Guo Quan

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Guo Quan ( Chinese  郭 泉 , Pinyin Guō Quán ; born May 8, 1968 in Suining, Jiangsu Province , People's Republic of China) is a Chinese human rights activist . He founded the New Democratic Party of China . Guo has served as a cadre of a state-owned company, secretary of the Nanjing Economic Restructuring Commission, and a cadre of the People's Court in Nanjing.

In 1996 he graduated from Nanjing University with a Masters degree in Sociology . In 1999 he received his PhD in Philosophy from Nanjing University. From 1999 to 2001 he worked as a post-doctoral student at Nanjing Normal University .

In 2001 he became a professor and doctoral advisor at Nanjing Pedagogical University . Guo also researched the Nanking Research Center massacre .

Guo Quan sued Yahoo and Google for removing pages with his name from their search engines.

In November 2007, Professor Guo Quan published open letters to leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, then President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao and then Chairman of the National People's Congress , Parliament of the People's Republic of China, Wu Bangguo . In the letters, Guo Quan called for a democratic government that should be determined by elections with multiple parties and that should serve the interests of the people.

In May 2008 it was reported that the Chinese police arrested Guo Quan after criticizing the government's behavior after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake . His home was searched and his computer was confiscated.

Guo Quan's wife Li Jing told journalists that Guo had been arrested several times before, but only for a few days. The police told her to prepare for a longer absence.

The PEN American Center stood up for him.

In November 2008, cnews reported that Guo Quan had been arrested again. His wife said he was charged with subversion of state violence, and that the Chinese police commonly use this charge to detain dissidents for years. On October 17, 2009, Reuters reported that he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. He has been called a political prisoner several times.

biography

Guo Quan was raised in a revolutionary family. Relatives of his parents' generation were all members of the Chinese Communist Party.

1987 to 2001

After graduating from high school , he went to the Nanjing Vocational School . He then worked in a state-owned company, later became secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Economic Reform Committee and then editor of Reform & Opening magazine . Guo served as a judicial officer in the Criminal Division of the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court . He then obtained his master's degree in law and a doctorate in Chinese philosophy . Guo also researched literary theory at Nanjing University . Guo was an associate professor in the Chinese Language and Culture Department at Nanjing University. He was also active in various other positions, such as head of the training office, assistant to the school president and editor-in-chief of the magazine of the school for Chinese language and culture, and researcher at the research center for the Nanking massacre . Guo joined the Chinese Democratic League, one of the eight nationally recognized "democratic" parties.

2007

Guo announced in 2007 that an opposition party he had founded had been given the new title of "New People's Party of China". He was then removed from his junior professorship at Nanjing University and transferred to the university library as a data administrator .

2008 to 2009

Guo Quan founded the New Democratic Party of China in 2008 and called for political reforms from the Chinese Communist Party and campaigned to protect the rights of dismissed military officials . He criticized the government's response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and published international human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party.

On November 13th, 2008, Guo was arrested by the Nanjing police. Police broke into his home, where Guo and his wife were conducting regular "house church" activities. His family was informed of his arrest and that he was suspected of "inciting subversion of state power ". In 2009, Guo's case was registered on the trial list of the Suqian Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu Province . His trial took place in August 2009. In October 2009, Guo was sentenced to ten years in prison for "undermining state authority " .

Wife and son leave China

In January 2012, his wife Li Jing and their 12-year-old son Guo Yi fled to the United States via Indonesia , Singapore, and South Korea . With the help of ChinaAid and some churches in the United States, Guo Quan 's wife and child were able to leave China . You were met at the Los Angeles airport by the director of the ChinaAid LA office. They want to appeal to the US government and international corporations to monitor Guo's case closely and to help ensure that he is released.

Legal action against Yahoo and Google

In early 2008 announced a university professor Guo Quan, who was sacked after the establishment of a democratic opposition party, plans to, Yahoo ! (Managing Director Jerry Yang ) and to sue Google in the United States for blocking his name from search results in China.

Guo Quan, an expert on classical Chinese literature and the 1937 Nanjing massacre of Chinese civilians by Japanese troops , issued an open letter pledging to file a lawsuit against Google after discovering his name was on search for the google.cn portal in China has been removed.

