Freedom of Expression

Chinese authorities appear to have stepped up censorship of the Internet in recent weeks with increased reports of foreign- and Hong Kong-based Web sites being blocked and the closure of a popular domestic blog hosting site for posting "harmful" political information.

Foreign and Hong Kong Web Sites

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) capital of Urumqi have detained two young Uyghur men for distributing leaflets on a university campus calling on students to organize a public demonstration. Available information suggests the leaflets may have called on students to protest tobacco and alcohol sales. Two security staff at Xinjiang University (XU) detained 20-year-old Miradil (Mir'adil) Yasin and 19-year-old Mutellip Téyip on December 20, 2008, after seeing them distribute leaflets within the campus gates, according to a December 25 report of the event on the XU Web site and a Xinhua report posted January 1, 2009, on the Xinhua Bingtuan Web site. Two people outside the campus gates fled the scene as the detention occurred, according to the reports.

Chinese authorities have harassed at least 101 signatories of Charter 08 and placed signer and prominent intellectual Liu Xiaobo under residential surveillance at an unknown location in Beijing in apparent violation of Chinese law following his detention on December 8, 2008, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) reports on January 2 and January 9.

An official "full text" Chinese language translation of President Barack Obama's January 20, 2009, inauguration speech that appeared in major state-controlled Chinese news media omitted two paragraphs and the words "and communism," according to a review of the translation as it appeared on the Web sites of those media organizations on January 21. In addition, after President Obama said the word "communism," China's national television station, China Central Television (CCTV), cut away from live coverage of the speech, as shown in a video posted on the CCTV Web site on January 21.

On the eve of December 10, 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, over 300 Chinese citizens signed and posted online a document titled "Charter 08," calling for political reform and greater protection of human rights in China. Signers included leading intellectuals, lawyers, writers, farmers, and workers. Over the past week, many hundreds more people in China have signed, with some reports placing the number of signers in the thousands. Chinese abroad have signed the Charter as well.

More than 300 Chinese citizens--including scholars, writers, lawyers, and activists--issued Charter 08 (English / Chinese), an open statement calling for greater rights and political reform in China on the eve of December 10. The date coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Human Rights Day. The prominent intellectual Liu Xiaobo has been detained under suspicion of "inciting subversion" in connection with Charter 08, according to a December 10 Independent Chinese Pen Center article (in Chinese). Several other activists also have been detained in advance of Human Rights Day.

Liu Yunshan, head of the Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department (CPD), called on propaganda officials to prioritize "economic propaganda work" to deal with the current economic downturn, according to remarks he made on November 18, 2008, as reported in a Xinhua article (in Chinese) of the same date.