Translated by China Labor News Translations

http://www.clntranslations.org
 

Statement from academics at home and abroad:

Zhao Dongmin is not guilty, but rather has
performed a great service!

Open letter from 53 academics

21 October 2010 1

A great mockery of the rule of law! A great blasphemy against the

trade union!

- A solemn statement against the charge of “assembling a group to

disrupt social order” levelled against Zhao Dongmin
Last year on 19 August after lawyer Zhao Dongmin was detained by the Xi’an Xincheng
Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “assembling a group to disrupt social order”, the
incident immediately aroused intense concern and extreme indignation from every
section of society. On 9 September, seven retired cadres from the All-China Federation
of Trade Unions (ACFTU), including Han Xiya, issued a call for the “immediate end of
Zhao Dongmin’s detention”. On 4 September, Beijing University Professor Gong
Xiantian published “What signal does Zhao Dongmin’s arrest send?!” But the Xi’an City
Public Security and Judiciary Bureau paid no attention. Not only was Zhao Dongmin not
released, but the National Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit against him. On 25
September this year, the Xi’an Xincheng People’s Court brought this case to trial.

Now, between the time of the trial and sentence, we as academics feel we must make the
following statement:

(1) The claim that Zhao Dongmin supposedly “assembled a group to disrupt
social order “ has no basis in law

As everyone knows, the key factor that determines whether an action is illegal or not, is
whether this action is harmful to society. This is the most basic characteristic of a crime.
Harm to society refers to the harm that actions have or could have to those social
relations protected by Criminal Law. In China, according to most authoritative
interpretation: “In a Socialist society, because the masses are the leaders of the country,

                                                                                                               
1 Translated from Chinese. Read the original Chinese 海内外学者声明：赵东民无罪有功
at: http://blog.qq.com/qzone/622007997/1287648177.htm

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the interests of the state and the people are completely unified. And so the social harm
caused by a crime therefore refers to harm against the interests of the state and the
people. The intrinsic quality of crime lies in its harm towards the state and the people’s
interests, and harm to Socialist society.” (1)

The so-called crime that Zhao Dongmin is accused of is simply assisting workers go to
the union for help defending their rights. Assisting workers go to the union for help is
precisely what the ACFTU has called for: “If workers have problems, seek out the
union.” But in situations where workers do not know to go to union when they have
problems, or cannot find the union, or do not know how to find the union, legal workers
are received by workers with gratitude when coming forward to help, guide and lead
them to seek out the union. Logically, a grassroots lawyer who helps the union make
contact with workers should be welcomed. Meanwhile, Zhao Dongmin time and again
urged workers not to block gates or block roads, and to act in adherence with the law. In
this work, Zhao Dongmin had contact with some groups of people, convened some
meetings, drafted and distributed some documents such as written proposals,
applications, open letters etc., and raised some opinions. His words and deeds did not
constitute “assembling a group to disrupt social order”. They did not hurt the interests of
the state or workers, but rather protected the interests of the state and the masses. What
is it that was harmful to society?

Article 35 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China reads: “The citizens of
the People’s Republic of China have freedom of speech, to publish, to assemble, to form
associations, to march and to demonstrate.” Zhao Dongmin’s actions are basic rights and
obligations granted to citizens by the constitution which no person or organization can
illegally take away. To argue that Zhao Dongmin “assembled a group to disrupt social
order” is not based on the law.

