China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - February 2006

 
 
 

Message from the Chairman

Internet Censorship in China

Recently, U.S. Internet companies operating in China censored certain material offered by their Internet service. The Commission is concerned that these actions were made in response to a threat of commercial or criminal reprisals by the Chinese government, not in an effort to comply with Chinese law.

This government-compelled censorship denies Chinese citizens the fundamental right to freedom of expression guaranteed in their Constitution. Any restrictions placed on this right by the Chinese government must be openly legislated and transparently applied. This is the minimum requirement for a society based on the rule of law.

 
 
 

Announcements

Translation: Second Five Year Reform Program

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has prepared a translation of the Second Five Year Reform Program for the People's Courts (2004-2008).

 
 
 

Chinese Authorities Indict New York Times Researcher Zhao Yan

The New York Times reported on December 23 that Chinese authorities have indicted Zhao Yan, a researcher at its Beijing bureau, on charges of revealing state secrets and fraud. Agents from the Ministry of State Security detained Zhao on September 17, 2004, and authorities formally arrested him in October 2004 for "providing state secrets to foreigners." In June 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) confirmed that on May 20 authorities had transferred his case to the Beijing procuratorate for prosecution both for providing state secrets to foreigners and for fraud.

Microsoft Censors Internet Writer at Chinese Government's Request

Microsoft Corporation's MSN Web portal shut down the Web site of Zhao Jing, a research assistant at the Beijing bureau of the New York Times and one of China's best known independent Internet commentators (also known as "web loggers" or "bloggers"), on December 30, the New York Times (NYT) reported (subscription required) on January 6. The NYT cited Brooke Richardson, a group product manager for MSN in Seattle, as saying that Microsoft took down Zhao's site after Chinese authorities made a request through a Shanghai-based affiliate of the company. A January 6 Associated Press report (via Businessweek) cited Ms. Richardson as saying it was shut down for violating Microsoft's code of conduct, which requires users to comply with local laws in the country in which the user is based. The NYT said Zhao served as China's lone jury member in a blog competition that Deutsche Welle sponsored last year, and had worked as a research assistant for the Washington Post before joining the NYT in 2003.

Release Date Approaches for Imprisoned Tiananmen Protester Yu Dongyue

Imprisoned journalist and Tiananmen democracy protest participant Yu Dongyue's sentence will expire on February 26, 2006, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a U.S. NGO that advocates for prisoners of conscience in China.

Hebei Provincial Government Issues Opinion Prohibiting Torture to Obtain Evidence

The Hebei provincial procuratorate, high court, and public security bureau have issued a joint opinion prohibiting the use of torture to obtain evidence against a criminal suspect, according to a December 30, 2005, report by the official Xinhua news agency. The "Guiding Opinion Regarding Prevention of Extorting Confessions Under Torture During Criminal Case Activity" went into effect in Hebei province on January 1, 2006.

Government Program to Shut Dangerous Coal Mines Proceeds Slowly, Results Mixed

Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated the commitment of the central government to reforming China's mining industry and closing illegal mines, but acknowledged that the safety situation remains serious despite official efforts, according to a January 25 Beijing News article. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has ordered the closure of China’s most dangerous mines, as part of a campaign to improve safety in the coal mining industry. Despite this order, nearly 60 percent of the mines ordered to close remain open and operating, according to a January 17 article in The Standard. The NDRC said that 5,001 mines were ordered to close, but only 2,157 actually closed. The Standard report also noted that the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) reported that 5,986 miners died in coal mine accidents in 2005 and 2,235 died in other kinds of ore mining accidents, for a combined average of 22 miner deaths each day.

Officials Break Up Protestant Christmas Services in Xinjiang; Detain 12 House Church Leaders

Officials broke up two Protestant house church Christmas celebrations in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and detained 12 house church leaders, according to a December 27, 2005 report of the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors the religious freedom of house church Protestants.

Rebiya Kadeer's Employees Released After Seven-Month Detention

Chinese authorities released two employees of a company belonging to Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer on December 14, 2005, after detaining them for seven months without charges, according to a December 16 report from Radio Free Asia (RFA). Authorities detained Kadeer's former assistant Aysham Kerim and company secretary Ruzi Mamat on May 11, 2005, at Kadeer's company offices in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). According to RFA sources, police returned to the offices again on May 13 and confiscated documents and money. RFA had no further information on the impetus for Kerim and Mamat's release.

