Li Ao challenges the government with an eye on business
Shanghai (AsiaNews/Agencies) In a visit to Shanghai, maverick Taiwanese author-turned-legislator Li Ao challenged the Chinese government to uphold all the rights guaranteed by the constitution (but not respected). "Let's make a deal. I give up liberalism in exchange for [rights under] the constitution of the People's Republic of China," Mr Li told students at Fudan University in Shanghai.
The seventy-year-old Li, who is known for hosting a popular talk show that can also be seen on the mainland, is near the end of a speaking tour of universities in Beijing and Shanghai to promote his show.
At Beijing University on September 21, he said that everyone should be free to speak. Although he told students to 'embrace' the Communist Party, quoting Mao he said the party is destined for ruin.
At Tsinghua University he said people must have a more open and liberal attitude. He urged the students to use the rights the constitution gives them, a constitution that he called the most thorough in the world.
Under pressure from the Chinese authorities, the usually caustic Li has had to tone down his liberal views. His sister Hedy Lee said the Chinese government compelled her brother to moderate his views after his speech in Beijing out of fear that his show might be blacked out.
Internet sites lit up with criticism for the government's heavy-handedness towards Li. One person wrote that Li "was an anti-Taiwan independence warrior. Why worry about him?" "What he said is less important than the fact that he revealed the authorities' fragility," another one said.
At the of his Shanghai conferences, Li tried to appease his hosts. Although he said he would be happy to embrace the constitution rather than liberalism, he also told young people to be practical in dealing with the government.
"Don't talk about ideals! Talk about reality," he said. "[G]et rich first" is a "practical attitude" to adopt, he noted. In fact, "having money," he said, "is a very important power that can protect our freedom."
Li said Mao and other past heroes should be put aside and focus should be on current leaders.
He described President Hu Jintao as his "little old brother" and said he hoped he would be "truly admirable".
Li told students there was nothing to fear from Taiwan because the island's president, Chen Shui-bian, and the separatists would not dare to go too far.
He is scheduled to give a press conference in Shanghai today and visit the Shanghai Shi Dong Middle School he attended before fleeing to Taiwan with his parents 56 years ago. Mr Li will leave the mainland for Hong Kong tomorrow.
Mr Li's popularity is not universally appreciated. For Fudan sociology professor Hu Shoujun, the conferences looked "more like a commercial promotion."
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12/12/2004
26/04/2023 14:58
