragraph states, among other things, that leaders and serious offenders – such as Liu Xiaobo was in the eyes of the Chinese government – who plan, organise or commit an overthrow of the state regime or the socialist system are liable to an indefinite prison sentence or at least ten years, with surveillance and deprivation of political rights also being part of the punishment for a violation. Following the judgement against Liu Xiaobo, his documents and materials were also confiscated.

Despite the many measures taken against him by the Chinese government, Liu Xiaobo remained unwavering in his convictions and described himself as innocent. In an interview from April 2008, one of the last he gave before his imprisonment, he said that despite all this he felt no fear, but continued with his work. He further stated that he was only worried about his family, but he was glad that his wife Liu Xia supported him in his work, even though she was being persecuted by the police because of it. ‘Living in an authoritarian society and doing the pro-democracy work I do and the possibility of going to prison at any time doesn’t scare me too much. If it was, I wouldn’t have done this kind of work for 19 years. What worries me is how this could affect my family. I firmly believe in the value of my work and I am prepared to face the risks.’ (Interview 2008).

In the end, Xiaobo’s ashes were scattered into the sea two days after his death, which his brother Liu Xiaoguang announced at a press conference. He thanked the Communist Party for organising the funeral, but critics fear that this was an attempt by the state to erase any traces of Xiaobo.

His family largely shared different political views to Liu Xiaobo himself.

Political Commitment

Liu Xiaobo was actively involved in democracy movements, for example in the Beijing student protests in 1989, which became known as the ‘Tian’anmen Massacre’. The popular protests for democracy on 3 and 4 June 1986 were violently suppressed by the Chinese military. Liu Xiaobo was imprisoned until 1991 for his involvement in these protests. In 1995, he prepared the draft ‘Appeal for the sixth anniversary of 4 June – Lessons from the bloodbath: expanding democracy and the rule of law’, but was arrested for six months before publication.

He also chaired the independent Chinese PEN Club (Poets, Essayists, Novelists), a writers’ association that campaigns for freedom of opinion, speech and the press, for two terms from 2003-2007. His imprisonment was also due to his journalistic activities and his involvement in the drafting of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for political reform, changes to one-party rule and respect for human rights in China, for which he collected signatures.

In addition, Liu Xiaobo was not only an active human rights activist, dissident and critic of the system, but also a writer who resisted in texts and poems and exposed the shortcomings of Chinese state power in literature.

It is important to emphasise that he always put up peaceful resistance for human rights and – unlike other dissidents, who mostly lived (or had to live) in isolation from the outside world – remained in contact with professors, journalists and lawyers.

Xiaobo insisted that what he did was legally compatible with the constitution. In his pleading, the ‘Plea for my innocence’ of 23 December 2009, he writes that the National People’s Congress passed a constitutional amendment in 2004 and the sentence ‘The state respects and guarantees human rights’ was included in the constitution. He argued that in this way, he was only making use of the civil rights set out in Article 35 of the constitution, one of which is freedom of speech. As a result, Xiaobo speaks of a violation of his human rights as a Chinese citizen and of the constitution, as well as of the criminalisation of words. He recalled that China is a member of the United Nations Security Council and a member of the UN Human Rights Council, but does not fulfil its obligations as a state and does not implement the guarantees promised on paper. In his view, China has a constitution, but no constitutional government.

Nobel Peace Prize

On 8 October 2010, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo announced that Liu Xiaobo would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his ‘long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China’. He was the first Chinese citizen to receive this award. This choice was heavily criticised by the government in Beijing and representatives of the Beijing Foreign Ministry threatened a deterioration in relations a few weeks before the award ceremony if Liu or another Chinese dissident were to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time, Liu Xiaobo was in prison and so the award ceremony on 10 December 2010 took place in Liu’s absence. Nevertheless, a document that he had originally written for his trial was read out: ‘Hatred can rot away at a person’s intelligence and conscience. Enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation, incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and hinder a nation’s progress toward freedom and democracy.’ (Xiaobo, Liu 2010).

Image 2: Liv Ullmann reads Xiaobo’s text at the award ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize 2010.

At the same time, his wife Liu Xia was placed under house arrest by the authorities without any charges or legal proceedings. She reported that Liu dedicated the award to the victims of the Tian’anmen massacre. In addition, well-known critics of the system and their relatives were banned from leaving China from the beginning of December 2010. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize can be seen as a milestone in terms of Liu Xiaobo’s level of recognition.

International Reactions and Support

In a declaration of 26 June 2009, the Council of the European Union called on China to grant Liu Xiaobo the right to freedom of expression, to release him from prison with immediate effect and to cease any criminal prosecution. Organisations such as Amnesty International also launched an online petition calling for Liu Xiaobo’s immediate release. The EU and the United States strongly condemned the political measures against Liu Xiaobo and called for his release, which the People’s Republic of China considered to be outrageous and as an interference in China’s internal affairs.

All assistance was made difficult by the Chinese government: websites and programmes providing information about Liu Xiaobo were disrupted. The Chinese embassy also called on other countries to boycott the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

By being associated with Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia lived under strict police surveillance: anyone who wanted to visit her was denied access by the police. In addition, Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia were not allowed to speak to each other freely and she was only allowed to visit him for a maximum of 30 minutes a month, and it was forbidden to hand over letters directly. She suffered from heart disease, but for a long time she did not receive adequate treatment, so Liu Xiaobo never knew how she was doing. Liu Xiaobo’s health was also poor. While in custody, he was admitted to the First Hospital Of China Medical University in Shenyang, where he died on 13 July 2017 under close guard due to multiple organ failure caused by his liver cancer. The Chinese authorities refused to allow him to receive treatment abroad. His family members were also under guard at the hospital and were not allowed to speak to journalists. The Chinese censorship authorities also worked to ensure that this case was not publicised in the domestic media.

