A group of democracy advocates in Shenzhen took to the streets on November 29 to hand out pamphlets titled, “Recommendations for National Reform.”
Blogger Mo Zhixu (莫之许) posted an account of the group’s action (by Li Tie) on his Sohu blog. It was the second time the group had conducted their “survey” of the city’s residents’ feelings about democracy.
On the morning the action was scheduled to take place, Li says a public security officer called him and asked if there was something happening that day. He said that there was, “just like last time.” Then the officer asked where it would take place. Li said, “The same place we gathered last time.” There was nothing to hide, Li said.
The group, which included Chen Shuwei, Yang Yong, Li Jian, Li Tie and Zhang Xingqiu (pictured below from left to right), printed 5,000 copies of the pamphlet.
“A majority of the passersby were interested in the pamphlet,” Li wrote in his account. “There were a few who walked past because they thought we were advertising some product, but once we explained that the booklet was about China’s development towards democracy, they turned around and grabbed a copy.”
A group photo in front of a billboard featuring Chinese reformer Deng Xiaoping.
The survey reads: What kind of system do you think China should have?
(a) One-Party System
(b) Multi-Party System
(c) Give People the Right to Choose, Experiment
(d) Other
Here is the Chinese version of the “Recommendations for National Reform.”
