China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - November 2006

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) and Supreme People's Procuratorate have jointly issued a judicial interpretation that establishes concrete guidelines for the handling of death penalty appeals (ershen, or "second instance" cases) by local courts and procuratorates, according to a September 25 Xinhua report (in Chinese). The Trial Provisions on Several Issues Regarding Court Hearing Procedures in Death Penalty Appeals Cases (Trial Provisions) were issued on September 21 and went into effect on September 25.

Chinese public security officials detained nine Tibetans in Ganzi (Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Sichuan province, between March and August, 2006, according to a series of reports between June and September by Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Phayul.com. Officials detained the Tibetans following incidents of distributing or displaying pro-independence leaflets and posters, and in at least one case, possessing printed matter that included photographs of the Dalai Lama.

Chinese authorities formally arrested writer Zhang Jianhong (whose pen name is Li Hong) and Internet essayist and China Democracy Party (CDP) member Chen Shuqing, and charged each with "inciting subversion of state power," according to notices delivered on October 12 and October 17, respectively. The arrests came after both posted articles on the Internet expressing support for Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng. Li Jianqiang, a lawyer and a member of the Independent Chinese Pen Center (ICPC) who has represented other writers and activists, including Yang Tianshui and Guo Qizhen, is serving as defense lawyer for both men.

The intermediate people's court in Linyi city, Shandong province, has vacated the trial court judgment and ordered a new trial in the criminal case of Chen Guangcheng, according to reports (in English and Chinese) by Radio Free Asia (RFA) on October 31. Chen Guangcheng is a self-trained legal advocate who drew international news media attention in 2005 to population planning abuses in Linyi. Li Jinsong, who previously led Chen's criminal defense team, will continue to represent Chen and will soon travel to Linyi for a meeting with his client, according to RFA's Chinese-language report.

The Intermediate People's Court in Cangzhou city, Hebei province, sentenced Internet essayist Guo Qizhen on October 9 to four years' imprisonment and three years' deprivation of political rights for "inciting subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105, Paragraph 2, of the Criminal Law, according to the court judgment (in Chinese, reprinted by Boxun). The court found Guo guilty because he posted more than 30 essays on the U.S.-based Web site Democracy Forum (Minzhu Luntan), with titles such as "Statement Regarding Participating in Lawyer Gao Zhisheng's Hunger Strike Protest Activity," "Let Some Get Rich First While Others Cannot Make a Living," and "Hurry and Save the Children."

Chinese officials have agreed to discuss the prospect of cooperation with the Church of England, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury and an October 23 International Herald Tribune report. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited China in October for meetings with officials from the government and from Party-controlled religious organizations, and said that Chinese officials have agreed to discuss the possibility of Anglican theologians teaching in Chinese Protestant seminaries and of developing a program for Chinese seminarians to study at Protestant seminaries abroad.

Supreme People's Court (SPC) President Xiao Yang and Vice President Cao Jianming on September 12 announced new restrictions on news media access to information regarding court cases, according to a September 12 Xinhua report and a September 13 Xinhua report.

Most of China’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and directly-administered municipalities now have hourly minimum wage standards, according to a Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MOLSS) third-quarter work progress report (Report) released on October 25. Only Guangdong province and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) do not, according to the Report. This represents an increase over the end of 2005, when only 23 provincial-level areas had hourly minimum wage standards, according to 2005 statistics published on the MOLSS Web site.

A teacher in Shenqiao village, Henan province, recruited 84 female students from her school in July to work in a can factory in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, according to an August 10 article from Beijing Evening News. The students ranged in age from 12 to 16 years old. According to the Beijing Evening News report, the teacher told the students that they would work eight hours a day and that food, lodging, and transportation would be provided.

The Beijing Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee issued amendments on July 28 to its 2002 Beijing Municipal Regulation on Religious Affairs (Beijing RRA), making it the sixth provincial-level area to issue a new or amended regulation on religion since the national Regulation on Religious Affairs (national RRA) entered into force in March 2005. Anhui province amended its regulation in June, and Shanghai municipality and Zhejiang province amended their regulations in April 2005 and March 2006, respectively. Henan and Shanxi provinces issued new regulations in July 2005.