“Assembling a group to disrupt social order” refers to Article 290 of China’s Criminal
Law: “Assembling a group to disrupt social order, which is serious, making it impossible
to carry out work, production, business, education and scientific research, and bringing
about serious losses…”. China’s most authoritative textbook explains this clearly:
“According to the rules of China’s constitution, citizens have the right to march,
demonstrate and express their own views. If the masses are dissatisfied with a
government department or the work of an individual officer (for example, problems of
bureaucratization or corruption etc), and they assemble together and go to demonstrate
or present a petition at the relevant office of the government or Party or other
administrative department, these actions cannot be resolved by treating them as
“assembling a group to disrupt social order”. (2)

The absurdity of Zhao Dongmin’s case lies in that fact that it can clearly not be classed
as a crime of “attacking a state bureaucracy” according to Article 290 Item 2 of the
Constitution, because as a people’s organization and mass organization, the Xi’an
Municipal Trade Union is not a bureaucracy of the state. For this reason, the authorities
in Xi’an could only class this case as “assembling a group to disrupt social order”. But,
Article 2 of the Trade Union Law clearly rules that: “the trade union is a mass
organization of the working class, formed through the voluntary association of workers.
The ACFTU and all trade union organizations represent workers’ interests, and protect
workers’ legal rights according to the law.” But surprisingly the Xi’an Prosecutor’s Office
took the fact that “the union could not operate normally for approximately seven hours”
as a serious loss, and made that the reason for the lawsuit! May we ask, what is the

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union’s “normal operation”? Receiving groups of workers and listening to their opinions
about protecting their legal rights, is this not the union’s responsibility? Is this not
“normal operation”?

Not only did Zhao Dongmin’s actions not constitute “assembling a group to disrupt
social order”, but one is even less able to argue that it caused serious harm. In line with
the rules of the Xi’an Municipal Trade Union’s “Trade Union Law”, receiving groups of
workers and listening to workers’ voices makes complete sense, and is also an important
responsibility that must be met according to the law! If Zhao Dongmin’s actions are
called criminal, wouldn’t this case be the object of ridicule?

(2) Zhao Dongming’s words and deeds protect the order of socialist
society, and should be honoured

According to principals of criminal jurisprudence, for something to be deemed a crime, it

must have an object of crime. The criminal object refers to the criminal-law-protected
social relations violated by the action of the subject; in this country, it means ‘the
criminal violation of socialist social relations protected by the criminal law’. (3) Article 13
of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China outlines the objects of crime, and
that is “any aspect of the harm, and a violation of Socialist social relations in China; they
all have different degrees and impede the smooth development of Socialism in China.”
(4) Did Zhao Dongmin violate Socialist social relations? Did he destroy the form of
socialist society or the social order of socialist society?

Based on all the information we possess, he has not committed any violation, but on the
contrary he has actively been protecting socialist social relations, and the order of
socialist society!

The facts indicate, Zhao Dongmin’s thinking and actions are all for the purpose of
persisting on the Socialist road, and safeguarding the basic system of socialism, opposing
privatization, opposing the erosion of state assets, and resisting the restoration of
capitalism. He has responded to the call of the central Party to oppose corrupt officials,
be open and aboveboard, emphasis the general interest, observe discipline and the law,
not pursue one’s own self-interest, and win the approval of the people in one’s local area.
He stands for “combining the movements to oppose the bureaucratic capitalist class and
safeguarding the socialist regime of the People’s Democratic Dictatorship, which is led
by the Party and the working class, and founded on the alliance between workers and
peasants.” For this, Zhao Dongmin should ordinarily receive encouragement, support
and commendation from the authorities.

May we ask, what kind of national government official or department that claims to be
persisting on the Socialist Road not only does not encourage, support and commend this
kind of action, but instead defines it as illegal?

(3) If we deem Zhao Dongmin to have committed a crime, that will

make a mockery of the rule of law in China, and will be a form of
blasphemy against the trade union

Article 5 of the revised Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, passed on 14

March 2004, reads: “The People’s Republic of China governs according to the rule of law
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and builds a socialist country based on the rule of law.” In December 2005, Chairman
Hu Jintao directed that there needs to be development of education on the rule of law
according to socialism. In February 2006, he again expressed: “developing education
about the concept of socialist rule of law is an important for the strengthening of the
building of the political ideology of the political and judicial personals”. The basic
components of the concept of Socialist rule of law include these five elements: governing
the country according to the law, implementing the law for the people, fairness and
justice, serving the interests of the nation, and the Party’s leadership. “Socialism” within
the concept of Socialist rule of law is its basic nature and essence.

