Why We Should Help China

By Charles Grapski

It puzzles me when Americans ask, "Why should we help China?"

Students in China gave their lives for the same principles on which America was founded. In a non-violent protest, students asked for nothing more than basic human rights: liberty and justice for all. They became victims of a communist dictatorship which vividly shows the depths of tyranny in our time. America needs to reaffirm the basic ideals for which it stands.

The people of China need us, now more than ever, to keep their dream alive. They are being silenced by their government, and there is nothing they can do inside China's borders. With no voice of their own, they need ours. The leaders of their pro-democracy movement have asked for our help.

Around the world, those of us who believe in freedom must take up this message as if it were our own.

Our government must also stand behind the Chinese people. Some say this is an internal affair of the Chinese government, and ours has no right to help the students.

This is wrong. That's what the Chinese government says. But, no government owns its citizens. Therefore, no government has the right to violate its people. We are all citizens of the world community. Whenever human rights are being violated, it is no longer an internal affair of that government. It becomes an internal affair only to this world community. As members of this world community, we must stand strongly in opposition to these types of violations and we must dedicate ourselves to seeing that it never happens again, anywhere in the world.

Freedom is not just a privilege; it is a responsibility. The people of China have proven they are ready to accept this responsibility. Now it is our turn to show that we, too, understand our responsibility and that we are committed to these basic ideals: freedom and democracy.

Noted Florida activist Charlie Grapski is a co-founder of the China Support Network.