Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by 303 Chinese dissident intellectuals and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

, adopting its name and style from the anti-Soviet

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...

issued by dissidents in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. Since its release, more than 10,000 people inside and outside China have signed the charter. After unsuccessful reform efforts in 1989 and 1998 by the Chinese democracy movement, Charter 08 was the first challenge to one-party rule that declared the end of one-party rule to be its goal; it has been described as the first one with a unified strategy. In 2009, one of the authors of Charter 08, Liu Xiaobo, was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment for "inciting subversion of state power" because of his involvement. A year later, Liu was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. In 2017, he was granted medical parole and died shortly after of terminal liver cancer.

Demands

Many of the original signatories were prominent Chinese citizens inside and outside the government, including lawyers; a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

an poet and essayist, Woeser; and Bao Tong, a former senior

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

official, who all faced a risk of arrest and jail. The Charter calls for 19 changes including an independent legal system, freedom of association, the elimination of one-party rule and privatization of all enterprises and farm land. "All kinds of social conflicts have constantly accumulated and feelings of discontent have risen consistently," it reads. "The current system has become backward to the point that change cannot be avoided." China remains the only large world power to still retain an authoritarian system that so infringes on human rights, it states. "This situation must change! Political democratic reforms cannot be delayed any longer!" Specific demands are: #Amending the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. # Separation of powers. #Legislative democracy. # Judicial independence. #Public control of public servants. #Guarantee of

. #Election of public officials. #Abolition of the hukou system. # Freedom of association. #

Freedom of assembly Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to free ...

. # Freedom of expression. # Freedom of religion. # Civic education. # Protection of property. #Financial and

tax reform Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...

. #

Social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

. # Protection of the environment. # A federated republic. # Truth in reconciliation. The opening paragraph of the charter states:

Response

China

The Chinese government has said little publicly about the Charter.China aims to silence reform call
, ''BBC News'', 12 January 2009. On 8 December 2008, two days before the 60th anniversary of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

's adoption of the

, Liu Xiaobo was detained by police, hours before the online release of the Charter. He was detained and later arrested on 23 June 2009, on charges of "suspicion of inciting the subversion of state power."A Manifesto on Freedom Sets China’s Persecution Machinery in Motion
, ''New York Times'', 3 May 2009.
" (Liu Xiaobo Formally Arrested on 'Suspicion of Inciting Subversion of State Power' Charges), China Review News, 24 June 2009. Several Nobel Laureates wrote a letter to President Hu Jintao asking for his release; in response, the Chinese government suppressed them:Beijing acts to stifle dissident call for reform
" ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', 3 January 2009. at least 70 of its 303 original signatories were summoned or interrogated by police while domestic media were forbidden to interview anyone who signed the document. Police also searched for or questioned a journalist, Li Datong, and two lawyers, though none were arrested. State media was banned from reporting on the manifesto. A blogging website popular with activists, bullog.cn, which may have had ties to the Charter, was shut down. On 25 December 2009, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power" activities by the court. On 8 October 2010, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".

Outside of China

A number of governments, including those of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, as well as the opposition in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

,Taiwan should heed "Charter 08" message
, Taiwan News, 25 December 2008. have condemned the harassment of supporters of Charter 08 as well as hailing the Charter. Western press has generally covered the Charter positively, and international NGOs have supported its message. David Stanway reported in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that it "has been hailed as the most significant act of public dissent against China's Communist party since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests were brutally crushed in 1989." Other international figures, including the Dalai Lama, have also voiced their support and admiration of the Charter. There were also protests in Hong Kong demanding the release of Liu Xiaobo and other signatories. The organization that Liu led to pursue Charter 8, received financial support from the US government's National Endowment for Democracy.

Selected signatories and supporters

Original signatories

* Bao Tong * Tsering Woeser * Dai Qing * Ding Zilin * Liu Junning * Liu Xiaobo * Mao Yushi * Pu Zhiqiang * Ran Yunfei

Later supporters

* Fang Lizhi * Ha Jin * He Weifang * Su Xiaokang * Yu Ying-shih * Wang Dan

References

External links

*Full text of Charter 08
Original Chinese
o
Original Chinese (pdf)English translation by Perry LinkEnglish translation with postscript by Perry LinkEnglish translation by Human Rights in China
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609032549/https://www.hrichina.org/en/content/238 , date=2018-06-09
Charter 08 main site
(Chinese) -- includes updated news and signature lists
Charter 08 main site
(English) -- includes updated news and ability to sign the charter online
News about Charter 08
" China Digital Times
Over 300 sign 'Charter 08', a manifesto for human rights in China, but some are already arrested
" ''Asia News'' History of human rights 2008 in China Political charters 2008 documents