But the Public Security Bureau and the authorities in Xi’an recklessly trample on the
constitution and the law, disregard the correct directives of our leaders, disregard the
voice and basic wishes of the vast mass of workers in Xi’an, and disregard the just calls
of all the people around the country who care about this case, they continue to act as
usual. They are not governing the country in accordance with the law, nor implementing
the law for the sake of the people. One is even less able to say are they speaking for the
fairness and justice of Socialism. They do not care at all about the interests of the
Socialist nation, and they disregard the correct leadership of the Party. By illegally
sentencing Zhao Dongmin, would this not be a great mockery of the rule of law in China?

What makes people both shocked and full of loathing is: the witnesses in this court case
were all staff from the Xi’an Municipal Trade Union! In their role as low-level union staff,
not only did they not actively take the initiative to safeguard the legal rights of workers,
not support legal action to protect workers legal rights, and not support the law-abiding
representative who had the affection and respect of the great mass of workers, but
instead they came out in court and gave evidence against him. They viewed the problems
that workers had expressed to them as criminal actions, and viewed Zhao Dongmin as a
criminal! Isn’t this an incredible event in history of unions across the world and in China?
Isn’t this a great blasphemy against the trade union – workers’ own organization under
the leadership of the Chinese Community Party?

Let us clarify our position. Our objective is, firstly, to advise and make a plea to the local
Xi’an authorities, to strictly abide by the Constitution and the law, sincerely and honestly
implement the plan of governing the country according to the law, and rectify the
improper arrest, improper detention and improper trial of Zhao Dongmin. If they
stubbornly stick to their position, all people concerned (no matter how high their
position, or how powerful the people backing them are) responsibility for breaking the
law must be pursued by the legal system and the people of the country! And secondly,
our objective is to avoid a terrible ruling from being made, and avoid an irreversible
impact on China’s socialist legal system. We implore the comrade in central leadership to
concern themselves with the outcome of this case. And thirdly, as scholars, we wish to
show the masses that protecting people’s rights according to the law is not a crime, and
helping working people safeguard their rights according to the law should be
commended!

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Signatories:
1. Gong Xiantian（巩献田 ) Professor, Peking University Law School
2. Kong Qingdong (孔庆东) Professor, Peking University Chinese Studies Department
3. Zhang Hong Liang (张宏良) Professor, China Central Minorities University
4. Zuo Da Pei (左大培) Researcher, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Economics Research
Unit
5. Han Deqiang (韩德强) Assistant Researcher, Beijing Aeronautics and Aerospace University
6. Yang Siyuan (杨思远) Professor, China Central Minorities University, School of Economics
7. Lu Aiguo (路爱国） Researcher, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Research School of
World Economics and Politics
8. Lu Xinyu (吕新雨) Professor, Fudan University, Media News Academy
9. Jin Baoyu (金宝瑜 ) Honorary Professor, Marygrove University (USA)
10. Yan Hairong (严海蓉) Hong Kong Polytechnic University
11. Huang Debei (黃德北) Professor, Research Institute of Social Development, Taiwan Shih
Hsin University
12. Huang Jisu (黄纪苏）Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
13. Li Genpan (李根蟠) Researcher, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Economics Institute
14. Cao Zhenglu (曹征路) Retired Professor, Shenzhen University, School of Literature
15. Gu Genliang (贾根良）Professor, Chinese Renmin University, School of Economics
16. Gu Xiulin (顾秀林）Professor, Yunnan University of Economics and Finance
17. Li Zhencheng (李振城）Retired Researched, Tianjin
18. Wang Huanqing (王焕青） Professor, Beijing Fashion Academy
19. Zhao Lei (赵磊） Professor, South-West University of Economics and Finance
20. Zhu Mingxin (朱明熙） Professor, South-West University of Economics and Finance
21. Ming Qingren (孟庆仁） Researcher, Shandong Academy of Social Sciences
22. Liu Zhangming (刘长明） Professor, Shandong Academy of Economics, Institute of
Harmonious Development
23. Li Bingyan (李炳炎） Professor, Jiangsu Province Central Party School
24. Wang Zhaohui (王朝晖）Researcher, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Genetics
25. Cai Huanjiang (蔡欢江） Lecturer, East China University of Communication, School of
Humanities, Literature PhD Candidate
26. Zhang Fei’an (张飞岸） Research Assistant, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of
Study of Marxism
27. Wu Yong hong (吴永红） Lecturer, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Academy
of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
28. Jin Shi (金矢) Assistant Researcher, Chinese Academy of Sciences
29. Meng Ping (孟平) Assistant Professor, Tianjin Technical College of Electronic Information
30. Zhu Baogang (朱宝刚） Assistant Professor, Tianjin Polytechnic University
31. Sun Xiliang (孙锡良） Teacher, Southern-central University
32. Xie Fusheng (谢富胜） Assistant Professor, China Renmin University, Institute of
Economics
33. Cao Yinshuang (曹印双） Assistant Professor, Xi’an University of Electronics, Science and
Technology
34. Jiang Chuangang (姜传岗） Retired Professor, Shandong Jining Municipal Party School
35. Ma Qianli (马千里） Teacher, Henan Academy of Urban Construction
36. Zhang Chunmin (张春敏) Associate Professor, Central Minorities University, School of
Economics
37. Xu Kaibin (徐开彬） Academic residing in America
38. Li Haiying (李海英）Teacher, University of Foreign Trade

