RFA Unplugged

Censorship In China The Old Fashioned Way

  There is considerable interest and attention paid to China’s attempts at online censorship but when a prominent government critic was detained this week it showed old fashioned and less sophisticated methods of shutting down free speech were alive and well.

 Best-selling Chinese author and democracy advocate, Yu Jie, told RFA’s mandarin service that he had been detained by security agents on Monday and threatened with imprisonment if he went ahead with plans to publish a book criticizing China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Yu Jie’s wife said initially she did not know what was happening when the authorities came to their house on Monday.

“Five Policemen showed us the warrant, and then they took him away from home. The Police said that they took the action according to the first Paragraph of Article 92 of China’s criminal law. I had no idea of what it was about.”

 Yu Jie said he soon realized he had been detained because his pending book could be an embarrassment to the Chinese Government and they wanted it stopped.

“They threatened me and tried to stop the publication because my book criticizes Chinese premier Wen Jiabao,” he said.

 ”I told them that if Wen Jiabao believes what I said was rumor and slander, he could sue me according to the law.”

 However the police did not accept that argument. Yu Jie said  the police told him that: ”Wen Jiabao is not an ordinary citizen; he is the country’s premier.”

 They said criticism of him could damage the reputation of the party and the country and was therefore a criminal offense.

 His experiences show that while it is important to be vigilant about high tech suppression we live in a world in which more than half the population have never made a phone call so the first line of suppression is very much at the front door not in cyberspace.

 Of course it would be foolish to ignore the realities of technical barriers like the “Great Firewall” but it is equally foolish to ignore the blunt instruments more readily hand.

These can include threats and physical intimidation but there are also dangerous waters in legislation such as China’s vaguely worded State Secrets Law which has been used as a catch all by those in power for their own ends.

In addition to the book police also questioned the author about articles published on overseas pro-democracy websites. He said he assumed they were trying to gather evidence that could be used in a trial if they chose to press criminal charges.

 The use of the law, detention and threats has not deterred Yu Jie he said he intended to keep on writing and intended to publish the book.

 ”I will not change my mind. I personally believe that all the critical remarks I make in the book are tenable.

 ”My remarks should be protected by China’s Constitution. As a premier, Wen Jiabao should take criticism which has nothing to do with national security. A country which can’t be criticized is a weak country.”

His experiences show that while it is important to be vigilant about high tech suppression we live in a world in which more than half the population have never made a phone call. So while it would be foolish to ignore the realities of the “Great Firewall” it is equally foolish to ignore the blunt instruments more readily hand.