Doing business in China: February 2009 Archives

By DOW JONES Newswires (Agence France Presse)
20 February 2009

Chinese authorities have told a Beijing law firm known for its human rights work that it will be closed, lawyers and activists said Friday.

A Beijing judicial bureau told the Yitong Law Firm on Tuesday that it would be shut down for six months, with a final decision to be made after a court hearing in coming days, said Li Jinsong, the firm's managing lawyer.

"Faced with this arbitrary use of power by administrative departments seeking to illegally pressure us, the Yitong firm could be facing a cold winter," Li said in a statement.

"But we will never give up our fight for a democratic legal system, and the future prospects of justice, fairness and the legal rights of the individual."

According to the notice, the firm would be shut for six months because it allowed a lawyer to practice without a license - but Li said the lawyer was being used as an administrative assistant, which is allowed.

The Haidian district judicial department that reportedly made the order refused to comment on the case.

The law firm has taken up the cases of China's top dissidents, including Hu Jia, who won the European Parliament's top human rights award last year and is now serving a three-and-a-half year jail term for inciting subversion.

The firm also represented Chen Guangcheng, a blind activist jailed in 2006 for four years after campaigning against forced abortions and sterilization by officials upholding China's "one child" population control policy.

The New York-based organization Human Rights In China said the pending shutdown could be linked to Charter '08, a petition late last year calling for greater democracy in China. Several Yitong lawyers reportedly signed the petition.

>> continue reading

By Sujay Mehdudia | The Hindu (India)
February 08, 2009

Brushing aside the threat by China of dragging India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath on Friday plugged the loopholes in the rules that could allow manufacturers in China to dispatch toys into the market through a third country.

Officials said here that the Ministry has informed and alerted the customs authorities to ensure that Chinese toys do not enter the Indian ports through a third country route.

"Prohibition shall be applicable on all such toys which have originated from China, irrespective of the country of import. Originated shall mean 'manufactured' in China," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a directive to all Commissioners of Customs and licensing authorities.

Mr. Nath said the ban on Chinese toys was on grounds of public health and safety and the action was compliant with the WTO rules. "India is a responsible country and before we take any action we make sure that it should be WTO compatible," Mr. Nath told journalists here. However, he said the move would not sour India's commercial ties with China because the ban was a matter of public rather than commercial concern.

After India slapped the ban on import of toys from China on January 23, Chinese official media reported that Beijing was contemplating a WTO action against New Delhi.

>> Original source