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39. Chen Fukang (陈福康）Researcher, Shanghai University of Foreign Languages, Research
Academy of Literature
40. Pan Yonghui (潘永辉） Professor and Department Head, Guangdong Academy of
Petroleum Engineering
41. Huang Jue (黄觉) Newspaper office, Central Academy of Drama
42. Yuan Yuan (袁媛) Teacher, Beijing Fashion Academy, School of Art and Design
43. Wu Hui (吴辉)Teacher, Loudi Technical College
44. Jiang Xinquan (江新泉) Professor, Huizhou Academy
45. Ma Xiaoqia (马晓劼） Researcher, Xi’an North-Western Academy of Construction and
Design
46. Sun Xifeng (孙喜峰） Teacher, University of Qiqihaer,
47. Zhao Fang (赵芳) Teacher, Shenyang Normal University
48. Liu Hangang (刘寒刚） Assistant Professor, Zhejiang University of Industry and
Commerce, Hangzhou College of Business
49. Sun Wei (孙伟）Teacher, Jiangsu Yan City Normal University
50. Shao Zhangbin (邵长斌） PhD Candidate, Tongji University
51.Li Changping (李昌平) Director, Chinese Number Three Agricultural Research Centre, Hebei
Agricultural University
52.Yang Siji (杨思基) Professor, Jiangsu Suzhou University, School of Philosophy
53.Zuo Peng (左鹏) Professor, Beijing University of Science and Technology, School of
Linguistics

Additional signatories:

1. Xiang Guanqi (项观奇）Visiting Professor and Lecturer, Heidelberg University, Germany,

China Studies Department. Director
2. Zhang Shuren (张树人）Assistant Professor, Hangzhou Electronic Science and Technology
University, Specialising in Electronic Commerce
3. Cheng Jie (成杰）PhD Candidate, Studying abroad in USA

(1) 高铭暄、马克昌主编、执行主编赵秉志：普通高等教育“十一五”国家级规划教材、
全国高等学校法学专业核心课程教材《刑法学》（第三版），北京大学出版社、高等
教育出版社2007年1月第3版，第51页
(2) 同上，第605页
(3) 同上，第57页
(4) 同上，第51页

附：赵东民事件专题
http://www.wyzxsx.com/Article/Special/zdm/Index.html

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