China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - No. 3 - June 24, 2009
Announcements
CECC Roundtable: "China's Human Rights Lawyers: Current Challenges and Prospects," Friday, July 10, 2009, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building
A panel of experts will discuss China's human rights lawyers and their role in advancing the rule of law in China. What is the relationship between these lawyers and the Chinese government and the Communist Party? Why are many prominent human rights lawyers being harassed and some being threatened with losing their licenses to practice law? What does the future hold for China's rights lawyers?
CECC Translation: Circular Regarding the Pre-Installation of Green Browsing Filter Software on Computers
On May 19, 2009, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the Circular Regarding the Pre-Installation of Green Browsing Filter Software on Computer, which requires that computers sold within China after July 1 must come "pre-installed" (yu zhuang) with the government-approved "Green Dam-Youth Escort" Internet browsing filtering software. Testing by outside sources has found that the software filters pornography, but it also filters specific political and religious content. Chinese citizens and media have criticized the requirement as exceeding the scope necessary to achieve the Circular's state purpose (the protection of minors). They have raised concerns about privacy and who would determine what content is to be filtered by the software, and argued that the choice to install should be an individual one. In addition, questions have been raised both in China and outside of China as to whether the Circular is consistent with China's commercial rule of law reforms, and whether it complies with international norms related to freedom of expression and international trade. The following is a translation of the Circular prepared by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
Click here for the full translation.