Cablegate: "Citizen" Article Writes About "Wei Quan" Activists

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 027726

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV CH
SUBJECT: "Citizen" Article Writes About "Wei quan" Activists

Ref: A) GUANGZHOU 25214; B) GUANGZHOU 20891; C) GUANGZHOU

20890; D) GUANGZHOU 18191; E) HONG KONG 02908

(U) This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please
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1. (SBU) Summary: A recent article in the progressive
magazine "Citizen" ("Shimin") profiles ten Chinese
activists, linking them under the term "wei quan." Yet the
nature of the "wei quan" movement remains unclear, and
articles such as this may indicate that various activists
are trying to set definitions of what exactly the term "wei
quan" means. End summary.

2. (SBU) An article in the June 2006 issue of the
progressive political magazine "Citizen" ("Shimin") profiles
ten activists, grouping them under the term "wei quan" (for
more information on "Citizen," see refs A, B, C, and D).
"Wei quan," loosely translated as "rights protection," is
commonly used when referring to lawyers, journalists, human
rights activists, or leaders of specific protests. The term
as yet has no fixed meaning, however. (For more information
on the various uses of "wei quan," see ref E). The
"Citizen" article, written by staff reporter Zuo Dongyun,
shows how Zuo attempts to appropriate the term into her own
specific meaning.

3. (SBU) In the introduction to the ten activists, Zuo
writes that they "harbor lofty ideals to promote the
democratic autonomy of communities in China, and to build
safe and harmonious new-style communities where property
owners coexist in harmony with their neighbors and where
everyone is well-disciplined and enjoys democracy." In
addition, "their actions amount to nothing less than a civic
movement [gongmin de yundong] - a trigger spurring the
awakening of civic awareness as well as the awareness of
democratic self-governance." For Zuo, "wei quan" activists
are concerned with democracy and the autonomy of small
communities.

4. (SBU) However, Zuo ignores other definitions of "wei
quan," and treats this definition as the only one. There is
no mention of the concerns of other self-professed "wei
quan" activists who see themselves fighting for human
rights, or those who say it is a grassroots movement coming
from the bottom up, without any specific leaders (ref E).
Zuo, then, seeks to link democracy and community rights to
the "wei quan" movement, in an attempt to create a specific
definition for it. She then calls it a "civic movement,"
claiming that as such it will spur "democratic self-
governance." Claiming that this movement has the support of
the people gives her definition further legitimacy.

5. (SBU) The ten activists themselves come from various
backgrounds and diverse interests. Wang Hai, for example,
is primarily concerned with combating the production of fake
goods. Shu Kexin is the chief executive of the Haiding
Harmonious Community Development Center in Beijing, and is
concerned with "building harmonious communities in China."
Zou Jiajian is a lawyer who sued a developer for installing
dangerous elevators in a building. And Cai Ruoyan is a
businessman who works with other property owners to resolve
conflicts. These "activists," then, are all professionals.
Many are lawyers, some are businessmen, and some are
scholars. All of them have their own specific interests,
and there is little evidence that they see themselves as
part of any kind of "movement." Whether or not they consent
to be labeled as such, this article groups them together
under the umbrella phrase, "a community movement for
democracy."

Comment
-------
6. (SBU) The definitions that this article gives to members
of the "wei quan" movement - democracy, autonomy of
communities, and civic awareness - correspond to the broader
interests of "Citizen"'s publisher and editors. Editorials
in "Citizen" often link concepts such as "democracy" and
"freedom" to seemingly unrelated issues (ref A). A similar
practice can be seen in this article. As contacts involved
with "Citizen" told Congenoffs in previous meetings, the
magazine's ultimate goal is to develop a foundation of civic
awareness in China, in preparation for future political
change (refs C and D). With that ambition in mind, defining
"wei quan" as a "civic movement" is more appealing than an
unorganized, undefined understanding of a term. End
comment.

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