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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 000285 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2034 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL SOCI KDEM TW CH
SUBJECT: PRO-REFORM BLOGGER DESCRIBES PRC DEMOCRACY GROUPS, 
CLAIMS EARLY TAIWAN DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT INSPIRES CHARTER 08 
 
REF: A. 08 BEIJING 4522 
     ¶B. 08 BEIJING 4493 
     ¶C. 08 BEIJING 4670 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson.  Reasons 1. 
4 (b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) The main model for the December-released 
"Charter 08" manifesto calling for democratic reforms 
in China (ref B) was "Formosa Magazine," the former 
journal of the Taiwan democratic opposition, according 
to well-known Chinese liberal blogger and media 
commentator Zhao Jin (aka "Michael Anti," strictly 
protect).  Formosa Magazine, which in 1979 played an 
important role in the Taiwan democracy movement, was 
reportedly seen by many Charter 08 drafters as a means 
of organizing politically, rather than simply a 
statement of ideals.  Zhao described to us what he 
sees as the three main pro-democracy groups in China: 
"techies," "dissident writers," and "journalists" 
working for Southern Daily Group, the envelope-pushing 
media entity run by the Guangdong Provincial Party 
Committee.  It was the "dissident writers" group led 
by the now detained Liu Xiaobo that was primarily 
responsible for Charter 08, Zhao said.  End Summary. 
 
Charter 08:  Inspiration from Taiwan? 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The main model for the democratic reform 
manifesto "Charter 08" issued December 9 (ref B) was 
"Formosa Magazine," the former journal of the Taiwan 
democratic opposition, not Czechoslovakia's "Charter 
77," well-known liberal blogger and media commentator 
Zhao Jin (aka "Michael Anti," strictly protect) 
claimed in a January 14 conversation with PolOff. 
(Note:  Formosa Magazine was founded in Taiwan in 1979 
and served to organize pro-democracy activists at a 
time when new political parties were banned.  Its 
original leaders reportedly included Annette Lu, who 
later became a prominent Democratic Progressive Party 
(DPP) politician and Taiwan Vice President from 2000- 
¶2008.  The magazine is famous for organizing a Human 
Rights Day rally on December 10, 1979, in Kaohsiung 
that sparked a crackdown by Taiwan (KMT) authorities.) 
 
¶3. (C) Zhao said he had spoken recently with a number 
of Charter 08 drafters who favorably view Formosa 
Magazine as a model for creating a literary and 
intellectual movement with practical political 
implications.  Formosa Magazine, Zhao stated, 
eventually led to the creation of a political 
organization with chapters across Taiwan that played 
an important role in the Taiwan democracy movement. 
Although some in China might hope to imitate Formosa 
Magazine, Zhao conceded that the current political 
situation on the Mainland would not allow the Charter 
to be as influential.  Taiwan in the late 1970s had 
far more freedom of speech than Mainland China did 
now, Zhao noted. 
 
Liberals vs. Dissidents 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Commenting on the state of the pro-democracy 
activist community in China, Zhao said understanding 
where "the line" is between "liberal advocacy" and 
"dissent" was critical to survival in China.  Zhao 
defined "liberals," including himself, as people who 
"know where 'the line' is precisely" and "work within 
it to democratize and reform China."  Dissidents, on 
the other hand, "cross the line" and "get hurt."  Zhao 
said that he had occasionally crossed the line, but 
believed he "can do more good as a liberal" and thus 
avoided becoming too outspoken against the Communist 
Party.  Dissidents were necessary for the existence of 
liberals because they "push the line back" and thus 
made liberals "safer," Zhao asserted.  Dissidents, 
however, ultimately had less influence over Chinese 
society because the Party severely restricted their 
ability to publish and move freely, Zhao said. 
 
