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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 014013 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O N F I D E N T I A L 
 
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SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/16 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ECON SOCI CH
SUBJECT: The Rights Protection Movement Leadership in South 
China: Choosing Battles Wisely 
 
REF: A) Guangzhou 11684; B) Beijing 06612; C) 05 Bejing 
16423 
 
¶1.  (U) Classified by Consul General Edward Dong.  Reason 
1.4 (d). 
 
Summary 
-------- 
¶2.  (C) The rights protection movement in China, a 
QvirtualQ network of democracy activists throughout the 
mainland, is gaining force and membership.  This is the 
vision optimistically espoused by Guo Feixiong, a leader 
from the South China branch of the rights protection 
movement, whom Consulate officers met on April 20.  During 
the meeting, Guo discussed his leadership role in the 2005 
Taishi incident in Guangdong Province and his goals for the 
movement to use legalistic, non-violent protest 
opportunities to spread grass-root-level democracy across 
China.  End summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
¶3.  (C) On April 20, Econ/Pol Section Chief and Poloff met 
with one of South ChinaQs leading democracy activists, Yang 
Maodong, better know by his pen-name, QGuo FeixiongQ. 
Consulate officers met with Guo for about one hour.  Guo 
discussed his involvement in the July 2005 Taishi incident 
in GuangdongQs Panyu district as well as the Rights 
Protection Movement in China, undoubtedly ChinaQs most 
dynamic and innovative democracy movement today (see ref B 
on Taishi and ref C on the movement).  Guo helped lead the 
Taishi incident, in which villagers legally protested the 
removal of a corrupt village leader.  As a result, he was 
held in prison for three months from September untill 
December 2005.  Guo planned to travel to the United States 
on April 30 for a State Department Democracy, Human Rights 
and Labor (DRL) conference and was at the Consulate to 
apply for his visa. 
 
¶4.  (C) Guo expressed his gratitude for U.S. support of the 
Chinese democratic movement.  He emphasized that economic 
freedom in China is not enough.  Guo said, additionally, 
democratic and media freedoms must also be improved, which 
can only occur through greater U.S. pressure of China.  He 
then emphasized the importance of religious freedom as a 
fundamental human right (Note: this is understandable given 
the movementQs connection with foreign and domestic 
religious groups, see ref B, end note).  Although he 
himself is not Christian, his wife is Protestant, and he 
believes that the treatment Protestants, Catholics and 
Muslims receive at the hands of Chinese officials is quite 
severe. 
 
Taishi: Understanding South China Protest Methods 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶5.  (C) When asked how activists heard of the Taishi 
villagersQ problems Guo said that he had not known of the 
villagersQ initial efforts to protest the actions of a 
corrupt village official.  Instead, a group of villagers 
contacted him in at his law office in Guangzhou and asked 
for his help.  Guo gave the villagers some advice on how to 
legally fight their case.  Eventually the problems in 
Taishi became known to other activists.  They decided to 
use Taishi as a chance to test the legal system of protest 
combined with a media campaign to focus world attention on 
problems in the Chinese countryside.  Activists 
additionally tested other methods of protest, including the 
use of older women protestors and limited hunger strikes. 
Guo mentioned he had met on a number of occasions with the 
South China Morning Post and other journalists.  In all, 
between 30-40 QelitesQ from throughout the Chinese 
democracy movement descended on Taishi to help with the 
protest.  These elites included lawyers, intellectuals, 
activists, authors, and journalists.  Guo said the biggest 
sources of such elites often are from cities such as 
Shanghai and Beijing; however, during Taishi, the majority 
of participating elites were from Guangzhou.  Guo 
considered the protest method highly effective since many 
different world media sources focused attention on the 
issue. 
 
¶6.  (C) Guo compared Taishi with the December 2005 Dongzhou 
incident and the recent April 12 protest in Bomei village 
(near Shantou, Guangdong Province) (ref A).  Guo said both 
the Dongzhou and Bomei protests had three problems:  1) the 
protest lacked elites; 2) villagers used violence against 
the police; and 3) villagers did not focus on elections. 
 
GUANGZHOU 00014013  002 OF 003 
 
 
Guo argued, elections, not land compensation and improved 
water infrastructure projects, are what attract world-wide 
and eventually domestic Chinese attention.  In contrast to 
the Dongzhou and Bomei village incidents, his Movement 
strives for legal and completely peaceful protest methods. 
 
The QRights Protection MovementQ:  Vision and Tradecraft 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
¶7.  (C) Guo commented on the make-up of the QWei Quan Yun 
DongQ (The QRights Protection MovementQ), describing the 
Movement as ChinaQs Qmost important democracy movementQ 
with several thousand members throughout China.  In GuoQs 
interpretation, the movementQs mission is to focus on 
democratic election rights.  The Movement wants to legally 
encourage elections at the village, county, and township 
level.  Guo hopes that as elections become a protected 
right, democracy will spread upwards through the six levels 
of government and throughout the country.  As democracy 
spreads, China will eventually become a rule of law nation. 
The first step is to make the media (foreign and domestic) 
aware of the need for elections in China and eventually the 
masses in China will begin to care as well. 
 
