Freedom of Expression
Liu Yunshan, head of the Communist Party Central Propaganda Department (CPD), told officials at an April 2005 meeting that "The South has a newspaper that disgusts a lot of officials in the North, and the North has a paper that disgusts a lot of officials in the South," reports the June 27 international edition of Newsweek. According to the Newsweek source, the "northern paper" is the Beijing News, an editor of which told Newsweek that so many "petty cadres" have traveled to Beijing to complain about the paper that they are now under "heavy" pressure to conform with new restrictions on "extra-territorial" investigative reporting. This term describes a practice in which a newspaper from one geographic area publishes critical investigative reports about matters that officials in another area have prevented their local news media from reporting.
Several Chinese government agencies, including the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), the State Council Information Office, and the National "Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications" (SAPSDIP) Task Force, issued a joint notice on July 19 announcing the commencement of a campaign to "investigate, prosecute, and ban" unauthorized foreign language publications, according to the People's Daily. The campaign is directed at "illegal foreign language newspapers and magazines that are primarily read by foreigners."
On July 2, Xinhua reported that Chinese agencies in charge of controlling the Internet had temporarily shut down over 100,000 Web sites because their operators failed to register with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). Xinhua stated that these Web sites would have until July 10 to register. Since the July 10 deadline passed, China's state run media has begun reporting that provincial authorities are sanctioning and permanently shutting down thousands of Web sites that have still failed to register.
Shandong Shuts Down 404 Internet Web Sites That Refuse to Carry Out Registration (Xinhua 2005-07-18)
Chinese security personnel in Beijing detained the executive director of a respected U.S. human rights NGO after she attended a seminar associated with the EU-China bilateral human rights dialogue, according to a number of press accounts on July 1 and 2. Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China (HRIC), said that security agents detained her for five hours in her Beijing hotel on June 21 following the conclusion of the human rights seminar.
The State Council announced on June 7 the appointment of human rights expert Xia Yong as Director of the Bureau for the Protection of State Secrets, a high-level government position. After the announcement, the Chinese news media has focused continuing attention on Xia Yong because of his writings on human rights.
Xia is well-known in China as a scholar of legal history, human rights, and the rule of law. Since the late 1990s, he has taught law to high-ranking cadres, advised China’s leaders on legal topics, and lectured to the Central Committee. He has also led the Chinese side of the legal experts seminars that are a part of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue.
Chinese agencies in charge of controlling the Internet have shut down one quarter of China's 573,755 Web sites because their operators failed to register with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), according to a July 2 Xinhua report. The shuttered Web sites have until July 10 to complete registration procedures, the Xinhua report says, or they will be shut down permanently in accordance with the law. Any sites subject to that sanction will not have their access services restored until they have begun either the registration process from the beginning or completed an application for registration and other related procedures. Officials had signaled this move in a warning notice released during the week of June 20.
In early 2005, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) launched a campaign against newspapers and periodicals published without government authorization. The campaign concluded with authorities banning 60 newspapers and magazines. In May 2005, Liu Binjie, deputy director with the GAPP, told a reporter that these illegal periodicals, including "China Economics," "Prosperous China," "Finance and Technology," "Contemporary Mathematics and Administration," "A Guide to Government Procurement," and "Chinese and Foreign Legal Systems" were "garbage" and constituted a "threat." In June 2005, the Yangzi Evening News (a publication of Xinhua, China's official news agency) quoted an unnamed official in the Jiangsu provincial Office of Press and Publication Administration, who provided the following additional details regarding the campaign:
The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) released a comprehensive report on April 14 detailing how the Chinese government censors political information on the Internet. ONI is a collaboration of researchers at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto who work on Internet censorship and surveillance issues. According to ONI:
Updated March 6: The South China Morning Post and Reporters Without Borders report that the Shanghai Justice Bureau has upheld its decision to suspend the law license of defense lawyer Guo Guoting. The Bureau reportedly accused Guo of "on several occasions adopting positions and making statements contrary to the law and the Constitution" and “defiling and slandering” the Communist Party and government. According to a report published last week by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Bureau issued a notice on February 23 suspending Guo’s license to practice law. A hearing to review the decision was held on March 4. Guo, who plans to appeal the ruling, reportedly stated that the suspension was “unjustified official punishment.” Earlier, Guo told reporters that the government was trying to silence him for defending other activists.
In "Silenced," Serena Fang, a journalist with the Public Broadcasting System program "Frontline," describes the treatment she and her interview subject received at the hands of Chinese authorities for conducting an interview that was not authorized by the government: