China

Ai Weiwei on Beijing's Nightmare City - The Daily Beast

Emerson — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:26:31 +0100

Beijing is two cities. One is of power and of money. People don’t care who their neighbors are; they don’t trust you. The other city is one of desperation. I see people on public buses, and I see their eyes, and I see they hold no hope. They can’t even imagine that they’ll be able to buy a house. They come from very poor villages where they’ve never seen electricity or toilet paper.

Source: Ai Weiwei on Beijing's Nightmare City - The Daily Beast

No interviews, Twitter, travel for Ai Weiwei - Reuters

Emerson — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:00:51 +0100

No talking, no tweeting and no travel for a year -- these are some of the conditions of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei's release from more than two months in detention, underscoring Beijing's efforts to muzzle dissent.

Source: No interviews, Twitter, travel for Ai Weiwei - Reuters

Where is Ai Weiwei?

Emerson — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:27:36 +0100

Detained for over a month by Beijing police, fears are growing for the safety of the Chinese artist.

Source: Where is Ai Weiwei?

Chinese dissident Yu Jie tells of jail threat for criticising PM Wen Jiabao | World news | The Guardian

vero — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:19:41 +0100

The political pressure on writers in China is growing, an outspoken critic of the government said today, as his highly sensitive book about the country's premier went on sale in Hong Kong.

Yu Jie said state security had warned him last month not to proceed with the release of his book, China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao.

Source: Chinese dissident Yu Jie tells of jail threat for criticising PM Wen Jiabao | World news | The Guardian

Amnesty Media Awards 2010 - Digital

SamSam — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:29:29 +0100

Remembering Tiananmen 2010 Oxford

RuthS — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:21:09 +0100

FREEDOM ENOUGH

Dean Omori — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:52:05 +0100

How many does China execute? - Kate Allen

DrPot — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:12:29 +0100

You might have heard it said that China executes more people than all other countries in the world put together. Not just a handful, but thousands and thousands of people every single year. This, broadly, is true.

But suppose you actually wanted to find out exactly how many people the People's Republic executes annually. Any chance of getting this information? No. Try asking the Chinese authorities, and you'll get a stern "it's a state secret" rebuff. If you happened to get hold of some solid information (from lawyers in China, for example) you'd then be in possession of a state secret which it would be illegal to make public.

Source: How many does China execute? - Kate Allen

Missing Chinese dissident lawyer Gao Zhisheng 'alive'

DrPot — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:33:31 +0100

Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, missing for more than a year after being detained by police, has spoken to Western journalists.
He said he was living near Wutai mountain, a Buddhist landmark in northern Shanxi province.
"I want to live a quiet life for a while," Mr Gao said by telephone.
He told Reuters news agency he had been released six months ago. He was abducted by police from a relative's house in February 2009.
Reuters said it had taken steps to verify Mr Gao's identity.
Another human rights lawyer said he had also spoken to Mr Gao on Sunday.

Source: Missing Chinese dissident lawyer Gao Zhisheng 'alive'

China orders journalists to retrain in communist theory

DrPot — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:00:39 +0000

China wants to crack down on press freedom and introduce a new training system that requires journalists to train in Marxist and communist theories of news.

Li Dongdong, deputy director of the General Administration of Press and
Publication, told the South China Morning Post that some mainland reporters were giving Chinese journalism a bad name because they were not properly trained.

Under communist theories of journalism, media should support the leadership rather than operate as a watchdog.

Source: China orders journalists to retrain in communist theory

Internet access is 'a fundamental right'

DrPot — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:37:54 +0000

Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests.
The survey - of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries - found strong support for net access on both sides of the digital divide.
Countries such as Finland and Estonia have already ruled that access is a human right for their citizens.
International bodies such as the UN are also pushing for universal net access.
"The right to communicate cannot be ignored," Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), told BBC News.

Source: Internet access is 'a fundamental right'

My dear husband Liu Xiaobo, the writer China has put behind bars | World news | The Observer

DrPot — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:51:13 +0000

Liu Xia's wedding day in 1996 turned out to be good preparation for the following 14 years of married life. She and her groom, Liu Xiaobo, ate a modest celebratory lunch with relatives. Then she returned home, leaving her new husband to continue serving his sentence in the re-education-through-labour camp.
It does not sound like much of a wedding, but the poet still smiles when she thinks of it. "I was very happy," she says, "because once we were officially married I could visit him."

Source: My dear husband Liu Xiaobo, the writer China has put behind bars | World news | The Observer

The Downfall of Human Rights

Niluccio — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:05:58 +0000

Today the lack of interest in human rights has been virtually institutionalized in Washington and other capitals. A decade ago, policymakers could move up the ladder within bureaucracies like the U.S. State Department, the British Foreign Office, or Germany's Foreign Ministry by focusing on human rights, but today advocating for global freedom will get you nowhere.

Source: The Downfall of Human Rights

Google attacks 'traced to Chinese schools' | Technology | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:46:59 +0000

A spate of internet attacks that hit Google and other companies have been traced to two schools in China, according to reports – but Chinese sources have responded by denying knowledge of the strikes.
According to the New York Times, security experts investigating a string of hacking attacks on American companies have linked them to origins in mainland China.
The story, which quoted anonymous sources close to the investigation, said that the so-called Project Aurora attacks appeared to originate from Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong province.

