China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - June 2006

 
 
 

Message from the Chairman

Seventeenth Anniversary of Tiananmen

Seventeen years after the world witnessed the devastating events in and around Tiananmen Square, we remember the courage of the students and workers who peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Today, Chinese citizens are turning to the law to assert their rights and speak out against government abuses. They do so in the tradition of those who gathered at Tiananmen, appealing to their leaders through peaceful means for the ability to enjoy rights protected by the Chinese Constitution.

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China remains hopeful that this type of positive change will continue to grow. But developments over the past year undermine the government's stated commitment to build a fair and just society based on the rule of law. New government rules published this year punish lawyers who defend politically sensitive cases. Chinese citizens, like Chen Guangcheng and Guo Feixiong, have faced harassment and imprisonment for legal challenges against government abuses. Political change is complex and imperfect, but China's leaders must take steps to build a more open and participatory society, and the United States must continue to assist in that effort.

 
 
 

Announcements

Roundtable: Political Change in China? Public Participation and Local Governance Reforms

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held another in its series of staff-led Issues Roundtables on May 15 entitled Political Change in China? Public Participation and Local Governance Reforms. The panelists were Merle Goldman, Professor Emerita of Chinese History, Boston University and Executive Committee Member, Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University, Joseph Fewsmith, Director of East Asian Studies Program and Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Boston University, and Xie Gang, Former Senior Program Officer, Law and Governance Programs, Asia Foundation.

 
 
 

Translations: Party and Government Regulation of Civil Society

Government control over the economic and social life of Chinese citizens has receded since the late 1970s, but authorities continue to restrict the development of an independent civil society. The Commission has prepared English translations of five Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) documents establishing these controls. These and other resources are available at: /issues/civil-society.

 

Translations: Government Regulation and Industry Self-Regulation of the Legal Profession

The Party's goal of maintaining social harmony and stability has dominated its policy statements in 2006, and served as justification for increasing barriers to legal enforcement of citizen rights. The Commission has prepared English translations of documents from the government and the All China Lawyers Association (ACLA) that establish prohibitions and punishments against lawyers.

 
 
 

Rebiya Kadeer's Children Held in Custody, Beaten

Authorities in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), held in custody Alim Abdurehim, Ablikim Abdurehim, and Roshengul Abdurehim, who are grown children of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, on May 30, according to a June 1 press release from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP).

Beijing Court Schedules Trial of New York Times Researcher Zhao Yan For June 8

Chinese authorities have set a preliminary date of June 8 to try Zhao Yan, a researcher at the New York Times Beijing bureau, according to a May 27 Reuters article. Authorities originally detained Zhao in 2004 for disclosing state secrets, a charge that both Zhao and the New York Times have denied. They subsequently charged him with both fraud and revealing state secrets in 2005.

Hong Kong Newspaper Highlights Government Repression of Lawyers

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.

ACLA, Justice Bureau Opinions Restrict Lawyer Involvement in Sensitive, Mass Cases

The All China Lawyers Association (ACLA) has issued a guiding opinion that restricts and subjects to punishment any lawyer who gets involved in a "mass" case, according to a May 17 Xinhua article (in Chinese). The ACLA Executive Council approved the Guiding Opinion of the All China Lawyers Association Regarding Lawyers Handling Cases of a Mass Nature, which went into effect on March 20.

Henan Justice Bureau Bans Lawyers From Using Media in Sensitive Cases

The Henan Justice Bureau has issued an opinion that bans lawyers from using the media and engaging in various other activities when handling "major, sensitive, mass" cases, according to an April 10 Henan Daily report (in Chinese, via Xinhua). The opinion states that lawyers in Henan province cannot "use the media to stir things up or create a negative impact on domestic or international public opinion." It prohibits lawyers and law firms from publishing commentary to impact the outcome of a case or the mood of the public, and warns them not to establish contact with overseas organizations or media in violation of disciplinary rules. The Henan opinion comes at a time when other institutions, including the All China Lawyers Association (ACLA), have also issued guiding opinions to restrict lawyer involvement in sensitive or mass cases.

Government Harassment and Detention of Protestants Resumes in Late April

Officials detained Chinese Protestants on five occasions since April 26, according to reports by the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China.

