Reminders of Oppression - Xu Zhiyong
The New Citizens Movement was a small affair - a few loosely organized activists campaigning against corruption in China. You know that CCP has experienced a crackdown on corruption since Xi Jinping took power in 2012, so one might think that citizen support would be viewed with favor. But one must not forget the cardinal rule of authoritarian survival - only the leaders have the truth, only the leaders can determine right and wrong, and no civil society organization that competes with government can be tolerated.
The New Citizens Movement promoted "constitutionalism," meaning the adherence of government (and CCP) to the sort of principles that are actually in the Chinese Constitution, but ignored by the government at will. But the use of the term constitutionalism was likely the reason for the opposition within CCP to discussion of what would seem to be an odd, but innocuous request - follow the laws as written. The New Citizens Movement, active since about 2010, is clearly within the crosshairs of the infamous Document No. 9, promoted in the Spring of 2013 by the CCP General Office. This is the document - fairly quickly erased from online - that warned CCP members
The activism promoted equal access to education, transparency in exposing the wealth of government officials, and rule of law and democracy. Remember that it was in 2012 that the New York Times and Bloomberg exposed the extreme family wealth of Xi Jinping and Wen Jiabao, respectively, for which both publications were banned in China.
Xu was arrested in July of 2013, tried shortly after, and in January of 2014 was given a four year prison sentence for "amassing a crowd to disturb order in a public space."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-27917234
the wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Citizens%27_Movement
Xu Zhiyong's statement on the New Citizen's Movement, translated at China Change -
One can understand the subversive nature of the movement. Xu wrote in 2012 -
The goal of the New Citizens’ Movement is a free China ruled by democracy and law, a just and happy civil society with “freedom, righteousness, love” as the new national spirit.
