The Center for Human Rights at the Catholic University of America has recently published an op-ed by Chen Guangcheng commemorating the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. To view this article, check the link in the description or go to humanrights.catholic.edu.
Will Deatherage: Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of The Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China. My name is Will Deatherage, the producer. Joining me, as always, is Chen Guangcheng.
Chen Guangcheng: Hi, thank you Will. Hi everyone.
W: Yeah Guangcheng, can you tell us what’s going on?
G: On July 20th in Mainland China, in Yunnan Province, Kunming City, someone drove their car on the street to hit people. People died because [of] this. The CCP ordered special police [to] come there to stop the car. Of course, the person didn’t stop. They tried to continue to hit the police cars, and the special police used a gun to kill him.
W: So this was one guy with one car?
G: One guy, one car; they said that it’s like a Jeep. So, you know, in mainland China, a lot of people online said, “Okay, we cannot get justice using the CCP’s system. We cannot believe the court system can protect the truth, can protect justice. If the government, if some organization, even people hit against your rights, you justify them back by yourself. Don’t believe CCP can do that.”
W: Okay.
G: So more and more people try to resolve the problem by themselves. They don’t try to petition now.
W: So Guangcheng, the guy who committed this act of violence; why did he do it, do you know?
G: Until now the CCP censored the news about this. So [it’s] very difficult to get more information. Since last year, the CCP has covered up many instances like this.
W: Okay.
G: Yeah, so I think if the CCP continues to control everything to try to suppress the truth, to control the court, things like this will happen more and more in the future.
W: So Guangcheng, I guess… What’s the big problem that people have with these incidents? Like, what are people upset about? Obviously a lot of people died, but why are they upset with the CCP?
G: I think in mainland China, you know, there is no truth. The CCP can do what they want. Doesn’t matter how evil. So the people [are] unhappy about this, but [there’s] no way to share what they think or to resolve the problem.
W: So are you saying that you think that the driver who did this was upset with the CCP, or…?
G: [There’s] no way to gather the truth [about] what he thinks. Of course, we all agree if he really hates [the] CCP, he should try to kill CCP trouble, not use that evil way to kill the people on [the] street.
W: Right.
G: In Beijing, a person, his name is Yang Jia. In 2008, the police beat him a lot, and he asked [the] CCP to protect justice, but they didn’t do anything. So, [it’s] very difficult for people to fight [the] CCP because they don’t have the tools. Two years ago, people drove a car [to] try to hit the CCP’s office. Of course, they stopped it.
W: So the CCP is trying to cover up this story. Is that right, Guangcheng, or…?
G: Yeah. Of course the CCP killed a person, right? And the CCP controlled the person’s family and friends, scared them, “Don’t say anything about this,” and even the CCP disconnected their phone number so no one can call them to ask questions. So, yeah.
W: Why do you think the CCP wants to have control over this story? Like, what are they afraid of?
G: The CCP wants to avoid all criticism. So yeah, I think if the people know truth, more and more people will try to learn from the person.
W: Right.
G: The CCP can control the gun, but the CCP cannot control the car now. So the car will become the tool against the CCP. Yeah, this is a bad situation, but [it] looks like in mainland China, no one can control this.
W: Gotcha. Well, we’ll continue following the situation and, you know, we encourage our listeners to subscribe to us and follow our activities at humanrights.catholic.edu. Guangcheng, thank you very much for sharing this story today.
G: Thank you, Will.
The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights has published a documentary on the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The documentary features world-class human rights experts from former state department officials to ambassadors and human rights activists. It can be found on our website at humanrights.catholic.edu.