Freedom of Expression

The Central Propaganda Department praised 18 model individuals and work units for "strengthening nationality unity" in a recently published "Ode to Progress in Minority Nationality Unity." The State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC) Web site highlights the new work, which reflects a national campaign to "intensify propaganda on unity" among China's 56 ethnic nationalities.

Xinhua has published an opinion piece entitled “How Do We Firmly Grasp Guidance of Public Opinion, and Strengthen Our Ability to Guide Public Opinion?” The State Council Information Office lists this piece as “Questions and Answers on Theory #61” on a section of their Web site dedicated to the Fourth Plenum of the 16th Communist Party Congress, which was held from September 16-19, 2004. The piece states that the Communist Party places enormous emphasis on controlling the media, particularly new forms of media such as the Internet and cell phones, in order to manipulate the opinions of Chinese citizens. Some excerpts:

In recent weeks, the Chinese print media has published a number of articles quoting representatives of the Ministry of Water Resources on the water shortage crisis in China. The news media has also produced pieces on the causes of pollution and the long and short-term solutions of increased efficiency in the use of water resources.

A China Daily article quoted Wang Shucheng, the Minister of Water Resources, who said, "Chronic shortages, pollution, waste, and poor management have combined to exhaust the country’s fragile water system." The result: current water shortages for 66 percent of China’s cities, with 16 percent having severe shortages. The article highlights Wang’s identification of inefficient use of water as the primary contributor to the water shortage.

In early May, local authorities in Guangzhou and Shanghai announced a requirement that all non-commercial Web sites in their jurisdictions must register. Xinhua reported on May 31 that the Ministry of Information Industry has asked local communication administrations throughout China to complete registration of non-commercial Web sites by June 30. According to the May 31 article, Web sites that fail to register promptly may be closed.

The Shanghai Municipal Communications Administration (SMCA) will shut down any "non-commercial Internet information provider" that has not registered with the government by May 25, according to an article in the Shanghai Liberation Daily dated May 10. The article reports that the SMCA would act in accordance with the Registration Administration Measures for Non-Commercial Internet Information Services that the Ministry of Information Industry promulgated on February 8, 2005. These measures prohibit the operation of an unregistered non-commercial Internet information service in China.

The Voice of America reports that a CNN broadcast to Beijing went blank for about 15 seconds when New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark responded to a CNN interviewer's question about human rights in the Asia Pacific region. Chinese censors acted similarly immediately after the death of former Communist Party General Secretary and senior leader Zhao Ziyang, when CNN and BBC broadcasts went blank as soon as they mentioned Zhao's name.

According to the PRC's Measures on the Administration of Foreign Satellite Television Channel Reception, foreign satellite broadcasters may legally distribute their channels only through terrestrial stations controlled by Chinese authorities, and from there, only to viewers at government-authorized locations.

Illegal periodicals constitute a "threat," according to Liu Binjie, deputy director of the General Administration of Press and Publication, and "they violate rules and regulations on press and publications, they contravene national laws, and the activities they engage in are all-in-all illegal publishing activities." Liu made the remarks in an interview in which a reporter asked why the GAPP recently banned 60 newspapers and magazines.

See below to read further excerpts from the interview.

Liu told the reporter:

The Southern Metropolitan Daily reports that on the eve of the May 1 International Labor Day holiday, Guangdong province's Communication Administration Office, Government News Department, and Public Security Office jointly issued a "Notice Regarding Stepping Up Strengthening of Regulation of the Dissemination of Harmful Information on the Internet." According to the report, the Notice confirmed the principle that "business operators shall be held responsible," and must strengthen their self-discipline. The report cited a Communication Administration Office official as saying that a recurring problem has been some Internet forum moderators existing "in name only," and this situation has led to some forums not filtering out the "nine forbidden" types of postings, in particular those inciting demonstrations, and those containing pornographic, fraudulent, and Falun Gong related information.