公開信執筆人、旅英著名詩人楊煉。
致胡錦濤先生、大不列顛聯合王國首相布萊爾先生的公開信
一
你們應該已經注意到，在這封公開信的開始，我們沒有稱呼胡錦濤先生為「中華人民共和國主席」。因為「中華人民共和國」一詞，至少包含著三個謊言：「中華」 －－還是堅持武力威脅同為中華文化傳人的臺灣的共產黨大陸？「人民」－－還是被逆反和強姦的民意？「共和國」－－還是拒絕民主選舉的獨裁專制體系？因此，這封信的第一收信人，不是中國的領導人，而是一個欠下纍纍血債的非法集團的頭領。
這封信的第二收信人，是大不列顛聯合王國的民選首相。把布萊爾先生並列為收信人，有以下事實為理由：在倫敦中國大使館對面靜坐抗議中國政治迫害的法論功成員，公然遭到從大使館出來的人當街毆打。中共把黑手黨式的橫行霸道，從自己的領土擴展到了民主制度的發源地腳下。這是對全世界人性和良知的公然侮辱。我們要求布萊爾先生特別關注此類事件。
冷戰記憶並不遙遠。共產主義意識形態的邪惡邏輯很清晰：以空洞的理想主義為號召，以「經濟決定」、「歷史進化」為血腥邏輯，煽動暴力砸碎傳統的財產私有制，毀壞人們的社會常識，最終，借偽公有制的名義實現統治者思想、權力和物質利益的獨佔。這個過程的完成，就是人性之「惡」集大成的過程。
中國共產黨正是這場二十世紀人性大倒退的「革命」產物，只不過，用西方說辭裝飾的東方專制可以更肆無忌憚、更徹底「暴君化」，直至通過毀滅幾千萬人的生命，把中國文化本身變成了最慘痛的受害者。毛澤東的口號「打土豪，分田地」，把中國人集體教唆成了土匪；他熱衷的文化大革命，則是如何以非法手段劫奪絕對權利的最佳範本。鄧小平的「六四」血案，無視共產主義全球崩潰的事實，暴力裹挾中國與人類的歷史背道而馳。江澤民時代，權錢勾結，「最壞的社會主義加最壞的資本主義」，中國作為世界最大的「共產黨國家博物館」，更是人性道德敗壞的標本。江澤民鎮壓法輪功，弄巧成拙地激起了傳統中國文化的直接反抗。
法輪功堅持真善忍，為爭取精神自由進行非暴力反抗，已成為中國民主力量中最堅實有力的部分，他們博得了世界的敬佩，並加倍反襯出共產黨迫害的邪惡和醜陋。
胡錦濤先生，不知您對這樣的「黨史教育」作何感想？當你幾年前開始全面接掌黨、政、軍權力時，人們曾善意而不無懷疑地對你寄託過期待，但是，我們看到的現實什麼呢？
二
我們看到了，你在加緊鎮壓言論自由，迫害維權律師。
你領導下的中共宣傳－制裁部門，蓄意迫害在極權專制下努力為民眾發出微弱呼聲的媒體。僅僅因為這些媒體發表的作品與政府正統「口徑」有出入，就是說，查禁的目的，清清楚楚是為了滅絕中國的獨立思想和聲音：
２０００年１月至 ２００１ 年５月，被中國傳媒視為「第一週報」的《南方週末》被整頓，主編調離，副主編撤職，主要記者被開除。原因：《南方週末》報導銀行搶劫、愛滋病蔓延時，給當地黨和政府「抹黑」。
２００３年，《南方都市報》被查封，主編被判徒刑６年，副主編被判徒刑８年，總編輯拘押一年多。原因：該報突破官方禁區，向中國和世界率先報導了薩斯病毒的傳播。
２００５年 ４月３０ 日，湖南長沙《當代商報》前編輯部主任、詩人師濤，因為「非法向境外提供國家機密罪」經秘密審判被判１０年徒刑，真實原因是他將政府秘密傳達的文件筆記:「將嚴懲闖關海外民運人士」傳遞到海外。
２００５年５月，香港《文匯報》前副總編輯程翔以間諜罪在中國被捕，至今關在獄中。
２００５年１２月 ２９ 日，中國大陸因其敢於批評社會問題而深受歡迎的《新京報》被改組，總編楊斌被撤職。
２００６年１月，《百姓》雜誌元月號被清查，敢於批評思考的欄目被取消，雜誌網站被查封。
２００６年１月２４日，「最後一個聲音」《冰點》週刊被查封，主編李大同等被撤職。網路上所有和《冰點》有關的字詞，同步遭到刪除屏蔽。
２００５年特別是進入２００６年以來，你們大規模地使中國網路警察超級現代化，同時以利益為誘餌、以關閉市場為要挾，壓迫Google、Yahoo等西方傳媒公司放棄原則，加入你們的雙重標準遊戲，建立自動查禁系統，阻止對專制不利的信息。今天，西方公司屈辱建立的高科技政治「防火牆」和成千上萬中國網站上對獨立言論的警告「相映生輝」，構成了二十一世紀人類思想領域最骯髒的風景。