An Anhui court sentenced house church pastor Wang Zaiqing to two years' imprisonment for "illegal operation of a business” in printing and giving away Bibles without government authorization, according to an October 20 report of the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China. Anhui officials detained Wang in April 2006 and formally arrested him in May.

Liu Ruping, a lawyer and Falun Gong practitioner, has been unsuccessful in appealing his reeducation through labor (RTL) sentence. Courts in Jinan city, Shandong province, refused to accept appeals on his behalf from either Liu or his lawyer, Yang Zaixin, according to a January 12, 2006, Epoch Times article and a Boxun article dated the same day. The Jinan City RTL Administration Commission sentenced Liu Ruping to 15 months of RTL on December 14, 2005, for disturbing public order by posting Falun Gong notices, according to the RTL decision available on the Epoch Times Web site.

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has issued new Provisions on the Procedures for Handling Administrative Cases (2006 Provisions) to conform with and further clarify provisions under the Public Security Administration Punishment Law (PSAPL), according to a September 12 Q&A (in Chinese) posted on the MPS Web site. The 2006 Provisions went into effect on August 24, 2006, and replace earlier Provisions that were issued in 2003. The 2006 Provisions establish more detailed procedural rules for handling "administrative cases," which include cases punishable either through administrative sanctions such as warnings or fines, or through administrative detention measures such as forced drug detoxification, custody and education, or reeducation through labor (RTL).

The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) government is continuing a controversial "work-study" program that requires students to spend up to 14 days each year picking cotton and other crops, despite complaints from students and parents. A September 12 Tianshan Net article profiled student and teacher complaints about the work-study program in Changji City, where students in the second year of junior high and above must pick cotton and students in the third grade of elementary school and higher must pick hops in 12-hour shifts at farms within the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).

Officials at three middle schools in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), have barred 19 students diagnosed as hepatitis B positive from enrolling, according to an October 19 Radio Free Asia report. The Urumqi Bureau of Education approved the decision after the students were diagnosed in their matriculation health check. Seven of the students have since filed a lawsuit against the Urumqi Bureau of Education, according to an October 19 South China Morning Post (SCMP) report (subscription only).

Hebei provincial officials released from detention Catholic Bishop Jia Zhiguo, the unregistered bishop of Zhengding diocese, on September 25 but continued to keep him under surveillance, according to a September 26 report of the Union of Catholic Asian News (via the Indian Catholic). Bishop Jia was detained on June 25, when officials removed him from the hospital where he was recovering from surgery and took him to an unknown location, according to a July 6 report of the Cardinal Kung Foundation (CKF), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China. The CKF report said that the religious affairs bureau told some Catholics that Bishop Jia was being sent away for "education." Bishop Jia has been detained frequently in the past.

Communist Party and government officials, acting as officials of a Chinese NGO, hosted an international meeting in Beijing October 10 and 11 that promoted increased economic development and tourism as appropriate measures to ensure the preservation and development of Tibetan culture, according to reports by state-run news media. About 120 experts, scholars, and celebrities from China, Hong Kong, and more than 10 other countries, attended the China Tibetan Culture Forum, according to an October 10 China Tibet Information Center (CTIC) report.

Central government officials announced that they will punish local government officials for protecting local enterprises that pollute the environment, according to a September 15 China Daily article and a September 28 Xinhua article. The announcement came after a series of pollution incidents and the finding that pollution increased in the first half of 2006, according to the China Daily article and an August 20 Xinhua article. Specifically, the emission of major pollutants increased in 17 provinces over the first six months of 2006, even though the government pledged to reduce emissions by 2 percent this year, according to the August 20 Xinhua article.

China's state-run press announced on September 7 that the Supreme People's Court had issued an Interpretation Regarding Certain Issues Relating to the Application of the "People's Republic of China Arbitration Law," (Interpretation) to take effect on September 8. The Interpretation is the Supreme People's Court's second during the past year providing clarification about commercial arbitration.

Officials detained Wu Qinjing, a Catholic bishop in Shaanxi province whose episcopal consecration was not approved by the government, on September 11 in Zhouzhi city, according to September 14 reports by AsiaNews and the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN). The reports say that officials struck Wu and forced him into a vehicle. The bishop was released on September 16. On September 17, Wu was admitted to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion that observers suggested may have resulted from official mistreatment while in custody, according to September 20 reports by AsiaNews and UCAN.