China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - October 2005

 
 
 

Events

Roundtable: China's Household Registration (Hukou) System: Discrimination and Reform

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held another in its series of staff-led Issues Roundtables, entitled China's Household Registration (Hukou) System: Discrimination and Reform, on September 2, from 2:00 - 3:30 PM in Room 2168 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The panelists were Fei-Ling Wang, Professor, The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia; and Chloé Froissart, PhD candidate at the Institute of Political Science of Paris, affiliated to the Center for International Studies and Research, Paris; Research Fellow at the French Center for Research on Contemporary China, Hong Kong.

 
 
 

Translation: Court Judgment in Shi Tao State Secrets Trial

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has prepared a translation of the Changsha Intermediate People's Court's Written Judgment in the Shi Tao State Secrets Trial.

 

Translation: New Rules on Internet News Publishing

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has prepared a translation of the Rules on the Administration of Internet News Information Services, promulgated by the State Council Information Office and the Ministry of Information Industry on September 25, 2005. A summary of the Rules prepared by the Commission is available here.

 
 
 

Yahoo! Cited in Court Decision as Providing Evidence in Shi Tao State Secrets Trial

On April 27, 2005, a Chinese court sentenced newspaper editor Shi Tao to 10 years imprisonment for disclosing state secrets for e-mailing notes of an editorial meeting to an organization in New York City. On September 6 Reporters Without Borders noted that the court's decision cited "customer information provided by the Yahoo! Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited" to verify that the e-mail originated from Shi Tao's place of work. Specifically, the decision cited the following:

Liaoyang Labor Activist Yao Fuxin Has Heart Attack in Prison

Labor rights activist Yao Fuxin had a heart attack on August 6 while serving a prison sentence in Lingyuan, Liaoning province, according to a report by the China Labour Bulletin (CLB). Yao and Xiao Yunliang, a fellow worker, joined workers rallying in Liaoyang city, Liaoning province, in March 2002 to campaign for payment of wage arrears and pension benefits.

Government Releases House Church Historian From Labor Camp

Public security officials released Zhang Yinan, a Protestant house church historian, from a re-education through labor (RETL) camp in Henan province on September 25, according to the China Aid Association, a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom for Chinese Protestants. Officials instructed Zhang about what he could say in public about his case, and they refused to return his ID card.

Population Planning Official Confirms Abuses in Linyi City, Shandong Province

Dr. Yu Xuejun, a spokesman for the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC), acknowledged reports of abuses by local population planning officials in Linyi city, Shandong province, according to the September 20 edition of the China Daily and the NPFPC's Web site.

Chinese Government Declassifies Information on Fatalities From Natural Disasters

The National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets (NAPSS) announced that information about the number of fatalities caused by natural disasters will no longer be a state secret, according to a September 12 Xinhua article. A NAPSS spokesperson told a joint NAPSS and Ministry of Civil Affairs news conference that releasing this information would benefit disaster prevention and relief work, according to the report. Therefore, the relevant provisions of the "Rules on State Secrets and the Scope of Their Classification in Civil Affairs Work" were annulled, the spokesperson said.

NPC Standing Committee Passes Public Security Administration Punishment Law

The National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) passed a new Public Security Administration Punishment Law on August 28, according to an article on the People's Daily Web site. "Public order" offenses are a category of violations that includes traffic offenses, public disturbances, prostitution, drug use, and other "minor crimes" that the Chinese government punishes with administrative penalties, including fines and administrative detention, rather than criminal sentences. Such administrative punishments are controversial because police issue them without effective judicial review or even the minimal procedural protections that the Criminal Procedure Law provides to criminal defendants. According to Xinhua, police handled over 5 million public order cases involving more than 10 million people in 2004.

Shanghai Authorities Sentence Petitioner Wang Qiaojuan to One Year of Reeducation Through Labor

The Shanghai Reeducation Through Labor Administrative Committee notified the family of Wang Qiaojuan on August 17 that she had been sentenced to one year of reeducation through labor for "disturbing the peace in a public place," according to an August 30 press release issued by Human Rights in China (HRIC), a respected U.S. human rights NGO.

