Week of Freedom – Liu Xiabo

Liu Xiabo has been a leader for Chinese democracy since at least the 1989 demonstrations in Tienanmen Square. He has advocated and stressed using only non-violent protests. Liu Xiabo’s desire for freedom of thought and expression has landed him in prison for 11 years.

Amnesty International took on Xiabo’s case and received a major boost when Xiabo received the Nobel Prize for peace.

China is riding a double track. The government under Deng Xiaoping has implemented an effective easing of economic freedom and this is leading to unparalleled economic growth. Thomas Friedman, who has convinced many that the world is flat has this New York Times op-ed.

I love so much about China. I have studied Tai Chi and Traditional Chinese Medicine. I avidly read Chinese literature. But I wonder what the long-term vision is among Chinese strategists. Do you really think you can offer one type of freedom and deny another? I have news for you, Chinese Communist Party: freedom is addictive, and it ain’t that bad.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com