China Stands Accused of Systematically Wrecking Global Climate Deal

Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor in Copenhagen, and Jonathan Owen in London report, The Independent, UK, Dec. 20, 2009-

China “systematically wrecked” the Copenhagen climate summit because it feared being presented with a legally binding target to cut the country’s soaring carbon emissions, a senior official from an EU country, present during the negotiations, told The Independent on Sunday yesterday.

The accusation, backed up by a separate eye-witness account from the heart of the talks of obstructive Chinese behaviour, reflected widespread anger among many delegations about the nation’s actions at the conference.

The concluding agreement about tackling global climate change was widely criticised yesterday for being too weak, and was seen as a dashing the hopes of many concerned about the warming threat. The lack of teeth in the “Copenhagen accord” – which, it is accepted on all sides, is inadequate for fighting climate change – was widely blamed by environmentalists on President Barack Obama for not making bigger US commitments to cut carbon emissions.

Yet the key element of the agreement, a timetable for making its commitments legally binding by this time next year, was taken out at the last minute at the insistence of the Chinese, who otherwise would have refused to agree to the deal.

Also removed, at Chinese insistence, was a statement of a global goal to cut carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, and for the developed world to cut its emissions by 80 per cent by the same date. The latter is regarded as essential if the world is to stay below the danger threshold of a two-degree Centigrade temperature rise.

The “50-50″ and “50-80″ goals have already been accepted by the G20 group of nations and world leaders who were negotiating the agreement, including Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel of Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Kevin Rudd of Australia. They were said to be amazed at the Chinese demands, especially over the developed nations’ goal. The European official said: “China thinks that by 2050 it will be a developed country and they do not want to constrain their growth.”

China, with its rapidly expanding economy, has now overtaken the US as the world’s biggest CO2 emitter, and although at the meeting it agreed for first time to a target to constrain its emissions growth in an international instrument, it is desperate not to have that made legally binding, the official said. He added: “This conference has been systematically wrecked by the Chinese government, which has adopted tactics that were inexplicable at first as we had been led to believe they wanted an agreement.”

Even more pointed allegations about Chinese behaviour came last night from another source at the heart of the negotiations.

The source was present as heads of state and government drafted the final document, and gave the IoS an astonishing eyewitness account. He said: “There were 25 heads of state in the room; this was about six o’clock on Friday night. To my right there was President Obama in the corner, with Gordon Brown on one side, the Ethiopian President on the other, the President of Mexico, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea…

“If China had not been in that room you would have had a deal which would have had everyone popping champagne corks. But this was the first sign that China is emerging as a superpower, which is not interested in global government, is not interested in multilateral governance that affects its own sovereignty or growth. You could tell this lack of engagement through the process; they play a much cleverer game than anyone else. They were running rings around the Americans.

“It’s always easier to block than to try and get something. The Americans will probably be given some of the blame because that’s the conventional narrative all the pressure groups have – that the rich countries are bad, they didn’t give enough money or they would not create enough mitigation targets.”

The source went on: “But the truth is, I was in that meeting and the ‘Annex 1′, rich countries had mitigation targets of 80 per cent by 2050 which everyone supported, and it was taken out by the Chinese. The deal was watered down because the Chinese wouldn’t accept any targets of any sort, for anybody. Not themselves or anybody else. Legally binding stuff was taken out by the Chinese as well and there was a lot of anger in the room. It was controlled but it was very, very clear what the feelings were.

“The Chinese were happy as they’d win either way. If the process collapsed they’d win because they don’t have to do anything and they know the rich countries will get the blame.

“If the deal doesn’t collapse because everyone is so desperate to accommodate them that they water it down to something completely meaningless, they get their way again. Either way they win. I think all the other world leaders knew that by that stage and were just furious that they couldn’t do anything about it.

“It was extraordinary to see, and incredibly worrying for what it bodes for the future of our planet in this century. China is not going to get less powerful, and if this is the way that it’s going to behave, then we have problems.”

Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who led the negotiations for Britain, said last night: “It’s disappointing that the Chinese insisted we should not commit to a global 50 per cent emissions cut, and it’s disappointing that they didn’t support a legally binding treaty. I think both of these are necessary.”

Additional reporting by Rebecca Buchan and Claire Cooper

Eyewitness: Amid the confusion and chaos, we waited in vain for the hand of history on our shoulders

It was colourful, chaotic and confusing. But the sense most people will probably walk away with after nearly two weeks of talks in Copenhagen is one of intense disappointment and deflation……. (more details from The Independent)

Premier Chinese Arts Group Kicks Off 2010 World Tour With Brand New Dances

By Mimi Li, Epoch Times Staff, Dec 19, 2009-

AUGUSTA, Ga.— New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts commenced its 2010 World Tour in Augusta, Ga. on Dec. 19 with two shows that featured a fresh new program of dances, songs, and musical scores that prompted two standing ovations. Shen Yun’s first show of the season, with all original performance compositions, met with an enthusiastic response from the audience.

With a foundation in classical Chinese dance that encompasses flips, turns, and delicate, meticulous movements,  Shen Yun’s dances celebrate a wide span of Chinese traditions, tales, and peoples, and strive to exhibit the universality of classical Chinese dance.

Shen Yun has traditionally performed dances that tribute Chinese minority ethnic groups, and this season is no different. Shen Yun’s new ethnic dances include In a Miao Village, which elegantly depicts the Miao people’s elaborate headdresses and ornate silver jewelry, and Dance of the Dai, which features the Dai people’s fluid arm and finger movements.

Shen Yun also choreographs dance compositions that recreate ancient folk tales on stage. In one folk tale-inspired dance of the new tour, Wu Song Battles the Tiger, the hero Wu Song stumbles into the woods drunk and fights off a man-eating tiger. In another, Splitting the Mountain, goddess San Sheng Mu falls in love with a mortal and they have a son. But San Sheng Mu is trapped inside a mountain by her angry brother, until eventually her son comes to save her.