Chinese Authorities To "Rate" Domestic NGOs

Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) officials have announced plans to "rate" China's 289,000 NGOs, according to an August 31 Beijing News article. MOCA convened a conference of experts on August 30 to discuss the establishment of an "assessment system" for NGOs.

Xinjiang Government Intensifies Campaign Against the "Three Forces"

The government of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has increased efforts to control the "three forces" of separatism, terrorism, and religious extremism, according to an announcement by Wang Lequan, the Xinjiang Communist Party General Secretary, at an August 26 press conference. The Chinese domestic press covered Wang's remarks widely (see 1, 2 and 3). Since the Global War on Terrorism was launched, the Chinese government has accused many writers and activists who peacefully advocate for rights enshrined in China's Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law as supporting the "three evil forces" (see, for example, here and here).

Court Official Acknowledges Imprisoning Tibetans Who Carried Dalai Lama Photos Into the TAR

An official of the Shigatse (Rikaze) Prefecture Intermediate People's Court, located in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), acknowledged that during the past decade the court sentenced more than 20 Tibetans to between one and five years imprisonment for offenses that included possessing photos of the Dalai Lama, according to a September 1 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report.

Human Rights Activist Hu Jia Beaten and Detained During Visits by Foreign Officials

Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia said that China's state security officers beat him and placed him under house arrest for 14 days during visits by top United Nations and European Union officials, according to an interview he gave Agence France-Presse's Hong Kong Service on September 7. According to Hu, officials held him under house arrest from August 24 through September 6. He said four state security officials beat him on August 29 when he tried to leave his home to go to the hospital. Hu arrived in Beijing on August 24 with a group of AIDS patients from Henan province, according to an August 31 report by Radio Free Asia.

Imprisoned Internet Writer Zhang Lin Hospitalized During Hunger Strike

Writer Zhang Lin has been hospitalized since beginning a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment, according to a September 6 report from the Committee to Protect Journalists. On July 28, the Intermediate People's Court of Bengbu sentenced Zhang to five years imprisonment for inciting subversion. Zhang was accused of posting articles on the Internet and giving a radio interview. He is currently appealing the verdict.

Security Officers Detain Unregistered Catholic Priest, Seminarian in Hebei Province

Public security officers in Hebei province detained Pang Yongxing, an unregistered Catholic priest, and Ma Yongjiang, a Catholic seminarian, on September 2, according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation (CKF), a U.S. NGO that monitors the religious freedom of Chinese Catholics. Father Pang has been active in evangelizing in the Hebei countryside, and served three years in a labor camp between 2001 and 2004 for "disturbing the peace of society."

Chinese Leaders Attend TAR 40th Anniversary Ceremony, Adopt TAR Goals for 21st Century

Senior Chinese government and Party officials attended a September 1 ceremony in Lhasa marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), according to a Xinhua report.

UN Committee on Rights of the Child Urges China To Allow Visit to Boy Named As Panchen Lama

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on September 20 called for the Chinese government "to allow an independent body to verify the current status" of Gedun Choekyi Nyima, the boy the Dalai Lama recognized in 1995 as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.

Liaoning Court Sentences Author Zheng Yichun to Seven Years Imprisonment for Inciting Subversion

The Intermediate People's Court in Yingkou, Liaoning province, has sentenced Chinese author Zheng Yichun to seven years imprisonment and three years deprivation of political rights for inciting subversion of the state's political power, according to articles posted on the Web sites of Radio Free Asia, the Epoch Times, and Boxun on September 22. These articles reported that the primary charges listed in the court's judgment were:

Catholic Patriotic Association Leaders Deny Bishops Permission to Attend Synod in Rome

A Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) spokesman said that the CPA had denied four Catholic bishops permission to attend the October 2 Synod of Bishops in Rome, according to a September 12 Xinhua report. The CPA is the government-approved organization of Catholic churches in China, and the mechanism by which the government and Communist Party control Catholic religious practice in China. A synod is an assembly of bishops called to discuss matters of faith, morals, or discipline. An invitation to the Synod of Bishops generally signifies respect and esteem for the bishop invited, as well as for his diocese and country.

