Human Rights: February 2006 Archives
Reporters Without Borders | Reporters Sans Frontieres
February 17, 2006
Reporters Without Borders is sickened by cynicism of the Publicity Department (formerly Propaganda Department) which has authorised the reappearance of the Bing Dian (Freezing point), supplement of the daily Zhongguo Qingnian Bao (China Youth Daily) after removing its editor and best investigative journalist.
Elsewhere, two journalists, one in Xinjiang in the north-west and the other in Beijing have recently been punished for investigating sensitive topics.
"The reappearance of Bing Dian is an act of bogus leniency. The investigative weekly has had its two prime movers cut away and replaced by a loyal communist party journalist," said Reporters Without Borders.
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By Jim Yardley | The New York Times
February 18, 2006
LANZHOU, China, Feb. 17 — The controversy over news media censorship in China continued Friday as two editors who had been removed from a feisty weekly journal, Freezing Point, issued a public letter lashing out at propaganda officials and calling for free speech.
Meanwhile on Friday, a group of prominent scholars and lawyers who had contributed articles to the journal wrote an open letter to President Hu Jintao, denouncing the crackdown against Freezing Point as a violation of the Chinese Constitution and of the promise made by top leaders for a consistent rule of law.
The two broadsides came as intellectuals and some former party officials have sharply criticized the recent increase in censorship of the news media. Propaganda officials, who shut down Freezing Point last month, announced this week that the publication would restart March 1, but without the top two editors.
In their public letter, which was released in Beijing, the two editors, Li Datong and Lu Yuegang, defended their stewardship of Freezing Point and made an ardent plea for freedom of expression, saying it was the role of the news media to investigate "unfairness in the world."
"What do the people want?" they wrote. "The freedom of publication and expression granted by the Constitution."
As for the plan to resume publication of Freezing Point, the editors added: "The newspaper run by the taxpayers' money is forced to publish the trash of the propaganda officials. This is a crime and an abuse of power."
Hao Wang - San Francisco Chronicle - SFGate.com
February 10, 2006
The San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce's decision to bar Falun Gong from Saturday's Chinese New Year parade has grabbed headlines and raised concerns about discrimination. However, what is flying under the radar is the simple question of why the local participation of this meditation group -- known for its slow-moving exercises, colorful parades and history of being persecuted by the atheist Chinese communist government -- would cause so much international commotion?
A line from The Chronicle's Jan. 31 article on the parade controversy provides some clue: "The dispute reaches around the globe: Beijing's government has a strong interest in cultivating the loyalty of Chinese people overseas." So, what is seemingly at stake -- at least in part -- is Beijing's ability to retain the loyalty of Chinese communities in the United States, many of whom have formed their own identities. In San Francisco, this translates to a clash of identities. On one hand is the traditional Chinese culture, celebrated by American-born Chinese, permanent residents and recent immigrants alike as their precious cultural heritage. On the other hand is the communist-flavored, nationalistic representation of China that aims for the global unity of all Chinese. The latter aspiration is what Beijing's communist leaders hope to cultivate.
by REUTERS | The New York Times
February 8, 2006
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese civil rights campaigner who was assaulted by thugs this week was unreachable and appeared to have gone missing on Wednesday after announcing plans to stage a hunger strike outside Beijing's leadership compound.
Yang Maodong's activism set him on a collision course with the Communist Party, which has tightened its grip on power and intensified crackdowns on rights campaigners, lawyers, journalists and academics.
Yang, who goes by the pen name of Guo Feixiong, did not tell his closest friends beforehand of his plans to begin a two-day hunger strike outside the front door of the Zhongnanhai leadership compound on Wednesday, AIDS activist Hu Jia said by telephone.
Security is tight round-the-clock in and around Zhongnanhai -- China's political heart -- with uniformed soldiers standing guard at the entrance, plainclothes patrolling the area, police vans parked on the sidewalk and surveillance cameras perched on its walls.
Yang's cell phones were turned off on Wednesday.
Reporters Without Borders
January 31, 2006
Reporters Without Borders urged the release of journalist Li Yuanlong, who was arrested on 29 September 2005 by members of the security bureau in Guizhou province in south-west China, after posting articles online exposing local people’s wretched living standards.
“We are outraged by this arrest”, said Reporters Without Borders. “This latest censorship proves the Chinese authorities’ unease over escalating social problems.”
The 45-year-old journalist on Bijie Ribao was on his way to work in the town of Bijie when he was picked up by the security bureau. His home, which was already under surveillance before his arrest, was immediately searched.
His wife, Yang Nushi and his son have not received any news about him and have not been allowed to visit him in prison in Bijie. “He was already in very poor health,” said his wife, who fears he will not survive his prison conditions.
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