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China human rights 'worse than before Tiananmen Square'

04/06/2008

China's human rights record has deteriorated since the Tiananmen Square protests, a survivor of the massacre has said.

The claim comes exactly 19 years to the day since the Communist party of China (CPC) ordered the army to disperse pro-democracy demonstrators assembled in central Beijing.

Shao Jiang was a 22-year-old student from Beijing University when he joined the protests to "take some action to change China, because people were suffering".

"I joined the protests because people were becoming more conscious of the importance of practising free speech," he explained.

He told inthenews.co.uk human rights abuse in China had become "much worse" over the last two decades.

Following the brutal crackdown, Mr Shao was imprisoned for 18 months for his role in the demonstrations, and he spent much of the ensuing time detained or under house arrest before he fled to the UK in 1997, where he still resides.

He went into self-imposed exile to escape the regular punishments and beatings he claims were inflicted upon him by police after twice trying to sue party officials over his unfair imprisonment and creating a petition calling for an investigation into the massacre to determine who was responsible, as well as the creation of a workers' trade union.

But Mr Shao insists he is "one of the lucky ones" after up to 7,000 people were killed as the army opened fire on June 4th 1989.

The 41-year-old told inthenews.co.uk ahead of the 19th anniversary of the end of the protests that he is not angered by the Chinese government's denial the massacre ever took place, just determined to rectify the serious discrepancy.

Showing remarkable stoicism, he insisted the demonstrations had made a positive impact upon China's political scene, despite the CPC going on to entrench its power in the years following.

"A lot of the people studied our experience... they learned and wanted to practise human rights," he said.

Although Mr Shao advocates greater outside pressure on the CPC from the international community and non-governmental organisations, he believes the only way for China to admit one of the darkest hours of its history is for the Chinese people to demand it.

He accuses the west and particularly the UK of being guilty of "double standards" by championing their own democracies but putting economic interests first in their dealings with other countries such as China.

In his first visit to China as prime minister, held earlier this year, Gordon Brown was under pressure to push the country's leaders on their poor human rights record.

Instead Mr Brown hailed Sino-British investment links.

Mr Shao told inthenews.co.uk he is still awaiting a reply from a letter he sent the prime minister prior to his Chinese visit.

"I wrote a letter asking him to visit some prisons of conscience," he explained.

"It was a chance for him to show his value and not just focus on economic interest."

Mr Brown has also been asked to boycott the Beijing Olympics later this year, and in a move described as "little progress" by Mr Shao, has confirmed he will not attend the opening ceremony.

But Mr Shao, who now works in IT in London, wants the prime minister to "do more" to condemn China's human rights abuse and ask it to release its political prisoners immediately.

A Downing St spokeswoman was checking Mr Shao's claim over unanswered correspondence at time of publication.