The Internet Revolution: Our Manifesto

By Wang Dan, Yan Jiaqi, Hu Ping, Zheng Yi, Xu Wenli et al.
Feb 26, 2010 – 4:35:38 AM

The Internet Revolution: Our Manifesto

At the end of the nineteenth century, Japan had its Meiji Restoration,

while the Manchu Dynasty had its Hundred Days Reform. The former was a
success, while the latter was aborted. As a result, in present-day
Japan, the most ancient monarchy coexists with the most modern
democracy, as the rulers have yielded power to the people. The term
“constitutional monarchy” symbolizes a compromise between absolute
power and democratic rights, and the melding of historical tradition
and modern culture.

The Manchu Dynasty refused to yield to the people, and smothered
political reform (the Hundred Days Reform, which was a reform toward
constitutional monarchy); as a result, the Qing regime succumbed to
the mighty torrent of the 1911 Revolution. Today, the Communist
syndicate that rules China has on countless occasions refused to
compromise with the people, has refused political reform, and has
assumed a harsh and unreasonable countenance to hammer home its
unalterable insistence on one-party dictatorship.

Liu Xiaobo participated in the drafting of “Charter ’08,” which in a
rational, temperate and humble tone advised the Chinese Communist
Party to reconcile itself with the people, join in the building of a
democratic China and merge itself into the cultural mainstream. Rather
than take this opportunity to examine itself, the CCP displayed the
full arrogance of its power by brazenly imposing a harsh 11-year
prison sentence on Liu Xiaobo.

Regarding China’s development, we have said, “There is no need for the
CCP to do anything, only for them to do nothing.” The simple process
of being loosed from its bonds allowed China’s economy to rapidly
recover and grow. If the authorities simply suspend their blocking of
the Internet, remove their restrictions on press freedom and stop
interfering in judicial independence, a democratic China will
naturally and spontaneously emerge as soon as conditions allow.

The rulers at Zhongnanhai refuse to loosen the fetters of the
political system out of two fears: the fear of a squaring of accounts
over the massive blood debt the Party has accumulated over decades of
ruthless slaughter; and the fear of losing the vested interests
accumulated through corruption and the abuse of power for personal
gain. It is therefore clear that entrusting the CCP with political
reform and democratic development is akin to asking a tiger to
surrender its pelt.

The harsh sentence imposed on Liu Xiaobo and the extinguishing of
Charter ’08 has effectively brought the road of reconciliation to a
dead end. It constitutes a rejection of reform and a summons to
revolution. This revolution need not be one of violence. Modern
history bears out that a “color revolution,” with its peaceful,
rational, non-violent and even romantic quality, has become the more
popular practice throughout the world.

Given that the CCP is currently the world’s most ruthless and cunning
regime, epitomizing the practice of “thick face, black heart,” there
is little hope that China’s color revolution will resemble Georgia’s
“Rose Revolution,” the Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution,” Kyrgyzstan’s
“Tulip Revolution,” or the Czech “Velvet Revolution”; it is more
likely to take the form of an Internet Revolution.

As of 2009, China had a wired population of 384 million. It is
estimated that this figure will reach 400 million in the year 2010,
which means that this most populous country in the world likewise has
the world’s largest online population. China’s Netizens, regardless of
their individual viewpoints, all have one thing in common: the desire
to speak out freely and give full expression to their views, to gain
the greatest possible access all the information the world has to
offer, and to embrace the era. Their desire to smash the fetters from
the Internet and swim freely in the vast tide of information unites
China’s Netizens in their objective and in their starting point.

The Internet is the product of the Information Age and represents a
new ladder for human civilization: open access and transfer of
information — information without borders. Wherever the Internet
reaches, it enhances commercial productivity, increases government
transparency and stimulates social vitality, to the benefit of all
mankind. Only the corrupt CCP regime views the Internet as a scourge,
and exhausts its mental, financial and manpower resources to
infiltrate, intercept, block and close it off, creating a succession
of Internet “Berlin Walls” such as “Golden Shield” and “Green Dam,”
and training and employing myriad Internet police, informers and “50
Cent Party” members.

In its resistance of the Internet, the CCP has set itself up as an
enemy of civilization. Opposing civilization means opposing humanity.
Of course, the firmly entrenched CCP autocracy is in itself public
enemy number one. The dictatorial Beijing regime early on isolated
itself from the international community and now merely awaits its own
internal disintegration.

The CCP’s Internet war is not only one of defense, but also of
aggression. Its defense consists of insulating the Chinese people
behind an information “Berlin Wall”; its aggression consists of
launching increasingly vigorous hacker attacks to sabotage the
government and national defense networks of democratic countries and
steal large amounts of top-secret information. China’s Internet war of
aggression is a direct cause of counterattacks from the United States.
Supporting Google’s withdrawal from China, forcefully advocating
Internet freedom, pledging the provision of technical support to help
Chinese Netizens “tear down that wall” — the US government’s most
recent stance makes clear that a war of the century is pending between
the US and China, and that a contest between democracy and autocracy
has already been launched on the Internet.

Zhongnanhai’s desperate stranglehold on the Internet reveals that the
Internet has in fact become the Achilles heel of the corrupt CCP
regime. Struck squarely in this weak spot, the seemingly impenetrable
fortress of the Communist dictatorship will crumble into dust.

All the people of China should therefore band together and devote
their skills to a concerted attack. Search out the hidden pathways,
cross the firewalls; share technology, create information tsunamis;
use email to disseminate the truth far and wide; blogs, forums and
chat rooms…. every online venue is a potential battleground. There
is no need for hand-to-hand combat, much less bloodshed or martyrdom.
Every room a fortress, every computer an army base; armed with nothing
more than a mouse, any one of us can engage in battle at any moment,
or withdraw at will to re-engage after rest and reorganization. Anyone
can take part in guerrilla warfare or positional warfare or in group
battle operations, with no fixed location, no time limitations and an
infinite variety of tactical maneuvers.

This is an Internet Revolution, a color revolution with Chinese
characteristics. Four hundred million Netizens are the fresh troops of
China’s Internet revolution. This revolution will not be won
overnight, but if we persevere night and day, day in and day out, we
will ultimately shake the very foundations of CCP rule.

This revolution is not limited to residents of mainland China; it can
be joined by residents of Hong Kong and Macau, the people of Taiwan,
Tibetans in exile, overseas Chinese and friends in the international
community. Like the Internet itself, the Internet Revolution has no
borders. “All the world rises up against the brutal injustice of Qin!”
The time has come for all to join in tearing down China’s “Berlin
Wall,” the modern world’s largest remaining rampart of tyranny.

Drafters:
Wang Dan, Yan Jiaqi, Hu Ping, Zheng Yi, Xu Wenli, Yang Jianli, Chen
Pokong, Wang Youcai, Liu Gang, Kang Zhengguo, Sheng Xue, Xiang Xiaoji,
Feng Congde, Xiong Yan, Li Jinjin, Chen Kuide, Yu Dahai, Liu Nianchun,
Zhang Jing, Tang Yuanjun, Wang Longmeng, Lü Honglai, Kong Shiren

February 12, 2010

We welcome everyone to sign, disseminate and spread this online petition.
You can sign through the petition web page: www.gifree.com,
or through email, [email protected]