China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - No. 7 - August 19, 2010

A court in the far western region of Xinjiang sentenced a journalist and three Web site administrators to prison sentences in July for endangering state security. Gheyret Niyaz, a Uyghur journalist and Web editor, received a 15-year prison sentence. Prosecutors at trial cited essays he wrote addressing economic and social problems affecting Uyghurs; sources also connected the case to interviews he gave to foreign media after demonstrations and rioting in Xinjiang in July 2009. In separate cases, Web site administrators Nijat Azat, Dilshat Perhat, and Nureli received sentences of 10, 5, and 3 years, respectively, on the same charges, in reported connection to articles posted on their Web sites describing hardships in Xinjiang and announcements on one of the Web sites calling for the demonstration in Urumqi in July 2009. Other Uyghur journalists, writers, and Web site workers from Xinjiang remain in prison or in detention for exercising their right to free expression, including people whose cases also are connected to the July 2009 events.

Since a series of labor strikes in southern Chinese factories in May 2010, recent Chinese media reports have offered clues about the government's reaction. Media coverage of the wage increases that the strikes have spurred has been positive, but the Party appears to remain highly wary of any labor movement not under its direct control. The strikes also have highlighted the shortcomings of "collective consultation" in China, but government leaders remain intent on centralizing power in the state-run All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) rather than devolving autonomy to grassroots labor organizations.

New rules issued last year by China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange took effect on March 1, tightening previously-issued rules concerning foreign donations to Chinese organizations. The new rules add procedures and increase the paperwork burden imposed upon Chinese organizations―including non-governmental organizations (NGOs)―wishing to receive financial contributions from overseas organizations. Five months after the rules took effect, some researchers and media reports are beginning to note, with specific examples, authorities' selective enforcement of the rules in a manner that may target groups working on issues the government deems to be "sensitive."

Authorities in Hebei province recently released unregistered Catholic bishop Jia Zhiguo after detaining him in an unknown location for 15 months. Prior to Jia's latest detention, the Chinese government had harassed and detained him repeatedly since the early 1960s. Chinese policy requires Catholic communities in China to affiliate with the Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA), a state-controlled entity that monitors and controls Catholic doctrine, practices, property, and personnel. The Chinese government continues to deny Catholics in China the freedom to accept the authority of the Holy See to appoint bishops in China, and the government continues to harass or detain some bishops and priests who defy this policy.

In June 2010, the Ministry of Public Affairs launched a seven-month "strike hard" campaign aimed at quelling "crimes of extreme violence." The official campaign report specifically calls on public security officers to "strengthen strike hard measures" and to "increase efforts to resolve social conflicts." Chinese and international media outlets have noted that the campaign announcement follows highly publicized incidents, including a series of school attacks. Critics of the "strike hard" campaigns claim that the nationwide campaigns signal a step back for human rights protections in China. Some Chinese scholars and lawyers have expressed concerns that efforts to meet law enforcement targets under "strike hard" campaigns lead to wrongful convictions and abuses of criminal procedure.

An apparent government crackdown on microblogs and blogs in China reportedly began in mid-July 2010, involving service disruptions at major microblogging sites, removal of the blogs of well-known activists and lawyers, and increased monitoring of journalists' blogs. Blogs and microblogs have become increasingly popular in China, with hundreds of millions of users.

In recent years, the Chinese government and Communist Party have strengthened "ethnic unity" campaigns as a vehicle for promulgating Party policy on ethnic issues and for imposing state-defined interpretations of the history, relations, and current conditions of ethnic groups in China. Campaigns and official documents promoting "ethnic unity" have imposed far-reaching controls on freedom of expression in China. After central government and Party authorities issued guidance on ethnic unity in 2008 and 2009, authorities publicized a new document this July to further strengthen ethnic unity. The new document appears to intensify past measures by calling on authorities to use the "traditional holidays" of ethnic minorities to promote state ethnic unity campaigns. The recent guidance follows a major speech by President and Party General Secretary Hu Jintao in September 2009 on "promoting ethnic unity" and "realizing common progress," which he delivered in the wake of protests and riots in Tibetan areas in March 2008 and in the far western region of Xinjiang in July 2009.