How Can We Support Chinese in Search of Freedom?

On May 2, I visited the Tokyo Garden Theater in the city's Ariake district. Everyone there seemed to be speaking Chinese, including the staff and the audience. I couldn't help but feel it was just as if I were in China. The singer on stage was Li Zhi, whose performances have been banned in China for the past five years. When the native of Nanjing began singing in his husky voice, the crowd responded by loudly cheering.

Some of Li's best-known songs, such as "The Square" and "The People Do Not Need Freedom" allude to the Tiananmen Massacre. Therefore, they have been banned in China. But the folk-rock artist did not sing them during this concert. Did Li have to make certain promises to the authorities to be able to leave China and perform overseas?

A Chinese friend who accompanied me to the concert lamented, "These days when we're not allowed to even hope for freedom in China, we can't even say 'the people don't need freedom.'"

Chinese Voices Abroad

I translated an article that a Chinese friend wrote about the Li Zhi concert into Japanese. When it was published recently on the Japan FNN (Fuji News Network), it caused quite a stir. My friend had to use an alias for the article because her family members are still in China.

Recently, at conferences I have attended overseas, Chinese artists, civil society activists, and journalists all were participating under assumed names. They also declined to join group photos. Furthermore, the other participants had to register in advance. Those not on the approved list were denied entry to protect Chinese participants.

Impact on Japanese Society

China's censorship of speech affects Japanese society as well. All my Chinese students here in Japan are reluctant to speak out in class for fear of being reported back to China. They will email me their comments after class is finished. One male student took part in demonstrations in Tokyo protesting the Chinese government's COVID-19 policies. When he temporarily returned to China, he was grilled by the local police.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Department searched this building in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward in May 2023. It was believed to be the home to one of China's "overseas police stations." The business there at the time has moved, and the owner of the building has also changed. (@Sankei by Masanori Hashimoto)

His parents, relatives, and friends could not comprehend why he had participated in the demonstration. They continued to berate him for having done something wrong. He lost faith in other people, and even after returning to Japan, he stopped attending class and holed himself up at home.

That happens when someone thinks that their behavior is under constant watch. They are likely to become nervous and unable to talk to others.

Some students say that people they interviewed for their doctoral dissertations were also arrested. That was even though the topic of the interview did not have any direct connection to politics.

Moreover, Japanese students considering studying in China must provide detailed personal information about family members when applying for a visa. They also know their personal computers, mobile phones, and other electronic devices may be inspected when entering China. Consequently, these students often give up the idea of studying in China.

Desire to Live in Freedom in Japan

Speech is tightly controlled in China, and Chinese censors have deleted a tremendous amount of information and comments. Various restrictions have also been imposed on book and magazine publishing as well as musical and artistic activities. Meanwhile, the number of Chinese fleeing overseas to get away from an environment that smothers freedom has been rising.

This migration of Chinese abroad is referred to as run (潤), which, among other things, means "profit," "benefit," or "smooth." The pronunciation of this Chinese word is similar to the English word "run," so the idea of "running away from" or "escape" is implied. With the increasing number of such Chinese immigrants in Japan, new bookstores specializing in Chinese books have opened in Tokyo. And now artists like Li Zhi are coming to Japan for public performances.

Furthermore, in June a popular talk show that has been restricted in China was held at an arena in Japan. That arena can accommodate 10,000 attendees.

Chinese friends refer to this phenomenon as the "freedom economy." In other words, freedom-seeking activities by Chinese people are generating economic benefits overseas.

A particular market has been created by the Chinese who have fled to Japan. In turn, it has benefited the Japanese economy.

How should Japanese politicians view this situation?

It's Not the End of the Qing Dynasty

Noting the influx of Chinese seeking freedom in Japan, some observers are drawing parallels to the end of the Qing dynasty. During that time, revolutionaries like Sun Yat-sen and frustrated reformers such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao fled to Japan.

However, something is different. Yes, that's it. Where are the business people like Shokichi Umeya? Such businessmen helped bring about the 1911 Xinhai Revolution by providing generous financial support to people like Sun Yat-sen.

*Nanjing Road during the Xinhai Revolution (Wikimedia Commons)*

Naturally, if businessmen were to act similarly today, they would be seen as attempting to overthrow the one-party regime of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Such a course would be considered inappropriate even without direct intervention in the politics of a foreign country. Perhaps that is the thinking at work here.

A Nation in Decline?

However, I have to wonder whether we are not looking at things from a short-term perspective. We seem focused only on the immediate benefits for our own nation and companies. However, Japan needs to clearly identify the values it prioritizes in dealing with China. Without doing so, the environment safeguarding democracy and freedom so painstakingly built up since the war is fated to decline.

As things stand today, there are hardly any people who support the speech and artistic expression of Chinese who aspire to be free. Where are the politicians, intellectuals, companies, or private organizations who could do so?

Faced with this bleak situation, I cannot help but acutely feel that Japan as a nation is in decline.

(Read the Sankei Seiron column in Japanese.)

Author: Tomoko Ako