Don’t forget Liu Xiaobo
Wang Dan
July 13, 2022
As his personal friend, on days like these, my longing for him was even stronger; At the same time, I also regret to see that the public’s memories of Xiaobo seem to be gradually fading. Not only are there few posts online about recalling or remembering him, but there are many dissident groups overseas. But apart from an online memorial service in Europe, there are hardly any other activities. This is truly regrettable. Speaking of regret is not only for Liu Xiaobo personally, but also because, in the face of today’s situation in China, commemorating him holds even greater significance.
This special significance is reflected in two aspects: First, Liu Xiaobo, as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, suffered from a serious illness in prison but did not receive active treatment. Until the end of his life, he was still denied permission to go abroad for treatment. It is no exaggeration to say that Liu Xiaobo was deliberately murdered by the Chinese authorities. This is not only unprecedented in the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, but also a heinous act in terms of human rights abuse. However, to this day, the international community seems to have taken no effective sanctions against the CCP’s serious crimes. When Xiaobo had just passed away, someone in the U.S. Congress proposed renaming the road in front of the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. to “Liu Xiaobo Plaza.” This proposal has remained unresolved to this day.
Do not forget Liu Xiaobo—not only to commemorate a hero who sacrificed for democracy, but also to remind the world that the CCP has repeatedly crossed the bottom line of civilized society and committed unprecedented atrocities. We must not forget what the CCP once did, as time passes; The outside world should also know that as long as China remains under the CCP’s authoritarian rule, the tragedy of Liu Xiaobo that happened in the past will be repeated in the future. Don’t forget Liu Xiaobo; we can also remind the world of one thing: don’t think all bad things are Xi Jinping’s doing. Remember, Liu Xiaobo’s arrest and heavy sentence were during the Hu Jintao era. When we harshly criticize Xi Jinping’s reversal and rebellious actions, some people begin to miss the CCP rule during the Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao eras. If you remember the instigator behind Liu Xiaobo’s death, you will understand that the CCP’s evil is not just a personal problem but a systemic issue. As long as the one-party dictatorship is not resolved, no one can improve China’s human rights record.
Second, don’t forget Liu Xiaobo, because he carries a symbolic meaning. What he represents is the kind of force that civil society has tenaciously grown in China over the past thirty years, caught between state violence. Marked by Liu Xiaobo’s Charter 08, we have witnessed the growth of grassroots resistance forces in China. Since Xi Jinping came to power, he has launched a comprehensive crushing blow on China’s civil society, causing many people to lose all hope for domestic grassroots resistance. But if we understand Liu Xiaobo’s personal struggle, we realize that even during the most difficult and darkest period after the June Fourth crackdown, the flames of resistance among the Chinese people never went out. Liu Xiaobo has received high recognition from the international community, demonstrating that the strength demonstrated by Chinese civil society was once widely recognized.
Although the situation is now more perilous than before, we can see from China’s online that public discontent still exists, and the power of Chinese civil society has never disappeared. The CCP can eliminate Liu Xiaobo, but China cannot have only Liu Xiaobo as a brave warrior. We should not only lose faith in protesters within China, but also actively support the domestic protest movement. As the most symbolic representative of China’s resistance movement, commemorating Liu Xiaobo is a process that continuously inspires the emergence of new Liu Xiaobos. Therefore, I believe that not forgetting Liu Xiaobo is of great practical significance.