在今天的中國，「維權」是一個新詞，它的產生完全基於中共對億萬弱勢民眾權利的剝奪。你面對日漸激化的中國社會矛盾，不去正視和改變極度扭曲的政治－經濟結構，反而迫害少數敢於維護弱勢民眾權利的律師，用強迫的沉默粉飾虛假的太平。僅以近期惡性迫害事件為例：
２００３年１０月，鄭恩寵律師幫助上海被迫拆遷戶維權，被判刑３年。
２００５年５月，朱久虎律師幫助陝北民營石油企業投資者維權，入獄。
２００５年９月艾曉明教授、唐荊陵律師、郭燕律師等為前往支持廣東省太石村民自發維權選舉，罷免貪污的「村領導」，而被暴徒追逐毆打，人大代表呂邦列被打至失去知覺。２００６年２月，為報復幫助以上律師等進入太石村，村民吳耀球被暴徒刀砍右手和後背，兩根手指被砍斷。
２００５年１０月，許志永律師、李方平律師為幫助山東省臨沂市沂南縣失明維權人士陳光誠被毆打。
２００５年１２月，律師裡劉如平因為發表要求停止迫害法輪功的文章，被判勞動教養１年３個月。
２００５年至今，律師郭飛雄因為支持太石村民維權，不停遭到便衣警察的跟蹤、拘留、恐嚇，入獄兩次，生命安全隨時受到威脅。
２００５年至今，律師高智晟為法輪功受迫害者維權辯護，被沒收律師執照，遭到多起車禍威脅。
２００６年１月至今，律師高智晟、郭飛雄為被稱為「小天安門」的廣東軍隊數次開槍屠殺平民血案組成「民間調查真相委員會」，呼籲軍隊國家化，而招致政府對他們的全方位監控，生命受到嚴重威脅。此舉引發了全球性絕食，聲援維權律師，抗議中共迫害。
三
胡錦濤先生：
你有全球最精良的對內監控系統，當然知道以上列舉的只是中國政府反人權、反文明事實中的一小部分。我們給你寫這封公開信，並非出於對你的幻想。你的從政治輔導員到最高權力者的履歷，是一個人被共產黨洗腦機器扭曲的過程。你既是這個制度的受益者，更是它的受害者。受害的程度，恰恰表現在你對「顏色革命」的恐懼和防堵上，在進入二十一世紀中國政府反而加劇對獨立思想的控制打壓上，在改革三十年後的中國人權狀況排名世界第一百七十七位上。在這裡，我們要講清楚，文革以來中國的變化，並非中共官方的施舍，而是你們在中國民眾的生存要求和國際環境的互動壓力下，被迫作出的讓步。這個讓步還得繼續下去，直到共產主義意識形態被自己的倒行逆施所毀滅。
我們仍然想對你善意提醒：即使作惡也有底線。在今天，不動用軍隊朝維權民眾開槍就是底線，保障維權律師的生命安全就是底線，不刻意壓制有良心的傳媒工作者表達中華民族一息殘存的正義感就是底線。世界以這些底線審視你，而沒人在乎你出席西方G8會議或聯合國大會時臉上的一本正經。
中國先哲說「知恥近乎勇」，「知恥」的要求太高，但「無恥」的程度是一種選擇。和你手下權錢勾結貪贓枉法的黑手黨集團相比，一紙空文的國民總產值、外匯高儲備有什麼意義？和被徹底污染了的中國人心比，讓「大富豪俱樂部」的招牌越挂越高的摩天樓有什麼意義？
請你深夜捫心自問，維權律師們冒險與弄權者抗爭，傳媒工作者頂著高壓呼籲法制，龍應臺等海內外知名或不知名的人們苦口婆心給你寫信甚至絕食抗議，究竟為了什麼？難道不是一心盼望中華民族真正能在精神上「站起來」？能以一個成功現代化了的古老文化挺立於世？能終於拋掉和「中國」連體嬰兒似的貶語惡評？
即使你無意學習西方，中共黨內的老一輩「理想主義」者如胡耀邦、趙紫陽、胡績偉、李銳等，也足夠做你的人生表率了，他們之能載入史冊，僅在於對自我持一個 「誠」字，對祖國持一個「愛」字。而他們之不見容於你的利益集團，也把你置於了真誠和愛國的對立面。所以，不管作為中國權力的首席執掌者，還是一個普通人，你都要掂量將來歷史的評判。即使出於一己私心，也別忘了那些底線吧！
大不列顛聯合王國首相布萊爾先生：
你從以上列舉的事實，應當已經很清楚中國的人權狀況並非在改善，而是在急劇惡化中。這封信開始已經提到中國大使館內出來的人踢打法輪功靜坐抗議人員的事件，此事發生的時間是２００６年１月２４日晚，被打的法輪功女學員高郁冬，堅持和平論爭，直到在現場的英國警察拘押了打人者。我們要問的是，為什麼甚至在法制完備的西方，這些中共支持者也敢如此公然無法無天？這與中共的謊言煽動固然相關，但是否就與西方政客對精神原則的忽略無關？出於選票的自私，英國政府最近對待中共的態度，已經超出了「示好」，而達到了「縱容」。
