Nobel Prizes and the Chinese Lawyer

****UPDATE****
The Nobel Prize was just announced and was presented to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. I, for one, am a little disappointed.


This year's presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize has stirred up quite the cloud of controversy. The prize, which in the last few years has gone to mostly humanitarian and politically neutral efforts (micro-finance, nuclear weapons monitoring, etc.), might make a significant splash. Many observers are putting their money on two Chinese legal rights activists, lawyers Gao Zhisheng and Hu Jia. Gao has been missing since September 22nd 2007 - reportedly in detention and possibly undergoing torture - and Hu, Gao's friend and associate, was arrested and sentced just prior to the Beijing Olympics.

Stein Toennesson, the head of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo, believes the two activists are likely front runners , especially now that the Beijing Olympics are over. Toennesson points out that the only Chinese to ever win the Peace Prize was the Dalai Lama, and he lives in exile. The Peace award has never been presented to another Chinese, let alone a dissident still in the country and in the grips of struggling against the state. The clamor has been such that China has issued a statement that they hoped the Nobel Peace Prize will reward what it called "the right person".

Gao and Hu both represent one of the most intriguing political movements in China. within the last few years, lawyers and rights activists have turned to testing the extent to which the law is applied and upheld in the mainland. Everything from property rights, the rights of religious organizations, and illegal land seizures have been pressed in the courts by a growing group of lawyers bent on beating into shape some semblence of a rule of law in China. Gao and Hu have been invovled with some of the most high profile cases. Though many of their cases meet with little success, as they are highly controversial and aim straight at the abuses of the ruling Communist Party, they have had a significantly growing role in the development of civil society in China.

However, Gao Zhisheng represents and especially interesting case. In 2005, the New York Times published and extensive article on Gao’s exploits, carrying a heavy sense of an imminent reaction by the state for his boldness in criticizing state policy. Calling him a political “gadfly”, the article outlines a boldness that treads that thin line between incomparable heroism and complete recklessness. But, as Gao puts it himself, "People across this country are awakening to their rights and seizing on the promise of the law," Mr. Gao says. "But you cannot be a rights lawyer in this country without becoming a rights case yourself." But such “flagrant dissidence” could only go on for so long.

He was arrested in August 2006 as part of a tightening of control on the expanding activism of “rights defense” lawyers. His was the most high profile of arrests meant to send a warning to rights lawyers throughout the country. A secretive trial followed, of which neither his family nor lawyer were informed. He received a rather light sentencing in December of that year, prompting suspicions that he had compromised with authorities. A subsequently publicized confession seemed to confirm these fears. Hu Jia, however, rallied to his defense, pointing out that the public discrediting was likely as much a part of the Communist government’s plan to diminish Gao’s influence as the arrest and conviction had been. A later phone call from Gao to Hu confirmed that the confession had been real but that it was made under extreme duress. In particular, Gao cited threats to his wife and children. Gao did put to rest fears that he had sold out colleagues and fellow right’s activists. New York Times reports on the aftermath noted that Gao had found the near house arrest conditions that he had been living under after his release had proven that he could not remain quite. This reemergence is likely the cause for his disappearance in September of 2007. He has not been heard from since, though rumors have been leaked that he is in detention and has experienced rather severe torture. Assassination and suicide attempts have also been alleged, but nothing is known about his whereabouts or condition.

Gao's case is interesting for another reason. Not only an active and outspoken lawyer, Gao is a Christian. He isn't the only one, as the growing lawyer-activist movement is disproportionately populated by such men. An early meeting between Christian activist and President George Bush showcased two such men - Wang Yi and Li Baiguang - and the third participant, write Yu Jie, has been an outspoken supporter of the push for rule of law. Wang Yi is not only a lawyer, but also pastors and well known church in Chengdu, where he is a law lecturer. Wang Yi was involved with originating a 2004 petition in defense of an internet essayist who had been arrested on subversion charges. The petition included signatures from 102 different well known lawyers, writers, professors, and political activists. He also recently was involved with bringing suit against the local Religious Affairs Bureau for their violation of constitutional rights for freedom of worship.

Gao Zhisheng, Wang Yi, and Yu Jie all represent an interesting emergence of Christian intellectuals into the mainstream of political and social reform in China. Though mostly adopting a critical tone, each of these activists are all working well within the bounds of wanting to see constructive change - not an overthrow of the government. This is particularly clear in the cases of Gao and Wang, whose legal work aims at a fulfillment of the rights already enshrined in China's national laws. Theirs is a hope for a progressing and growing China. With the growth of the church in China, it is inevitable that such figures will arise, just by nature of the statistical probability. But the question remains how such intellectuals can and will influence society and what legacy they will begin to construct. If one takes the examples of Wang and Gao, it seems that the Christian intellectual community has at least taken a firm first step.