mr. liu, a writer, former university professor, and a veteran of the 1989 tiananmen protest, just hours after the circulation of an online petition he helped organize. called charter 2008, this petition called for greater development of human rights and reform of china's political system. charter 2008 has more than 300 original signers, representing a broad cross section of chinese society including not only dissidents and public intellectuals but also workers, farmers, entrepreneurs, professals, local officials and others. the petition was circulated widely online and accumulated more than 8,000 signatures throughout china before the chinese government shut down the website. charter 2008 was conceived and written in conscious admiration of charter 7, a document issued in 1977 by dissidents in czechoslovakia. the chinese document calls for an end to some features of china's current political system, including replacing one party rule and a system based on human rights and democracy. the coura