He told The Times newspaper that he discovered that the Chinese Yahoo! site was also blocking his name and that he plans to file lawsuits against both companies. Guo said, “Since January 1st, many friends have told me that websites bearing my name have been closed. They told me it was impossible to look up my information on Google and Yahoo! to search."

On February 28, 2008 , Elinor Mills of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine reported that several plaintiffs had filed a lawsuit against Yahoo! Internet portal in Oakland , California , because Yahoo had provided information to the Chinese authorities regarding the arrest of Li Zhi year 2003 led, who had served about half of an eight-year prison sentence.

Both Prosecutor Zheng Cunzhu (Ch: 郑 存 柱) and Prosecutor Guo Quan alleged that Yahoo's business tactics caused them personal and financial harm. Zheng Cunzhu claimed that he lost his property in China when he did not return for fear of being arrested for his pro-democracy activities, and Guo Quan claimed that he lost his business when his name and that of his clothing company were searched from Yahoo have been blocked.

List of claims against Yahoo:

  • Violation of international law , including torture and prolonged prison terms
  • unfair business practices
  • intentional infliction of emotional distress
  • false imprisonment and assault

In November 2007, Yahoo reached an out-of-court settlement brought by family members of two other dissidents who were serving ten years in prison after Yahoo handed over their account information to the Chinese government. And "In January 2008, Yahoo's executive director Jerry Yang sent a letter to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , in which he called on the government to secure the release of dissidents imprisoned in China for their pro-democracy attitudes."

Open letter and criticism of party leaders and government

In November 2007, Professor Guo Quan published an open letter to the then leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu Jintao and Wu Bangguo , in which he called for a "democratic government that should serve the interests of the common people."

Guo also wrote a letter to Hu Jintao, the party leader at the time , in which he openly criticized the Chinese government. In that letter, Guo denounced the government for improper behavior in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. As a result of this letter, Guo lost his post as an associate professor at the university. Guo has been a member of the Chinese Democratic League since 2001.

Professor Guo told The Epoch Times in an interview that after much deliberation, he started writing the letter in July. In his letter, Guo calls for the abolition of the one-party dictatorship and argues that the people have the right to elect their own ruling party and to establish a democratic government through multi-party elections. He justified this: "As taxpayers, people have the right to choose their own officials ... Government officials are people who are paid by the people, so the people have the right to replace any official who does not do a good job." Guo criticized the Chinese authorities' statement that the Chinese people are not educated enough to have a democratic system. Guo pointed out that what the communist regime says is different from what it does. He said: "How can this regime“ serve the people ”when it is already so corrupt?" Guo said: "Only when the people really hold the ballot in their hands can the ruling party be a real public servant."

Police harassment and arrests

Guo 's open letters to party leader Hu Jintao calling for multi - party elections and the depoliticization of the People' s Liberation Army have been widely published on the internet blogosphere and traditional media. Since then, the Chinese cyber police had started blocking his blogs.

Guo Quan told Jane Macartney of The Times newspaper in February 2008 that "he discovered that the Chinese Yahoo! site had also blocked his name and that he was planning to file lawsuits against both companies." Guo also said that many of his friends told him that websites bearing his name had been closed since January 1st. They told him it was impossible to get on Google and Yahoo! to look for his information.

On May 21, 2008, Jonathan Watts of The Guardian newspaper reported : The Chinese police have arrested Guo Quan, a political dissident who criticized the government's handling of the Sichuan earthquake. Guo was arrested by seven or eight police officers outside his home on May 17th, 2008. They ransacked his home and confiscated his computer.

Guo's wife Li Jing told the reporter that Guo had been held many times before, for a few days. It could take longer now. "The police told me to prepare psychologically," she said.

The PEN American Center wrote:

Writer and former professor of literature at Nanjing University was arrested on November 13, 2008 on "suspicion of undermining state authority." The reason for his arrest is not yet known but has been linked to his writings. He was detained for ten days in May 2008 after posting seven articles on Chinese websites criticizing the government's emergency response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the safety of certain infrastructure.

