Doing business in China: February 2012 Archives

By BBC World News

February 17, 2012

Several villagers in eastern China have been detained following protests against alleged land grabs by local officials, state media report.

At least 200 people in Panhe village, in Zhejiang province, had staged three protests over land disputes this month, the Global Times newspaper reported.

An agreement with the authorities has now been reportedly reached.

Land seizures are a frequent source of friction between villagers and local officials across China.

According to the Global Times, the protests in Panhe stopped "after several more people were detained by security forces".

Villagers interviewed by AFP news agency said the issue was now resolved.

The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says these protests are the latest reminder of the simmering unrest in China's countryside.

He says comparisons have been made with a rebellion in Wukan in Guangdong province in December, when people openly revolted against land seizures.

The villagers' key demands - including removing two local officials - were granted amid considerable public support.

A Dutch and a German journalist trying to cover the latest protests were attacked by men who appeared to be plainclothes policemen, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said.

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By BBC World News

February 14, 2012

China's TV broadcasting regulator has announced that foreign TV shows will no longer be aired during prime time, state media report.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) says these shows cannot be aired from 19:30 to 22:00.

The series also cannot run longer than 50 episodes and should comprise "no more than 25% of programming each day".

According to the China Daily newspaper, the "aim is to improve the quality of imported TV programmes".

Local TV channels are not allowed to show too many shows from one particular region, the regulator says, without explaining further.

Foreign shows also have to be approved before they are aired and cannot have violent or vulgar content. Stations that violate the new rules face "severe punishments", the newspaper reports.

Most foreign TV shows broadcast in China are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand.

The move comes after President Hu Jintao told members of the Communist Party last month that officials should remain vigilant against Western cultural influences.

The new rules follow a series of new regulations on TV programming. In November, China ordered a ban on advertisements during TV dramas as part of its reform of cultural activities.

It also clamped down on light entertainment shows, limiting the number satellite channels were allowed to show.

Officials also told a successful commercial station to stop broadcasting a popular talent contest called Super Girl. They said it was too long, but others suspected the show's huge popularity was a reason.

The move comes at a time when the Communist Party is seen as trying to get a firmer grip on Chinese culture.

In a Central Committee meeting last year, China's senior leaders appeared to indicate they wanted to keep an even closer eye on broadcasters.

>> Original Source

By Radio FREE Asia

February 09, 2012

Authorities in southern China try an independent candidate who hoped to stand for local parliamentary elections.

A court in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong is trying an independent parliamentary election candidate this week for violating electoral law, her lawyer said.

Last October, hundreds of Li Biyun's supporters turned out in her home district of Rongli, in Guangdong's Foshan city, to protest her detention.

But her trial went ahead this week at the Shunde district People's Court in Foshan, according to her legal representative Wang Jinping.

"Li Biyun was charged because she protested against illegal election practices," Wang said, adding that Li had scant chance of a fair trial.

"The elections were organized by the local National People's Congress (NPC), and now the public prosecutors and the judges are all people who were appointed by them," he said.

"There are also clashes of interests in the mix. We asked for the judge to be withdrawn, which is a very reasonable request, but it was refused."

Rongli residents wrote an open letter to the to the Shunde electoral committee in October which garnered around 900 signatures, calling on them to declare the election results null and void because of "illegalities," one of which was the detention of Li.

Independent candidates

Dozens of political activists across China have joined the campaign to file applications to stand for the elections, in spite of official warnings that there is "no such thing" as an independent candidate.

Official media have said that anyone hoping to stand for elections this year to the district-level congresses will first have to clear "due legal procedures," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

However, activists are hoping to use a clause in the election rules which allows anyone with the endorsement of at least 10 constituents to seek nomination.

Some of the candidates, like Li, come from the least privileged groups in society, including those who have been forcibly evicted from their homes, or who have long campaigned for their legal rights.

Li's trial

Li's sister Li Caiyun said her sister appeared drawn and pale as she stood in the dock, wearing manacles that weren't removed even after she fainted.

"She had manacles on her hands and feet," Li Caiyun said. "My sister's health isn't very good; she's quite ill, and she couldn't stand very easily."

"It's not like she's a murderer; why did they have to put manacles on her, it was too cruel for words."

Several hundred of Li's supporters showed up outside the courtroom on Wednesday and Thursday to support the activist during her trial, but only a dozen were admitted.

One supporter surnamed Li said he had been approached as he left home on Wednesday morning by local police, who warned him not to try to attend the trial.

"Sister Li fought for the rights of the villagers and protested against violations of electoral law, and she led the villagers in the fight against corruption," he said. "She has never committed any crime."

He said the local authorities were making an example of Li. "They are just trying to terrorize us," he said. "They don't want the villagers to fight for their rights."

Repeated calls to the Shunde District People's Court went unanswered during office hours on Wednesday. Li's trial continues on Thursday.

Assault claim

Jiangxi-based political activist Li Sihua, who has himself tried to stand as an independent candidate for local NPC elections, said the case against Li hinged on the fact that she had accidentally injured someone with a pair of scissors.

"The person's injury was very light, and they said themselves that they didn't wish to press charges," he said. "Such a case, even if it was brought, should be a civil claim for injury and not a criminal case."

"If she did disrupt an election, then she only disrupted an illegal election in protest at its illegality," Li Sihua said.

Apart from a token group of "democratic parties" which never oppose or criticize the ruling Communist Party, opposition political parties are banned in China, and those who set them up are frequently handed lengthy jail terms.

More than two million lawmakers at the county and township levels will be elected during nationwide elections, held every five years, in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships from May 7 through December of next year.

