"What I'm interested in is the activity that takes place outside of the state and the market," explained Yiyi Lu. She went on to note that although there were significant constraints on group-based activities in China, individuals enjoyed more autonomy. "Some activists recognize that they have more flexibility as individuals, and choose to continue to operate in this way instead of setting up organizations," she said.
Lu noted that individuals take actions both on behalf of themselves, as is the case for example when farmers protest when their land has been appropriated, and on behalf of others, as is the case for many human rights lawyers. When individuals take action, they can choose among legal and non-legal options, such as taking to the streets or raising issues in the media.
One of the dramatic changes in China in recent years, according to Lu, is that individuals can now ask for compensation from the state when they have, for example, been wrongly imprisoned. "This is a new thing, something we could not have imagined in the past," she said. Lu said that one can see in China today both the development of rule of law and a growing public awareness by individuals that they have rights.
One of the topics that Lu has explored in great length in recent years is Open Government Information (OGI) regulations. OGI was introduced in China in 2008 and is similar to Freedom of Information legislation in other countries. Despite the many restrictions, enforcement is gradually improving as China responds to an increasing number of OGI requests. Lu said that most OGI requests are rights-related - "related to land, gay rights, animal rights, consumer activists, and so on."
Although requesters are achieving only "mixed results," according to Lu, they are benefiting in other ways. "Citizens are gaining extensive legal knowledge, and also knowledge of how the administrative system in China works," she said. She noted that government agencies too are learning, and are becoming more responsive to citizen requests. "The state recognizes," she said, "that opening up space for civil society activities that play by the rules is in its interests."
Yiyi Lu is a senior research fellow at the ChangCe Think Tank in Beijing. She made her remarks during a day-long conference at the School of Public Policy at Central European University on March 21, China's New Normal: Transitions at Home and Abroad.