Many Causes, One Struggle

1StruggleUnifying the non-violent struggle for freedom from Chinese government control

In China a woman is forcibly sterilised.
In East Turkestan a protestor is shot dead by a firing squad.
In Burma a monk lies starving in a rat-infested jail cell.
In Zimbabwe a member of the democratic opposition is beaten into a coma by police.
These are real situations. Things like this happen across the world right now. And they are connected.

By occupying neighbouring nations, by propping up brutal dictatorships and by suppressing its own people, the Chinese government deprives millions of their basic human rights and freedoms.

One Struggle seeks to change this. Not by aggression, not by division, not by rivalry but through unity. China is a powerful country. Tibetans cannot sway China on their own, nor can Uyghurs, Mongols or even Chinese democracy workers. But by working together these many causes can amplify their voices and convince the Chinese government that we are all better off if they embrace the rights and freedoms which any developed nation should champion.

The Chinese government may be able to muffle small groups, but can they really silence all of these causes?

Tibetan struggleTibet
The Tibetan people's non-violent resistance to Chinese government oppression continues despite over 60 years of fear and intimidation. Tibetans are arrested and routinely tortured for demanding human rights and free expression. Recently, Tibetans have received sentences of 15 years to life for 'crimes' like sending email to the outside world, speaking out against irreperable damage being done to Tibet's environment and for recording songs about freedom. Tibetans are marginalised by the education, employment and political systems in their own country and can be arrested or shot for trying to leave.
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Burmese struggleBurma
The military junta in Burma have used recent sham elections to solidify the idea that they are progressing, but human rights abuses in Burma continue while opposition parties like that of Aung San Suu Kyi are banned, their representatives arrested, tortured and killed. Meanwhile, the junta continues campaigns of ethnic genocide, burning down villages and using rape and murder to intimidate the population into silence. The regime would not be able to fund these campaigns without the huge financial support it receives from China, ensuring the military retains control.
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Uyghur struggleEast Turkestan
The Uyghur people of East Turkestan (or Xinjiang in Chinese) suffer human rights abuses and discrimination in their own land. The Chinese state controls education and religion, preventing Uyghurs and other ethnic groups from learning in their own languages, sidelining them in employment. They are only allowed to use a Communist state approved version of the Koran and those who demand religious freedom can receive lengthy sentences. Others were executed for taking part in unrest in 2009. The state's continual attempts to brand Uyghurs as would-be terrorists have further enflamed tensions and have often been seen as an excuse to crack down on the Uyghur people.
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Chinese struggleChina
The Chinese government does not spare its own people from the human rights abuses which it inflicts on other nations under its influence, as seen most memorably in the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, when it is thought that as many as 3,000 civilians were killed by government forces after a peaceful pro-democracy student protest. The state continues to silence those who dare to demand information access, who speak up against state corruption and who proudly demand that their nation embraces freedom, justice and individuality. In 2010, leading dissident Liu Xiaobo, incarcerated by China, won the Nobel Peace Prize. More and more Chinese people are following his example and opposing totalitarian controls.
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Mongolain struggleInner Mongolia
Mongolia has a long and storied history of conquest and conflict, and though today it is not a significant power, the Mongolian cultural and national identity is as strong as ever. Inner Mongolia has been occupied by China since before the current regime's rise to power, and was the first of China's puppet 'autonomous' regions. Hundreds of thousands of Mongols have been killed during the occupation, while natural resources are plundered and Mongols who demand democracy and human rights are handed down severe prison sentences as they are gradually pushed to the sidelines in their own land.
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Falun Gong struggleFalun Gong
In 1999 the number of Chinese citizens who were part of the Falun Gong spiritual movement eclipsed the number of Chinese citizens who were members of the Communist Party. In response the Chinese government banned the movement and has orchestrated a campaign of hostile propaganda and violent persecution ever since. Falun Gong practitioners are regularly subjected to political imprisonment, torture and forced labour. Some human rights reports suggest that they are also the victims of organ harvesting by government authorities.
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Korean struggleNorth Korea
Recent news has shown the dangers posed by the North Korean regime; a regime which China props up. North Korea's 24 million people suffer under one of the world's most brutal totalitarian regimes, controlled by the Korean Workers Party (KWP). Any political opposition or free expression is ruthlessly crushed, torture and public executions are commonplace and some reports suggest that horrific human experiments are carried out on dissidents and their families. The Chinese state provides investment and political protection for the KWP while deporting escaped dissidents back to face imprisonment or death.
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Zimbabwean struggleZimbabwe
Zimbabwe may seem a long way from China, put Robert Mugabe is another brutal dictator to whom the Chinese state offers arms and political support. In 2008 Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legitimately led in elections despite a campaign of intimidation, attacks and murders by Mugabe's followers. International pressure led to limited power being ceded to the MDC but in reality Mugabe rules with an iron fist. With China's backing, he has killed opponents, orchestrated violent racial purges, conscripted child soldiers and brought economic ruin to Zimbabwe.
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Sudanese struggleSudan
Sudanese dictator Omar Al-Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Western province of Darfur. Elsewhere in Sudan his regime is responsible for widespread political imprisonment, torture, extrajudicial executions and one of the largest armies of child soldiers in the world. In spite of this the Chinese government consistently provides tanks, arms, ammunition, helicopters and attack aircraft as well as crucial political support in international arenas such as the UN in return for lucrative oil revenues.
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Taiwanese struggleTaiwan
Taiwan is a functioning democracy that since its de-facto separation from China has made enormous progress in areas such as human rights, free press and religious freedom. However, it is constantly threatened by the Chinese government who, despite a recent warming in relations with the Taiwanese authorities, still view it as an integral part of China and wish to bring it under dictatorial rule. Taiwanese democracy activists are campaigning hard not so much to achieve freedom, but to maintain it in the face of Chinese state pressure. We must all work together for this aim.
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