Yang Jianli

Non-Violence Principle and Non-Violent Resistance Movement (IV)

Yang, Jian-Li

3/21/2002

Most non-violent resistance mass movements do not start as the result of careful planning. Nonetheless, once it has started, a non-violent resistance movement cannot escape the fate of failure if there are no good overall tactics, or no central leadership that can carry out the tactics. This is exactly the point that Mao emphasized when leading the Communist Party in its revolutionary movement: "Policies and tactics are the lifeline of the Party."

I. Quality of the leaders First, what are the qualifications for being a central leader? This question is almost like a clich?because theoretically there have been standard answers and so it does not seem to deserve discussion. In practice, however, the aimlessness of mass movements often leads to the selection as leaders those who are prone to taking the extreme, and those who are emotional. This is in fact a suicidal choice for a mass movement. So, we need to reiterate the necessary quality of the leaders of non-violence resistance movement. Without question, leaders of non-violence resistance movement need first to be brave, and dare to shoulder the risk in order to reduce the risk of their followers. Only so can more people be gathered. The more the participants, the greater the supremacy of the movement. This is one of the most important conditions for victory. Furthermore, leaders have to be able to collect the wisdom of the masses and come up with appropriate slogan, goal, steps and tactics for achieving the goal.

In addition, leaders should be able to adhere to their slogan, goal, steps and tactics, rather than changing directions easily and losing control. It is especially important not to take the extreme when encountering difficulties or being agitated by authorities. Also, leaders should be able to stick to the principle of non-violence and implement strict disciplines, thus always staying in the moral high ground and giving the authorities no excuse for a crackdown.

II. Establishing communication and PR mechanisms One of the most important tactics the authorities use is to cut the communication among participants and between the movement and the outside world, blocking the news about the movement, so that they can be defeated one by one without the outside world knowing about it. Therefore, it is imperative that as soon as a non-violent resistance is started, communication and public relations mechanisms are established. This will help coordinate collective activity and reduce the risk of being crushed in isolation. News meant for the outside world may be passed to a fixed overseas center, and then distributed to various countries in the world as well as back to China. Discussion over tactics, reports about overall situation in China and international attentions can be also carried out first through certain overseas centers, until reliable and stable domestic information centers are established (I myself am willing to do my best to help).

III. Choose slogans that will unite the greatest number of people Selection of slogans should follow the principle of uniting the greatest number of people. Certain slogans may generate frictions among participants of the resistance movement. So, slogans should be about the fundamental interests shared by the participants, and should speak to the heart of the greatest majority of the participants.

IV. Limited objective The principle of limited objective should always be followed. The objective of each specific non-violent resistance movement should be limited and feasible, albeit small. The participants of the movement need to be encouraged by successes. Mass movements often lack patience. If things drag for too long without progress, the masses would either withdraw or go to the extreme. So, the objectives need to be designed small, which would let small successes strengthen the confidence of the participants, and clear their fear, and enhance their morale. This would also encourage more people to join the movement.

V. Slogans should say what we want, rather than down with someone or something When deciding on the demands and slogans, make it clear what the movement wants to achieve first. For example, set getting overdue wages as the primary goal. In general, avoid requesting to oust someone. For one thing, individuals faced with direct threat will personalize their hatred toward the movement and will mobilize governmental and societal resources against the movement (These people often have control over a lot of resources), thus harming the resistance movement and the participants. For the other, participants of the resistance movement usually will not get what they want simply because someone is replaced. Of course, it is a different story if the start of the movement is because of one person's vicious acts. Even in this kind of situation, we should consider whether similar things would happen even if this person is replaced. If they would, what are the things that we want that would reduce such possibility? It is always easier to do things from the positive side than from the negative side. Use more additions instead of subtractions.

VI. Do not escalate slogans and demands; Increase scale and intensity instead It is almost certain that the demands of the resistance movement will not be met by the authorities right away. On the contrary, they will try their best to crack down on the movement. The masses, because of their hatred against the way the authorities treat the movement, would easily emotionalize, and would escalate their slogan and demands, eventually pushing the movement toward extremes, thus giving the authorities excused for crackdown. Sometime, authorities would deliberately anger the participants of resistance movement using some appalling actions, trying to lead the movement toward a wrong direction. When, after a while, the demands of the movement are still not met, the scale of the movement may be increased, for example, rallying more people to participate or to increase the publicity. Also, the intensity of the movement may be increased. For example, going from parade and demonstration to sit-in or petition to a higher level of the government. In contrast, escalating the slogan and demands should always be avoided.

VII. Make the government give in on interests, rather than asking it to "re-define" the movement A resistance movement always runs the risk of being put down. The authorities always try to blemish the movement, saying that you have ulterior motives, or you are trying to create turmoil, or you are incited by a few outsiders, or you are instigated by overseas counterrevolutionary forces, etc. It is very easy for the resistance movement to fall into the trap of these government clich閟, and to ask the authorities to admit that what you are doing is just and patriotic. This would change the original objective of the movement. So, resistance movements should always be clear about the goal they want to achieve. As long as the demands are not satisfied, do not give up. If the authorities are willing to negotiate or to soften, the resistance may compromise, but never with asking the authorities to admit the just and patriotism of the movement as part of the demand. In other words, never give the government the authority to define what is right and wrong. Make the government give in on interests, rather than asking it to "re-define" the movement.

VIII. Substance first, name later Some of the objectives of a resistance movement can be achieved first in substance, and then in name. For example, there has to be some kind of organization to coordinate the movement. In the beginning, only the existence of such an organization is important. It can be given some temporary name such as provisional coordination committee for wage request. But don't demand the authorities to recognize its legitimacy. As long as they are not talking about its legitimacy, so will not the resistance movement. Let it stay in substance and use it as the negotiation entity with the authority. Make organized resistance a reality and then achieve legal reorganization of its name afterwards.

IX. Constantly solidify successes and advance one step at a time If a resistance movement has an overall plan and a comprehensive strategy, it must be able to advance and retreat in order, pause at the right moment, and progress steadily. There is always the possibility that the resistance movement will make some headways (otherwise the movement should not have started in the first place). Once some success is made, the first thing to consider is how to solidify the achievement. Faced with the stubborn and ferocious authorities, the resistance should not use the tactic of chasing after fleeing enemy. Instead, it should solidify the success and wait for next time.

X. Take risks collectively Conceivably, one of the most basic methods for the authorities to deal with resistance movements is to defeat it separately. When the masses, though consisting of many people, exist not as an organized entity, but as separate individuals, their power is much smaller than we believe. So, not only should we get organized in making our demands, but also we should create a situation in which the risks are shared collectively. There are many ways to do it, for example, consoling and helping the victims' families, assisting and expressing support for the persecuted. When people discover that any risk can be shared by many, the courage of every individual will become larger than usual.

XI. Turn the oppressors into individuals Although the authorities are always in the minority, they are an organized force. Their specific brutality is often carried out under a collective name - the government. Therefore, unlike the participants of the resistance movement, the risk of their individual oppressive acts are collectively shared. Hence, one of the tactics of the resistance movement is to make each of them bear their own risk, and be responsible for their own specific crimes. So, the resistance movement should set up files for individual government officials, police officers, to be used in future trials. This will make them concerned about their future when dealing with the resistance movement, and thus want to leave themselves a way out in the future.