Freedom of Expression

Chinese authorities released writer Chen Shaowen on August 5, following the completion of his three-year sentence for inciting subversion, the Independent Chinese Pen Center (ICPC) reported on August 8. The ICPC reported that they were able to contact Chen by phone, but that he was not willing to discuss matters relating to his imprisonment. The report said that Chen's health had been deteriorating during his time in prison, and that police guards had beaten him in May 2005.

Radio Free Asia reports that Internet service providers have shut down two well-known political Web sites in China on orders from Chinese public security authorities. The story, a transcript of which is available on Boxun, reported that the "Public Opinion Supervision Net" (yuluncn.com) was shut down on June 16, and the "Democracy and Freedom Web" was shut down on May 22.

According to the report, the hosting service for the Democracy and Freedom Web told the Web site's operator that a public security official had ordered them to shut it down because it had "illegal content." RFA reported that the hosting service for the Public Opinion Supervision Net told its operator that the Beijing branch of the State Council Information Office had told them to shut it down.

Chinese authorities released journalist Wu Shishen from Beijing's main prison in July, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) reported on August 2. Police detained Wu and his wife, Ma Tao, in Beijing in October 1992 and accused Wu of providing an advance copy of a speech by Jiang Zemin to a journalist for the Hong Kong Express (Kuaibao). In August 1993, the Beijing Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wu to life imprisonment for selling state secrets (his wife received a six-year sentence). In November 2004, the Dui Hua Foundation reported that officials had granted Wu a sentence reduction, and that his release was expected on July 10, 2005.

According to RWB, Wu, an editor for the domestic news department of Xinhua at the time of his detention, will continue to be deprived of his civil and political rights for eight more years, and is therefore prohibited from writing articles or speaking in public about matters relating to "national interest."

The High People's Court in Hunan province upheld on June 2 a lower court's conviction of journalist Shi Tao for disclosing state secrets, according to Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists. On April 27, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court found Shi guilty and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. Guo Guoting, Shi's attorney, was not permitted to defend Shi because Chinese authorities had revoked Guo's law license on February 24, and then placed him under house arrest in mid-March. Shi was detained in November 2004 as part of a Chinese government crackdown on writers, journalists, and intellectuals.

The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) upheld the decision of Sichuan provincial government censors to confiscate hundreds of books privately published by Wang Yi, a well-known Chinese intellectual. The Sichuan Press and Publication Administration (PPA) confiscated over 900 books that Wang had printed privately to give to friends. In June 2005, Wang filed an administrative appeal with the GAPP to overturn the Sichuan PPA's decision. The GAPP ruled that the Sichuan PPA acted correctly in sanctioning him for publishing, printing, and distributing publications without government authorization. Wang says that he now plans to sue the Sichuan PPA in court.

Chongqing officials have finished "cleaning up" and registering Web sites, according to a July 22 report on China Communications Web (CCW). The Chongqing project was part of a nationwide crackdown on private Web sites that the Chinese government launched earlier this year. The campaign has resulted in the closure of thousands of Web sites whose operators failed to register with the Ministry of Information and public security offices. CCW, which is registered to the People's Post and Telecom Press, reported that in Chongqing the three month process involved six steps:

Qingdao Web site operators must register with their public security office by the end of September 2005 or have their Internet access service shut down, according to a July 7 report in the Qingdao Morning News. The report quoted a "responsible person" in the Qingdao public security office's Internet monitoring division as saying that "starting now, Internet monitoring detachments will continue to monitor and control Web sites throughout the city, and as soon as they discover any malicious Web sites that disseminate harmful information or defraud consumers, they will promptly cut off their Internet access and impose sanctions in accordance with the law." The report said that of Qingdao's 4,000 Web sites, 1,200 had not registered with the public security bureau.

Police clashed with ethnic Mongol villagers in late June and July in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in an unresolved land dispute that left dozens of villagers injured and tensions high. A local government official described the situation as "anarchy," according to a July 27 Reuters report. The Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) reports that hundreds of police used tear gas, grenades, and other explosives against villagers on July 21 and 23.