現成的例子，英國內政部為解決棘手的難民問題，近日曾試圖把申請政治避難二次複審的法輪功成員楊先生也遣送回中國。誰不知道等在那裡的後果將會是什麼？這種可怕的違反常識，是英國政府在幫助中共羞辱自己，同時羞辱人類的良知。
對待以上的兩件事，英國政府應當原則清晰、態度鮮明：一，對當街打人者依法起訴，如果構成犯罪，就該繩之以法。二，對待申請政治避難者，根據他所作所為帶來的政治危險，依國際政治難民保護公約行事。
我們認為，以中共今天逆反人權標準、憑藉金錢要挾世界的做法，那些反對中共暴政者，屬於最危險處境中的人們之一。西方政府有責任保護他們，因為那其實正是保護西方自己。
我們應當認識到，沈迷於被刻意製造的「中國經濟神話」非常危險。當西方大公司為尋求廉價勞工紛紛遷移中國，當西方工人面對失業困境重重，人們應該問：中國勞工為什麼廉價？那不僅因為中國人口眾多，更重要的是，因為那裡沒有獨立工會、沒有醫療保險、沒有最低工資保證、沒有個人退休金儲備。如果公司遷到北朝鮮，勞工一定更廉價！所以，今天幫助中國勞動者維權，就是幫助世界建立更公平的競爭體系，就是幫助西方勞動者重新找回自己的就業機會。
對那些冒著風險站在第一線對抗中共暴政的人，我們都應該真誠地感謝！布萊爾先生，西方當然應該繼續與中國進行經濟文化交流，但交流的前提是對當今中國現實的認知。你通過交流想推動什麼？改變什麼？抑或在交流中被改變？如果是西方屈服於訂單的誘惑，而單方面放棄人權和民主的精神原則，甚或不惜藉助共黨專制下的「穩定」，來保護其在華巨額投資，那動搖的根本就是人類良知的基本價值，這個代價太大太可怕了！西方文化的先哲要為此哀痛，中國幾代人的理想和犧牲將遭到恥笑，難道全部奮鬥只為了一種世界通用的自私、冷漠、玩世不恭？布萊爾先生，這就是你的底線。「中國問題」並不在遙遠的地方，它就在這裡，在你和你的政府的腳下，是西方政治現實的一部分。與其空洞地呼籲人權和民主，不如堅定清晰地面對眼前每個挑戰。世界冷靜地看著你們的選擇。
茲事體大，請你們深思。
楊煉
草於2006年2月14日
楊煉（執筆）, 獲獎詩人, 著作有《大海停止之處》、《同心圓》等。
http://www.yanglian.net
簽名人士（以姓氏比劃為序）：
Kina Avebury 女勛爵
蔡楚 作家、獨立中文作家筆會理事
陳邁平 作家、獨立中文作家筆會國際秘書
陳奎德 作家、獨立中文作家筆會理事
Brian Coleman 議員大倫敦議會副主席
Antony Dunn 作家、詩人
Leonardo Felli 倫敦政治經濟學院學者
Carola Frege 倫敦政治經濟學院學者
Dr William N. Herbert 詩人、紐卡斯爾大學高級講師
Peter Jauhal 歐洲法輪大法協會和英國法輪功協會主席
John Keane 教授、英國威斯敏斯特大學、德國柏林社會科學研究院
李桂華博士 告別中共大聯盟（英國）負責人
梁珍 希望之聲國際廣播電臺歐洲總經理
廖天琪 作家、中國信息中心網站《觀察》編輯、獨立中文作家筆會理事
劉威廉博士 英國《大紀元時報》總編
劉曉波 作家、獨立中文作家筆會會長
馬建 作家
Tinch Minter 作家
Jonathan Mirsky 記者、作家
邱翔鐘 前香港信報總編輯
邵江 流亡異見人士
Francis Thurlow 勛爵、前英國外交部副次長
王凌松 新唐人電視臺英國負責人
夏澤 天安門母親之友英國負責人
許毅博士 倫敦大學學者
許北方 勞工維權利人士
Caroline Brossi Yates 科學家、未來科學與文化中心主任
友友 作家
鄒翔博士 劍橋大學科研人員
----------------------------------------
Open letter to Mr Hu Jintao and to Mr Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
