Beijing
(AsiaNews) - Four Chinese dissidents armed with a video camera
defied Beijing's repression and beat police surveillance to meet Liu Xia, wife
of jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, 53.
Ms Liu has
been under house arrest in her flat on the outskirts of Beijing since October
2010 in violation of Chinese law, penalised by the fact that the Oslo Nobel
Committee recognised her husband for his work in favour of democracy in China
and in co-authoring Charter 08, a manifesto that calls on the Chinese government
to fight corruption and open up the economy and political life to greater
popular participation.
Echoing Charter
77, co-authored by Vaclav Havel, Charter 08 was signed by tens of thousands of
ordinary Chinese as well as dissidents, activists and intellectuals. Eventually
Liu Xiaobo was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 11 years to a tough prison in
northern China.
After a long
preparation, the four activists eluded police surveillance on 28 December. Taking
advantage of the changing of guards, they were able to speak to Ms Liu for a
few minutes and tape the encounter.
In the video,
Ms Liu looks emotionally shaken and scared. "You have to go, or they will come
and bring trouble," she says at one point, speaking mostly in whispers in
the ear of one of the activists.
After a few
minutes, the activists left. They are anti-AIDS activist Hu Jia, blogger Liu
Di, historian Xu Youyu and dissident Hao Jian.
Hu Jia, who
has spent three years in prison for "subversion", and Xu Youyu are among the
first to have signed the pro-democracy charter.
"The
video is all about fear and anxiety," Hu said. Liu Xia "has already lost a lot
of hope. The authorities are making her fearful. She is afraid that her family
will come under pressure.
In an open
letter to Chinese authorities, 134 Nobel Prize winners have called for Liu
Xiaobo's release and justice in China.
According to
various analysts, the video illustrates a rising tide of dissatisfaction among
Chinese towards the authorities.
The tape
shows the group
pushing past a security guard, forcing their way through to the staircase
before climbing to her flat, an action that could land them in jail.
Despite such
dangers, many Chinese are taking risks to defy the authorities in order to
change the regime, broaden freedom and establish the rule of law.
Beginning last
November, China's leadership is changing its make-up with a fifth generation of
leaders taking over, led by Xi Jinping who will complete his takeover in March.