Xinjiang Police Form Special Unit To Investigate Exiled Activist Rebiya Kadeer

A special police unit in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region will monitor the relatives and business interests of exiled activist Rebiya Kadeer, according to an August 30 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report.

Censorship Agency Launches Campaign to "Inspect" Evening Newspapers

The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) announced a nation-wide inspection of China's evening newspapers, according to a September 21 article (in Chinese) on Xinhua's Web site.

Ministry of Information Industry Publication: Controlling "Harmful" Information on the Internet "Top Priority"

Saying that "when humanity opened the window to the Internet civilization, it also opened Pandora's box," a September 1 article in the Ministry of Information Industry's (MII) People's Post and Telecommunication News states that "Controlling the dissemination of harmful information on the Internet has become one of the government's foremost pressing responsibilities."

Chinese Border Patrol Alleged to Fire on Tibetan "Asylum Seekers," 48 Detained

Chinese security forces patrolling the China-Nepal border allegedly opened fire on a group of Tibetans attempting to flee China by hiking from the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) into Nepal on August 26, according to a September 23 report by Radio Free Asia (RFA). The group of 51 persons hiked from Dingri county in the TAR's Shigatse prefecture, and included a monk, two nuns, and six children. Only three of the group eluded capture and escaped to Nepal. The security forces took the remaining 48 into custody, according to an account provided by one of the escapees.

Government Regulators Block Foreign Access to China's Media Market

Chinese government regulators blocked Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.'s plan to operate a television channel in China, according to an August 30 New York Times report (registration required). According to the Times, News Corp. had been distributing the National Geographic Channel, a music channel, and other programming to local cable television companies without government permission. The government's action coincides with its recent promulgation of several regulations that limit foreign access to China's media industry:

Government Assigns Largest Group of Ethnic Han Officials to Date to Posts in Uighur Areas

According to the Xinjiang Daily, 947 government workers from outside the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region began three-year assignments in Xinjiang in mid-2005.

Potala Palace Monk Detained Before TAR 40th Anniversary

Chinese security officers in Lhasa detained Sonam, a monk employed at Lhasa's Potala Palace, on or about August 21, according to a September 17 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report. In his early 40s, Sonam has worked at the Potala since the 1980s, and was considered a trustworthy employee, according to the report. Authorities sent him on an official visit to Nepal in the mid-1990s, and recently promoted him to the position of chapel caretaker. HRW received unconfirmed reports that two other Potala monks were detained about the same time, and may have been released.

Government Issues Notices Restricting Media Rights, and Calling for More Propaganda for Children

China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) issued three new notices in mid-September:

Shandong City Requires Web Sites to Register with Public Security Office

Public security officials in Penglian, Shandong province, have issued a notice that all small and medium sized Web sites in the city must register with the police, according to a September 2 article on a Web site operated by the Dalian municipal government and local Communist Party Central Committee. The article states that the registration is necessary to "clean out" Web sites with "reactionary" and other types of "harmful" information. Public security officials intend to investigate Web sites that register and "punish" Web sites that fail to register.

Ministry of Commerce Promulgates Auto Trade Policy

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) promulgated a policy (in Chinese) governing trade in autos and automobile-related products on August 10. The policy contains provisions governing both trade within China and the import and export of autos and auto-related products, but no specific provisions that would advance Chinese government efforts to create an export-oriented auto industry. The policy confirms that foreign investors may enter the domestic distribution market for autos; such rights are part of China's WTO accession commitment to open the distribution sector. The policy prohibits imports of used cars, used car parts, and right-side drive autos.

Nine North Koreans Expelled From South Korean School in Tianjin

The principal at the South Korean International School in Tianjin turned away nine North Koreans seeking safe passage to South Korea on September 12 after they forced their way into the school, according to a South Korean civic group supporting North Korean refugees in China and reported by Yonhap News.