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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 027726 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV CH
SUBJECT: "Citizen" Article Writes About "Wei quan" Activists 
 
Ref: A) GUANGZHOU 25214; B) GUANGZHOU 20891; C) GUANGZHOU 
 
20890; D) GUANGZHOU 18191; E) HONG KONG 02908 
 
(U) This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A recent article in the progressive 
magazine "Citizen" ("Shimin") profiles ten Chinese 
activists, linking them under the term "wei quan."  Yet the 
nature of the "wei quan" movement remains unclear, and 
articles such as this may indicate that various activists 
are trying to set definitions of what exactly the term "wei 
quan" means.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) An article in the June 2006 issue of the 
progressive political magazine "Citizen" ("Shimin") profiles 
ten activists, grouping them under the term "wei quan" (for 
more information on "Citizen," see refs A, B, C, and D). 
"Wei quan," loosely translated as "rights protection," is 
commonly used when referring to lawyers, journalists, human 
rights activists, or leaders of specific protests.  The term 
as yet has no fixed meaning, however.  (For more information 
on the various uses of "wei quan," see ref E).  The 
"Citizen" article, written by staff reporter Zuo Dongyun, 
shows how Zuo attempts to appropriate the term into her own 
specific meaning. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In the introduction to the ten activists, Zuo 
writes that they "harbor lofty ideals to promote the 
democratic autonomy of communities in China, and to build 
safe and harmonious new-style communities where property 
owners coexist in harmony with their neighbors and where 
everyone is well-disciplined and enjoys democracy."  In 
addition, "their actions amount to nothing less than a civic 
movement [gongmin de yundong] - a trigger spurring the 
awakening of civic awareness as well as the awareness of 
democratic self-governance."  For Zuo, "wei quan" activists 
are concerned with democracy and the autonomy of small 
communities. 
 
¶4. (SBU) However, Zuo ignores other definitions of "wei 
quan," and treats this definition as the only one.  There is 
no mention of the concerns of other self-professed "wei 
quan" activists who see themselves fighting for human 
rights, or those who say it is a grassroots movement coming 
from the bottom up, without any specific leaders (ref E). 
Zuo, then, seeks to link democracy and community rights to 
the "wei quan" movement, in an attempt to create a specific 
definition for it.  She then calls it a "civic movement," 
claiming that as such it will spur "democratic self- 
governance." Claiming that this movement has the support of 
the people gives her definition further legitimacy. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The ten activists themselves come from various 
backgrounds and diverse interests.  Wang Hai, for example, 
is primarily concerned with combating the production of fake 
goods.  Shu Kexin is the chief executive of the Haiding 
Harmonious Community Development Center in Beijing, and is 
concerned with "building harmonious communities in China." 
Zou Jiajian is a lawyer who sued a developer for installing 
dangerous elevators in a building.  And Cai Ruoyan is a 
businessman who works with other property owners to resolve 
conflicts.  These "activists," then, are all professionals. 
Many are lawyers, some are businessmen, and some are 
scholars.  All of them have their own specific interests, 
and there is little evidence that they see themselves as 
part of any kind of "movement." Whether or not they consent 
to be labeled as such, this article groups them together 
under the umbrella phrase, "a community movement for 
democracy." 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶6. (SBU) The definitions that this article gives to members 
of the "wei quan" movement - democracy, autonomy of 
communities, and civic awareness - correspond to the broader 
interests of "Citizen"'s publisher and editors.  Editorials 
in "Citizen" often link concepts such as "democracy" and 
"freedom" to seemingly unrelated issues (ref A).  A similar 
practice can be seen in this article.  As contacts involved 
with "Citizen" told Congenoffs in previous meetings, the 
magazine's ultimate goal is to develop a foundation of civic 
awareness in China, in preparation for future political 
change (refs C and D).  With that ambition in mind, defining 
"wei quan" as a "civic movement" is more appealing than an 
unorganized, undefined understanding of a term.  End 
comment. 
 
GUANGZHOU 00027726  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
MARTIN