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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
For the next two Wednesdays, January 10th and 17th, PBS will broadcast a four-hour mini-series called China from the Inside. The series explore several aspects of the country through visits and interviews with a variety of Chinese citizens. The first two episodes cover the power of the Community Party and the women of China. The next two reveal environmental problems and the limits on freedom. Check out the series’ official website for a detailed description.
The Internet Governance Forum started meeting this week in Athens. There was a discussion about major tech companies “assisted” China’s internet censorship. The 2 companies present defended their businesses. Others said it should be the company home country’s responsibility to govern ethical business practices overseas. All in all, I don’t think anyone wants to take on the responsibility for ensuring freedom of expression online.
This issue is not new. It’s been reported for quite a while and when there is a discussion about it, no one takes the blame. “The Great Firewall” are the new keywords for media reports on China’s internet censorship.
Related news and links:
- Amnesty International: Statement at the opening of the Internet Governance Forum, Athens 2006
- BBC News: Microsoft considers China policy
- BBC News, July 2006: Inside the great firewall of China
- NPR, February 2006: Searching the Web Behind the Great Firewall of China
- PBS, February 2006: The Great Firewall of China
- BusinessWeek, January 2006: The Great Firewall of China
- BBC News, January 2006: The great firewall of China
- Radio Free Asia, April 2005: China’s Great Firewall
- BBC News, March 2005: China’s tight rein on online growth
If you follow the links to read about the Shi Tao case from my previous posts, you will learn that Yahoo! provided the Chinese officials IP address information that linked to Shi Tao’s work place where he sent the email which was deemed “state secrets.” IP address is one of the powerful tools of internet censorship. A friend of mine said there are ways to get around this by using tools such as Torpark.
On the other hand, Google searches came up with different results depending on the country where you access their site or that country’s version of Google. One good experiment is a student worksheet from the lesson plan accompanying the PBS Frontline special, The Tank Man.
One of the most extensive research on China’s internet censorship was completed by Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman, Berkman Center for Internet & Society of Harvard Law School. Their report is titled, “Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China.”
