tside world condemned them,’ he said. ‘But the Communist party has taken the lives of 80 million people, 13 times more than the death toll among the Jews, yet the world says nothing.’
Gao’s comments are particularly remarkable because he still lives in Beijing, where he is vulnerable to retribution. He says his phone is bugged, his 12-year-old daughter is followed to school and more than 30 agents monitor his every move. Last month, his law firm’s licence was revoked and last week he was warned he faces arrest. Ten days ago an unmarked car attempted to run him down. But he is defiant.
Already one of the most prominent lawyers of his generation, Gao, 41 has taken a public stand – via the internet – in favour of the most oppressed groups in China: democracy campaigners, victims of religious persecution, mine accident widows and peasants who have had their land seized by the authorities: ‘The Communist party has done too many evil and cruel things. So I must fight them.’ […]
Many in the outside world argue that political liberalisation will follow automatically with increased affluence. One is Tony Blair, who said there was ‘unstoppable momentum’ towards greater political freedom. Gao said such an argument was just an excuse for the west to trade with a human rights violator.
But he reserved his fiercest criticism for the two European countries that have done most to build close relations with Beijing: ‘Many Chinese people think the governments of France and Germany are as terrible as ours. They are only acting in their self-interest and making a fortune out of the misery of the Chinese people. There will be a price to pay one day for the so-called civilised foreign governments who are honeymooning with the Communist party. I want people in the outside world to understand the situation in China. We face a party with millions of troops. I have dozens of plainclothes police around my home. It is hard to use words like understanding and forgiveness with them.’
The fact that Gao is still free is perhaps the government’s best defence against the lawyer’s most strident accusations. Twenty years ago, such an anti-government tirade would have quickly resulted in imprisonment or death. Gao believes he has been left at semi-liberty because the authorities are worried about domestic protests and an international outcry if he is arrested.
‘They threaten to arrest me and I say, “Go ahead,”‘ he says. ‘I am a warrior who does not care whether I live or die. Such a sacrifice will be nothing to me if it speeds the death of this dictatorship.’
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