Harassment of Beijing-based Activists During the U.S.-China Human Rights Dialogue

July 8, 2008

According to a May 26 Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) article and a May 28 Associated Press (AP) article, Beijing activists reported they were harassed, subjected to surveillance, and warned not to meet with the U.S. officials present in Beijing for the U.S.-China bilateral human rights dialogue.

According to a May 26 Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) article and a May 28 Associated Press (AP) article, Beijing activists reported they were harassed, subjected to surveillance, and warned not to meet with the U.S. officials present in Beijing for the U.S.-China bilateral human rights dialogue.

  • On May 24, AIDS activist Wan Yanhai was contacted by the Beijing Public Security Bureau's National Security Unit and was told that he would be subjected to heightened surveillance over the next several days, according to the CHRD article. On May 25, Wan reported, in an essay circulated online (a Chinese version has been reprinted on the U.S.-based Secret China Web site; a blogger in Canada also posted an English version), that a police car was parked in front of his door and followed him wherever he went. Wan wrote: "If it were not for the police visit, I would not have known there was going to be a Sino-U.S. human rights dialogue. My neighbors heard from police that some international VIPs are coming."
  • On May 23 and 24, Zeng Jinyan, human rights activist and wife of Hu Jia, was reportedly told by the National Security police that they were watching her more closely and would prevent her from leaving her home because "a U.S. delegation wants to meet you," according to the CHRD article.
  • Human rights lawyer Zhang Xingshui declined an invitation to a May 27 working lunch with Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer after police visited his home on May 25 as reported in a May 27 USA Today article. According to the article, Zhang said: "They persuaded me not to meet the U.S. visitors. They did not say what would happen, but maybe they will give pressure to my work. . . . I am afraid, so I have to give up this opportunity."
  • Well-known rights defense lawyer Mo Shaoping was also warned not to accept an invitation to the May 27 lunch. According to the AP report, Mo said he went anyway.
  • Many other Beijing activists were also placed under surveillance in connection with the U.S.-China human rights dialogue, including a member of the China Democracy Party, religious rights activists, and veterans of the 1989 Tiananmen protests, as reported by the CHRD article.