12/01/95Recently S.1394 (The Anrti-Immigraion Bill being considered in the US Congress) and the charge against Wei Jinsheng are two hot topics among us. One thing apparently has nothing to do with the other except that we are interested in both. One has the potential grieve effect on our personal interests in the US. The other brings up the idealistic side of us.
Wei Jinsheng is a name somehow associated with democracy and human rights in China. Democracy understood as "Majority Rule" is widely accepted among oversea CSS. However, the concept of human rights is not so popular. Some regard it as a weapon used by anti-China westerners. More people think it's an offspring of western individualism and not compatible with the collectivism deeply rooted in our culture.
Does S1394 have anything to do with Wei Jinsheng? Oh, yes. Human rights is protection of individual freedom and minority rights. Let's face it, we are minority here in US and we are weak minority. We cannot even participate in the basic political process -- vote. The majority of American voting public at best are indifferent to S1394, at worst are sympathy to limiting immigration. On the contrary, S1394 may effect our personal interests devastately. If the political system here is solely based on "Majority Rule", we will never have any fighting chance against S1394. Yet, the system here allows the chance of our voice being heard in the law making process. Like it or not, we, foreigners and small special interest group, have the chance to heavily lobby the Congress. (I did my part, how about you?)
"Majority Rule" and "Minority Rights" are two sides of the same coin named "Democracy". A one sided coin is a fake one. By tradition, the principal of "Majority Rule" is not hard to understand for us. The principal of "Minority Rights" does not come naturally to us. For most of us, sacrificing a small minority in the name of majority is tolerable if not necessary.
For many Chinese, only after ourself are on the sacrificing list, we start to have second thought about protection of minority rights. For most time it's too late. Only after the weak and the few of our society have their protection, we can have some real confidence to say we can enjoy our protection when we need it.
Do not stand by when the rights of a few fellow Chinese are violated. Be proud to stand up for a few. You do not even have to agree with their belief and ideas. What at stake is not only the rights of a few, but also the chance of real democracy in China and your own future personal well-being.
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2) From: <******@***.cdev.com> 11/28/95
1) I strongly protest the arrest and charge against Wei Jing Sheng. In my opinion, Wei has not done anything to deserve the punishment he is receiving right now. In fact, Wei has done NOTHING wrong.. All he did was to publicly express his idea. To some people, these ideas seem to be a threat that is of the same magnitude of a nuclear bomb, but I disagree. Some people seem to say that if the Chinese government let Wei free, he will continue to voice his ideas publicly, thus lead China to chaos and become economically weaker. This argument is completely absurd. So is it true that in these people's view, Wei should be sentenced to death and thus secure the future stability and prosperity of China? This is truly naive. Wrongfully arrest Wei and punish him will not help China become more stable and prosperous, it only makes the Chinese government look stupid, just like 6.4 did.
