Freedom of Speech:Knowledge and Strategies to address Censorship in China 論言論自由、新聞管制及中國人民的對策

(Jennifer's Speech at the debut Conference of Asia and Pacific Writers Network in November, 2005 in Melbourne, Australia 曾錚2005年11月在亞太地區作家網成立大會上的發言)

In a modern democratic country, it often seems self-evident and completely unnecessary to discuss the concept of freedom of speech. It is, to all intents and purposes, a ‘natural right’ endowed by Heaven. But in China, ever since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came into power, freedom of speech has been regarded as a luxury, and the censorship there has been among the most severe in the history of the world.

在一個民主國家，討論言論自由可能會被視為多餘，因為它是一個「天賦」的權利。然而在中國，自從中共竊取政權以來，言論自由就成了一個奢侈品，新聞管制的嚴酷，在世界史上也可謂首屈一指。

Perhaps this is a somewhat already well-known fact, but what people might have failed to realise is that apart from censorship and the denial of the right to free speech, the CCP has tried very hard to destroy traditional Chinese culture; to distort the criteria for right and wrong, and to re-write the entire human history to meet the Party’s needs. 

這也許已經是一個眾所周知的事實。但人們還沒有意識到的是，除了新聞管制和剝奪言論自由外，中共還千方百計地破壞中國傳統文化，扭曲是與非的標準，並將整部人類歷史按黨的要求重新編寫。

In a word, censorship under the rule of the CCP is not strictly censorship alone. Through tight control of the entire state apparatus, the CCP has successfully established a culture of its own, making people think in the way the Party requires them to think. For example, when the whole world was condemning the 911 terrorist attacks, many Chinese youths were applauding them. In March 2004, the largest Chinese Internet portal, SINA.com, launched an on-line survey. One of the questions was, “Would you shoot at women, children and prisoners-of-war?” More than 80 percent of the 31,872 respondents answered in the affirmative. So a strong tendency towards violence and the distortion of right and wrong are more terrifying than mere censorship. Through brainwashing and ruling with terror, the CCP has made people not only exercise self-censorship, but also to think in the “Party way”. 

一句話，在中共的統治之下，新聞管制決不僅僅只是一個新聞管制而已。通過對整部國家機器的絕對掌控，中共成功地建立了一整套「黨文化」，並讓許多人按黨所要求的思維方式進行思維。比如，當全世界都在譴責911恐怖攻擊時，中共所培養出的「憤青們」卻在為之叫好。去年3月，中國最大的門戶網站新浪網做了一次網上調查，問題之一是：「當戰爭發生時，你是否會對婦女、兒童和戰俘開槍？」在31872份答卷中，有80%以上的回答了「是」。如此強烈的暴力傾向和是非標準的扭曲比單純的管制更加可怕。通過全民洗腦和恐怖統治，中共不但讓人們進行自我審查，更讓人用「黨的方式」進行思維。

The reason behind all of this is that the CCP is not a party at all in the commonly understood sense. Usually a party is a political organization based on political tactics and with political aims. But the CCP’s control has far transcended the realms of politics—it has reached in and seized hold of the spiritual world of Chinese people. By eradicating all of the traditional orthodox religions in China, the CCP has ultimately established itself as the only “God”. Then, after years of killing and endless political struggles, people have come to realise that the Party is not an “ever-great, glorious and correct” God at all. At this point in time, they have made the discovery that they have nothing to put their faith in; neither have they anyone or anything to trust, apart from immediate material interest. And this kind of person is the most easy to control with a little bit of personal gain, as they no longer adhere to moral values.

造成這一切的原因是，中共根本就不是一個一般意義上的政黨。一般的政黨只是一個具有一定的政治目標和政治策略的政治性組織。但中共的控制卻遠遠超出了政治的範圍。它進入並控制了中國人民的精神領域。通過消滅所有的傳統宗教，中共最終將自己塑造成了唯一的「神」。然而，經過多年的殺戮和政治運動，人們意識到了黨原來不是一個永遠「偉大光榮正確」的「神「。這時，他們突然發現，他們已沒有甚麼可信仰的了，除了眼前利益之外，也沒有甚麼人或東西可以信任。而這樣的人是最容易通過一點蠅頭小利便加以控制的，因為他們已經不再堅持道德標準。

Thus, in China, under the CCP’s control, dealing with the lack of free speech and censorship becomes a question of spiritual independence. If people cannot free themselves from the spiritual control and manipulation of the CCP, they can never really find a way to break free of the party’s omnipresent censorship.

因此，在中共控制下的中國，爭取言論自由就首先成了一個能否獲得精神上的獨立的問題。如果不能從中共的精神控制和操縱中被解放出來，就永遠也無法擺脫黨的無所不在的管制。

This is why the focus of the CCP has fallen upon Falun Gong, an ancient qigong practice based on traditional Chinese values, as its imagined enemy. By implementing “Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance” in their daily lives, Falun Gong practitioners have found a spiritual alternative to communism, and the materialism which is the now the only “belief” for many Chinese.

這也是為甚麼中共會將法輪功，一種基於中國傳統價值觀念上的古老修煉方法當作它的假想敵的原因。通過在日常生活中修煉「真善忍」，法輪功修煉者們找到了共產主義和今日中國之唯一「信仰」-物欲主義-之外的精神信仰。

Within the seven years during which Falun Gong was permitted and encouraged in China, people spread this practice through word of mouth. Then, in 1999, after realising that Falun Gong practitioners had grown to outnumber Party members, the then Party leader Jiang Zemin launched a most ruthless crackdown against Falun Gong. One hundred million practitioners were immediately thrown into a situation where they were made to choose between giving up the practice or going to jail, with the possibility of being tortured to death. Perhaps Falun Gong practitioners have never before made the connection between their practice and freedom of speech. However, in an effort to uphold their right to practice their own beliefs, they have taken up “telling the truth and exposing the persecution” as their main strategy. 