In November 2008, cnews reported that Guo Quan was arrested in Nanjing City. According to his wife, the police were charged with “subversion of state power”. The Chinese police routinely use this charge to detain dissidents for years. In October 2009, Reuters reported that he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Guo has been described as a political prisoner.

When Guo was tried in Suqian in August 2009 , his mother, Gu Xiao, a well-known writer, was present at the trial. She told Sound of Hope that she could not understand her son before the hearing, but after what she learned in the process, she was able to understand him. Even before she left the courtroom, she called out to her son, “You are great my child! I'm proud of you. ”She asked the reporter to pass her message on to anyone who would be concerned about Guo.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b About Guo Quan , Human Rights in China (HRIC), November 6, 2011, accessed November 11, 2018
  2. ↑ a b c d Gu Qing'er & Matthew Robertson, Ten Years in Prison for Chinese Democracy Activists , The Epoch Times, January 5, 2010, accessed November 11, 2018
  3. ↑ Professor Guo Quan's open letter to Chinese leaders requests democracy, November 30, 2007
  4. ↑ a b c d e Xin Fei, Professor Guo Quan's open letter to Chinese leaders requests democracy , Epoch Times Staff, November 22, 2007, Chinaview Wordpress, November 30, 2007, accessed November 11, 2018
  5. ↑ a b c Case Guo Quan , Endangered Scholars Worldwide, October 20, 2017, accessed November 11, 2018
  6. ↑ China dissident held 'for criticizing quake response,' May 21, 2008, Jonathan Watts , The Guardian
  7. ^ Pen America Center ( Memento April 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ China democracy activist detained for subversion November 13, 2008
  9. ^ Reuters - China jails ex-professor 10 years for subversion
  10. ^ Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Political Prisoner Database: Guo Quan ( Memento of October 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
  11. ↑ ChinaAid, Wife, Son of Well-Known Political Prisoner & Christian Guo Quan Arrive in US , January 24, 2012.
  12. ↑ a b c Guo Quan: A Chronology , Human Rights in China, November 16, 2011, accessed November 19, 2018
  13. ↑ a b c d Guo Quans Biography , Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, United States Congress, accessed November 11, 2018
  14. ↑ a b About Guo Quan , ChinaAid, accessed November 11, 2018
  15. ↑ a b c Guo Quan's mother, “My son, I'm proud of you!” Sound of Hope Radio, The Epoch Times, August 14, 2009, accessed November 11, 2018
  16. ↑ a b c Wife, Son of Well-Known Political Prisoner & Christian Guo Quan Arrive in US , ChinaAid, January 24, 2012, accessed November 11, 2018
  17. ↑ Articles about Guo Quan , China Digital Times, accessed November 11, 2018
  18. ↑ a b c d Elinor Mills, Yahoo Sued by Chinese Dissidents Again ( Memento March 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), BusinessWeek, February 28, 2008, accessed November 11, 2018
  19. ↑ a b c d e Jane Macartney, Dissident Chinese professor to sue Yahoo! and Google for erasing his name! ( September 7, 2008 memento on the Internet Archive ), The Times, February 6, 2008, accessed November 11, 2018
  20. ↑ a b c Jonathan Watts, China dissident held 'for criticizing quake response' , The Guardian, May 21, 2008, accessed November 11, 2018
  21. ↑ a b China Enters “Era of Open Letters,” Epoch Times, November 19, 2007, accessed December 3, 2018
  22. ^ Pen America Center ( April 12, 2009 memento on the Internet Archive ), April 12, 2009, Wayback Machine, accessed November 11, 2018
  23. ↑ China democracy activist detained for subversion , The Uyghur American Association (UAA), November 13, 2008, accessed November 11, 2018
  24. ↑ China jails ex-professor 10 years for subversion , Reuters, October 17, 2009, accessed November 11, 2018
  25. ^ Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Political Prisoner Database: Guo Quan ( Memento of October 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), October 16, 2012, accessed on November 11, 2018



Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Guo is the family name here, Quan is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Guo, Quan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 郭 泉 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Suining , Jiangsu Province , People's Republic of China