China's censorship exposed

Last week Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight for human rights in China. He was championed by, among others, Vaclav Havel, who's successful struggle for human rights in Czechoslovakia has been a model for Liu. In December 2008 Liu and other Chinese dissidents launched Charter 08, demanding free speech and a multiparty system. For that Liu was sentenced to 11 years in jail. China now faces the international embarassment of keeping a Peace Prize Laureate imprisoned. Chinese officials are doing their best to condemn the choice of Liu.

In another development an opposition within the Communist Party is emerging. Some of the old guard, like Mao's former personal secretary, has had enough of the censorship system and they are calling for free speech, a free press, and a free Internet. Their demands are presented in a letter to China's parliament, signed by 23 Communist Party elders. In it they compare the state of free speech in China to other nations: "Our present system of censorship leaves news and book publishing in our country 315 years behind England and 129 years behind France." The outspoken veterans may constitute the most serious challenge yet to the conservative party elite, strengthening the movement for democratic reforms in China.

Turkey turning away from Europe

Turkey wants to become a member of the European Union (EU), an aim supported by Sweden and several other EU countries. But recent developments give further evidence that Turkey would be an odd bird in the EU family. Turkey continues to deny the mass killings of Armenians in World War I and protested angrily when the Swedish parliament called it a genocide. Then in May Turkey supported the Ship to Gaza flotilla, severing its ties with Israel. As Christopher Hitchens points out in his analysis of this event, Prime Minister Erdogan seems set on de-secularizing Turkey, a move that won't sit well with the EU. And last week Turkey, and Brazil, voted against the UN Security Council resolution on sanctions against Iran. (See Fred Kaplan for specifics.) Joining forces with Iranian President Ahmadinejad is a bad sign for any leader wanting to play a role in the civilized world.