In the Wall Street Journal, lawyer Jerome Cohen commemorates the Anti-Rightist Movement, and discusses its legacy in China today:
Despite the enormous economic and social progress that half of the Chinese people have made in recent decades, many of the complaints voiced by the “rightists” remain among China’s most pressing issues. Freedoms to speak, publish, organize, assemble, worship and demonstrate continue to be severely restricted. No effective mechanism has yet been developed to turn constitutional rights into living law. The Party-controlled legislative process continues to be slow, timid and largely nontransparent.
Although those who have been harmed by arbitrary administrative actions can now seek judicial review and compensation, relatively few manage to do so. [Full Text, via the Time China blog]