¶8.  (C) Because of Central Government surveillance, Guo 
said he and his fellow activists try to avoid using phones 
and email as much as possible.  Nevertheless, the movement 
finds creative ways to remain effective.  For example, 
recently Guo helped advise a protest in Henan in Xinxiang 
village, though police had barred him from physically 
traveling to the area.  Using cell phone calls and friends, 
Guo was able to pass messages and advice to activists on 
how to best protest.  Perhaps the most effective method the 
Movement uses is internet articles.  Under the name QGuo 
FeixiongQ, Guo will speak into the phone to a friend who 
takes down his words and posts articles on-line.  In March 
2006 alone, Guo said he had 20 such articles published, 
which he says have had a great effect on the movement. 
 
Cooperation with Urban Labor Rights Groups? 
------------------------------------------- 
¶9.  (C) Guo said urban labor rights activists and rural 
protesters rarely mix, though he has been consulted by a 
few groups which are working together on the legal aspects 
of labor issues.  In his opinion, the labor rights movement 
was much less developed than the rural democracy movement. 
Moreover, he is convinced a democratic revolution will 
occur from the countryside first. 
 
Government Pressure:  A Tightening Noose? 
----------------------------------------- 
¶10.  (C) Throughout the meeting, Guo complained about the 
effects of increased government censorship and personal 
harassment in his life.  He argued that without the media 
controls on rural protests and on his journal articles, the 
movement would be much more successful.  Guo personally 
faces a 24/7, constant intrusion on his cell phone, 
internet correspondence, and in his human interactions.  He 
cannot attend many local activist meetings at present 
because police will stop him or even will stand in front of 
him on the street.  Therefore, he must send friends to 
attend the meeting in his place.  Friends are also afraid 
to meet with him because they might go to jail after even 
one encounter with him. 
 
¶11.  (C) Moreover, the Movement itself is receiving the 
highest levels of state attention.  Guo said beginning in 
February 2006, the Rights Protection Movement was labeled 
an official enemy of the state.  Guo said he was certain of 
this infamy, because in March alone he was stopped in four 
different provinces (Beijing, Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangdong) 
and told that the Movement was an enemy of the state. 
 
Future of the Movement 
---------------------- 
¶12.  (C) Guo believes the chances of the movementQs success 
(despite government pressure) is quite good.  The PRM hopes 
to focus on smaller, more achievable goals.  By end of 
2006, Guo wants 1,000 QindependentQ representatives 
throughout China at the various village, county, and 
township levels.  The Movement will focus on local level 
election rights and, he believes elections eventually will 
move up and spread throughout the whole country.  But he 
said, a handful of individuals in the Movement is not 
enough.  There needs to be a sufficient number of members 
so that if one person is rendered ineffective due to police 
tactics, others can pop up elsewhere.  He optimistically 
believes that in two years time, the Movement will continue 
 
GUANGZHOU 00014013  003 OF 003 
 
 
to grow and be a much larger force throughout China. 
 
Comment: 
Fertile Ground in South China? 
------------------------------ 
¶13.  (C) Among the 87,000 protests in China last year, 
there are some small, durable links.  Not all of the 
protests are atomistic spasms related to extremely 
parochial interests (although the majority of protests 
surely fall in this realm).  Instead ChinaQs national-level 
rights protection movement seems to be gaining strength and 
selecting useful targets for protest opportunities.  The 
Movement has many advantages.  It is made-up of educated 
elites with access to international journalists, academics 
and other activists throughout China.  The Movement seeks 
legalistic methods focused on election rights, which hopes 
to put pressure on local-level democracy.  Moreover, its 
birdQs-eye perspective on the country affords it the chance 
to select specific weak points to pressure the government 
for democratic change.  South China will remain fertile 
ground for implementing this strategy because of its access 
to foreign media in Hong Kong and a high likelihood of 
continued protests over corruption, land rights, and land 
compensation. 
 
Or Scorched Earth? 
------------------ 
¶14.  (C) However, the Movement has a great challenge before 
it.  Despite Guo FeixiongQs optimistic predictions, the 
likelihood of even 1,000 QindependentQ local 
representatives seems difficult to achieve, and the 
Movement can be expected to suffer continued harassment of 
activists and poor national recognition due to government 
censorship.  The Chinese Central Government puts enormous 
resources and attention into censoring any information 
about rural protests that might lead to further unrest. 
Moreover, the Government also spends great effort tracking 
and blocking activists.  However, it does not appear that 
the Central Government has carried out a systematic crack- 
down on the activist Qelites,Q upon whom much of GuoQs 
current strategy rests.  The Government has been much less 
reticent about suppressing protesters.  The Government has 
expressed little interest in expanding local elections. 
However, acknowledging the legitimacy of rural complaints 
over the past two or three years, Chinese leaders have paid 
greater attention to rural equity issues.  Most recently, 
they have insisted that land compensation be quickly and 
fully paid, based on market value.  Also, the 11th Five- 
year Plan, begun in 2006, places a premium on bringing the 
benefits of the city to rural areas through its QBuilding 
the New Socialist CountrysideQ program, likely an effort to 
mitigate on-going rural complaints. 
 
¶15. (U) Embassy Beijing has cleared this cable. 
 
DONG