Reported by Xin Yu for RFA's Mandarin service and by Fung Yat-yiu for the Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

>> Original Source

By NTD Television

February 06, 2012

On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrapped up her fifth visit to China since taking office. While Merkel was able to reassure Chinese leaders on the prospects of the Euro and Europe's recovery from the sovereign debt crisis, she was prevented from meeting with a prominent human rights lawyer.

The German Embassy in Beijing had invited Lawyer Mo Shaoping to attend a function with Merkel on February 2nd and afterwards to hold private discussions.

[Mo Shaoping, Human Rights Lawyer]:
"Chancellor Merkel hoped to meet with me and also the editor of 'Yanhuang Chunqiu,' Mr. Wu Si and have a talk in private. Mainly she wanted to discuss with me the situation of law and order in China, and the situation of lawyers in China."

However on the day of the meeting, Beijing police locked Mo up in his office for several hours to prevent him from attending the event.

[Mo Shaoping, Human Rights Lawyer]:
"Afterwards they said there was no legal foundation for it. They were just following orders from above. China will hold the 18th Party Congress this year. It requires stability--to protect stability, and won't allow any other voices to be heard."

In the end Merkel was only able to meet the editor of the publication "Yanhuang Chunqiu." They talked for about 40 minutes.

Shandong based rights lawyer Li Xiangyang says this kind of suppression is common in China.

[Li Xiangyang, Shandong Based Rights Lawyer]:
"Arbitrarily limiting people's freedom, arbitrarily trampling on law and order, this is something seen most often in China. (The regime itself) says: 'we are gangsters, what do we fear?'"

Human rights lawyers in China often meet with harassment or have their practices shut down. Lawyer Gao Zhisheng had his law license revoked in 2005 after investigating the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong. He has been in and out of custody for the last few years. Currently he's believed to be held in Xinjiang.

Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist who investigated forced abortions, has also been held under house arrest since his release from prison in 2010.

>> Original Source

By Radio FREE Asia

30 January 2012

A year after calls for a Chinese 'Jasmine Revolution,' activists say they have been subjected to beatings and humiliation.

As Chinese activists mark the first anniversary of online calls for an Arab World-style "Jasmine Revolution" in China, authorities in the eastern province of Hangzhou announced they would try a prominent dissident for subversion.

The beginning of the Arab Spring in Tunisia last year sparked online calls for Chinese activists to begin their own Jasmine Revolution, prompting the detention and suveilance of hundreds of dissidents and rights defenders across the country.

Chinese activists say they were subjected to beatings, humiliation, and brainwashing techniques during the crackdown, which continues this week with the trial of Hangzhou-based pro-democracy activist Zhu Yufu for "incitement to subvert state power."

"The authorities used every kind of method to make people feel sub-human," said Beijing-based rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong. "This undermines a person's sense of themselves, and of their human dignity and values."

Guangzhou-based independent commentator Ye Du, who was himself detained for a period of time during the clampdown, was reluctant to discuss the experience.

"My treatment at that time was such that I can't bear to recollect it," Ye said.

Jiang said many of his friends and fellow activists felt similarly about their experiences at the hands of China's state security police.

While dozens of those detained by the authorities were eventually freed, many remain under close police surveillance. The Jasmine crackdown has also prompted a string of lengthy jail terms handed to prominent activists for subversion.

"They detained large numbers of people and eventually let them out again," said Wuhan-based rights activist Qin Yongmin.

"But just as everyone was thinking it was all behind us, and that they should let those remaining people go, they sentenced a whole string of people, Chen Xi, Li Tie, and Chen Wei, in the space of a month."

Leadership succession

Qin said he believed the jail sentences handed to the three activists were the result of nationwide preparations for a crucial leadership succession at the 18th Party Congress later this year.

"The authorities are hoping that nothing big will happen ahead of the 18th Congress," he said. "So they are showing political dissidents what they're made of."

Rights groups estimate that at least 40 activists were held under criminal detention in the two months that followed the calls for a Jasmine Revolution--proposed silent demonstrations in major Chinese cities--that, in the event, appeared to attract more police and journalists than protesters.

Authorities in Hangzhou meanwhile announced they would try Zhu Yufu, a founding member of the now-banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP), for subversion on Tuesday, his wife said.

Zhu's trial would begin at th Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court at 9.00 a.m. local time, according to Jiang Hangli. Only two passes were issued for family to attend the proceedings, she said.

"Only close family members [can attend]," Jiang said, adding that she and the couple's daughter planned to attend the trial. "Even more distant relatives aren't allowed."

She said the case against her husband apparently hinged on a poem he posted online, titled "It is Time," calling on Chinese people to walk the streets in support of political change.

"I read the poem," Jiang said. "But my friends said they couldn't see anything in it ... The lawyer also said that he collected donations and asked about the families who had people in prison over Spring Festival."

"He also gave interviews to journalists; that's what the lawyer said."

'It Is Time'

Zhu was formally detained by Hangzhou police last March after he posted his poem, titled "It Is Time" online.

"It is time, people of China! It is time," the poem read. "The square belongs to us all; our feet are our own."

"It is time to use our feet to go to the square and to make a choice ... We should use our choices to decide the future of China," it said.

Zhu, 60, is a veteran activist who first caught the attention of the authorities during the Democracy Wall movement of 1978. He was sentenced in 1998 to a seven-year jail term for his involvement with an unprecedented attempt to register the Zhejiang provincial branch of the CDP as a civil organization with the authorities.

Prior to his most recent arrest, he had been under frequent surveillance by police.

Zhu's charge sheet mentioned his habit of giving interviews to foreign media, his publishing of "subversive" opinions, his propaganda on behalf of the CDP and his online promotion of calls for a Jasmine Revolution in China, according to fellow CDP activist Zou Wei.

Reported by Grace Kei Lai-see for RFA's Cantonese service, and by Lin Ping for the Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

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