Freedom of Expression

China's Licensing Scheme Does Not Conform to International Standards

Authorities in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) have detained two Mongol men on charges of involvement with a pan-Mongolian organization and for attempting to organize a protest, according to a May 3 report from the U.S.-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC). State security personnel detained Almas in the IMAR capital of Hohhot on April 30, 2009, while authorities detained Baoyu in Bogt (Baotou) city on the same day. According to the report, authorities detained them for involvement or alleged involvement in the "Pan-Mongolia Association," which authorities label as a separatist organization, as well as for alleged attempts to arrange a protest in Hohhot on the 62nd anniversary of the IMAR's founding on May 1. SMHRIC reported that Almas is the secretary of the Pan-Mongolia Association and that authorities alleged Baoyu was also involved in the organization.

Propaganda officials in Beijing ordered Chinese Web sites to delete blogs and discussion groups about a fire at a hotel under construction on the grounds of China Central Television's (CCTV) headquarters that began on the evening of February 9, 2009, according to a February 11 Los Angeles (LA) Times article. The officials also ordered Chinese media not to publish photos, videos, or in-depth reports about the fire, which took place in Beijing, and to run only official stories issued by the Xinhua News Agency instead of their own reports, the article said.

In early January 2009, top Chinese Communist Party officials outlined a propaganda agenda for the year that focuses on safeguarding economic development and social stability. Li Changchun, a member of the Party's Politburo Standing Committee, and Liu Yunshan, Director of the Party's Central Propaganda Department (CPD), a department responsible for censorship of China's media, outlined the agenda during the National Propaganda Directors' meeting in Beijing on January 4-5, according to a January 5 Xinhua article.

Uyghur historian Tohti Tunyaz completed his 11-year sentence for "inciting splittism" and "unlawfully obtaining state secrets" on February 10, 2009, according to information accessible to the public in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Political Prisoner Database, and he has since been released from prison, according to February 10 reports from the Sankei and Mainichi (via Yahoo) newspapers, based on information from sources close to the case. According to the reports, after being met by his sister at the prison in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), Tohti Tunyaz traveled to a relative's home. The Sankei report said it is unclear whether Tohti Tunyaz will be allowed to return to Japan, where he had previously lived.

Internet and cell phone text messaging services in Tibetan areas of western China reportedly have been disrupted, according to a March 10, 2009, Associated Press (AP) article and a February 22, 2009, Reuters article. While access to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) itself has remained severely restricted, foreign journalists recently reported greater harassment in Tibetan areas in neighboring provinces outside the TAR, according to a March 9 statement of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC), an association of Beijing-based journalists.