A Statement of Initiatives for China / Citizen Power for China   on “Black Friday for Human Rights Defenders”

July 11, 2015

Following the arrest of attorney Wang Yu on July 9, 2015, the Chinese authorities began to arrest a  large number of human rights lawyers in the morning of July 10.   As of July 11, more than 80 human rights lawyers and staff members of law firms had been arrested, detained and disappeared,summoned, interviewed and restricted of personal freedom and rights to travel overseas…… The Chinese authorities have flagrantly launched another round of large-scale human rights catastrophe.  We strongly condemn it.

On night of July 11 and in the morning of July 12, Xinhua News Agency and People’s Daily published an article “Ministry of Public Security reveals what is behind of ‘the Rights Defending Movement’ “and an editorial ” Lawyers Cannot Break the Law In the Name of Safeguarding rights “.  This confirmed that the arrests had been coordinated by the Ministry of Public Security in order to “strike hard on Law-breading Lawyers ”  and curse the human rights petitioners as ” major criminal gangs” that “seriously disrupt social order.”

In any normal country, any lawyer has the rights and responsibilities to safeguard the rights of their clients.  China’s human rights lawyers fight for rights of Chinese citizens in a difficult legal environment but in the context of the existing legal system in China.   They are the backbone of China’s rule of law and a stabilizing and healthy force in China’s society.  However, the Xi Jinpingregime cannot tolerate the existence of such civil force.  They see human rights lawyers as a scourge and intend to get rid of these brave people who defy state power with their humanitarian mission.  Indeed, such action against human rights lawyers is orchestrated with the recently launch of “National Security Law”.  It is the contempt for ordinary citizens by the Xi Jinping regime, and the abuse and unlimited expansion of police power.  It unveils the so-called “rule of law” and blatantly stands against the Chinese people. All this shows the escalation of the dictatorship of the Xi Jinping regime.

We also noted that while these lawyers were arrested, a number of instant messengers failed after massive DDoS attacks.  They include “Telegram”, a software that had been denounced by the Ministry of Public Security.  It resulted in a global negative impact.   It is believed such attacks originated from the Chinese communist hackers who worked with the Ministry of Public Security in an attempt to keep the news of the arrests from spreading.  We cannot help asking: Does the Xi Jinping regime really want to stand against the entire free world in order to consolidate its autocratic rule?    Does Xi Jinping want to come to visit the United States and the UN General Assembly with such an image?

It just happened this evening that the founder of Citizen of Power received a call from someone posing as  a reporter from Voice of America, inquiring how the arrests would impact Xi Jinping’s visit to the US.  It shows that the Chinese authorities are well aware that their repression is injustice and unpopular, and they have a guilty conscience.  To them, we can simply say, Citizen Power will act jointly with human rights organizations across the world and urge the United Nations, governments and parliaments of democracies and other international organizations to condemn the CCP’s evil doing and exert pressure on the Chinese government in order to rescue the arrested human rights fighters.  And of course, we will “welcome” Xi Jinping in our special way during his visit.