By Humanitarian China and China Change, published: April 26, 2015
Humanitarian China will match your donation, as it did in the Ilham Tohti drive, and send twice as much as it receives to the family of Gao Yu.
A file photo of Chinese journalist Gao Yu speaking at a press conference in Hong Kong. AFP via RFA http://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/baotong/detention-03302015110907.html
On April 17, Beijing Municipal Third Intermediary People’s Court sentenced 71-year-old independent Chinese journalist Gao Yu (高瑜) to 7 years in prison for “leaking state secrets to foreign contacts,” provoking a domestic and international outcry and condemnation. The state secrets in question are the infamous Document No. 9 of the Chinese Communist Party that seeks to prohibit discussions in China of constitutional democracy, universal values, civil society, ideas of free market economy, press freedom, historical errors of the Party, and the ills of socialism with Chinese characteristics. These are known as the Seven Don’t Mentions. The barbaric nature of this document is apparent, and any principled journalist or citizen should reveal it and oppose it. As a matter of fact, long before Gao Yu, the document had been widely talked about online and offline, inside and outside of China. Such a Party document, aimed at handcuffing the otherwise vibrant Chinese society, has no basis to constitute a “state secret.”
However, in dictatorial China where the rule of law is but a prop, what is, or is not, a state secret is arbitrarily decided by the Party. But even if this document is a secret, the prosecutors had no evidence to prove that Gao Yu passed it on to overseas contacts, and Gao Yu was convicted based on the “public confessions” she had made under duress on CCTV. As such, the sentence of Gao Yu is clearly a reprisal against a courageous journalist and freedom of the press. And it is a redoubled provocation against the universal concept of justice, and part of Xi Jinping’s systematic suppression of the press, the internet, the dissent, and the civil society.
Gao Yu was born in Chongqing in 1944 and graduated from the Chinese Language Department of Renmin University of China in 1967. She became a journalist with the state-owned China News in 1980, and in 1988, she became the deputy editor-in-chief of the Economics Weekly (《經濟學周報》), a liberal-leaning paper that was shut down after the Tiananmen Movement in 1989. This is Gao Yu’s third time in jail. She was secretly detained on June 3rd, 1989, for 450 days. In November, 1994, because of her writings for the Mirror magazine in Hong Kong, she was sentenced by Beijing Municipal Intermediary Court to 6 years in prison for “leaking state secrets.”
As one of the few fearless independent journalists in China, Gao Yu has won broad international recognition. She was awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom Award by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers in 1995. The international Women’s Media Foundation twice awarded Gao Yu the Courage in Journalism Award in 1995 and 2006. And, she was the first laureate (1997) of UNESCO’s annual World Press Freedom Prize.
Gao Yu suffers from hypertension, heart disease, and Meniere’s disease. Since losing her job in the state system, she has depended on her reporting for a living that’s too often constrained. She has had only minimal medical insurance, and has no pension or welfare benefits. Gao Yu is in urgent need of help to relieve her of financial difficulties so that she can receive adequate and effective treatment and nutrition (in China’s prisons, relatives and friends must make deposits for prisoners so that the latter can purchase food and supplies that are often overpriced).
Out of humanitarian considerations, Humanitarian China and China Change are simultaneously launching this joint donation drive for Gao Yu. Humanitarian China, founded by Zhou Fengsuo (周鋒鎖) and friends in 2007, is a small non-profit charity in the Bay Area in California. It has for years devoted to helping struggling prisoners of conscience and their families with small relief funds. In 2014, Humanitarian China provided relief for nearly 100 people, and its donation drive for the Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti garnered a total of more than $10,000 and the funds were delivered to Ilham’s family. ChinaChange.org was launched on June 4th, 2013, an English-language website dedicated to reporting on human rights, rule of law, and civil society in China. The website has translated multiple articles by Gao Yu, and her article Xi Jinping the Man was the first to unveil what kind of leader Xi Jinping is in January, 2013. It is one of the most read posts on this website.
But your contribution is more than just humanitarian. It is also a token of opposition to political tyranny in China.
Humanitarian China will match your donation, as it did in the Ilham Tohti drive, and send twice as much as it receives to the family of Gao Yu.
You may choose check, credit card, or PayPal to make a donation. You can also make a completely anonymous contribution through a secure third party. Please visit http://h-china.org/donation/ for details.
The donation drive will end on June 4th, 2015. We thank you for your kindness and generosity.