After Liu Xiaobo’s death, Liu Xia was isolated from the outside world and lived under house arrest for eight years until 10 July 2018. China also denied Liu Xiaobo’s brother, Liu Xiaoguang, the right to visit him in Jinzhou prison. Western countries and human rights activists called on the People’s Republic of China to release her, which the Chinese government initially ignored. After diplomatic talks during a state visit by Angela Merkel, Liu Xia was finally allowed to travel to Germany for medical treatment.

Liu Xiaobo today – his legacy, dreams and wishes

Image 3: Liu Xiaobo

Immediately after his death, the Hamburg Sinological Society and the Department of Chinese Language and Culture organised a memorial service in Liu Xiaobo’s honour, reflecting his international stature, success and importance.

Liu Xiaobo explained in an interview that he and all other writers labelled as dissidents will continue to write despite the circumstances, such as restricted freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and that this will always be the case and that no one – not even the government – can counteract this. He also appealed to everyone to continue to pay attention to Chinese writers and the conditions under which they write and to help ensure that one day they will be able to write freely. He was convinced that if Chinese citizens had the support of the world, worked together and transformed the People’s Republic of China from a totalitarian state without freedoms into a free and democratic federal republic, the standard of civilisation of the whole world would rise. Xiaobo spent his life trying to democratise China peacefully. He attracted so much attention that the Chinese government was forced to respond with drastic measures, reflecting his success.

What is significant here is that Xiaobo was aware of the consequences, but was so convinced of the importance of his work that he continued anyway. He even returned to China to fight for the democracy movement against all the warnings of his friends and family, even though he had the option of staying in the US. Despite Liu Xiaobo’s death, his legacy lives on and he has become a symbol of resistance against oppression and in favour of universal human rights. Liu Xiaobo also hoped that he would be ‘the last victim in China’s long history of treating words as a crime.’ In his last statement, he emphasised that he knew no enemies, no hatred:

“None of the police who monitored, arrested, and interrogated me, none of the prosecutors who indicted me, and none of the judges who judged me are my enemies. Although there is no way I can accept your monitoring, arrests, indictments, and verdicts, I respect your professions and your integrity, including those of the two prosecutors, Zhang Rongge and Pan Xueqing, who are now bringing charges against me on behalf of the prosecution.”

He furthermore wrote about his optimism: “…I firmly believe that China’s political progress will not stop, and I, filled with optimism, look forward to the advent of a future free China. For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and China will in the end become.a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme. […] Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth. To strangle freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, stifle humanity, and suppress truth. In order to exercise the right to freedom of speech conferred by the Constitution, one should fulfill the social responsibility of a Chinese citizen. There is nothing criminal in anything I have done. [But] if charges are brought against me because of this, I have no complaints.” (Xiaobo 2013, S. 380; 383f.).

These are quotes from Liu Xiaobo’s last statement, which he read out in the courtroom before his judgement in 2009. This ultimately stated that the offences were those of a serious criminal and that his actions exceeded the limits of freedom of expression and that Xiaobo’s pleading and the pleas of the defence lawyers were therefore invalid.

Salil Shetty, then Secretary General of Amnesty International, emphasised that Liu Xiaobo was at the heart of the movement to democratise China and that he had dedicated his life to countering injustice. ‘The greatest tribute we can pay to him now is to continue the fight for human rights in China and recognise the powerful legacy he has left us.’ (Amnesty International Austria, 2017).

Liu Xiaobo stood up for what he believed in – and had to pay a high price for it.

You can find out more about this topic in this interview with lawyer Eva Pils on the Fritz Bauer Blog (only available in German) or here in an interview with Chinese human rights activist and lawyer Teng Biao (in English).

Author: Henrike Balliet, student at Gymnasium Eickel in Herne. Member of “AG-Menschenrechte” 2023/24.

Sources:

• Amnesty International (2013). “China: Fordern Sie Freiheit Für Liu Xiaobo”. Last retrieved: 17.09.2024.
• Amnesty International Österreich (2017). “Liu Xiaobo, Menschenrechtsaktivist (China)”. YouTube. Last retrieved: 17.09.2024.
• Interview (2008). “Liu Xiaobo Discusses Life Under China’s Authoritarian Regime”. Journeyman Pictures, YouTube. Last retrieved: 13.09.2024.
• Neue Zürcher Zeitung (2017). “Asche von chinesischem Friedensnobelpreisträger ins Meer gestreut.” Letzter Aufruf: 24.09.2024.
• Nobel Prize Outreach AB (2010). “Liu Xiaobo – Biographical”. NobelPrize.org. Last retrieved: 17.09.2024.
• Stern (2010). “China verweigert Liu Xiaobos Bruder Besuchsrecht im Gefängnis.” Letzter Aufruf: 24.09.2024.
• PEN America (2009). “Liu Xiaobo Discusses Freedom of Expression in China.” YouTube. Last retrieved: 17.09.2024.
• Xiaobo, Liu (2010). Nobel Prize Lecture. Statement of December 23, 2009. Last retrieved: 13.09.2024.
• Xiaobo, Liu. (2013). “Ich habe keine Feinde, ich kenne keinen Hass, ausgewählte Schriften und Gedichte.” Frankfurt am Main: FISCHER Verlag GmbH. (ISBN: 978-3-10-092591-6)

Images:

• Portrait image Liu Xiaobo: Copyright © The Nobel Foundation Photo: Bi Yimin Published with permission.
• Header: Liu Xiaobo with his wife Liu Xia, August 2001, © Private
• Image 1: Liu Xia 2018, Public Domain
• Image 2: Marta B. Haga/MFA, Oslo, CC BY-ND 2.0
• Image 3: Blatant World, Public Domain

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