ON THE TASKS OF THE STUDENT MOVEMENT
by MA SHAO FANG
if
in
any. about the rationality government. At last, the risen. The democratic-movement has
of the people have April-student-patriotic- now become the
our
710
The Downfall of Li Peng will path for democratisation
clear the
then, Are
same
Therefore,
absolutism
the
to blur
responsible
task handed
be effectively and implemented. hope and degeneration
of
nation will our
will be stopping the
is the movement. All- reforms should urgently approved country will have be strong and reversed. If the degeneration is
cur
Chinese
people
concerned
and those about Chinese
compatriots
democratisation
it will splendid
to over
be a
What are
the corrupt bureaucrats, historical joke. and
the people's democratic movement will fail and fade away.
goes
The main targets of the students' patriotic democratic
movement
а
in April were motivating political reforms China: protecting civil rights and liberty as stated in the state constitu- tion; and ensuring the smooth implementa- tion of economic reforms. Bearing these goals in mind, tens of thousands of university students have been staying in the Capital, Beijing, for month holding public demonstrations, hunger strikes and sit-ins using these peace- ful
activities to
the urge
government critical review of the ten- reform program. They urge the the mistakes take corrupt
to
make
year-old
P
government
to investigate and drawbacks of the reform and to legal
those government. At the
actions against
leaders in the time, the students demand the government to eliminate the serious corruption among bureaucrats and some other serious problems as soon
the government,
absolutist"
the
as
possible. However,
its out of attitude,
"feudalistic when faced
with
reasonable demands
and
open denial
and
students'
peaceful expression of discontent,
resorted to lieing,
high-handedness
even at the cost of
of the country.
ignoring the dignity The government was bold enough to "create" the "essential Speeches" (the April 25 Editorial; the May 19 Speech of
Li Peng) and to "design" the called
delayed "dialogue". Over and over again,
government suffocates
the
So-
and mocks the democratic patriotic move- ment. The government, despicably. makes
use of news censorship and news-cheating
on
an
incredibly
large
scale
the real picture of the democratic move- ment. All
those righteous,
May-people's-patriotic-democratic- movement. No matter of the movement,
what the outcome this movement is surely a new page in Chinese history. History will tell the people that it is a milestone.
At the present stage of the movement,
what
are the tasks ahead for us? they as the slogans claim) just simply to rescind martial law and to bring down Li Peng? Both are sure things. But these are not yet the ultimate goals. The downfall of Li Peng and the revoka- tion of martial law will clear the obstacles in the path of Chinese democra- tisation. Moreover, the
downfall of Li Peng is also concrete
move against corruption in the bureaucracy, not just purely a slogan.
The first
people
a
important
task of the
is to stop the degeneration of the government. The reason for the deter- ioration of the government lies in "feudalistic absolutism". to break down the essential goal of encompassing political
and
Our
cannot
choose
ISSUE NO : 6
the candidates according to their own will:
and in turn, they are deprived of the right to be elected. This has led to a situation where the NPC (National
been
respected and freedom of speech has never been protected in China. In fact the most distinctive characteristic of the rule of man is the ill-conceived. legal system. Powerful bureaucrats were never punished and condemned. This is still the real picture happened in: 9.6 million sq. kms of China. Great losses and miserable mistakes have been made during the ten years of reform. The Li Peng clique should be legally respon- sible for these. But the Li clique boldly requires the people to suffer the loss while it avoids any responsibility. This is the miserable outcome of the rule of man. So the corrupt rule of man/body politics should be ousted absolutely. Otherwise
our
country
can without
be poverty-stricken and
To set
up the system of the rule of law and to have freedom of the press
驚
Fifth,
should censorship and set
up
we
fails
abolish freedom of the press. Freedom of the press is the first toward democracy. If the first realized, democratic
press
醒
as civil rights as stated in the consti- tution
cadre life
system is the most destabilizing element now. The Chinese immortal myth has been broker since the death of Mao Ze-dong. Whoever desires
we must oust factional poli- tics and set up people's politics. first priority of factional is to safeguard its own authority without any regard for the will of the people. Only the people's politics can put the people's benefits and welfare in first place. This can really work for the good of the people. As long as factional politics exists,
country will still be poor and weak. The so-called must
in authority. Only after the establish- ment of people's politics will our country have any hope of being strong.
only
a way forward.
