Hong Kong Newspaper Highlights Government Repression of Lawyers

June 2, 2006

The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao published a series of articles on May 18 that highlight the Chinese government's repression of lawyers who engage in criminal and civil rights defense. An article entitled Rights Defense Lawyers Are Bound and Gagged; New Industry Regulations Restrict the Acceptance of Requisitioning and Eviction Cases criticizes the new guiding opinion from the All China Lawyers Association, which restricts lawyer involvement in "mass" cases.

The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao published a series of articles on May 18 that highlight the Chinese government's repression of lawyers who engage in criminal and civil rights defense. An article entitled Rights Defense Lawyers Are Bound and Gagged; New Industry Regulations Restrict the Acceptance of Requisitioning and Eviction Cases criticizes the new guiding opinion from the All China Lawyers Association, which restricts lawyer involvement in "mass" cases. The newspaper's May 18 China Commentary analyzes the Chinese leadership's emphasis on development of the rule of law and the legal system, as well as its scrutiny of the "rights defense movement" as a "movement of dissent." Finally, in an article entitled Litigating for the Disadvantaged, Over 100 Encounter Suppression, Ming Pao reports that since 1995, the Chinese government has suspended, arrested, indicted, or convicted over 100 lawyers as a result of their criminal and civil rights defense work. The third article identifies Zheng Enchong, Zhu Jiuhu, Gao Zhisheng, and Guo Feixiong as four legal advocates who have been subject to government repression despite the peaceful nature of their legal advocacy.

The Hong Kong periodical Asia Weekly published an article in December 2005 on China's Rights Defense Lawyers and Rule of Law Pioneers (in Chinese) and listed 14 "Icons of 2005" who "defy force, use constitutional law as their weapon, and leverage the strength of the Internet in order to safeguard the constitutionally-protected rights of China's 1.3 billion citizens and to promote Chinese democracy and construction of the rule of law." Since 2005, most of these prominent legal advocates and scholars have been placed under surveillance or other government restrictions. The Asia Weekly list includes the four legal advocates whose names appear in the Ming Pao article.

"Icons of 2005" Subject to Surveillance or Other Government Restrictions

  • Chen Guangcheng. Authorities in Linyi city, Shandong province, placed legal advocate Chen Guangcheng under house arrest from September 6, 2005, to March 11, 2006, for exposing and challenging the abuses of local population planning officials. Authorities subsequently detained him for 37 days, before moving him to a government-monitored location to await trial, according to an April 21 update by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
  • Fan Yafeng. Associate Professor Fan Yafeng of the Institute of Law, at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), received an invitation to attend a U.S. summit on "Freedom in China" in early May 2006. Leaders at CASS intentionally kept him from traveling to the U.S. to be at the event, according to a May 2 Radio Free Asia (RFA) article (in Chinese).
  • Gao Zhisheng. Justice bureau officials in Beijing shut down Gao Zhisheng's law firm in November 2005, after his refusal to withdraw an open letter to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao regarding the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Public security officials have conducted a continuing campaign of harassment and repression against Gao, his family, and various associates, and prevented him from attending the U.S. summit on "Freedom in China" in early May, according to RFA.
  • Guo Feixiong. Guangdong provincial officials charged Guo Feixiong with "gathering people to disturb public order" and detained him from September through December 2005 for advising residents of Taishi village, Guangdong, in their recall campaign against an allegedly corrupt village committee head. Officials ultimately released Guo and dismissed all criminal charges against him.
  • Guo Guoting. Shanghai lawyer Guo Guoting has resided in Canada since mid-2005, after Shanghai public security officials placed him under house arrest in March and justice bureau officials suspended his law license in February of the same year. The Shanghai Justice Bureau reportedly accused him of "adopting positions and making statements contrary to the law and the Constitution" and "defiling and slandering" the Communist Party and government. Guo has defended journalists, Falun Gong practitioners, and other activists. He has also defended Zheng Enchong (see below), a fellow Shanghai lawyer and advocate on behalf of evicted Shanghai residents.
  • Li Baiguang. Li Baiguang is a democracy activist who has advocated on behalf of farmers and on the issue of village elections. In January 2006, police and plainclothes security officers raided a prayer meeting that he attended and physically assaulted Li, according to Gao Zhisheng's account of the incident (via the China Aid Association). Li attended the U.S. summit on "Freedom in China" and a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in early May 2006. One day after the meeting with President Bush, the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong cancelled a planned visit by Li and others, raising concern about possible self-censorship by religious groups in Hong Kong, according to a May 16 Christian Post article.
  • Li Heping. Plainclothes security officers physically blocked Li Heping, who has advised and represented a number of activists including Gao Zhisheng, from meeting with Gao on March 10, according to a colleague's account of the incident (in Chinese, via Boxun).
  • Xu Zhiyong. Unidentified assailants attacked a group of lawyers that included Xu Zhiyong, after the lawyers attempted to visit Chen Guangcheng while he remained under house arrest on October 4, 2005. Officials then brought the lawyers to the local police station for interrogation and released them on October 5.
  • Zhang Xingshui. Beijing lawyer Zhang Xingshui received an invitation to attend the U.S. summit on "Freedom in China" in early May 2006, but prior to his anticipated departure, court officials notified him of court appearance dates that conflicted with the summit dates. Zhang was unable to travel to the U.S. to attend the event due to his obligations to clients, according to RFA.
  • Zheng Enchong. Shanghai lawyer and property rights advocate Zheng Enchong is serving a three-year sentence for "illegally providing state secrets to entities outside of China" and is due for release on June 5, 2006. In July 2001, the Shanghai Justice Bureau revoked Zheng's license to practice law after he advised more than 500 households displaced by Shanghai's urban redevelopment projects on their rights to government compensation. In May 2003, the month before public security officials detained Zheng, a group of Shanghai residents who were advised by Zheng attempted to bring a lawsuit and alleged that corrupt officials colluded with a prominent Shanghai property developer to deprive them of compensation funds for their demolished homes. While in prison, officials have barred Zheng from seeing or speaking to family members. A May 18, 2006, Human Rights in China report noted that Shanghai public security officials continue to harass Zheng's family.
  • Zhu Jiuhu. In 2005, Zhu represented a group of private oil investors who attempted to negotiate with local officials over compensation for government seizure of their oil fields. Public security officials in Shaanxi province detained and ultimately convicted Feng Bingxian, the group's spokesman, charging that he had "gathered people to disturb public order" and obstructed the work of government agencies by bringing too many investor representatives to meet with the government. Officials detained Zhu in May 2005 for his role in advising the investors, and released him in September on orders not to leave Beijing or accept interviews from the news media.