You will have both immediately noticed that this letter does not address Mr Hu Jintao as 『President of the People』s Republic of China』. This is because the term 「People』s Republic of China」 contains three falsehoods: 「People』s」 – it cannot be the people』s when the people』s wishes are deliberately twisted and soiled. 「Republic」 – it cannot be a republic if democratic elections continue to be refused by a dictatorial and totalitarian regime. And it cannot be 「China」 while the communist mainland continues to threaten the culturally Chinese democratic Taiwan with armed aggression. Mr Hu, you are not, therefore, the leader of China; rather, your 『authority』 is derived from your position as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has become a violent, corrupt and morally bankrupt cabal.
Mr Blair, you are included as a recipient of this letter because in your position as a democratically elected leader of a country with an established tradition of rule of law, you should be aware that the CCP sends thugs to assault its opponents on British soil. A Falun Gong practitioner who sat opposite the Chinese embassy in London in peaceful protest against the Chinese government』s persecution of Falun Gong, was physically attacked by a person who emerged from the embassy. We implore you to bear this in mind – this propensity to resort to thuggish brutality, the CCP』s assumed right to employ the foulest means – when you meet with Mr Hu.
The communism of the Cold War continues to poison and sully China. The original violation of all things human in China was the opening salvo against traditional concepts of property and society; the rulers monopolised power and wealth in the name of 『public ownership』, and tens of millions of lives were lost and destroyed along the war-path to the ultimate victim – Chinese culture itself.