¶5. (C) Zhao argued that there were currently three 
main pro-democracy groups in China: 
 
-- "techies," to include bloggers and hackers (note: 
Zhao, a well-known blogger and media commentator who 
now teaches at a Guangdong Province university, has 
 
BEIJING 00000285  002 OF 003 
 
 
extensive ties to the "techie" community and was a 
participant in the recent fourth annual China Bloggers 
Conference held in November 2008 (ref A).); 
 
-- "dissident writers" (note:  According to Zhao, 
membership in PEN, an international association of 
writers promoting literature and freedom of 
expression, is a key indicator of this group.); and 
 
-- "journalists" who work for outspoken, envelope- 
pushing "southern" newspapers like the Guangdong-based 
Southern Weekend (Nanfang Zhoumo) and Southern 
Metropolis Daily (Nanfang Dushi Bao), both of which 
are part of the Southern Daily Group that is run by 
the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee. 
 
¶6. (C) Unfortunately, there was "little cross-over or 
communication between these three groups," Zhao said, 
adding that Charter 08 was a product primarily of the 
"dissident writers" faction and therefore probably did 
not represent the views of the "techie" or 
"journalist" groups.  Zhao said that the high rate of 
PEN membership among drafters and signers of Charter 
08 proved this point.  (Note:  Dissident writer Liu 
Xiaobo, a lead drafter of Charter 08 who was jailed 
soon after the document appeared, is a former 
president and current board member of the independent 
China chapter of PEN.) 
 
"Revolutionary" Journalists 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Zhao, who recently began advising students at 
Shantou University's Journalism School in Guangdong 
Province, said he believed Chinese journalism "must 
professionalize."  Zhao advocated American-style 
"objective journalism" and not European "opinion 
journalism," Taiwanese "ideological journalism," or 
Russian "state-run journalism."  The big problem for 
Chinese civil society, Zhao argued, was an inability 
to "agree on the facts."  Civil society activists 
would continue to fight among themselves, he said, 
until an "objective recorder of facts" could emerge. 
Once factual journalism was established, civil society 
would "unite against the Party," he asserted.  As an 
example, Zhao noted that Chinese civil society could 
not agree on the facts of the Tibetan situation, so 
people outside the Government constantly bickered 
among themselves instead of criticizing the Party on 
this issue. 
 
¶8. (C) Chinese journalists were "the most liberal set 
of journalists in the world," Zhao averred, and "most 
Chinese journalists," except those working for the 
Xinhua News Agency or the People's Daily, were "anti- 
Party."  This was because journalists have such an 
"adversarial relationship" with the Party's Propaganda 
Department, Zhao said, which "destroys their work on a 
daily basis."  Zhao said many journalist friends he 
knew five years ago were now far more "revolutionary." 
The Internet in China should be used as a professional 
tool to provide an outlet for these journalists.  Zhao 
said he was already working to create a community of 
journalists on-line modeled after the U.S.-based 
"China-Pol" list-serve popular among China watchers. 
(Note:  Zhao himself is a member and regular 
contributor to China-Pol.) 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) The conventional wisdom among Embassy contacts 
and many observers has been that Czechoslovakia's 
"Charter 77" was the key model for "Charter 08," as 
reflected in the similarity in names and spirit of the 
two documents.  One Embassy contact recently cited 
criticism in China of Charter 08's "Western bias" and 
"obvious imitation of Charter 77," thereby making it 
"not applicable" to China.  Zhao's comments noted 
above, citing additional inspiration from Taiwan's 
democracy movement three decades ago and reportedly 
based on his conversations with some Charter 08 
drafters, are plausible, and demonstrate that the 
Charter 08 drafters likely took inspiration from 
multiple sources.  Although many Embassy 
interlocutors, reflecting Mainland (and PRC 
Government) biases, have tended to be dismissive of 
Taiwan's "so-called democracy," other Embassy contacts 
argue (privately) that Taiwan, as the first "Chinese 
democracy," is an attractive and possibly more 
applicable political reform model for the PRC than 
 
BEIJING 00000285  003 OF 003 
 
 
Western liberal democracies would be. 
PICCUTA