A victim of China’s oppressive authoritarian regime for most of his life, Liu Xianbin has repeatedly spoken out for human rights and democracy while sacrificing his own freedom. Liu and Chinese dissident writers Du Daobin and Zhou Yuanzhi are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Cisco, Systems Inc., currently pending in Federal Court in Maryland. Over the past decade, Cisco has enabled the Chinese Ministry of Public Security to crack down on dissent through highly sophisticated internet surveillance technology, known as the “Golden Shield Project”. Were it not for Cisco’s help , the Chinese Communist Party may not have had the tools and technology to persecute, punish and torture Liu for his peaceful and non-violent internet activities. (Download pdf of translated articles from Cisco's Chinese website about PSB business deals here.)

Born in 1968 in Sichuan Province, Liu Xianbin was attending Renmin University in Beijing when the pro-democracy student movement swept China. He participated in the 1989 protests, including the blocking of military vehicles in Tiananmen Square. Having lost faith in Communist Party rule, Liu helped to organize an anti-communist group and began writing articles criticizing the repression and violent crackdown of the Tiananmen incident and pushing for the establishment of a democratic party. For these "crimes", he was arrested in 1991 and eventually sentenced to 2.5 years in prison on charges of "counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement," yet this was only the beginning of Liu’s activism.

Du Daobin is one of the earliest cyber dissident writers in China.  By the time of his detention in October 2003, he had published tens of articles on the internet at home and abroad. In June 2004 he was charged with “inciting to subvert state power” and sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment. Instead of serving his prison sentence immediately, it was postponed while he spent 4 years under probation. In June of 2008, on the eve of the Summer Olympics to be held in China, the authorities accused Du of disobeying the rules of probation, as he had continued to write articles critical of the regime. Thus, after four years of probation, Mr. Du was sent to serve his 3-year prison term. While in prison, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture and was held under the most stringent control.  He was forced to sit on a low bench for two months, which led to cardiac prolapse. After this incident, due to malnutrition and potassium deficiency, he lost his ability to walk and for a long time he was dependent on a wheelchair. Although today he is free and able to walk, Du remains under close watch. Who is this man that China views as such a threat, and what is it about his writings that has the government so nervous?

Du Daobin was born in Wuhan, Hubei Province in 1964. Formerly an employee of the district government, Du was a firm believer of communism. He read the works of Marx, Lenin, and Mao Zedong and took up writing poetry. After the tragic events of the 1989 protests, Du sympathized with the students and strongly opposed the killing that occurred. Before officially becoming a Party member, he retracted his application. He began to write works in support of the democracy movement and since 1997 he has been exploring the ideas of liberalism and promoting China's path to democracy. Originally a supporter of the movement, as Du became more outspoken, he too became a victim of the government’s crackdown on freedom of speech. Starting in 2001, Du published articles on a number of Chinese websites, calling for fair treatment of city and rural dwellers, social security and fair wages for farmers, and for the abolishment of the discriminatory policies of usury towards farmers. He also published articles on foreign websites, severely criticizing Chinese Communist Party ideals and the one-party dictatorship system and policy.

Women's Rights Without Frontiers reports:

A new video featuring One Child Policy activist Chen Guangcheng was leaked to the China Aid Association Wednesday.  It has just been reported that this morning, Chen and his wife, Yuan Weijing, were “beaten senseless” in retaliation for the release of the video.

Blind activist Chen exposed the systematic use of forced abortion in implementing China’s One Child Policy.  His work has not gone unnoticed by the world.  Time Magazine named him in its list of “2006’s Top 100 People Who Shape Our World,” in the category of “Heroes and Pioneers.”  In 2007 he was awarded the Magsaysay award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.

The Chinese Communist Party, however, took a different view.  For standing up for the rights of Chinese women, Chen was handed a four year, three month jail sentence, was tortured and denied medical treatment, and is now languishing under house arrest.  No one had heard from him since September until yesterday, when he released this video.  

To read more and sign a petition to free Chen from house arrest, visit Women's Rights Without Frontiers.

The Laogai Research Foundation is launching a ten day Twitter campaign to advocate the release of Liu Xiaobo. A Chinese dissident who has long advocated for human rights and democracy inside China, Liu was one of the primary authors of Charter 08, an online manifesto promoting peaceful political reform in China that has accumulated 10,000 signatures since its initial launch on December 10, 2008. Liu was detained on December 8, 2010, two days before the release of Charter 08, and held without charge until June of 2009, when he was charged with "Incitement to subversion of the state." To this day Liu has not been granted a trial.

To mark the one year anniversary of Liu's detention, we have initiated a ten day Twitter campaign. To join the campaign, click here and click retweet. We also encourage you to share this with your friends via Facebook, email, your personal blogs, even in person! At midnight on December 10, in honor of the one year anniversary of the release of Charter 08, we will count the number of retweets and followers we've had, and include that number in a letter advocating Liu Xiaobo's release. The letter will be sent on December 11 to President Obama, President Hu Jintao of China, the Chinese Embassy, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China.

Please help Liu Xiaobo by joining our campaign and spreading the word!

While the Chinese Communist Party has been in the business of persecuting independent thinkers for decades, there tend to be a few wiley rascals who just won’t learn.  These so-called “bad elements “ tend to be a thorn in Beijing’s backside on the worst of occasions, usually when a foreign dignitary is coming to town.  Even though many of these “subversives” most certainly have opinions about the up-coming visit of President Obama to the PRC, no one had the guts to write him a letter and hand it to the international press.  Well, except one.

In an incredibly bold move, former “New Youth Study Group,” member and Black Series author Yang Zili, did just that.  Risking re-arrest, Yang wrote the letter on behalf of friends and fellow group members Xu Wei and Jin Haike who each have two years remaining in their 10 year sentences.  In an interview with the Associated Press, Yang stated, "I have no choice but to take this risk because I feel I have a responsibility to help them.  If I don't make an appeal that is particularly on behalf of these two people, they might just slip through the cracks."

Yang, Xu, Jin, and Zhang Honghai (who also signed Yang’s appeal) were arrested in 2001 for their private meetings of the “New Youth Study Group,” in which they discussed the possibility for democratic reforms in China.  Despite their small number and benign activity, their group was seen as a threat to the CCP, and, all four men were jailed.  Clearly, the People’s Armed Police were no match for them, however, as they are still “subversive” almost 10 years later.