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 2月27日中午，公民力量负责人杨建利博士在美国国会发表了题为“Charter 08：A Wake Up Call for America and China”（《零八宪章》：唤醒美国与中国）的演讲。近80人出席了演讲会，大部分是美国国会议员的助理和智库的政策研究人员。
杨建利博士当天的演讲主要分为三个方面：一是中国民主斗争对于美国和全世界长期战略利益的重要性；促使中国这样的国家发生政治变化必须同时具备的三个条件；《零八宪章》为实现一个开放、稳定、民主的中国所提出的具体外交政策选择。杨建利指出，中国要实现向民主政治的和平过渡必须同时具备可见的反对运动、危机、国际社会的支持这三个条件。《零八宪章》标志着中国可见的反对运动出现了，而2009是非常微妙的一年，危机随时可能出现，国际社会在关键时刻的支持是相当有效的。他在国会所做的演讲最直接的目标是推动美国参众两院尽快研究并通过关于支持《零八宪章》和营救刘晓波的议案，而长远目标则是寻求以美国为首的国际社会对于中国正在进行的民主运动的支持。
演讲结束后，杨建利回答了与会人员的问题。就怎么影响美国民众的提问，杨建利回答说可以通过写文章、在各大学演讲来施加影响，但这种影响非常有限，由于受到语言障碍、生活困境等限制，在海外很多有才华的人的才能无法贡献出来，因此需要通过智库这种形式将思想资源整合起来，进行有效地、组织化的研究、写作、出版、发行，进行影响美国的民众、媒体和政界。关于政治犯的问题，杨建利答道虽然家属站出来说话很有效，非常人性化，但是中国成千上万的政治犯中很少有家属可以在美国公开发言，所以只能通过一些典型案例来实现对于大政治环境的突破，比如如果能够成功营救刘晓波，说明中国的大政治环境可能有所变化，标志性人物的释放会带来普通政治犯境遇的改变。他认为，必须关注政治犯的状况，不仅仅是出于人道的援助，也是出于政治考虑，如果政治犯可以得到组织化、有效的救助，那么加入反对运动的成本就会降低，当这一成本降到大家都可以承受时，加入的人自然就多了，民主的力量也就壮大了。
演讲会上，王炳章的女儿王天安介绍了父亲的情况，法轮功组织成员介绍了高智晟律师的情况，杨建利博士还向与会人员详细介绍了民运组织的情况。
附：杨建利博士的演讲稿全文。
Charter 08: A Wake up Call for America and China.
Yang Jianli
(Address to Defense Forum Foundation on Capitol Hill, Feb.27,2009)
Good afternoon, Thank you Ambassador Middendorf and Suzanne Scholte for inviting me to address the Defense Forum Foundation. And thank you Ed for sharing Dr. Edwards’ letter with us. I applaud Dr. Edwards and everyone associated with Victims of Communism Memorial for their vision and their fortitude in making this monument a reality.
I also thank everyone here, particularly the hard working staff from Congress and the executive departments for taking the time to come to this luncheon. I will do my best to give some good food for thought that will assist you with the difficult work you have in turning information into effective legislation and policy.
I will talk of 3 things this afternoon. Then I will answer any questions you may have:
1．The importance of the struggle for democracy in China to the long term strategic interest of the United States and the World,
2．The three conditions that must be present at the same time to effect a political change in a country like China
3．The specific foreign policy options Charter 08 presents for achieving an open, stable, democratic China.
Regretfully, I was not here for last month’s luncheon, I understand that Bill Gertz gave a very cogent summary of the security challenges facing the Obama Administration. Bill observed that China’s military buildup, coupled to a dictatorship that is not in any way accountable to its people, can only be perceived as a growing challenge to American security. I would add to Bill’s observations that China’s emergence as an economic and as well as a military power, poses the very real question of whether the Chinese government model of a one party dictatorship without the rule of law and the protection of individual rights will become the model for the world in this new millennium . The very real question for us is: will China be integrated into the world community or will China integrate the world community within its system. I urge everyone in this room to reflect on where the Chinese dictatorship was twenty years ago in 1989. It was on the brink of collapse. It was unthinkable for everyone including the then leaders of China that its brand of communism would be considered by so many people in the world today as a challenge to the American model for the rest of the world? What has the U.S. done wrong in the past 20 years?
Most recently, on December 8, 2008, 303 brave Chinese citizens published Charter 08, a well reasoned call for peaceful constitutional reform. Rather than engage in dialogue with these citizens the Chinese government arrested Liu Xiaobo, a lead signatory, and harassed and intimidated the others. Nonetheless almost 9,000 other Chinese citizens have signed Charter 08. Like H.W. Bush’s sending private envoy shortly after Tiananmen Square massacre to reaffirm his recognition of Deng Xiaoping as the legitimate leader of China, Secretary Clinton’s recent remarks regarding the low priority of Human Rights in her discussions with the Chinese leaders sends the wrong message at a particularly critical moment. Her remarks demoralized Chinese activists and protesters, many of whom had gathered at the US Embassy for her visit to seek her support. The Chinese government can only read Secretary Clinton’s remarks as giving it a free hand to exercise their arbitrary rule. The freedom fighters can only see this as a slap in the face. The world can only see this as the rise of the Chinese political system over the weak U.S. model. As a result I can only see greater repression of Chinese citizens in the future and bolder actions by the Chinese government on the world arena.
What will our inconsistency and compromise bring us? Again I ask you to think where the Chinese government was nearly twenty years ago? Look at where China is today. I hold up charter 08 a virtual roadmap for a peaceful transition to democracy in China which Secretary Clinton has chosen to ignore. What course are we chartering with this mindset? If this continues, think about where the Chinese model will be twenty years from now. Will our silence on human rights eventually come back to silence us here in America? Can we hear a future Secretary of State say “We can’t let the first amendment stand in the way of a harmonious society and economic progress.”