Mao Zedong』s beloved Cultural Revolution was about finding the most elegant style with which to bludgeon his way to absolute power. The Tiananmen Massacre was Deng Xiaoping ignoring communism』s collapse the world over; China was beaten and dragged in the opposite direction to the history of humanity. In the age of Jiang Zemin, power and money colluded to turn all of China into the world』s largest National Museum of Communism, exhibiting 「the worst of socialism and the worst of capitalism」.
Jiang Zemin outlawed Falun Gong and initiated the horrifically cruel treatment of its practitioners, but in doing so he conversely reawakened an interest in traditional Chinese culture – the exact opposite of his intention.
Practitioners of Falun Gong believe in truth, benevolence and forbearance, and strive for freedom of belief through peaceful protest. Falun Gong have already become an important and durable component of China』s democratic forces, and they are earning the admiration and support of people the world over – more so for contrasting so sharply with the barbarity of the CCP.
Indeed anyone with a penchant for truth in the China you sustain is unsafe. Communist propaganda units under your leadership, Mr Hu – like a Ministry of Punishments – sanction any part of the media even vaguely attempting to give voice to the people. Harbouring or expressing thoughts at even the slightest variance from the 「correct requirements」 are targeted for prohibition, with the obvious intention of obliterating independent thought and voices in China.
Southern Metropolitan News was closed, the editor sentenced to six years in prison, the deputy editor sentenced to eight years and the editor in chief detained for more than a year. The reason? They reported to China and the rest of the world the outbreak of SARS while your 『government』 tried to hide it.
The editor of Southern Weekend was transferred, the deputy editors removed from the office, and the journalists were dismissed. The reason? Southern Weekend』s reports of a bank raid and the spread of HIV/AIDS were a 『black mark』 against the local CCP and 『government』.
On 24 January 2006 (the same day that the Falun Gong protestor was assaulted in London), the weekly Freezing Point – the 『last remaining voice』 – was closed and the editor Li Datong was dismissed. Freezing Point had been a vocal critic of your 『government』 and the effects of its policies.
As leader of an organization with one of the most sophisticated public surveillance systems in the world, you are no doubt aware of Shi Tao, the poet and editor sentenced to 10 years in prison having sent e-mails about CCP meetings to overseas Chinese democracy activists?
And in case you』d forgotten, the Singapore-based journalist Ching Cheong is now being detained illegally under China』s own laws – he should have been either tried or released by 16 February. Your 『government』 have effectively kidnapped him because he was trying to research the writings of one of your predecessors, Zhao Ziyang.
And now western media companies like Google and Yahoo! have abandoned any principles they ever had to join your game of double standards; they have established a system of checking, forbidding and extirpating information not conducive to your totalitarianism.
The grubbiest scene so far in the twenty-first century』s intellectual history is thousands upon thousands of Internet pages of independent thought being blocked by this political firewall, built, to their eternal shame, by western companies.
And as you face Chinese society, with its mounting problems and contradictions, rather than address or reform its twisted socio-economic structures, you instead pursue a small group of brave lawyers who dare to defend the rights of the weak, as though in the enforced silence your lies and lullabies will plaster over the growing cracks.
These lawyers, who have dared to take you at your word when you talk about the need for rule of law in China, have been harassed, beaten or detained for attempting to use the law to defend the rights of people abused by the CCP.
Gao Zhicheng and Guo Feixiong are representative of this breed of lawyers. Both are involved in attempting to represent and defend villagers in Guangdong Province, victims of a 「mini-Tiananmen」 when security forces opened fire on unarmed demonstrators in December last year.
They and many more lawyers like them continue to fight for what is obviously right by any standard of humanity and conscience; yet they are up against a system dominated by the CCP which has absolutely no vested interest in recognising and respecting the human rights of the Chinese people.
The plight of Gao, Guo and lawyers like them has given rise to hunger strikes being staged throughout the world to declare support for all human rights defenders in China, and to condemn the brutality of the CCP.
