The Jasmine Revolution Comes to China
It seems that the seeds of the Jasmine Flower, the symbol of the Tunisian Revolution, have spread beyond the borders of the Middle East, wafting through the air and touching down in the Far East.
In Beijing on Sunday anonymous calls for protest sent across social media and micro-blogging sites resulted in a demonstration outside a McDonalds in the busy downtown shopping district of Wangfujing. By 2PM hundreds of police were on scene. 25-year-old Liu Xiaobai was apprehended for placing a jasmine flower in a planter in front of the McDonalds but was released after the commotion drew attention from photographers and journalists.
Charter 08: Echoes of the American Experience?
December 8, 2008 was the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was also the date on which Charter 08, a 3,200 word manifesto calling for the creation of a government based on human rights and democracy in China, was signed by 303 individuals. Charter 08 is modeled on Charter 77, a document similar in breadth and scope that was signed by 243 Czech and Slovak intellectuals including Václav Havel and many others who would go on to play a prominent role in the country’s post-Communist era.
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