Chinese Government Takes Steps Against Corruption While Land Abuses Continue

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) participated in a December 14 online forum posted by the People's Procuratorate Daily (in Chinese) to discuss the impact of the UN Convention Against Corruption (Anti-Corruption Convention) on China's anti-corruption efforts. The forum took place on the same day that the Anti-Corruption Convention went into effect worldwide. SPP representative Zhang Zhihui and MOJ representative Huang Feng agreed on the need to improve domestic legislation to bring China into line with its obligations under the Convention. They also highlighted the need for China to supplement criminal penalties with preventive measures, including better management over public assets, the establishment of an anti-corruption agency, and increased education on corruption issues.

Dalai Lama Tells Tibetans From China That He Does Not Seek Independence

The Dalai Lama told approximately 9,000 Tibetans who traveled from Tibetan areas of China to southern India to attend a Buddhist event that education, not guns and knives, would enable them to fight for the rights [that] are enshrined in the Chinese Constitution, according to a January 17 report by the Tibetan government-in-exile. In closing remarks at the 11-day religious teaching, known as the Kalachakra, the Dalai Lama said that he is not seeking Tibetan independence, and that he is working for a solution to the issue of Tibet based on the Middle Way Approach and within the constitutional framework of the People's Republic of China.

Officials Ban Dozens of Papers, Seize Thousands of Political Publications, in 2005

Chinese authorities banned 79 newspapers and periodicals and seized 169 million illegal publications in 2005, according to a January 18 Xinhua report citing government statistics. The announcement came the day after the National Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications Task Force held its 19th telephone conference, according to a January 18 China News Agency report (in Chinese, via Xinhua). The China News Agency report cited Liu Yunshan, a Communist Party Central Committee member who also serves as secretary of the Secretariat and Director of the Central Propaganda Department, as calling on officials throughout China to "strike hard at illegal political publications and forcefully purify all types of cultural markets."

Official Urges Participation in State-Managed Hajj After Deaths in Mecca

An official from the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) urged Chinese pilgrims to Mecca to make the trip under the auspices of the China Islamic Association, according to a January 19 report from Xinhua. Guo Chengzhen, deputy director of the Muslim affairs department at SARA, said that the delegation organized by the state-sponsored China Islamic Association "enjoys better transportation and accommodation facilities."

Supreme People's Court Maps Future Judicial Reforms in Five Year Reform Program

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) released its five year court reform program (translated by CECC staff) for 2004 to 2008 on October 26, 2005. (The full text of the document did not become available until December 2005.) The focus of the program suggests that one of the top priorities for judicial authorities is criminal law reforms, and that authorities may also address some institutional problems facing the judiciary. At the same time, however, the program also includes proposals to increase official supervision of judges and does not change basic Communist Party control over the courts.

Shenyang City Government Revokes Reforms to Temporary Residence Permit System

Municipal authorities in Shenyang city, Liaoning province, will revoke reforms to the system of temporary residence permits that they adopted in July 2003, according to a December 14, 2005, article in the People's Procuratorate Daily. The head of the Shenyang Public Security Bureau (PSB) confirmed that labor officials are in the process of drafting new regulations to reinstate the requirement that migrants obtain a temporary residence permit to live and work in the city. In 2003, the Shenyang government abolished its existing temporary residence permit system in favor of a new system that only required migrants to sign in with local PSB authorities upon arrival in the city.

Officials Harass Protestant House Churches, Leaders

Chinese officials in Beijing municipality and Jilin province disrupted two Protestant house church services and briefly detained one house church leader in separate incidents in late 2005 and early 2006, according to a January 16 report of the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors the religious freedom of house church Protestants.

Ministry of Public Security Reports Rise in Public Order Disturbances in 2005

Public order disturbances in China increased during 2005, according to Ministry of Public Security (MPS) statistics released in a January 19 news release and January 20 News York Times and South China Morning Post articles. Crimes of "disturbing public order" rose by 6.6 percent over 2004, to 87,000. "Interferences with government functions" increased by 18.9 percent, while incidents of "mass gatherings to disturb social order" rose by 13 percent.

Limited Political Reforms in One Zhejiang County Help Check Local Abuses

Limited political reforms in Wuyi county, Zhejiang province, that allow a degree of popular political participation have helped check local abuses, according to a December 7, 2005, report in the 21st Century Business Herald. Implemented over the past three years, the reforms have been limited in content and local officials have resisted some of the changes. Nonetheless, the reforms represent a positive effort to introduce a degree of independent citizen political participation in one Chinese locality.

New Religious Exchange Association Disseminates Government Views of Religion

Government officials, religious leaders, and scholars met on December 30, 2005, to announce the establishment of the China Religious Culture Communication Association (CRCCA), according to a report posted on the Web site of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) and an article posted on Xinhua's English-language Web site. The CRCCA is a non-profit social organization led by SARA Director Ye Xiaowen that seeks to promote religious exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries.

