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A brief visit to China Digital Times today landed me on the news about China blocking LiveJournal since last Friday possibly in preparation for the annual session of the National People’s Congress that started this week. Through the link posted in the Wired News article, I visited the site GreatFirewallofChina.org and run their test to see whether China blocks my blog. Not surprisingly, my blog is blocked! The test is based on one server in China so it may not be accurate. The animation shown during the test is fun to watch so I run the test again using the WordPress.com URL and the result is the same, it’s blocked. If anyone knows a better way to test websites or run a more comprehensive test for my blog, please drop a comment. (Click here for a larger screenshot of the picture below)
Long-time AIDS activist Dr. Gao Yaojie was not allowed to travel to Beijing to apply for a visa in order to visit the US in March for the Vital Voices‘ Global Leadership Awards. The annual event honors courageous women leaders from around the world and Dr. Gao is to be one of the honorees. She has been trapped in her home since the beginning of this month. She posted on her blog describing the police activities outside but the blog post has since disappeared. China Digital Times publicized her situation with a rough translation of her blog post.
This is not the first time Gao was not allowed to leave China to receive an award. The Global Health Council selected her for the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2001 and then in 2003, she was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation based in Philippines (Gao’s response to the award). She could not travel out of the country for either occasions so it is not a surprise that she is experiencing the same fate again. During a regularly scheduled Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on February 6th, the press inquired about the reports of Gao being placed under house arrest. Spokeswoman Jiang Yu replied that she was not aware of those reports. Earlier today, another news report emerged that Communist Party officials visited Gao at home to demonstrate good will before Chinese New Year.
A four-part video about Gao was posted on YouTube this week. She has also appeared in the final episode of the PBS series, China from the Inside that was broadcasted last month.
Related news and links:
- Washington Post: Chinese Officials Visit AIDS Activist
- Reuters AlertNet: China says not aware of travel ban on AIDS doctor
- PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu’s Regular Press Conference on 6 February 2007
- Telegraph (UK) – Richard Spencer’s blog: Beyond the call of duty
- Washington Post: China bars AIDS doctor from U.S. for award
- Amnesty International (December 2004): Human rights defenders at risk
- Telegraph (February 2004): China’s Aids whistleblower left in limbo
- BBC News (May 2001): China bars Aids activist visiting US
- Time magazine – Asia edition: Grandmother Courage
YouTube videos: Gao Yaojie, part 1-4
It’s been almost a week since the Beijing Olympics new media regulations became effective on January 1st. Are there any significant changes for foreign journalists working in China? There was a mix of good and bad news in this first week. Bao Tong, the former aid of the Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, was approved by the government on January 1st to be interviewed by Reuters. Bao was jailed following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and he has been outspoken about the Chinese government since being kept under house arrest after he was released from prison in 1996. Refer to my earlier post for his latest essay published by Radio Free Asia.
On the other hand, human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was released from detention since he received a three-year suspended prison sentence on December 22nd but his whereabouts is unknown. RFA interviewed his family members and friends and the speculation is that the Chinese government kicked Gao out of Beijing a few days before the New Year so he would not be accessible to foreign journalists.
Two days ago, Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office told China Daily about the need to change government officials’ attitude from “managing” to “serving the media.” He cautioned that the change in attitude might not take place immediately outside of the major cities because many officials are used to the “Regulations on the Supervision of Foreign Journalists and Resident Foreign News Organs” enforced since 1990. He encouraged government officials from the local level to interact with the media more openly, like holding press conferences.
It seems to me there is a lot of talk but not enough action. Part of the new media regulations include the freedom to interview individuals or organizations with only their prior consent which has been contradicted by the Bao Tong’s interview since it was pre-approved. Reuters also requested to interview Shanghai lawyer Zheng Enchong but the request was denied because Zheng was stripped his political rights which means he is not allowed to talk to the media. And taking Gao Zhisheng out of Beijing is the new low of press freedom.
I am anxious to see whether any foreign journalists will be allowed to check out locations of recent social unrest because that’s where the real action is from the aftermath of China’s economic boom and years of human rights neglect.
Related news and links:
- China Digital Times: Bao Tong Allowed to Talk to Foreign Press
- RFA Mandarin service news brief (Simplified Chinese) on January 1st and 2nd covering the Reuters’ interview with Bao Tong
- China Digital Times: Gao Zhisheng Whereabouts Unknown
- RFA Mandarin service (Simplified Chinese): Gao Zhisheng might get expelled out of Beijing
- Gao Zhisheng’s blog (Simplified Chinese): Hu Jia’s post – Gao Zhisheng’s whole family got escorted out of Beijing (partial translation of the post shown in Global Voices)
- RFA Mandarin service (Simplified Chinese): Gao Zhisheng removed by police one week ago, whereabouts unknown
- China Daily: ‘Serve the media, not manage them’
- China Daily: Presenting the true picture of China (2-page interview with Wang Guoqing)
- BBC News: China wrestles with new media era
Many people have been imprisoned on the charge of “state secrets” in China but there is not much information about what’s defined as state secrets. Last Friday, Xinhua News Agency published an article in regards to the warning from the National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets (NAPSS) about the possible leak of state secrets on the internet. The article ended with an explanation of state secretes under the “Law on Guarding State Secrets” and that included some rather normal activities such as national economic and social development, science and technology. But the most important of all, state secrets include “other matters that are classified as state secrets by the state secret protection department.” Does it mean anything can be “classified” at any time? It’s still very vague.
According to China Digial Times, the definition of state secrets is available online in many Chinese government documents. The person who located some of the info online posted his (or her?) findings in a forum and commented that anything the government does not actively publish is state secrets. It seems like in the end, the government has the say of what’s considered public information.
Related news and links:
- Xinhua News Agency: Public warned of Internet risks in guarding state secrets
- China Digital Times, August 2005: Regulations on state secrets available online
- The Independent Review (Chinese site), August 2005: You are very likely to have revealed state secrets
A brief visit to the website of China Digital Times led me to some detailed information about Chen Guangcheng’s retrial last week. It’s appalling to find out how hard the defense lawyers worked and how much intimidation the family and witnesses have sustained. The defense lawyers submitted a 56-page statement to the court and part of the statement described how one villager was tortured to provide a confession as evidence for Chen’s case. Other parts of the statement provided detailed accounts of those who experienced forced sterilization and abortion in Linyi of Shandong province and this is the hardest to read. Family members were forced to hit each other. People were arrested in the middle of the night. And there were some ridiculous “family planning” slogans hanging around villages:
“No action after first birth, sterilization after the second, if sterilization is refused prosecute.”
“Hit it out, force it out, abort it, just so long as it is not born.”
No wonder Chen Guangcheng had to stand up for these villagers. Unfortunately, Chen is now in prison. His lawyers didn’t have an easy time either. Their efforts in gathering evidence were consistently interrupted by police. One of them, Teng Biao was detained on the morning of the retrial. While in detention, Teng was roughed up, searched and interrogated. He was never told why he was detained. Moreover, Chen’s wife was detained the day after the retrial and the police released her from detention by dragging her out of a police car to the side of a road outside her village.
How much more violent acts will these people experience until the rest of the world takes a more active approach to condemn China’s human rights records?
Related links:
- China Digital Times: A note on Chen Guangcheng’s defense counsel statement – David Cowhig
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders: Chen Guangcheng Retrial Confirms Jail Term: Gross Injustice, Blatant Abuses