So Bill’s conclusion that the best solution for the challenge China presents to our security and our democratic way of life is that China has a peaceful transition to democracy. I will add to this by saying that a peaceful transition to democracy in China is not only the best outcome for America, but also the best one for China, and world peace as well.
If a peaceful transition to a democratic form of governance in China is the optimum solution for removing this challenge to American security, it then follows that advancing human rights and supporting democratic forces within China must be a vital, integral, and fundamental basis of our bilateral relations with the Chinese government. It is counterproductive to compartmentalize human rights and democratic reform in our discussions with China. We cannot make progress on this issue so vital to our security by raising it only every so often, when the wind blowing just right. Human rights and democratic reform must be the platform upon which all other issues are based.
This brings us to the topic at hand. What are the options for American foreign policy in constructively assisting this peaceful transition to democracy in China? And what role does Charter 08 play in this transition?
In China or any other country, three conditions must be present at the same time for a peaceful transition to democracy to occur.
A viable opposition
A crisis
International support
A hundred years ago, China experienced a serious political crisis and also enjoyed a viable democratic opposition led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Unfortunately, there was no international support. This caused Dr. Sun to turn to Lenin in 1917 -- a fateful and disastrous turn of events for China and world.
Many of us in this room vividly recall the Pro-Democracy Movement of 1989. A viable opposition had formed and a crisis was clear and present. One million students and sympathizers gathered around the goddess of democracy statue erected in the middle of Tiananmen Square, the likeness of this statue adorns the Victims of Communism Memorial here on Mass Ave. In addition, numerous smaller demonstrations were erupting in cities across China.
Again, the third component. International Support needed failed to materialize.
We can easily draw from these two examples an understanding of how the three conditions of a viable opposition, a crisis, and international support must interplay for our desired outcome of a peaceful transition to democracy.
International pressure in and of itself cannot and should not bring about democracy. The desire for democracy must come from the hearts of Chinese citizens. This desire must be distilled into a viable opposition that is distinctly and undeniably home grown. But as we have seen from the above two examples, International support provides the critical counterweight which tilts the outcome in the right direction. The lack of international support proved disastrous for my countrymen in 1989. On the positive side, the wonderfully orchestrated support of the western world and in particular of Pope John Paul provided the final nudge that brought the swift collapse of the Communist regime and the birth of democracy in Poland.
Then what significance is Charter 08 bringing to make up the three conditions I just elaborated.
Charter 08 has three significant attributes: First is its authorship. It is 100% home grown with an impeccable pedigree. The original 303 signatories are all widely known and respected citizens of China. In addition to the original signatories, almost 9,000 Chinese citizens have affixed their real names to Charter 08. This number should not be underestimated. How many of us in this room would sign such a petition with the full knowledge that in so doing we are putting our jobs and even our freedom at risk? This fact renders moot any contention by the CCP that Charter 08 is the rambling of subversives or the work of outside agitators. It also renders as absurd the conventional wisdom of many academics and so called “sinologists” that the desire for freedom and democracy really does not exist in China.
The second important fact about Charter 08 is that it is a clear and detailed roadmap for achieving the goal of a peaceful transition to democracy. It is a cogent and factual description of the problem as well as the solution:
I quote from the opening remarks of Charter 08:
The Chinese people, who have endured human rights disasters and uncountable struggles, now see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values.
By departing from these values, the Chinese government’s approach to “modernization” has proven disastrous. It has stripped people of their rights, destroyed their dignity, and corrupted normal human intercourse.
Charter 08 goes beyond describing the situation. It details 19 specific recommendations for peaceful constitutional reform. So Charter 08 is not only a home grown unequivocal call for democratic reform, it is also a roadmap for achieving that reform. It is the basis for discussion and dialogue with the CCP.
And lastly, because it is homegrown and because it has attracted such widespread endorsement, Charter 08 is now a catalyst for the formation of a viable opposition. Remember that a viable opposition is the first condition for democracy to take hold. There now exists a body politic of almost 9000 people who have gathered around a common principle for forming a democratic alternative to the current one party dictatorship. And I assure you that the number is growing everyday and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Not since 1989 have the forces for democracy so visibly formed inside China.
It is therefore not surprising that the communist government has reacted so swiftly by arresting Liu Xiabobo, putting numerous others under city arrest, intimidating almost everyone involved, and desperately attempting to remove any trace of Charter 08 from the internet. The CCP knows all too well that this is most fearful of organized viable opposition----one of the conditions for the peaceful transition to democracy.
A crisis, the second condition for democratic reform, is also taking shape. Virtually, the only support propping up the Chinese government is its claim of creating economic prosperity. This support is rapidly eroding. The economic downturn is producing an army of unemployed workers and disaffected peasants all across China. As the economic situation worsens, the Chinese governments’ credibility will rapidly dissipate. The swamp will be drained, if you will, laying bare the underlying frustrations, grievances, and contempt for the CCP. Recognizing that they have nothing to lose, people will become bolder and bolder in publicly expressing their dissatisfaction. Charter 08 will become the focal point for the people’s demands for reform.
The viable opposition and the crisis will come together to challenge the 60 years of corruption, repression, and disregard for humanity which the CCP has delivered to the Chinese people.
So two of the three conditions for a peaceful transition to democracy are now forming as we speak.
The stage is now set for America and the western democracies to provide the third condition, international support. The timing is right because the situation is still manageable. Assertive engagement with China can push the government to engage in a constructive dialogue with the opposition. A dialogue that will create the climate for peaceful and orderly democratic reform. Assertive American engagement with the Chinese government at this time can induce the Chinese government to realize that the tide of history is going against them and now is the time to strike a bargain.
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