Officials and Scholars Criticize the Failure of Labor Laws to Protect Workers

Chinese officials and scholars criticized the failure of Chinese labor laws to protect workers in press reports from April and May 2006. Li Qi, a labor economics professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, said the failure of China's labor laws to protect workers results from collusion between government officials and private business owners, according to an April 3 China Youth Daily article (English translation in the China Labour Bulletin, April 18, 2006).

MPS Supports Taping Interrogations, But Has No Plans for Nationwide Implementation

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced on May 16 that it will promote audio and video taping of police interrogations in homicide and triad-related cases, according to a Xinhua report dated the same day. The report notes that public security bureaus in economically developed areas such as Shanghai and Beijing municipalities, as well as Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu provinces, have already adopted such measures. Despite supporting these local experiments, the MPS announced no formal plans for nationwide implementation. Instead, He Ting, Director of the MPS Criminal Investigation Department, maintained that it is "still premature for police departments across the country to implement such measures because of the gap in economic development and lack of police in the remote western areas."

Authorities Impose Special Procedures on Release of Shanghai Lawyer Zheng Enchong

Local authorities have announced plans to take Shanghai lawyer and property rights advocate Zheng Enchong into temporary custody upon his scheduled release from prison, according to a June 1 Human Rights in China (HRIC) report. Zheng is serving a three-year prison sentence for "illegally providing state secrets to entities outside of China" and is due for release on June 5, 2006, according to court documents from the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court and Shanghai High People's Court.

Lawyer Petitions For Constitutional Review Of Discriminatory SPC Interpretation

Zhou Wei, a Sichuan University law professor, has asked the Legislative Affairs Commission (LAC) of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) to review the constitutionality of a 2003 Supreme People's Court (SPC) judicial interpretation that discriminates between urban and rural residents on the basis of their household registration (hukou) status, according to a April 21 Sichuan Online article.

Activists, Lawyers Denounce Results Of Taishi LPC Election

A group of 35 nationally-recognized lawyers and human rights defenders, including Gao Zhisheng and Guo Feixiong, announced they would sue a local election committee to challenge the results of a recent local people's congress (LPC) election in Dongyong township, Guangdong province, according to a March 30 South China Morning Post (SCMP)/AsiaNews article.

Zhejiang and Other Provincial Governments Issue New Religious Regulations

The Zhejiang provincial government issued an amended provincial regulation on religious affairs on March 29, making it the fourth provincial-level government to promulgate a new or revised comprehensive regulation on religious affairs since the State Council Regulation on Religious Affairs (RRA) entered into force on March 1, 2005. The Zhejiang regulation amends the provincial government’s 1997 regulation on religious affairs and will enter into force on June 1, 2006.

Chinese Government Continues to Coerce Registered Catholic Bishops

The Chinese government continued to assert its control over the appointment of Chinese Catholic bishops during May, according to Chinese and foreign news sources. Government religious affairs authorities permitted the consecration of one registered bishop who was also approved by the Holy See, but authorities also installed another registered bishop who the Holy See did not approve. The government controlled press also reported prominently the government’s assertion of its right to appoint Catholic bishops. These events followed the consecrations of registered bishops not approved by the Holy See on April 30 and May 2.

Prison Sentences End for Tibetan Monks From Gaden Monastery

At least three Tibetan Buddhist monks of Gaden Monastery near Lhasa completed 10-year prison sentences on May 6, 2006, and may have been released, according to sentencing details found in case records in the CECC Political Prisoner Database (PPD). Security officials detained monks Lobsang Tenzin, Phuntsog Dondrub, and Atsag at Gaden on May 7, 1996, after a May 6 confrontation at the monastery between hundreds of monks and officials of a patriotic education work team. The officials ordered the monks not to display any photographs of the Dalai Lama at the monastery and to hand over all photographs of the Dalai Lama to the work team.