People's
Congress)
is
a rubber-stamp and the government deteri- orates. Fellow citizens. we should no longer accept the cheating and oppression of
government. We must and strive for our civil rights as stated in the constitution.
come out
Second,
cease
citizens should have right to be involved in the work government i.e. the rights of political participation. After ten years of reform, we should not be silent we need politi- cal reforms. We are filled with slogans, but
we have to actualize
demands. As iong as the Party does not carry out fundamental political reforms. we should not
our struggles. As long
the
of
voices complaints
and sincere
criticism
our
step step
to be procedure will still be a false slogan. Now, we only have a "one-voice chamber", betraying the proper role of the media. The
of the people's will,
about
corrupt government cannot be heard at all. Now, we should rise up to check the power of the government and to fight against the monster. We
the
should
have
freedom of
are not
have reason to rest. Our nation should longer be silenced by political restrictions.
guaranteed,
we
no
no
speak the of the people.
the press. truth and
The reflect
press should
the
will
Sixth,
中
The politics
To cancel the tenure system
patriarchial
Third,
existing
we should strive for a demo- cratic administrative
system and the patriarchial feudal system. If say
proud thousand-year-old culture is ingrained with feudal practices, then the
brutal
patriarchial
end
we
our
for
be the
rich
first" privileges
to
against
We this
have no
establish it the will of the reason at all to
again people.
maintain
and we
cannot
"Down
Clearly, the SO
now
and
and
in
are beginning to have doubts: the students looking for afterall?
However, lies
protect them for long. The corrupt government, ulti- mately, cannot hide its ugly face and mocking mouth from the
people. These past few days, the
people in Beijing have bravely surged into the streets
with Li Peng".
are the
and shouted out
far silent Chinese being awakened. This signifies imminent advancement of Chinese
democratisation.
The recent series of events plainly shows the deep despair of the Chinese people towards feudalistic absolutism. The mournful fact of the hunger strike totally breaks down any kind of illusion,
Therefore, after realizing the distinct political ends of this movement, the people must be persistant to strive for the ends.
Striving for civil and political rights
To overthrow absolutism and to strive for democracy, the people must actualize the following items:
First, we should activate our civic responsibilities towards the state
a strong sense of civil and political rights. The present absolutism deprives the people of the rights of election to vote and to be elected. The citizens
be ended
this by
people's democratic movement and the cadre life tenure system must be thrown out. Otherwise, democracy would
never take root in Our country OLI country would never be strong o ir people would still struggle the fire of feudalistic absolutism the only gainers being those corrupt bureaucrats.
Fourth, we should abolish the rule of man and we should protect human rights and set up the rule of law. For thousands of years, human rights have not yet
of the people's democratic movements.
Fellow and join May-patriotic-democratic- movement. We have to build up the basis for
the rise of our nation-state. The task of nation-building is the burden shoulders. May we come together to take up that burden.
on
our
MA SHAO FANG
May 24, 1989
魂
patriarchial system
any longer one billion people have no longer
In
put our fate and
democratisation.
Our
country's
fate
into the hands of year-cla
Old-man man.
an
aged eighty-five-
politics
must
buried
а nutshell, the hope of Chinese nation-state lies along the path of
Apart from this, we have
no other
way. All those and government
Party officials who
go against this principle will not be welcomed by the people, and must event- ually be
by
surging tides
Our
someone
is a mere of those
excuse
classes
華
the
citizens,
unite
together
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