On August 24, 2011, Guangzhou citizen, Communist Party member and “independent” people’s congress candidate Liang Shuxin (梁树新) was notified by local authorities in Guangzhou’s Panyu District that his eligibility had been denied because “campaigning when one has not yet formally become a candidate is a violation of procedure.” Over a period of two months, Liang Shuxin, the founder of a local charity organization, had received widespread support for his candidacy and actively used social media to introduce himself and his views. In this cartoon, posted by artist Kuang Biao (邝飚) to his blog at QQ.com, a pair of gloved hands snip away a new green sprout growing out of the soil of two large Chinese characters for “democracy.”
David Bandurski
CMP Director
