Freedom of Expression

Xinhua reports that the General Administration of Press and Publication and the National Anti-Pornography Counter-Illegal Publishing Task Force have banned the sale of 50 "illegal electronic games." To quote the article:

Boxun reports that Yang Tianshui, a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, contacted people to say that he has been released from custody and has returned home. The report did not provide further information. Boxun had previously reported that Chinese authorities detained Yang on December 24 in Hangzhou. On December 31 the Nanjing Public Security Bureau issued a warrant stating that Yang had been arrested on charges of "inciting subversion of state power."

According to the Independent Chinese PEN Center, Yang, aged 43, is a freelance writer who served ten years in prison from 1990-2000 on charges of "counter revolution." He is said to have remained under an order of deprivation of civil rights for a further four years, during which time he reportedly was detained twice for violation of the conditions of the order. Most recent was a 15-day imprisonment from 27 May to 11 June 2004 for his writings commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement.

According to a report on the People's Daily Web site, Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, has deployed a system that will allow monitors to view the information running on any computer in the city’s 700+ Internet cafes at any time. The report states that the system, which it dubs "clairvoyant," is part of a "cultural monitoring platform" established last November to monitor the online activity of Internet cafe customers. The report says that the software employed in this system is capable of monitoring the identity of the person registered to use the computer, and of filtering "illegal Web sites." The Jinan municipal cultural bureau intends to use the resources of this platform's hardware to develop what the report calls a "dedicated culture market management information system," in order to "implement management of data collection for the entire city's culture market."

According to a press release issued by Freedom Now, January 19th marks the 1000th day that democracy activist Yang Jianli has been imprisoned in China. Yang’s wife, Christina Fu, recently returned from her first and only visit with her husband since he was detained in April 2002. According to Ms. Fu, Yang remains in high spirits but suffered a minor stroke in July 2004 and has lost some function in his left arm and hand. She expressed concern about her husband’s deteriorating health and hope that the Chinese government would release him on medical parole as soon as possible.

The following is a partial translation by CECC staff of a report that appeared on the Web site of China's national Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications Task Force:

It appears that Chinese authorities have launched a new campaign against authors who have voiced disagreement with the government and the Communist Party. In the past two weeks Chinese government officials have detained four prominent writers known for publishing their criticisms on foreign Web sites:

According to a report by Freedom Now, democracy activist Yang Jianli has suffered a minor stroke and is having other health problems. Yang, 41, a U.S. permanent resident who is serving a five-year sentence in Beijing, revealed the health conditions during a one-hour visit with family members last week. He reportedly plans to petition for medical parole.

Activist Jailed in China Seeks Medical Aid By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: December 14, 2004 Filed at 5:47 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Boston-based democracy activist jailed in China is seeking a medical parole because of a stroke he suffered earlier this year, his wife says. Yang Jianli, who has served more than half of a five-year prison term on charges of espionage and illegal entry, was hospitalized for the stroke earlier in the summer and continues to feel numbness on the left side of his body, his wife, Christina Fu, said Tuesday. Advertisement Fu learned details of her husband's condition after his brother and sister-in-law were allowed to visit him at the Beijing prison Tuesday. ``It's a big relief that his condition is not life-threatening right now,'' said Fu, who still lives in the Boston area with their two children. ``But I would really rather see him coming home.'' In a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell sent Tuesday, Fu's lawyer, Jared Genser, asked the U.S.