China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - October 2008

 
 
 

Message from the Chairman and Co-Chairman

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China adopted its 2008 Annual Report on October 31 by a vote of 22 to 1. The Commission also published a new compilation of case records providing details on 1,088 political prisoners detained or imprisoned in China as of the time of the Annual Report’s release.

The findings of this year’s Annual Report prompt us to consider not simply what the Chinese government and Communist Party may do in the months and years ahead, but what the United States must do differently in managing our relationship with China in light of developments over the last year. In spite of what the Chinese government has written into its laws and regulations, China’s leaders in practice have failed to keep their international commitments, including commitments to WTO norms and other international economic norms, to human rights, including worker rights, to the free flow of information and other safeguards of the rule of law.

We understand that China today is significantly changed from the China of several decades ago, and that the challenges facing its people and leaders are complex. But the Chinese government’s and Communist Party’s continuing crackdown on China’s ethnic minority citizens, ongoing manipulation of the media, and heightened repression of lawyers and human rights defenders reveal a level of state control over society that is incompatible with the development of the rule of law and the advancement of human rights. The Chinese government and Communist Party continue to equate citizen activism and public protest with "social instability" and "social unrest." China’s increasingly active and engaged citizens are its most valuable resource for addressing the myriad public policy problems China faces, including food and drug safety, forced labor, environmental degradation, and corruption. Engaging activist citizens, not repressing them, is the key to effective implementation of basic human rights, and to the ability of all people in China to live under the rule of law.

As this newsletter goes to press, new reports have emerged of child labor and other abuses, and heightened surveillance and censorship of individuals and NGOs. These developments underline how vital it is that the United States in its relationship with China pursue the issues that are the charge of this Commission: individual human rights, including worker rights, and the safeguards of the rule of law. This is not a matter of one country meddling in the affairs of another. All nations, including ours, have both the responsibility and a legitimate interest in ensuring compliance with international commitments.

 
 
 

Child Labor Found in Shanghai and Wuhan, Following Earlier Reports on Scandal in Guangdong

Reports of the employment of underage workers in factories in Shanghai and Wuhan emerged in October, according to October 6 reports from Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch (CRLW) and Radio Free Asia, as well as an October 21 report from the Hong Kong-based China CSR and an October 9 entry from a well-known Chinese blog. In Shanghai, a 15-year-old laborer died from wounds suffered at the hands of coworkers at a pipe valve factory earlier this year, while a local blogger exposed several cases of child labor in Wuhan factories in October.

Beijing Requires Photo Registration at All Internet Cafes by December

Beijing officials have issued a "new regulation" requiring all Internet cafes in the city to forward photographs of customers to a city law enforcement department to be kept on file for monitoring purposes, according to an October 16, 2008, Xinhua article. 

China-Dalai Lama Dialogue Round Ends: Party Restates Hard Line, Tibetans Begin Meeting

A senior Communist Party official told the Dalai Lama's representatives during the most recent round of formal dialogue on the Tibet issue that the Dalai Lama should "face reality" and "fundamentally change his political positions," according to a November 6, 2008, Xinhua report.

Authorities Restrict HIV/AIDS Activism While the Epidemic Spreads

Although the Chinese government has developed an anti-AIDS policy framework, civil society engagement remains a major challenge in the fight against the epidemic, according to an October 8 article written by the Executive Director of the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) published in the state-run China Daily.

Authorities Cancel Plans to Subject Uyghur Woman to Forced Abortion (Updated)

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) released from the hospital a Uyghur woman who is six months pregnant with her third child, after cancelling plans to subject her to a forced abortion for violating the region's population planning regulations, according to reports from Radio Free Asia (RFA).

State Council Issues New Foreign Journalist Regulations

The State Council on October 17, 2008, issued the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on News Covering Activities of the Permanent Offices of Foreign News Agencies and Foreign Journalists, which became effective immediately. The new regulations make permanent the less restrictive conditions introduced by the Regulations on Reporting Activities in China by Foreign Journalists During the Beijing Olympic Games and the Preparatory Period (Olympic Regulations), which took effect on January 1, 2007, and expired on October 17, 2008, the day the new regulations became effective. Prior to the Olympics Regulations, rules from 1990 required foreign journalists to obtain the approval of a local foreign affairs office before reporting outside of Beijing, a process that sometimes took days.

Authorities Target Religious Leaders During, After Olympic Games

Chinese authorities have continued to target religious leaders for harassment, detention, and other abuses, in the midst and aftermath of the Olympic Games. China's preparations for the sporting event ushered in a period of heightened government scrutiny and control over communities including religious groups

Authorities Increase Repression in Xinjiang in Lead-up to and During Olympics

Officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) called again in August for the use of harsh security measures to crack down against the government-designated "three forces" of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, according to reports from Chinese media. On August 13, Wang Lequan, XUAR Communist Party Chair, described the battle against the "three forces" as a "life or death struggle" and pledged to "strike hard" against their activities, according to an August 14 report from the Xinjiang Daily.