Freedom of Expression
The following is a partial translation by CECC staff of a speech given by Liu Yunshan, member of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, secretary of the Secretariat, and director of the Central Propaganda Department, on September 22, 2004 at the National Propaganda Directors Seminar, and subsequently published in the October 16 edition of "Seeking Truth," the official journal of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, under the title "Earnestly Study and Implement the Spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th Chinese Communist Party Central Committee; Strive to Increase the Party's Ability to Lead Ideological Work."
The following is a translation prepared by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China of an open letter issued by the 13 Chinese scholars, lawyers, and editors protesting the Central Propaganda Department's censorship of the progressive weekly publication "Freezing Point" [bingdian], on February 14, 2006. The Chinese text was retrieved from the Boxun Web site on February 18, 2006.
Secretary General Hu Jintao
Members of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee
We are writers for the China Youth Daily's "Freezing Point" Weekly.
The People's Daily Web site reported on January 17 that a court in Hefei, Anhui province had sentenced a "Mr. He" and a "Mr. Yu" to prison terms of nine and seven years, respectively, for "illegal operation of a business." Their crime was to publish love poems without having received government authorization.
On July 11, Reporters Without Borders reported that documentary filmmaker and blogger Hao Wu had been released by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB) after being held for 140 days. The PSB never provided a reason for holding Wu, but at the time he was taken into custody on February 22, Wu was shooting a documentary about China's unregistered house churches, the subject of frequent harassment and repression by the Chinese government. On that day, Wu was supposed to meet with Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who had represented unregistered house church members and whom Wu had wanted to include in his documentary.
The official investigation into the June 8 assault of Three Gorges resettlement activist Fu Xiancai has concluded that his injuries were self-inflicted, according to a July 26 Human Rights in China (HRIC) press release. HRIC reported that the Zigui county Public Security Bureau (PSB) in Hubei province found no footprints other than those of Fu's at the scene of the incident, and that this finding served as the basis for the PSB's decision to drop its criminal investigation. The PSB also cited the medical conclusion of forensic experts who examined Fu's injuries to support its decision to drop the case.
Chinese authorities have issued yet another regulation intended to further restrict who may report news. According to the official Chinese government news agency Xinhua, on March 22 three Chinese government agencies jointly promulgated the Interim Provisions on the Administration of Those Employed as News Reporters and Editors. The promulgation of the Provisions follows the issuance of regulations earlier in March on journalist accreditation and news bureau operation and comes after China's state-controlled media launched a propaganda campaign attempting to portray Western media, in particular U.S. media, as corrupt and government-controlled.
The Chinese government will increase censorship of audio-visual products relating to major historical events, according to a June 29 China Industry and Commerce Report article posted on the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Web site and a June 15 General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) circular.
Human Rights Watch and Boxun both posted on July 19 timelines of events related to the Chinese government's criminal case against Chen Guangcheng. The timelines recount several weeks of continuing harassment and violence against Chinese human rights defenders, including legal scholars and advocates who have attempted to participate in Chen's criminal defense:
Obstruction of Attempts By Rights Defenders to Publicize Chen's Case
An editorial in the January 12 edition of the Beijing Review, a government-run weekly designed for an English-language audience, advocated an ethical education for Chinese young people "based on religious instructions." The statement appears to challenge Communist Party orthodoxy, which calls for Chinese citizens to be trained in "scientific atheism," expressed, for example, in "Strengthen Propaganda and Education of Scientific Atheism," an article (in Chinese) that appeared in the April 16, 2004 issue of Qiushi, the official journal of the Communist Party Central Committee. Party theory holds that theism is an illusion that will eventually be overtaken by rational thinking grounded in science.
Liu Binjie, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) told Chinese state-run television that the exercise of freedom of the press is limited to state-licensed publishers, and that authorities are considering revisions to Chinese publishing regulations to address the economic problems caused by this policy. Liu appeared on China Central Television's "People in the News" on May 19, 2006, a transcript of which was published on CCTV's Web site on May 22. Liu answered several questions about how the government's allocation of book numbers adversely affects the development of China's publishing industry. Liu's responses included the following three points: