How can China build a real civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple sat for a series of interviews with scholars and civil society actors.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

In the spring of 2022, a wave of COVID-19 exploded in Shanghai. Under the policy of “Zero COVID,” 24 million residents were put under forced lockdown. Filmmakers and reporters used their phones, televisions, the internet, and other materials to capture scenes of lockdown and disputes between officials and civilians in Shanghai. Producers of this short film titled <i>The Memo</i> believe that it is necessary to record this historic episode in order to prevent our memories from fading away. The production team, which was founded in 2020, strives to create works about the lower classes of Chinese society. <i>The Memo</i> was nominated for the Clermont-Féron Short Film Festival.

On August 5, 1966, Bian Zhongyun, a 50-year-old vice principal of the Girls High School affiliated with Beijing Normal University, was beaten to death. The murder was by some of her students, a group of female Red Guards from the school. Bian was the first educator to be killed in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. The night Bian was killed, Deng Xiaoping's two daughters, Deng Nan and Deng Rong, found Bian's husband and told him that they could only say that Bian died of high blood pressure due to illness, but not that Bian was killed. In the end, no one was criminally prosecuted. This film is widely regarded as one of Hu Jie's most famous for its portrayal of Bian's husband, Wang Jingyao, and his efforts to document his wife's murder. Follow director Hu Jie on his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@jiehu6613">YouTube channel</a>.

Published on January, 2022, “Ten Days in Xi’an” is a log of Chinese independent journalist Jiang Xue’s daily experiences under COVID-19 lockdown, posted onto WeChat’s social media platform. In this piece, Jiang depicts the crises and challenges faced by Xi’an residents under lockdown, such as the lack of access to medical resources. “Ten Days in Xi’an” was viewed by millions of Chinese users on social media platforms when it was posted, and received comments and support from thousands of Chinese citizens. It was later translated into English by Andréa Worden and published on Probe International virtually. You can find the translated article in the PDF below, or through this link: <https://journal.probeinternational.org/2022/08/22/ten-days-in-xian/>.

The Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989 and the subsequent mass arrests and purges created tens of thousands of June Fourth victims. Among them were June Fourth victims who fell into a pool of blood, the June Fourth disabled who were shot, the families of the June Fourth victims and the severely disabled, the June Fourth prisoners of conscience who were sentenced to imprisonment or re-education-through-labor, and the June Fourth victims who were subjected to other political persecution. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of June Fourth, as part of Chinese civil society's efforts to recover the historical truth and rebuild historical memory, this report gives a basic description of the suffering of the June Fourth victims and their arduous journey over the past 20 years. It also analyzes the systemic factors that have contributed to the victims' suffering and proposes corresponding recommendations on how to change their living conditions.

This book is a collection of diary entries written in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic by Fang Fang, a Chinese writer and advocate of the working poor in China. In these diary entries, Fang Fang documents the various daily difficulties faced by her and other Wuhan residents from January to March 2020. In this book, she also ponders the implications of official policies with regard to the pandemic and the way in which the public and the government have responded to the outbreak of COVID-19. These entries tell us about the hopes and fears of the people of Wuhan during the early stage of COVID-19, and adds to our understanding of public opinion and government policies in China in the 2020s. The diaries were published in Chinese, and have also been translated by Michael Berry into English and published by Harper Collins Publishers. You can purchase the English version of the book using <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/wuhan-diary-fang-fangmichael-berry?variant=40153409749026">this link</a> .

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

In June 2010, scholars and activists Xu Zhiyong, Teng Biao, Wang Gongquan, Li Xiongbing, Li Fangping, Xu Youyu and Zhang Shihe (Tiger Temple) initiated the signing of the “Citizen's Pledge”, which called on Chinese citizens to “abide by principles of democracy, and the rule of law, safeguard the rights and livelihood of the people, and promote good governance”. On May 29, 2012, Dr. Xu Zhiyong, one of the founders of the pro-democracy movement “Open Constitution Initiative” (Gongmeng), published an article entitled “China's New Citizen Movement”, officially launching the <a href=“https://web.archive.org/web/20121226221847/http://biweekly.hrichina.org/article/1575”>“New Citizen Movement”</a>. The goal of the New Citizens Movement is a free China governed by democracy and rule of law, a vibrant civil society, and a new national spirit of “freedom, justice, and love”. It aims to promote political and social transformation from authoritarianism to constitutionalism, and Chinese people will be treated as citizens, not subjects of the ruling class. Activities of the New Citizen Movement include advocating for equal rights in education, public disclosure of officials' properties, and organizing local citizen gatherings. (For more information on the New Citizens Movement, see the <a href=“https://cmcn.org/”>Chinese Citizens Movement </a>website. Organizers and participants in the New Citizens Movement have been subjected to repression and persecution. On July 5, 2012, several hundred parents gathered at the Ministry of Education's Petitioning Office, displaying banners and chanting slogans demanding that the government protect migrant children’s right to education, before being stopped by police, who also beat them. As a result of this and other advocacy activities, New Citizens Movement organizers Xu Zhiyong, Zhao Changqing, and Ding Jiaxi were arrested in 2013 and charged with gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place, and their cases were heard for the first time at different levels of court in Beijing on January 22, 2014, on the eve of the Chinese New Year. All were sentenced to jail. This documentary includes footage of the parents' protest in July 2012, and outside the courthouse at Xu Zhiyong's trial on January 22, 2014, as well as interviews with family members of the arrested activists, their lawyers, and academics, and supporters of the movement.On the day of his trial, hundreds of people showed up outside the courthouse in support, invoking Article 35 of the Constitution to point out that the case was an unfair trial that violated citizens' freedom of speech and expression. In the film, Xu Zhiyong says in an interview that the New Citizens Movement wants to solve social issues through judicial processes, and that he believes it is important to take into account the perspectives of different stakeholders. Even with such a moderate stance, the authorities still harshly suppressed him and portrayed him as an enemy of the state. Scholar Guo Yuhua commented on the case : “If we wait for a ready-made civil society, there is none. Activism is to open up space where there is none, to create gaps where there are no gaps, and to expand it gradually.”

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

Wang Lihong is a Beijing netizen, civilian journalist, and public service volunteer. Wang was accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for supporting three netizens in Fujian. On August 12, 2011, the case was heard for the first time in the Wenyuhe Court of the People's Court of Chaoyang District, Beijing. This film includes interviews with Wang Lihong's relatives, friends, defense lawyers and netizens, and records the historical scene of onlookers in the courts. Ai Xiaoming’s film “Postcard,” also released in 2011, elaborates Wang Lihong’s activism in broader strokes, while “Let the Sunshine Reach the Earth” focuses on the process of her trial. This film is in Chinese with Chinese subtitles.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

How can China build a real civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple sat for a series of interviews with scholars and civil society actors.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.

In 1957, two hundred teachers, students, and cadres from Kunming, Yunnan were among the hundreds of thousands of Chinese people labeled as “Rightists” for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party. They were sent to the East Wind State Farm, located in Mi-le County in Yunnan, for 21 years of “thought reform” in the countryside. These inmates witnessed the policies of the Great Leap Forward first-hand: they took part in deforestation, agricultural, and industrial projects in the countryside, which precipitated the Great Famine. Later, during the Cultural Revolution, their camp was visited by large groups of youths “sent down” from the cities, who worked on the farm with the “Rightists.” In 1978, these “Rightists” were finally rehabilitated and allowed to leave. This documentary examines the policies and campaigns of the Maoist era through the eyes of those who were persecuted and exiled. Director Hu Jie pieces together this long and complex story through collecting dozens of extensive interviews with inmates as well as staff who served through decades of the camp’s existence. These people’s vivid memories and personal accounts shed light on the harrowing lifestyle of not only the two hundred “Rightists” of East Wind State Farm, but also the scores of dissidents and youths who experienced the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.