activists-from-china

"Can someone who has ignored a genocide at home truly feel empathy for suffering elsewhere?"

"Imagine that a valuable property of yours was being traded between two people right before your eyes—without your permission—and one of those people was a thief who had stolen your possession. At the same time, the other was a prominent person from your neighborhood who knows well that you are the rightful owner. How would you feel? Naturally, you would despise the thief’s shamelessness and [feel] deeply disappointed in the indifference of the prominent man. …Our call may not sound appealing to overly “realist” politicians, but it is the most reasonable call for those who believe in the power of truth, trust the right course of history, and have strategic foresight. Those who turn a deaf ear today will one day regret it when [the People's Republic of] China has taken complete control over the world. Finally, I remind all politicians around the globe that in international trade and politics, it is wise, strategic, moral, and lawful to speak with the valid owner of the goods, not with the thief."

"Genocide can be hidden for a while with friendly visits, but one day it will be revealed."

"A language survives through natural social use, not through staged symbols."

"Some fear that without [Radio Free Asia], the world will forget the Uyghurs’ suffering. I do not share that fear."

"We were at the eye of a storm. We heard gunshots from all directions. I saw armored vehicles rushing on the square and troops pouring in. We were surrounded."

"This is very scary for a country’s future and a great challenge to the world’s development of peace. Xi Jinping’s madness and stupidity is a representation of this country. China will have to pay a heavy price for it in the future."

"We should leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth, and corrodes mankind’s belief that we can better ourselves. The only way to avoid misunderstanding, war, and bloodshed is to defend freedom of expression and to communicate with sincerity, concern, and good intentions."

"The Internet is the best thing that could have happened to China."

"Block [my blog] if you want, but I cannot self-censor, because that is the only reason I have the blog. We both know this is a game. You have to play your part, and I have to play mine."

"Living in a system under the Communist ideology, an artist cannot avoid fighting for freedom of expression. You always have to be aware that art is not only a self-expression but a demonstration of human rights and dignity. To express yourself freely, a right as personal as it is, has always been difficult, given the political situation."

"Art is not an end but a beginning."

"I don’t know about five years from now. I have no plans for that. Maybe I’ll be forgotten by then."

"Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward."

"I’m not sure I’m good at art, but I find an escape in it."

"Consider why the quality of school dinners is declining, even as more and more golf courses are opened."

"No autocracy can lead people to believe that they are living in harmony and happiness."

"Contemporary art and the [Communist] Party are an impossible situation. It’s like oil and water—they can never mix."

"We see plenty of artistic work that reflects superficial social conditions, but very little work that questions fundamental values."

"There is no revolution like the Communist revolution. You simply burn all the books, kill all of the thinking people and use the poor proletariat to create a very simple benchmark to gauge social change."

"The great success of this system is that it makes the general public afraid of taking responsibility, afraid of taking a position or giving a definite answer, or even of making mistakes."

"The government may be made up of clever, sensible people. But if they do not believe in basic human values, the more clever or shrewd they are the greater the tragedy they will create."

"It is better to have a retarded president who respects human values than a clever government without human values."

"Any power or structure that seeks to maintain full control and is not open in any way to loosening its power eventually makes itself ridiculous."

"The Chinese [government] only superficially speaks the language of the international community."

"My blog is an extension of my thinking. Why should I deform my thinking simply because I live under a government that espouses an ideology which I believe to be totally against humanity?"

"The population is in a constant state of enforced dislocation. So let us hope that a totally new culture will come out of this."

"No matter how long our politicians order people to sing songs of praise, no matter how many fireworks they launch into the heavens, and no matter how many foreign leaders they embrace, they cannot arouse a genuine mood of joy and celebration among the people."

"It is as difficult [for Chinese politicians] to get a real smile [from the people] as it is to keep the sky blue and clouds white."

"The Olympics are an opportunity to redefine the country, but the message is always wrong."

"The think of artists as prostitutes. And in reality it’s true: in the Communist system artists just represent what the power structure seeks them to represent. It is prostitution."

"Measuring national prestige by gold medals is like using Viagra to judge the potency of a man."

"It is absurd that so much money has been wasted on manipulating public opinion, on simulating emotion. This nation is notorious for its ability to make or fake anything cheaply. “Made-in-China” goods now fill homes around the world. But our giant country has a small problem. We can’t manufacture the happiness of our people."

"Anyone who cares about truth should avoid not politics, but Olympic lies."

"Neither fairness nor justice, neither reality nor humanity can be simulated or manipulated by wires or remote controls."

"My favorite word? It’s 'act.'"

"It became like a symbolic thing, to be “an artist.” After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product."

"I call on people to be “obsessed citizens,” forever questioning and asking for accountability. That’s the only chance we have today of a healthy and happy life."

"My activism is a part of me. If my art has anything to do with me, then my activism is part of my art."

"I came to art because I wanted to escape the other regulations of the society. The whole society is so political. But the irony is that my art becomes more and more political."

"They don’t believe in liberty. They don’t believe in China before the Communists. There is only one simple, clear task: to protect their control, to maintain their governing. Which is such a pity."

"I think strategically China has come to a very crucial moment. They [the government] have to re-justify themselves. Even the past 20 to 30 years are based on a kind of destructive, suicidal act. Now they are trying to reach a higher level, but I think in any society, culture should have its own rights: not to be touched by the government, not to be promoted by the government, also not to be destroyed by the government."

"This does not mean a meteor has fallen. This is the discovery of a star."

"I think right now is the moment. This is the beginning. We don’t know what is it the moment of, and maybe something much crazier will happen. But really, we see the sunshine coming in. It was clouded for maybe a hundred years. Our whole condition was very sad, but we still feel warmth, and the life in our bodies can still tell that there is excitement in there, even though death is waiting. We had better not enjoy the moment, but create the moment."

"I always have an attitude. Even if there are no plans, I have an attitude. Perhaps I answered imprecisely before, saying that I am just a person. I am actually a person with an attitude."

"Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy."

"Tips on surviving the regime: Respect yourself and speak for others. Do one small thing every day to prove the existence of justice."

"If there is one who’s not free, then I am not free. If there is one who suffers, then I suffer."

"Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?"

"[The Olympics are] an event manipulated into misleading people into believing that we have entered a new, successful and harmonious period in our history. This is not true."