Freedom of Expression

Writer and activist Li Jianhong suspects that Chinese authorities blocked her from re-entering China in mid-October because she had signed Charter 08, a document calling for political reform and greater protection of human rights in China, and because she wrote several articles in connection with the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen protests this year, according to an article published in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) (subscription required) on October 23. The article quoted Li Jianhong as saying that "[i]n July, several police officers told my parents in Shanghai that I would probably not be allowed back to the motherland for my alleged persistent anti-Communist and anti-socialist stance." Li told SCMP that mainland immigration officials explained to her "that they were simply following orders" when they refused to let her enter China.

The State Council Information Office (SCIO) reportedly issued a secret directive in late July 2009 ordering news Web sites in China to require new users wishing to post a comment to provide their real name and identity card number, according to a September 5 New York Times (NYT) report. The Commission could not locate the government directive on the Internet, but found that several news portals, including Sohu, Netease, and MSN, appeared to be complying with the directive. The NYT report said that major news portals such as "Sina, Netease, Sohu and scores of other sites" began implementing the requirement in early August, citing "top editors" at two of the news portals and a staff member at Sina. The requirement did not apply to "blog hosts, forums or government news sites like People's Daily or Xinhua" and did not appear to affect users already registered with the sites, according to NYT.

Internet Regulation Targets Online Separatism

The Suqian Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu province on October 16, 2009, sentenced Guo Quan, formerly a university professor and a past member of one of the few state-approved "democratic" parties allowed in China, to 10 years in prison for "subversion of state power," according to a Human Rights in China (HRIC) press release of the same date. The court found that Guo used the Internet to organize an "illegal" political party called the "China New Democracy Party," recruited members for the party, published numerous "reactionary" articles online, called for a seven-day stay-at-home boycott of the government, and sought to "overthrow" the socialist system, according to the court judgment (English translation prepared by Dui Hua Foundation, Chinese).

Introduction

Feng Chongyi, a noted Chinese professor, has filed a lawsuit against a Chinese customs office located in Guangdong province near Hong Kong after officials there confiscated 11 of his books, according to an October 22, 2009, Southern Weekend (SW) article (in Chinese, English translation provided by Danwei). According to the SW article, as Feng was entering China through Guangzhou city in Guangdong on June 5, 2009, officials at the Tianhe Station Customs Office confiscated the books during an inspection. The officials claimed the books had been banned.

In a speech to mark Journalists' Day in China on November 8, 2009, top Communist Party official Li Changchun continued to emphasize the Party's dominance over the nation's news media, according to a transcript of Li's remarks published by People's Daily. Li, a member of the Party's Politburo Standing Committee, told journalists to "persist in strengthening and improving the Party's leadership over news propaganda work" and "persist in the Party's management of the media." He also said that "guiding power over news propaganda work" should remain "firmly in the hands of those devoted to the Party and the people." According to a November 8 Agence France-Presse article (via Google) on the speech, Li is fifth in the hierarchy of China's leaders and "is seen as the country's propaganda and ideology chief."