Islamic Congress Establishes Hajj Office, Issues New Rules

The China Islamic Congress convened its eighth session from May 8 to May 12, according to a May 12 article in Xinhua. The Congress met to define the Islamic Association of China's (IAC) goals for the next five years, the article reported. The IAC is one of the "patriotic religious associations" that the government and Party use to control religion in China. The Congress announced several changes designed to align IAC rules to national government regulations and to further enhance IAC authority over Islamic practice:

Shaanxi Provincial Court Announces Gradual Elimination Of Advisory Opinions

The Shaanxi High People's Court (HPC) announced March 27 in an Opinion on Implementing the Second Five Year Reform Program for the People's Courts (Opinion) that it would "gradually eliminate" the use of advisory opinions (qingshi) in individual cases. The Second Five Year Reform Program for the People's Courts, issued by the Supreme People's Court in 2005, identifies reform of advisory opinions as one of its long-term court reform goals. Chinese judges often seek internal advisory opinions from higher courts or court adjudication committees (the highest authority in a given court) about how to decide pending cases.

SEPA Director Says Public Protests Over Pollution Rising by 29 Percent Per Year

Zhou Shengxian, the Minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), said in a May 4 Beijing News interview (in Chinese) that mass protests over pollution have risen by 29 percent per year in recent years. Zhou said that more than 51,000 disputes over environmental pollution occurred in 2005.

State Council Circular Establishes Emergency Response Office

The State Council issued a Circular on the Establishment of the State Council's Emergency Response Office on April 10, creating the Office and ordering it to handle four types of emergencies: natural disasters, industrial and environmental accidents, disease outbreaks and other health emergencies, and threats to public order and "mass incidents." The circular grants the Office the authority to coordinate government efforts to identify, prevent, and respond to such emergencies.

Population Planning Officials Punished for "Misuse of Authority" in Shaanxi Province

Government authorities punished 13 officials in Shaanxi province after a woman was found to have given birth to nine children, according to a May 5 Xinhua report. Investigators found that a family planning official and a village head took bribes from the woman and her husband, supplied them with fraudulent documents, and forged the woman's contraception records. Xinhua reported that the two officials were detained for "misuse of authority" and 11 other family planning and township officials were dismissed "for negligence and other reasons."

Teachers Arrange for Underage "Interns" to Work at Guangdong Electronics Factory

Teachers at a school in Shaanxi province arranged for a total of about 600 students to be employed in an electronics factory in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, according to an April 12 report (in Chinese) in Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper. At the time of the report, more than 240 students were working on the factory's assembly lines up to 14 hours a day under the arrangement, which was called "practical training." Although Chinese law permits vocational students to work as interns, they must be between 16 and 18 years old. Some of the students working at the factory were not yet 16, according to the report.

First Passenger Trains to Lhasa Sold Out

Railway officials have sold all the tickets for the first five passenger trains scheduled to depart for Lhasa from major Chinese cities on July 1, 2006, according to a May 5 Xinhua report. Commercial passenger service on the Qinghai-Tibet railway from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Xining will begin "trial operations" on July 1, the report said. Deputy General Manager Ma Baocheng of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company said that passenger trains to Lhasa will leave daily from Beijing, Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan province), and Xining (the capital of Qinghai province). Trains will depart every other day from Shanghai and Guangzhou (the capital of Guangdong province). Ma did not say how many passengers each train can carry. Zhang Fuhua, of the Qinghai provincial Tourism Administration, said that he expects an additional 800,000 "travelers" to visit the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) via Qinghai, according to a May 3 Xinhua report. The report did not say when Zhang expects those arrivals to occur.

Government Considering New Anti-Money Laundering Regulations to Address Corruption, Improve Commercial Environment

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) issued a series of draft regulations for public comment on April 12 aimed at "beefing up efforts to rein in money laundering across its banking, securities, and insurance sectors," according to an April 13 Xinhua article. Chinese officials and China's state run media report that the regulations are needed to improve China's commercial environment and combat widespread embezzlement, bribery, and financial fraud. The Asian Development Bank estimates that more than 200 billion yuan (approximately US $25 billion), or 2 percent of China's gross domestic product, is laundered on the mainland each year.

Industry Expert Expects Procurement Market to Remain Closed Four More Years

Yu An, a professor at Qinghua University who participated in drafting China's Government Procurement Law (GPL), has said that there is a possibility that China's government procurement market could open to foreign companies after four years, Beijing Business Today reported (in Chinese) on April 27. According to the article, this step implies that "there remains only four years of protection in the government procurement market for domestic brands." In July 2002, the China Economic Times cited (in Chinese, via Xinhua) Zhu Shaoping, who was also one of the drafters of China's GPL, as predicting that the "period of protection" for domestic enterprises in China's government procurement market would end by 2005.