Last Wednesday, Chinese dissident (and my colleague at the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies) Chen Guangcheng gave an impassioned speech denouncing tyranny, highlighting the brutality of China’s Communist regime, and challenging Americans to support freedom, democracy, and human rights. It is a challenge not only to Americans, but also to Catholics, especially those Catholic leaders and intellectuals who prefer the sanguine acceptance of unjust stability to the messiness of building a durable just peace.

It is a challenge to fully embrace the catholic nature of our commitment to human rights and flourishing, rather than succumbing to relativism and the bigoted belief (which is often presented as a sophisticated understanding of temporal realities) that certain cultures can never be reconciled with basic rights and are only compatible with some form of repression (arguments that were made about Catholicism by academics just a few decades ago). Such sentiments are often left unexpressed, yet they nevertheless inspire a preference for policies toward, and interactions with, brutal regimes that can reinforce and entrench the repression and brutalization of the vulnerable by giving legitimacy to those who are entirely illegitimate, instead of clearly and unequivocally siding with those resisting tyranny and working for the establishment of human rights.

Chen explained the obstacles tyrannical regimes present to the establishment of the common good and the necessity of creating a world free of totalitarian regimes:

As long as a totalitarian regime still exists in human society, it means that humanity has not passed the historical stage of barbarism. A totalitarian regime is a product of the evil potential in human nature, and the greatest obstacle in humanity’s march toward justice and civilization.

In today’s world, the greatest threat to human civilization is still the barbaric totalitarian system. Though such systems are few in number, they do great harm. This is especially true of massive dictatorships such as the Chinese Communist government. Therefore, to make the good flourish in this world, the defense of universal human rights and values needs to be the priority. To eliminate the bad in the world, the removal of totalitarian governments needs to be the priority.

He highlights the costs of choosing legalism and placing international decorum over human solidarity, of favoring non-interventionism over support for universal human rights:

…in the globalized world in which we live today, if one thinks that the existence of a totalitarian system is the private matter of some other country and ought to be resolved by the people of that country, one cannot be more wrong. This is not a view that shows wisdom and foresight…

When dealing with a government practicing violence and deception, if you don’t try to influence it with your universal values, such as freedom, equality, democracy, and constitutionalism, you are very likely to be affected by the wickedness of this government. As a result of such insidious erosion, your heart becomes distorted, and you start to set limits for yourself and give up your principles. It is evident that the humanitarian and human rights issues that happen in any part of the world will invade and become the content of our lives, and may even directly affect our lives.

In an age of information explosion, it is impossible for you, me, or anyone else to stay away from the world. If someone is convicted for defending human dignity and universal values, every one of us has inescapable responsibilities…

Citizens of the twenty-first century need to embrace a comprehensive mentality that the world is one family, and understand that humanity won’t have peace if totalitarianism remains.

Chen explains the true nature of the Chinese regime:

In the past few years, under the evil impulse to maintain stability with force, the law of the nation has become a joke, and justice is completely absent. Chinese society has nearly regressed to the days of the Cultural Revolution. Those who defend human rights, from all walks of life, are kidnapped, put under house arrest, beat up, forced to travel, or in more severe cases, are detained, sent to a labor camp, covered with a black mask over the head, detained in illegal “black jails,” or falsely accused of having a mental illness. In a black box in which domestic media are strictly controlled, the worldwide network is blocked, and journalists from other countries are forbidden to conduct interviews, wicked officials are able to do whatever they want without being held accountable by the law of the country, and as a result, they become more and more fearless. Hence the blatant forcible seizure of farmlands, the forcible occupation of civilian homes, and the presence of illegal “black jails” throughout the country. Common people, though greatly discontented, can turn nowhere to file complaints…

At 4 a.m. on September 27, a group of twenty officials from the Family Planning Commission, including sixteen men and four women, forced their way into the home of Zhou Guoqiang and his wife Liu Xinwen, a couple in Weifang, Shandong Province, while they were sleeping. They kicked down the door of the family’s home, held down Zhou Guoqiang and dragged his wife to a hospital by force for an abortion. A six-month baby was killed by a poisonous injection in the mother’s womb. It is more accurate to say that the baby died of the evil system rather than the poisonous injection. Let’s imagine how the parents must have felt when they saw their child being killed and yet they could do nothing to stop it. Reading this news report brought back to my memory the stories and the crying of those helpless women in 2005.

Chen explains how efforts to build a more just, peaceful global order, where law has replaced force, are undermined by such regimes:

The best illustration is the dictatorial government of a big country that not only challenges the world order irrationally, undermines international rules, and refuses to endorse the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, but also supports the dictatorial governments of small countries and prevents the United Nations from punishing them for slaughtering their own people.

He expresses the type of hope that should animate Christians, who too often are corrupted by the cynicism of worldliness:

When facing social injustice or inadequacies, many people complain about the problems with society, but they rarely reflect on what they have done to make our society a better place. In daily life, small things such as the look in your eye that supports good or despises evil, or a fair statement that you make, have immense value. Big or small, as long as we do it, we are contributing to the benefit of our community, village, city, nation, and even the whole human society. This is extremely meaningful. To a certain extent, we can say that our practical actions have changed the world and made it a better place…

I want to emphasize again that nothing is impossible in this world. The development of society is not dictated by the will of those in power.

Chen explains what is needed to promote the common good and support those fighting for human rights. Catholics should be lobbying for these policies:

I call on the governments of democratic countries, especially the United States government, the primary champion of human rights, to set a good example by shifting the focus from economy and trade to human rights, and from price to value, when dealing with dictators…

First, I suggest the legislative and administrative organs of each free nation increase government funding to encourage the research, development, and distribution of software that breaks through firewalls, such as FOE, Freegate, or Ultrasurf, which are all very effective…

Second, judicial and administrative organizations must join hands in establishing a deterrent mechanism for human-rights violators…

Third, set up a trans-congressional human-rights alliance of free countries. Convene regularly and invite civilians, human-rights defenders, victims, their families, and authorized agents to share their stories…

Fourth, demand that the Chinese Communist Party stop persecuting religious believers and respect religious freedom…

Fifth, I call on lawyers and legal experts of the United States and the American Bar Association to advocate for the human-rights lawyers of China and make joint efforts to provide them with some legal support and assistance…

Sixth, I hope the annual US-China Human Rights Dialogue will be practical in advancing human rights and dare to be open and honest. Human-rights dialogues should not become a matter of formality and empty talk…

And last, I would like to call on the American people to take actions to urge the officials and congressmen you voted into office to apply all resources and means to help terminate China’s evil one-child policy and forced abortions.

The Church often engages with brutal regimes to promote stability and protect Catholic interests and adherents. This engagement and dialogue is not always wrong; sometimes it is necessary. But the ultimate standard for the Church is the global common good. And this often demands providing moral and material support for those promoting freedom and human rights in the face of repression and tyranny. Catholics should be pressing their religious and political leaders to provide this support. And those working for the establishment of authentic human rights should always know that the Church is on their side.