Book Review: Liu Xiaobo, Charter 08 and the Challenges of Political Reform in China

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Liu Xiaobo, Charter 08 and the Challenges of Political Reform in China . Edited by Jean-Philippe Béja , Fu Hualing , and Eva Pils . Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press , 2012. xi, 381 pp. $60.00 (cloth); $25.00 (paper).

Book Reviews--China

Charter 08 is the most important proposal for a liberal Chinese constitution. This excellent book, based on Hong Kong University Law Faculty conferences, treats the charter and its co-author, Nobelist Liu Xiaobo, in diverse ways that complement each other neatly.

Four initial chapters (by Jean-Philippe Béja, Joshua Rosenzweig, Liu's legal defense team, and Cui Weiping) profile the laws and trial by which Liu was imprisoned for "subversion." Four more (by Pitman Potter and Sophia Woodman, Feng Chongyi, Karen Lee, and Michaela Kotyzova) ask about the charter as a factor in China's potential democratization. The final five (by Fu Hualing, Michael Dowdle, Eva Pils, Willy Lam, and Teng Biao) explore the liberal movement's links to current politics.

Liu Xiaobo has two different aims: "Living in truth" is a personal commitment to reject the lies and repressions that are endemic in an authoritarian state. His second commitment is more social, less personal; it is the hope of creating a tolerant democracy in China. These goals interact, and overall the book is stronger in describing and criticizing current Chinese laws than in suggesting the political mechanisms by which censorship may be reduced. One law prescribes punishment for "spreading rumors or slanders . . . to subvert the state power or overthrow the socialist system," and such vague words encourage judges to be arbitrary.

What has reduced government capriciousness in other countries? The answer is political struggle. Some such conflicts have been nonviolent but tense, when leaders such as Gandhi provoked state violence in order to raise public consciousness of their causes, or leaders such as Mandela withstood government force while reserving the right to respond in kind...