Freedom of Expression

Propaganda officials issued two separate directives in June 2009 ordering newspaper editors, journalists, and Web sites to avoid criticism of the government's decision to require "pre-installation" of filtering software on all computers sold in China after July 1 and to downplay coverage of protests in Iran following the contested June 12 presidential election, according to a June 11 Radio France Internationale (RFI) article (in Chinese) and a June 20 South China Morning Post (SCMP) article (subscription required).

Directive Relating to Filtering Software Plan

Uyghurs in the city of Urumchi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), gathered on July 5, 2009, to protest authorities' handling of a reported attack on Uyghur factory workers by Han factory workers in late June in Guangdong province, and to protest government policy toward Uyghurs. Reports indicate the demonstration began as a peaceful protest and later turned violent as protesters clashed with police, who used tear gas and stun batons against the protesters, and later were reported to fire on the crowds. Official Chinese media sources described the demonstration as a riot orchestrated by U.S.-based Uyghur rights activist Rebiya Kadeer, and reported that the incident left at least 156 people dead and over 1000 people injured. Demonstrations also are reported to have occurred in other cities in the XUAR, and demonstrations and outbreaks of violence were reported again in Urumchi on July 7.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on June 30, 2009, that it would delay a requirement that all computers "leaving the factory and sold" in China after July 1 must have government-approved censorship software "pre-installed." An MIIT spokesperson reportedly told journalists on June 30 that "recently, a number of companies have said that the workload is heavy, the time is sudden, and preparations are insufficient. In light of the practical situation, pre-installation can be delayed," according to a June 30 Xinhua article (in Chinese).

On May 19, 2009, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the Circular Regarding the Pre-Installation of Green Browsing Filter Software on Computers (Circular), which requires that computers sold within mainland China after July 1 must come "pre-installed" (yu zhuang) with the government-approved "Green Dam-Youth Escort" Internet browsing filtering software. The policy set forth in the Circular marks the first time the government has required computer manufacturers to include filtering software vetted by the government with all computers sold in China.

Chinese public security officials formally arrested prominent intellectual Liu Xiaobo on June 23, 2009, on the charge of "inciting subversion of state power," according to the Xinhua News Agency (as reported by Singapore Lianhe Zaobao on June 24). The Commission has not been able to locate the original Chinese-language Xinhua article through a publicly available source online, although numerous media and NGO reports in Chinese have quoted directly from it. (See, e.g., June 24 BBC report, June 24 Chinese Human Rights Defenders report).