Bao Tong

According to Bao Tong, a well-known political figure, China’s president emerges strengthened from the 5th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Without the rule of law, it will be impossible to liberalise the country's economy. The government must respect the constitution and the rights of all citizens.

The great statesman talks about his friendship with the great dissident, who was left to die of cancer by the authorities. Liu’s peaceful and non-violent proposals in the 2008 manifesto are almost all already in the Chinese constitution; yet Liu was convicted for "subverting state power". Bao proposes the nationalisation of the army and federalism.

The great political dissident analyzes recent Chinese parliamentary sessions. The concept of "free debate" that emerged with the death of Mao Zedong have died again with the censorship policies of Xi Jinping. Delegates are not to speak of those topics that are on everyone's lips: meetings are useless. The reporter Jia Jia, "disappeared" while traveling to Hong Kong, has been taken by the police: he published an open letter critical of the supreme leader.

The great political analyst, under house arrest for trying to prevent the Tiananmen massacre, speaks about the case against the former security czar. Despite a pledge by the Supreme Court to hold a trial “in open court,” the case was tried in camera. The anti-corruption campaign needs popular legitimacy. It is ridiculous to pick out “which tigers should be hunted” after launching the chase.

The great Chinese dissident Bao Tong, under house arrest for opposing the Tiananmen massacre, talks about the judicial harassment of the septuagenarian journalist. The court failed to find anything against her, except that she was doing a good job. Since the party controls everything, it is afraid to make public its anti-human rights dogmas. Courtesy of Radio Free Asia.

One of the country’s foremost political dissident looks at Chinese society and politics at a time when the endgame for the ruling regime seems to be fast approaching. No one believes that China’s pyramid model can last. As the rich escape and government oppression continues, faith in the one party system is collapsing. Courtesy of Radio Free Asia.

As Hong Kong students plan a weeklong protest as a "last warning" to obtain universal suffrage, the great dissident expresses his full support for the cause of Occupy Central, an issue that concerns the "whole of the Chinese population". He criticises the attitude of the national government for its lack of sincere self-criticism and understanding, and its prevarication. Courtesy of Radio Free Asia.

Popular sovereignty, public opinion, and an independent judiciary as brakes on the absolute power of the Party are dreams "worth having", the great statesman writes. The charter is legitimate on paper but its spirit died in the Tiananmen Square bloodbath. Courtesy of Radio Free Asia.

For the great leader, the Zhou Yongkang investigation comes as no surprise. The party decides who and what can be pursued. A genuine fight against corruption requires democracy, an independent public opinion and independent judiciary. Courtesy of Radio Free Asia.

The arrest of former vice president of the Central Military Commission and other senior officials has sparked heated debate. President Xi seen as a bulwark in the fight against corruption. In reality, the system is organized and widespread, while activists and citizens are relegated to the margins. The analysis of Bao Tong, a former collaborator of Zhao Ziyang, who spent years in prison and under house arrest for having sided against the Tiananmen massacre.

The 18th Party Congress' anti corruption campaign will come to nothing, if not weakening the rule of law even more. China and its government needs democracy and balances of power, not extraordinary measures. The analysis of Bao Tong, a former aid of Zhao Ziyang, for years in prison and under house arrest for having sided against the Tiananmen massacre.

The great statesman deflates the rhetoric surrounding the figure of the Great Helmsman revealing his crimes and the pursuit of world supremacy at all costs. The millions of deaths in the Great Leap Forward and the blood spilled by the Cultural Revolution, the oppression of intellectuals, the ban on peasants’ possession of land, and on trade unions for the workers. The myth of Mao resists and is supported by the current leadership because it guarantees absolute power. The painful and ruthless analysis of Bao Tong, a former collaborator of Zhao Ziyang, for years in prison and under house arrest for having sided against the Tiananmen massacre.