Humanitarian China
China Change
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為高瑜聯合募捐的聲明
人道中國暨China Change, 2015年4月26日
“人道中国”将对每一笔捐款，实行一比一匹配捐款，将双倍的钱送到高瑜亲人手中。
71歲的中國著名獨立記者高瑜女士四月十七日被北京市第三中級人民法院以“向境外非法提供國家秘密”罪判處有期徒刑七年後，在中國國內和國際上引起廣泛關注和強烈譴責。此案所涉及的所謂國家秘密就是臭名昭著的中共中央九號文件，明令禁止討論和講授憲政民主、普世價值、公民社會、自由市場化經濟、新聞自由、中國共產黨的歷史錯誤、以及質疑有中國特色的社會主義，即所謂的“七不講”。這份文件的野蠻、反人類性質不言而喻，任何一個有良知的記者、乃至公民都有責任對之進行披露和反對。事實上，早在高瑜撰文披露和評論前，這份文件的內容已在國內外網絡廣泛傳播。這樣一份旨在恫嚇社會的政黨文件，沒有任何理由構成中國的“國家機密”。
但是在一黨專制、法治形同虛設的中國，什麼是機密、什麼不是機密由共產黨任意決定。不過，根據高瑜女士的律師，即使從司法技術程序而言，檢方沒有任何實體證據證明高瑜向境外媒體傳輸了這份文件，而將高瑜定罪的是高瑜在當局脅迫下在中央電視台上的“公開認罪”。因此，中國當局對高瑜的審判與重刑無疑是對一個良心記者的瘋狂報復以及對新聞自由的強力遏制，是對普世正義原則的雙重踐踏和挑戰，也是習近平上台以來對媒體、互聯網、異見、以及公民社會變本加厲進行打壓的一部分。
高瑜1944年生於重慶，祖籍河南。1967年畢業於中國人民大學語言文學系，1980年進入中新社擔任記者，1988年10月擔任《經濟學周報》副總編。1989年六四後，該報被勒令停刊。高瑜歷經三次牢獄。1989年6月3日被祕密逮捕關押450天；因給香港《鏡報》撰文，1994年11月被北京市中級法院以“洩露國家機密罪”判處6年；2014年4月24日，高瑜再次被北京警方秘密逮捕並在一年後判以重刑。
作為中國少有的不畏強暴的獨立記者之一，高瑜女士得到了廣泛的國際認可和褒獎。她曾獲得國際報業發行人協會的“自由金筆獎” (1995)，國際婦女媒體基金會的“新聞勇氣獎”（1995和2006），以及聯合國教科文組織的“吉耶爾莫卡諾新聞自由獎”（1997）。
高瑜女士患有高血壓、心髒病和美尼爾綜合症等多種疾病。自從1989年失去體制內公職以來，高瑜靠新聞寫作艱難維生，只有最簡單的醫療保險，沒有退休金和社會福利。高瑜女士急需得到各方人士的關懷和救助，解除她的財政憂患，使得她的疾病能得到及時和有效的治療，在獄中的生活能得到保證（在中國的監獄中，家人和朋友需要為犯人存錢，以便他們可以購買營養食品和物資，而且監獄的物價十分高昂）。
從基本的人道主義出發，人道中國和 China Change 在兩家網站同步聯合發起為高瑜募捐活動。人道中國是位於美國加利福尼亞州灣區的一個小型非盈利公共福利組織，由周鋒鎖等三人於2007年創立，經年致力於小額救助生活艱難的中國大陸良心犯及其家人，2014年共救助近一百人。在去年九月至十月一次類似的專項募捐活動中，人道中國為被判處終身監禁的維吾爾族學者伊力哈木∙土赫提家人募集一萬多美元。ChinaChange.org創立於2013年6月4日，是一個致力於報導和傳播有關中國大陸人權、民主、法治、公民社會消息的英文網站，曾翻譯多篇高瑜女士的文章。她2013年初最早向世界分析習近平的文章《男兒習近平》之英譯版是本網站閱讀量最大的文章之一。
但是您的捐贈並不僅止於人道幫助；您的捐贈也是對中國的政治暴政提出的一次抗議。
“人道中国”将对每一笔捐款，实行一比一匹配捐款，将双倍的钱送到高瑜亲人手中。
您可以選擇支票、信用卡、PayPal、或全匿名方法捐款，辦法詳見（中英文）：
募捐活動將持續至2015年6月4日。感謝您的關懷和支持！
The donation drive has entered its 8th day, and Humanitarian China has received more than 30 donations, and the amount ranges from $10 to $1,000. We will be posting a detailed report on the campaign after it ends on June 4th.
Ten days into the donation drive, Humanitarian China has received 36 contributions totaling $7,479. We hope to raise at least $10,000. And with $10,000 match from Humanitarian China, we hope to deliver at least $20,000 to Gao Yu’s family to be used for legal, medical and nutrition expenses.
The joint donation drive for Gaoyu has concluded. 71 donors have given a total of $12,297 US dollars. Humanitarian China has matched it, and we will be transferring $24,594 to Gao Yu’s family shortly. The fund will be used to provide legal, medical and humanitarian support for Gao Yu. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.
人道中國與China Change 為高瑜發起的聯合募捐已經結束，共收到71筆捐款，總計 $12,297美元。“人道中国”對每一筆捐款進行一比一陪捐，所以，我們將把總額$24,594的人道救助送給高瑜家人，用於高瑜的律師、醫療、生活等各項費用。謝謝大家的支持。
@ChineseGovernment U R So very much out of touch with people, is it because in your elite lifestyle U no longer have to admit the wrong U do to so many decent Chinese folk. U have your fat cat 🐱 wages and lifestyle to cushion yourselves from the harsh realities, that, so many other Chinese people are going through, you have ears of cloth and vipers tongues, and your eyes are hooded ! You Are deceit and lies incarnate. How do you all sleep at night ?! Even God most High would not forgive any of You for this hatred and loathing towards your own people of integrity and strength. I am appalled at your supposed Authoritive actions. You are reprobates and not fit to purpose or the station you hold. Disgusted.