Civil Society

An article appearing on the official Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Web site highlights the flaws of China’s system of residents committees, which are the lowest level of urban government in China and are the urban analogue to the village committees found in rural areas. Local elections controlled by the Communist Party and government authorities determine the membership of these committees.

The article underscores a serious dysfunction in the system: many local governments treat residents committees as administrative appendages, controlling them by fiat and rarely permitting the exercise of independent authority or autonomy.

Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia said that China's state security officers beat him and placed him under house arrest for 14 days during visits by top United Nations and European Union officials, according to an interview he gave Agence France-Presse's Hong Kong Service on September 7. According to Hu, officials held him under house arrest from August 24 through September 6. He said four state security officials beat him on August 29 when he tried to leave his home to go to the hospital. Hu arrived in Beijing on August 24 with a group of AIDS patients from Henan province, according to an August 31 report by Radio Free Asia.

Human Rights in China reported on January 31 that Chinese authorities in Shanghai formally detained Xu Zhengqing. Authorities had taken Xu into custody in Beijing on January 29, along with 22 others, including Wang Qiaojuan, Zheng Peipei, and Chen Xiuqin, as they tried to attend memorial services for former senior leader Zhao Ziyang.

According to Boxun several activists who security authorities subjected to movement restrictions and surveillance have reported a lessening of official harassment after Zhao’s funeral ended. Boxun said that Qi Zhiyong and Li Jinping have been allowed to return home, and Ding Zilin, Jiao Guobiao, Zhang Xianling, and Liu Xiaobo report that police surveillance has ended around their homes.

According to several sources, Chinese authorities have launched a crackdown on human rights activists in Beijing during the visit of Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to China from August 29 to September 2. On August 29, Chinese police raided the office of the Empowerment and Rights Institute, a legal and human rights advisory group in Beijing, shortly before Ms. Arbour's arrival, according to an August 30 New York Times article. The article cited employees of the Institute as saying that police searched the Institute's offices and copied computer files. The group's director, Hou Wenzhuo, said that the police had come to her home as well, but had not arrested her.

Chinese officials are conducting a large-scale survey of environmental civil society organizations in China, according to an August 18 South China Morning Post (SCMP) article (subscription required). According to unnamed government sources quoted in the article, the survey seeks to determine the extent of these organizations' operations, and uncovered unregistered organizations. This move strengthens the view of some analysts that the Chinese government is attempting to limit the independence of civil society organizations, particularly environmental groups.

Chinese security personnel in Beijing detained the executive director of a respected U.S. human rights NGO after she attended a seminar associated with the EU-China bilateral human rights dialogue, according to a number of press accounts on July 1 and 2. Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China (HRIC), said that security agents detained her for five hours in her Beijing hotel on June 21 following the conclusion of the human rights seminar.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Chinese government signed an agreement on July 20 that will permit an ICRC regional delegation office to open in Beijing, according to the ICRC Web site and a Xinhua report. The Geneva-based ICRC provides medical aid and other supplies during emergencies, monitors and inspects prison conditions, and works with police, military forces, and others to promote humanitarian laws and policies. The Beijing office will cover China, Mongolia, and the Korean peninsula.

A new hotline for the protection of women's rights opened in Shanghai on June 15. The new line merges two preexisting local Shanghai hotlines for counseling on legal issues and domestic violence and will now offer legal, psychological, and social assistance and advice for callers from across China. The line will be staffed by members of the Human Rights Network of the Shanghai Women's Federation. Counselors include lawyers, psychologists, and sociologists, as well as a few senior police officials and judges. Another recent women's self-help effort is Women's Watch - China, which was started in Beijing in April 2005 to coordinate the work of women activists across several fields.