Guangzhou Officials Release Activist Guo Feixiong

Guangzhou city officials released rural issues activist Guo Feixiong without charge on the exact date of their legally mandated deadline, according to a December 28 report by Radio Free Asia (RFA). Authorities formally arrested Guo Feixiong, whose true name is Yang Maodong, on October 4, 2005, for "gathering people to disturb public order," a crime under Article 290 of China's Criminal Law. The Panyu District People's Procuratorate issued its Decision Not to Prosecute on December 26, 2005 (posted by the Boxun Web site) and noted that public security officials had completed a supplementary investigation and resubmitted their findings to the procuratorate on November 27, 2005. The December 26 decision stated: "This procuratorate believes that criminal suspect Yang Maodong carried out the behavior set forth under Article 290, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, but that the circumstances were minor. In accordance with Article 37 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, there is no need to administer criminal punishment."

Jiangxi Party Authorities Support Judicial Independence, but Under Party Control

The Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee has issued a "Decision on Strengthening the Work of Courts and Procuratorates," according to a January 17 article appearing on the China Court Web site. The Decision calls on Party officials to support a degree of judicial independence, but to continue the Party's control over the selection of top personnel in each court.

Chinese Authorities Crack Down on Progressive Newspaper Publisher

The Communist Party’s Propaganda Department appears to have ordered the removal of several editors from publications of the Southern Daily Press Group during the last week of December 2005, according to reports in Hong Kong and Western news media citing sources in China. Based in Guangzhou city in Guangdong province, the Southern Daily Press Group is one of China's most progressive and reform-oriented newspaper publishers. The Hong Kong and foreign press accounts say that Communist Party propaganda officials removed several editors from the Southern Metropolitan Daily and the Beijing News, both part of the Group.

Popular Magazine Changes Format to Avoid "Politically Sensitive Issues"

The Beijing-based monthly magazine People [Bai Xing], has toned down its outspoken style and removed the "Recording China in Change" slogan from its cover, according to a December 30 South China Morning Post (SCMP) article. A December 29 Voice of America (VOA) report (in Chinese) quoted a "knowledgeable person" at Bai Xing as saying that "the slogan did not have any political meaning, but we were not willing to touch politically sensitive issues, so we are doing our best to keep a distance from certain politically sensitive issues." The SCMP quoted Bai Xing editor Huang Liangtian as saying: "we are required to focus more on culture and lifestyle topics." Huang told the Epoch Times that "higher ups" had demanded that the magazine change its cover, columns, style, and content, but no personnel changes were planned, according to a January 5 report on the Epoch Times Web site.

Falun Gong Practitioner Charles Lee Released, Expelled to the United States

Falun Gong practitioner Charles Lee arrived in San Francisco on January 21 after Chinese authorities released him from prison and expelled him from China upon completion of his three-year sentence, according to a Radio Free Asia report (in Chinese) and a Falun Dafa Information Center news release (in Chinese) dated the same day.

Li Jinping Detained Twice for Attempting to Commemorate Zhao Ziyang's Death

Authorities in Beijing detained Li Jinping on January 8 and also placed dozens of people who were were planning to gather at his home under house arrest, according to January 9 reports from the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. Reuters had reported on January 3 that Li planned to hold a private ceremony on January 9 at his home to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of former Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang.

Li Changqing Gets Three Years Imprisonment for Reporting Disease Outbreak

The Gulou District People's Court in Fuzhou city, Fujian province, sentenced Li Changqing, a deputy director at the Fuzhou Daily, to three years imprisonment for "reporting for the U.S.-based Chinese-language news portal Boxun that an outbreak of [dengue fever] had infected more than 100 people in Fujian in 2004," according to a January 25 Reuters report citing Li's lawyer, Mo Shaoping. Public security officials previously placed Li under residential surveillance on January 20, 2005, and formally arrested him on February 3, 2005, for "inciting subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105 of the Criminal Law. When the government indicted Li on December 30, however, the charge was "intentionally disseminating terrorist information while clearly knowing that it is fabricated, thereby seriously disturbing public order," a crime which was added as Article 291(a) in the Third Amendment to the Criminal Law adopted on December 29, 2001. Li was tried on January 19.

Officials Detain Catholic Priest in Hebei Province, Move Bishop to Unknown Location

Officials detained Wang Wenzhi, an unregistered Catholic priest of Yongnian diocese in Hebei province, on December 11, according to a January 4 report of the Cardinal Kung Foundation (CKF), a U.S. NGO that monitors the religious freedom of Chinese Catholics.

