SYDNEY, Australia - Australia should vocally support Chinese democracy movements, and not the ruling Communist regime, says Chinese intellectual Yu Jie.
Speaking at a 'freedom and writing in China today' forum co-sponsored by the Sydney Institute and Sydney PEN on Wednesday February 8, Mr Yu said that many Western governments ignore China's political reality, and their investments strengthen a dangerous and repressive authoritarian regime.
Mr Yu said that Chinese leader Hu Jintao's claim that China will undergo a peaceful rise is a lie when looked at both domestically and internationally.
Speaking about the domestic situation, Mr Yu said: "I'd like to warn the world, the Tiananmen [1989 student massacre] wasn't just a one-off incident. That kind of event can happen anytime, anywhere in China."
He said that only days after French President Jacques Chirac declared that the Tiananmen incident belonged to the past in order to secure lucrative trade deals with China, Chinese police were shooting and killing people of Dongzhou village in Guangdong province.
Mr Yu also said the rise of the Communist regime is a threat to the international community. "None of China's neighbouring countries is in a position to threaten China at the moment, however, China's military budget rises by 11 per cent each year.
"At the same time, China also supports many countries that do not belong to the international community, rogue states, such as North Korea."
He expressed particular concern with recent statements by high-ranking Chinese General Zhu Chenghu that China would launch nuclear missiles against the United States if necessary, as well as with recent moves by Australia to export uranium to China.
"I strongly call Australian people, Australian citizens, to pay attention to China's democracy movement, and to support democracy in China as a way to pay attention to your own security and your own safety.
"Only when China has achieved its democratisation, the Cold War can really be finished, and international peace can be really achieved."
Also speaking at the forum, Chinese intellectual Wang Yi said that China's centralised power system was being greatly threatened by a massive rise in local conflicts, with disgruntled residents directing their anger at the central government.
"I can't predict when China's one party regime will finish, but I am telling you now that each day, China's central statism is declining," Mr Wang said.
Both intellectuals said they regularly faced much pressure from authorities in China when they returned after giving talks overseas, with Yu Jie once being interrogated overnight for 12 hours on his return. Yu Jie says more than 60 intellectuals are now jailed in china for giving talks critical of the Chinese Communist Party.
One such intellectual is Shi Tao, internet essayist and member of freedom of expression group Sydney PEN. He was sentenced to ten years' jail in 2005 after Internet Service Provider Yahoo! Inc. turned over to Chinese authorities the contents of an email he sent overseas.
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