在法輪功問世的頭七年中，人們通過口耳相傳迅速地傳播著這種功法。1999年，當前中共總書記江澤民意識到法輪功修煉者的數量已經超過中共黨員之後，一場最殘酷的鎮壓開始了。一億之眾的修煉人立刻置於必須在放棄修煉和坐牢之間做出選擇的處境之中，而坐牢就意味著有可能被折磨致死。也許在此之前，法輪功修煉者從未將他們的修煉與言論自由聯繫在一起。現在，「講真相」、「揭露迫害」成了他們爭取信仰自由的最主要的方式。

Technically, the Internet has proven to be as potent a tool in Falun Gong truth-telling as it has been in the dissemination of CCP propaganda. By tapping into the CCP-controlled cable TV system to broadcast Falun Gong programs, through email, or even by physically distributing printed or even hand-written flyers, they are attempting to deal with the evil of the persecution and the spectre of censorship. The world will never know how much these people have given in the telling of a simple, non-political truth. For example, after a 50-minute screening of Falun Gong films was broadcast over the cable TV network in Changchun City in 2002, over 5,000 practitioners were arrested, eight were killed, and fifteen were sentenced to between four to twenty years’ imprisonment.

從技術上講，互聯網是法輪功講真相的最主要的工具，正如它也同時是中共散佈其誹謗宣傳的主要工具一樣。通過插播中共控制的有線電視、發送電子郵件、散發印刷甚至手寫的傳單，法輪功學員一直在反抗著迫害和新聞管制。人們永遠也不會瞭解，為了講一句簡單的、非政治性的真話，他們曾付出怎樣的代價。例如，2002年，長春市的有線電視網絡被插播50分鐘的法輪功真相節目後，有5000餘名法輪功學員被逮捕，8名被殺害，15名被判處4到20年的徒刑。

Yet after six years of suppression, Falun Gong continues to prevail. Some democratic activists cannot understand why the democratic movement has become less and less influential both inside and outside of China while Falun Gong has become stronger and stronger. The reason no doubt lies in the fact that the CCP is not entirely a political organisation. Its control has gone far beyond that.. This is the major reason why political movements or methods have never been able to shake its fundamental basis.

然而，六年過去了，法輪功依然挺立。一些民運人士不理解為甚麼在中國及海外，民主運動的影響力越來越弱，而法輪功卻越來越強大。在我看來，原因無疑就在於中共並不完全是一個政治性組織。它的控制遠遠超出了這個範圍。這就是為甚麼政治運動或政治方法從來都不能夠動搖中共的根基的主要原因。

However, more notable is a series of editorials published in November last year, which has set off a resounding mass movement which threatens to topple their stronghold. The editorials, the ‘Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party’ by the Epoch Times newspaper, has brought about the phenomenon of over five million people submitting statements, officially withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party or its affiliated organisations. The ‘Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party’ have, for the first time in the history of China, analysed and exposed the true nature of the CCP on a less ideological and more of a spiritual level, and has thus brought about a significant spiritual awakening. Once people became aware of the CCP’s true nature and true agenda, they began spreading the Nine Commentaries using every available method. It is little wonder that the CCP has set this publication as the number one object to block; as an example Sydney Dance Company member Wang Xuejun was deported from China last month for carrying three copies of the Nine Commentaries.

更引人注目的是發表於去年11月的九篇系列社論和由此引發的一個業已動搖中共的波瀾壯闊的大眾運動。由大紀元發表的《九評共產黨》系列社論已經引發了超過550萬民眾正式聲明退出中共及其相關組織。《九評共產黨》系列社論在中國歷史上第一次從精神層面，而非僅僅是理論層面，分析和揭示了中共的本質，因而引發了一場重大的精神覺醒。人們瞭解了中共的本質和真實的目標之後，採用了一切能夠想到的辦法去傳播《九評》。這也是為甚麼中共要將《九評》列為第一禁書的原因。悉尼舞蹈團的成員王學軍在上個月便曾因持有三本《九評共產黨》而被驅逐出中國。

This is a totally new phenomenon, and a most effective way to influence freedom of speech—to obtain spiritual freedom first. Before reading the Nine Commentaries, many people did not realise how deeply they had been brainwashed by the Party. 

這是一個全新的現象，也是一個爭取言論自由的最有效的方法，那就是，首先獲得精神上的自由和獨立。在閱讀《九評》之前，許多人沒有意識到，他們被中共洗腦的程度已經有多深。

The CCP and its control have met the most severe challenge ever. Once people have awakened from the spiritual control and mental contamination of the CCP, the censorship and terror will no longer work. As more and more people choose to break away from the CCP, the CCP itself and all of its power over people may suddenly and thoroughly collapse, without the world really understanding why and how it has happened.

中共及其控制遇到了有史以來最為嚴峻的挑戰。一旦人們從中共的精神控制和思想毒化中清醒過來，管制和恐懼將失去效力。當越來越多的人們選擇脫離中共之時，中共及中共對人們的控制可能會在一夜之間徹底崩潰；而直至那時，人們可能都還不能真正理解，這一切為甚麼會發生、又是怎樣發生的。

Debut Conference of Asia and Pacific Writers Network in November, 2005 in Melbourne University. 2005年11月6至9日，亞太地區作家網成立大會在澳洲墨爾本大學召開。（大紀元圖片）