Freedom of Expression
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
Statement of CECC Chairman Byron Dorgan and Cochairman Sander Levin on China's Newest Nobel Laureate: Liu Xiaobo
October 8, 2010
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
Statement of the Chairman and Cochairman on Political Imprisonment in China Today
August 19, 2010
Urumqi Court Sentences Journalist Gheyret Niyaz
Following 10 months of restricted Internet access in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) after demonstrations and rioting in the region in July 2009, authorities announced in May that they had fully restored Internet access in the region.
In mid-July 2010, a government-linked crackdown on the use of microblogs and blogs on the Internet in China reportedly began. Blogs are personalized Web pages on which users provide running commentary on all kinds of topics. Microblogs (weibo) allow users to post messages containing up to about 140 characters at a time and to follow the postings of other users (see the Chinese search engine Baidu's definition here), much like Twitter elsewhere. (Twitter is blocked in China, although some citizens obtain access through circumvention tools.) According to mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, and foreign media, recent actions taken against microblogs and blogs in China include:
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
Statement of CECC Chairman Byron Dorgan and Cochairman Sander Levin on the Newly Enhanced Political Prisoner Database
July 27, 2010
The State Council Information Office released a white paper on the Chinese government's policies toward the Internet on June 8, 2010, aiming to present "the true situation of the development and regulation of the Internet in China" to Chinese citizens and the international community. The White Paper on the State of the Internet in China (Chinese, English via China Daily) claims that the government "guarantees citizens' freedom of speech on the Internet." It also claims that the government's model for regulating the Internet is "consistent with international practices."
Note that the English translation of the white paper published in the state-run China Daily appears not to follow the original Chinese text exactly. For this reason, the CECC has based the analysis below on its own English translation of the white paper.
Weeks after reportedly "resurfacing" in late March 2010, prominent Chinese human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng disappeared again in mid-April, according to an April 30 New York Times (NYT) article and a May 1 Voice of America article. In early April, Gao gave several interviews to foreign reporters, claiming he had been "released" months earlier and had ended his human rights campaigning in hope of being reunited with his family. The extent of the restrictions imposed on Gao's freedom of movement and association after this reported "release" remain unclear. Gao provided few details of his circumstances or of his 14-month disappearance, according to a March 28 BBC News article.
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
Statement of CECC Chairman Byron Dorgan and Cochairman Sander Levin on the 21st Anniversary of the Suppression of the Tiananmen Square Democracy Protests
On April 29, 2010, the National People's Congress Standing Committee passed the revised Law on the Protection of State Secrets (2010 Law), to replace the existing law in effect since 1989 (1989 Law). The definition of "state secrets" in the 2010 Law remains vague and broad despite the central government news agency's claim that the new definition narrows the scope of state secrets. The 2010 Law will take effect on October 1, 2010. Under the current state secrets legal framework, Chinese officials have wide latitude to declare almost any matter of public concern a state secret.