Civil Rights Activists are Upping the Ante on Protest

 This is the link to this particular article. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10759457/Chinese-activist-group-warns-Communist-Party-We-cannot-be-stopped.html)Many people know very little about political protest in China. Protests are suppressed by the Chinese government, and hefty fines and jail time await those who speak out against the government. Protests from a civil rights activist group in China called the New Citizens' Movement has become too vocal for the Chinese government to ignore any longer. The group's leader Xu Zhiyong appeared in court Friday, April 11, and tried to dispute his four-year sentence for protesting. The court rejected his argument, and he had strong words in response. "This ridiculous judgment cannot hold back the tide of human progress. The dark clouds of the Communist dictatorship will one day clear," Dr. Xu said. These are remarkable words from a Chinese citizen. Since 2012, the New Citizens' Movement has become increasingly problematic for the Chinese government, which fears that the group will grow into a political threat. Its members, rumored to be in the thousands, hold meetings where they discuss the future of China and also government corruption. China has a choice to make. The government can either crack down violently on the activists or jail the members to keep them quiet. With both of these options, however, the government risks the escalation of the movement.

Much like Tiananmen Square, there is the potential for great violence in this situation. The more China cracks down on democratic activists, the more other nations like the United States may begin to pull back from economic and political ties with China.

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