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OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHSL RUEHVC
DE RUEHKO #1501 1820858
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 010858Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4237
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0205
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 0173
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 4982
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU PRIORITY 0035
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG PRIORITY 6821
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 7313
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 8785
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 5505
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI PRIORITY 0602
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG PRIORITY 0725
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3562
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5927

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001501 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2019 
TAGS: CH JA PGOV PHUM
SUBJECT: PRC HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: OPTIMISTIC ABOUT CHINA"S 
LEGAL AND DEMOCRATIC "EVOLUTION" 
 
Classified By: CDA J. P. Zumwalt per (1.4b, d) 
 
¶1. (C) Chinese lawyer Feng, Zhenghu, the first Shanghai 
signer of Charter '08, met with Embassy Tokyo in late June. 
Feng has tried three times to return to China from Japan but 
has been turned around and sent back to Japan each time. 
Feng says he believes the initial decision not to allow him 
to return was probably made by local officials in Shanghai 
who were angered by his advocacy for citizens trying to fight 
corruption.  Now that the case has become well-known though, 
he thinks officials higher up must be in agreement to refuse 
him entry to China. 
 
¶2. (C) Feng characterized himself as "cheerful but stubborn" 
and vowed to use legal means to fight what he characterized 
as the "illegal and unconstitutional" actions of the 
government to deny a Chinese citizen the right to return 
home. "I still have a ticket," he said, "and plan to try 
again on July 2, on Northwest Airlines Flight 0027. I expect 
there will be many friends who will come to the airport to 
meet me!"  Feng went on to say that foreign governments and 
the Chinese pro-Democracy migr community don't understand 
what is happening in China, "they think the democracy 
movement is dead."  In fact, said Feng, "people down to the 
grassroots level have been seized by the idea that they have 
legal rights, and that the law is there to protect them."  He 
added, "We don't care if Speaker Pelosi talks about human 
rights when she visits or not, we are working everyday on our 
own, to see that our legal rights are respected.  We don't 
call for democracy, but if democracy means participation, 
than this is democratization." 
 
¶3. (C) Feng said common people were trying to use the courts 
for redress, even when they think they don't have a chance to 
win.  "All of this,"  he pointed, out, "is being covered and 
discussed on the Internet and government attempts at 
controlling the discussion there is ineffective." Feng 
concluded by saying, "I want to return to China, because it 
is my home, my family is there, and I am optimistic about 
China's future.  I predict great changes in China in the next 
two or three years.  For every lawyer that is arrested or 
disbarred by the government, 10 more rise to take their 
place.  We are not working for a violent overthrow, we are 
working for gradual evolution from within." 
 
ZUMWALT