Source: Google attacks 'traced to Chinese schools' | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Uighurs returned to China 'disappear' says rights group

fionamc — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:10:38 +0000

China must account for the whereabouts of ethnic Uighurs forcibly repatriated from Cambodia, a US-based rights group has said.

Source: Uighurs returned to China 'disappear' says rights group

Microsoft patches IE security hole, human rights activities fully resume

SamSam — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:05:19 +0000

Ready for an update? Good. If you're still using Microsoft's Internet Explorer (versions 5.01 to 8) for some inexplicable reason, there's a patch that you should probably install on the double -- that is, if you're a hardcore human rights activist that just might end up on a Chinese hit list. All kidding aside, the devs in Redmond have broken free from their usual monthly update cycle in order to push out a patch to fix the hole that was exploited by a group of sophisticated hackers last week.

Source: Microsoft patches IE security hole, human rights activities fully resume

Google Defends Against Large Scale Chinese Cyber Attack: May Cease Chinese Operations

vero — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:28:21 +0000

Google is releasing information about a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” on their corporate infrastructure that occurred last month.

In light of the attacks, and after attempts by the Chinese government to further restrict free speech on the web, Google has decided it will deploy a fully uncensored version of its search engine in China.

Source: Google Defends Against Large Scale Chinese Cyber Attack: May Cease Chinese Operations

Google 'may pull out of China after Gmail cyber attack'

DrPot — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:09:09 +0000

Internet giant Google has said it may end its operations in China following a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack originating from the country.
The company did not accuse the Chinese government directly, but said it was no longer willing to censor its Chinese search engine - google.cn.
This could result in closing the site, and its Chinese offices, Google said.

Source: Google 'may pull out of China after Gmail cyber attack'

Akmal Shaikh: 'Time seems to be running out' says daughter of death row Briton due to be executed within hours | Mail Online

DrPot — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:12:06 +0000

Just let them shoot him!
Anyone whose lives have been blighted by having a loved one hooked on drugs will share the same idea.
Shootong is probably too good for him!- ray dorrity, lymington, UK, 27/12/2009

Source: Akmal Shaikh: 'Time seems to be running out' says daughter of death row Briton due to be executed within hours | Mail Online

Report opens door on China’s ‘black jails’ where citizens are beaten and raped - Times Online

Wily Fox — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:17:48 +0000

A Government spokesman said recently: "Things like this do not exist in China.”

Source: Report opens door on China’s ‘black jails’ where citizens are beaten and raped - Times Online

Nine executed over Xinjiang riots

DrPot — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:28:40 +0000

Chinese authorities have executed nine people in connection with the ethnic riots in Xinjiang earlier this year, regional reports say.
Nearly 200 people were killed in July during unrest between ethnic Uighurs and members of China's Han majority in the regional capital, Urumqi.
The nine men were convicted of crimes including murder and arson, according to the state-owned China News Service.
The reports do not say whether those executed were Uighurs or Han.

Source: Nine executed over Xinjiang riots

Human Rights for China

SamSam — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:14:48 +0100

China Google boss departure reignites debate over censorship

Niluccio — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:09:48 +0100

That was in 2006. Yesterday the sudden and unexpected resignation of Kai-Fu Lee, the head of Google China, reignited the debate about how a business model built on providing unfettered access to information can possibly thrive in a regime that thrives on control - and whether it should try to.

Source: China Google boss departure reignites debate over censorship

Hand shake from the Dali Lama to the Chinese Embassy

Radfax — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:33:38 +0100

More than 2,000 children suffer in new China lead poisoning scandal

Niluccio — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:19:32 +0100

More than 2,000 children have been found to be suffering from lead poisoning because Chinese factories greedy for profit have spewed out pollutants without carrying out even the most minor environmental monitoring.

Source: More than 2,000 children suffer in new China lead poisoning scandal

Happy Birthday Hu Jia

vero — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:26:07 +0100

Chinese hack Melbourne film festival website to protest at Uighur documentary | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:08:00 +0100

Chinese hackers have attacked the website of Australia's biggest film festival over its decision to screen a documentary about the exiled Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer.
Yesterday, two days after the Melbourne international festival opened, hackers replaced programme information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans and sent spam emails in an attempt to crash the site, according to reports in the Australian press.....
...The festival director, Richard Moore, said staff had been bombarded with abusive emails after he rebuffed demands from the Chinese government to drop the film about Kadeer, The 10 Conditions of Love, and cancel her invitation to the festival.

Source: Chinese hack Melbourne film festival website to protest at Uighur documentary | World news | guardian.co.uk

Video: Urumqi's week of rage and fear | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:57:59 +0100

Tania Branigan and Dan Chung were the first western journalists on the scene of clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese in the north-western region of Xinjiang. They tell the story of seven days that left 197 people dead

Source: Video: Urumqi's week of rage and fear | World news | guardian.co.uk

Falun Gong: 10 years of persecution

benc — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:01:03 +0100

Falun Gong: 10 years of persecution

benc — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:04:11 +0100