Thank you very much. Thank you especially for choosing to go to Tiananmen Square to show your solidarity with the people who demonstrated on the street in Tiananmen Square. I really appreciate that. Thank you very much.
There is a clear disparity between the cities and the rural areas in China. So that's a major problem, the gap between the rich and the poor. Whenever my friends from the United States want to go to visit China, I always suggest they go to the countryside. Otherwise they will not understand what China is.
In my recent reports and talks, I always say there are two Chinas in China. One China I call “China Incorporated”, which formed gradually after the Tiananmen Square incident. In the other China, you are not a citizen of China but a “shitizen” of China.
I have a specific story for that term. To make a long story short, it happened a few years ago in Shenzhen. A party official openly sexually attacked an 11-year-old girl, and when the parents protested, this party official said, “I am a party official. You're just a shit in front of me.” So for the other China, we say “shitizens” of China, in a very special way, to express our discontent with the Chinese government.
This separation into two societies is unprecedented. That is why we think the so-called economic growth does not solve the economic problems of these people. The gap becomes larger and larger, and there is no sign it will stop any time soon. Recently China's premier, Wen Jiabao, commented on this quite a few times. He revealed that without protection, without the safeguard of political reform, the fruits of economic reform will be lost. That's a very important signal from inside the government.
So there is a disparity, and this disparity will become a serious problem for the Chinese people. Now what we must do is bring the two Chinas together with consensus. This consensus must be based on universal values. We have no other choice. That is why Charter 08 is so important. I think Charter 08 is important because it's an effort, an attempt, to bring the government and the people together, to reach consensus for the future China, that is a democratic, free China based on universal values.
Thank you.