Court Sentences Shaanxi Investor Feng Bingxian to Three Years Imprisonment

The Jingbian County People's Court in Yulin city, Shaanxi province, has sentenced private investor Feng Bingxian to three years imprisonment for "gathering a crowd to disturb public order," a crime under Article 291 (amended in December 2001) of the Criminal Law, according to a January 5 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report. The court identified Feng as the principal leader and organizer of a group of private investors whose oil fields the municipal governments of Yulin and Yanan seized in 2003. The court also sentenced private investors Feng Xiaoyuan (no relation to Feng Bingxian) and Wang Shijun, but released them on January 5 and suspended their sentences for three years because they showed remorse and cooperated in the investigation, according to a January 6 report in the South China Morning Post (subscription required). The 21st Century Business Herald and Boxun both noted that, at the conclusion of the proceedings, Feng Bingxian reserved his right to appeal.

Writer Yang Tianshui's Status, Location Unknown a Month After Officials Detain Him

The Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) reported (in Chinese) on December 25 that public security officials in Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, took freelance writer Yang Tongyan into custody on December 23. Yang is an ICPC member who is also known as Yang Tianshui. According to the ICPC, Yang served a 10-year prison sentence from 1990 through 2000 after being convicted of "counterrevolution."

Central Circular Orders Party-Led Campaign on Enforcing Judicial Decisions

The Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Communist Party Central Committee issued a "Circular on Solving the Enforcement Problem of Chinese Courts" on January 23, according to an article published on the China Court Web site on the same date. The article's commentary on the circular indicates that a campaign on enforcement of judicial decisions led by the Party is now under way, as a result of official concern about mounting social unrest.

Court Sentences Xu Wanping to 12 Years Imprisonment for Inciting Subversion

The Chongqing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu Wanping to 12 years imprisonment and 4 years deprivation of political rights for incitement to subvert state power on December 23, according to a December 24 Human Rights in China (HRIC) press release. Chinese authorities have not disclosed for what actions they prosecuted Xu. In addition, they have taken several measures to ensure the public does not learn about the facts relating to his case:

Zheng Yichun Wins Human Rights Award, Loses Appeal

The Liaoning High People's Court upheld on December 22, 2005, author Zheng Yichun's seven year prison sentence and three years deprivation of political rights for inciting subversion of state power, according to a December 28 report (in Chinese) on the Epoch Times Web site. The offense is a crime under Article 105 of the Criminal Law. In a statement the same day, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) quoted Zheng's brother as saying that Gao Zhisheng, Zheng's appellate lawyer, was not present at the hearing. Authorities in Beijing recently stripped Gao of his law license after he defended journalists and other politically sensitive clients, including Guo Feixiong, Cai Zhuohua, Xu Wanping, and Guo Guoting. Zheng's brother also told CPJ that Zheng suffers from diabetes and has not received adequate medical treatment for the condition while in custody. The court rejected Zheng's appeal one week after The Museum at The House at Checkpoint Charlie and the International Society for Human Rights (Internationalen Gesellschaft fur Menschenrechte) awarded Zheng the Rainer-Hildebrandt-Medaille human rights award, according to a December 16 report (in German) in Die Welt. Zheng was one of at least five writers that Chinese authorities arrested between December 2004 and March 2005, including Shi Tao, Yang Tianshui, and Li Boguang, as part of a crackdown on public intellectuals. For additional details on Zheng's case, click on "more" below.

Anti-Corruption Reporter Jiang Weiping Released from Prison One Year Early

The Intermediate People's Court in Dalian city, Liaoning province, commuted the six-year prison sentence of journalist Jiang Weiping by one year, releasing him on January 3, the Washington Post reported the same day. On January 4, Reuters quoted Jiang's wife as saying that the court released Jiang one year early for good behavior. Chinese courts have the discretion to authorize commutation of sentences under Articles 78 and 79 of the Criminal Law, and Article 221 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Jiang remains barred from speaking to journalists, because he continues to be deprived of his political rights as part of his original sentence. Jiang's wife also told Reuters that she hopes Jiang can join her in Canada, where she now lives, but that for now he is staying with her sister in Dalian, and that his health is "not very good."

Beijing Court Holds Market Landlord Liable for Tenants' Sales of Counterfeit Goods

The Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court found the corporate landlord of the Xiushui Market in Beijing liable for trademark infringement on December 20, 2005, due to sales of counterfeit goods by five tenants within the market, according to a January 4 Bloomberg article and a January 6 Voice of America story (in Chinese).