Mr Hu, your 『government』 is actually increasing control and repression of independent thought; after 30 years of reforms, the human rights situation in China is ranked 177th in the world. And it must be clearly understood that improvements in the lives of Chinese people have not been because of the generosity or benevolence of the 『government』 you represent. Instead, improvements have been the result of grudging concessions made by the CCP in the face of demands from the people and the international community – improvements despite, not because of, the CCP.
Yet we are still disposed to offer you a friendly reminder, Mr Hu: there are secret agents amongst your evil doers. Soldiers who shoot over the heads people protesting their loss of rights are secret agents; a lawyer living in safety while defending protestors』 rights is also a secret agent; a journalist with the sense of justice to express the outrage of the Chinese nation with every ounce of his being is yet another secret agent.
And it is through these agents that the world is judging you, Mr Hu, and not the impression you hope you make when you attend G8 or come to the United Kingdom.
What is the value of high GDP and enormous foreign exchange reserves when they』ve been acquired by a money-grubbing, power-corrupted, justice-perverting clique of gangsters under your command? And what is the point of ever-higher sky-scrapers for your rich and famous lackeys to name in honour of themselves, when the souls of the Chinese people have been so thoroughly polluted?
We beseech you, Mr Hu, to ponder long and hard upon these questions: why is it that lawyers are taking risks and why are the people they defend still protesting? Why are journalists braving such extreme personal danger to work for the rule of law in China? Why is it that so many people in China and elsewhere – known and unknown – are writing reproving letters to you, and even going on hunger strike as a token of their determination? Could it be that spiritually and in truth, 「the Chinese people have stood up」? Could it be that an ancient culture has found its way to modernity? Can we now start to discard of the stinking, rotting baggage that has been grafted onto 「China」 by dint of the CCP』s continued existence?
It does not matter that you hold the most powerful position in China – you are still just a person, Mr Hu. You too, therefore, need to consider how history will judge you.
And even as you consider yourself, don』t forget those secret agents!
Mr Tony Blair, you can see from the above that clearly, the human rights situation in China is not improving; indeed, it is becoming critical.
It must be realised that while the CCP finds ever more ways to pervert human rights standards while lulling the world with promises of riches, those who oppose the CCP』s brutality are living some of the most precarious and dangerous existences in China.
Western governments』 duties to protect these people are part and parcel of the same duties these governments have to protect their long-term national interests; and therefore the extreme danger of being bewitched by the 『Chinese Economic Miracle』 must be realised. As western companies troop to China in search of cheap labour and western workers are laid off, people are asking why is Chinese labour so cheap? It』s not because China』s population is so big; more, it』s because independent trade unions are illegal, Chinese workers are not given medical insurance, there is no national minimum wage, nor is there a pension fund. Labour could be cheaper still if a company moved to North Korea!
Helping Chinese workers defend their rights today is to help establish a fairer, more competitive global business environment, which in turn is to help workers in the west regain their own employment rights.
We should in fact be genuinely grateful to the people who are standing on the front line of political opposition to the CCP.
If the west is submitting to the lure of the order book and unilaterally abandoning principles of democracy and human rights – to the extent that it is shoring up the CCP』s 『stability』 to protect huge investments in China – then principles about the value of humanity are being dangerously eroded. Surely that is too high and too terrifying a price to pay.
The sages of western culture would be deeply pained by this; the ideals and sacrifices of generations of Chinese people are being ridiculed and belittled. Was the whole struggle really for no more than a homogenous, indifferent and sneering world?
This is your secret agent, Mr Blair. The 『China Question』 is not unfolding in some faraway place; it is here beneath the feet of you and your government, and is a large part of the reality of western governance.
Hollow platitudes and appeals for human rights and democracy are nothing compared to standing and facing challenges with determination and clarity.
The world is patiently watching and waiting to see which choice you make.
We implore you to think long and hard on this crucial issue.
Yang Lian (drafted)
14 February 2006.
