Activist Li Jian Campaigns Against Government Restrictions on Internet News

Activist Li Jian issued a draft "opinion" on November 10 calling on the State Council and National People's Congress Standing Committee to review the constitutionality and legality of the Rules on the Administration of Internet News Information Services (Rules). The draft opinion declares that the Rules, which went into effect in late September and which prohibit anyone from using the Internet to post news reports without prior government authorization, violate the Chinese Constitution and national laws.

Li posted the opinion on his Citizen Rights Defender Net Web site, and is soliciting comments and signatures until December 3. At present, co-signers include Beijing University law professor He Weifang, Chengdu University law professor Wang Yi, and journalist Wang Guangze. The opinion includes the following analysis:

1. Articles 2, 33, 35, and 41 of China's Constitution provide respectively that (a) all power in China belongs to the people, and it is they who administer state affairs and manage economic, cultural, and social affairs; (b) the state respects and safeguards human rights; (c) Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of speech; and (d) Chinese citizens have the right to criticize and make suggestions to any state organ or functionary.
2. Article 54 of China's Criminal Law states that the deprivation of political rights includes the deprivation of the right of freedom of speech. Therefore, the right to expression is a political right of the citizens.
3. On the foregoing grounds, citizens have a constitutionally protected right with respect to "reporting and commentary relating to politics, economics, military affairs, foreign affairs, and social and public affairs, as well as reporting and commentary relating to fast-breaking social events."
4. Articles 2, 5-12, and 16 of the Rules prohibit citizens from exercising this right on the Internet, and restrict this type of expression to government authorized Web sites.
5. Article 8 of China's Legislation Law states that the deprivation of a citizen's political rights may only be done through a national law, and that the State Council and its subordinate agencies lack the authority to adopt a rule to this effect.
6. The Rules, which were promulgated by the State Council Information Office and the Ministry of Information Industry, therefore violate China's Constitution and national laws.

Li originally established the Citizen Rights Defender Net Web site in Beijing, but that city's press and publication administration shut down the Web site in September 2004. The Web site is currently based in the United States. At least one of the participants in the campaign, Wang Yi, has experienced censorship regarding the opinion, writing on his blog that his hosting service had deleted his post on the issue. This deletion may have been the result of a government order or the hosting service's self-censorship, but the facts are not clear. Since Chinese laws and regulations provide no clear guidance about what kind of political or religious expression is illegal, self-censorship has been a particular problem for Internet companies operating in China. To enforce vague rules, authorities imprison writers, indoctrinate publishers, and ban publications to induce companies to self-censor and to "choose" not to allow citizens to use their products and services to publicize certain views. See Section III(d) - "Freedom of Expression" of the Commission's 2005 Annual Report for additional information regarding self censorship in China.