This upcoming year, Shen Yun plans to perform more than 400 shows in four continents and dozens of countries around the world.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

Argentine Judge Issues Arrest Warrants for 2 Top China Officials, Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, for Genocide

By Matthew Robertson, Epoch Times Staff, Dec. 18, 2009 -

In a historic genocide case, an Argentine judge has issued arrest warrants for top Chinese officials for their role in the persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong.

Judge Octavio Araoz de Lamadrid’s decision on Dec. 17 is a precedent for Argentina, and is the first time that extraterritoriality has been used in the country to pursue crimes against humanity.

The case follows a similar decision in Spain last month, where five top communist leaders were indicted for their roles in the persecution of Falun Gong by the Spanish National Court.

Lamadrid has issued arrest warrants for former leader of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin, who in July 1999 began the campaign to “eradicate Falun Gong,” and Luo Gan, former head of the 610 Office, an extra-constitutional agency that carries out the persecution.

Over 3000 are confirmed tortured to death, according to Falun Gong sources, and the persecution against the group is commonly cited as among the most severe human rights abuses in China.

“This is the true reality of the creation of a Chinese Gestapo with the objective of exterminating thousands of innocent people [including women, the elderly, and children] under the control, direction, supervision, and coordination of Luo Gan, the accused … .” Judge Lamadrid wrote of the 610 Office in his decision.

As in the case of the Spanish National Court’s decision, if the officials travel to a country that has an extradition treaty with Argentina, both officials may be detained, transferred to Argentina, and brought before the court.

From the evidence gathered in four years of investigation, Judge Araoz de Lamadrid expounded in his decision that “the strategy of genocide that has been designed encompassed all range of actions with a total contempt for life and human dignity. The end devised—the eradication of Falun Gong—justified all utilized means. In this way, torment, torture, disappearances, deaths, brainwashing, psychological torture, were the currency of the persecution of its practitioners.”

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that emerged in the early nineties in China. After seven years of rapid growth and popularity it was banned and persecuted by the Communist Party, which does not allow independent social groups outside its control.

- The Epochtimes

Visiting China Official Facing Genocide Charges in Taiwan

NTDTV, Dec. 17, 2009-

A member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee is being sued for genocide in Taiwan.

Xu Guangchun, the former Provincial Party Secretary of Henan province, arrived in Taiwan on Monday. He was there to foster cultural and economic exchange between Taiwan and the Mainland. But just a day after he arrived, Xu was personally handed a court complaint by the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association.

Spokesman of the Association, Chang Ching-hsi, says Xu was heavily involved in devising the persecution of Falun Gong adherents by the Chinese communist regime. In 2004, Xu was the head of China’s State Administration of Radio Film and Television when propaganda was produced to incite hatred towards Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is a mind and body spiritual practice with teachings based on truth, compassion and tolerance. But the Chinese Communist Party has been brutally persecuting adherents since 1999.

[Chang Ching-hsi, Spokesperson of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association]:
“In the decade-long persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party, Xu Guangchun has participated in nearly all of the major events, including the staged self immolation incident at Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001. He was the chief of the administration at the time. This is critical evidence showing his smearing of Falun Gong.”

In 2001, five people set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square. State controlled CCTV widely publicized the incident, claiming the five people were Falun Gong adherents, and used the event to demonize the practice. The footage shown by CCTV has been independently investigated and is widely understood to have been a staged event.

This is not the first time Xu has faced a lawsuit like this. In July 2005, he was sued for torture and genocide while visiting San Francisco in the United States. One of the plaintiffs in that case was a Falun gong adherent who was tortured at a Henan Labor Camp.

- NTDTV

China Imposes New Internet Controls

By SHARON LaFRANIERE, The New York Times,  December 17, 2009-

BEIJING — China’s government censors have taken fresh aim at the Internet, rolling out new measures that limit its citizens’ ability to set up personal Web sites and to view hundreds of Web sites offering films, video games and other forms of entertainment.

The authorities say the stricter controls are intended to protect children from pornography; to limit the piracy of films, music, and television shows; and to make it hard to perpetuate Internet scams. But the measures also appear devised to enhance the government’s already strict control of any political opposition.

In various pronouncements, top propaganda and security officials have stressed anew the need to police the Internet on ideological and security grounds.

The “Internet has become an important avenue through which anti-China forces infiltrate, sabotage and magnify their capabilities for destruction,” wrote the public security minister, Meng Jianzhu, in the Dec. 1 issue of Qiushi, a magazine published by the Communist Party’s Central Committee.

“Therefore it represents a new challenge to the public security authority in maintaining national security and social stability,” he said.

The newly announced restrictions are the government’s broadest effort to control the Internet since June, when it tried to require manufacturers to install Internet filtering software on all new computers, experts said. Officials scaled back that program, known as the Green Dam-Youth Escort, after an outcry by both individual Internet users and corporations.

Under the new controls, more than 700 Web sites have been shut down, including many that offered free movies, television dramas and music downloads. BT China, which recorded at least 250,000 visits daily, was among them. China’s largest file-sharing site, Very CD, must obtain a new license or face possible shutdown as well, according to news media reports.

In addition, individuals have been banned from registering Web sites ending in .cn, China’s country code domain name. That domain is now limited to registered businesses. Although individuals can still register Web sites in other domains, like .com and .net, the new rule “will have a negative impact on the vibrancy of the Chinese Internet,” Kenneth Jarrett, vice chairman of the communications company APCO Worldwide’s China region, said in an e-mail message.

“Local e-mail e-commerce start-ups and individuals will find it difficult to apply,” he wrote.

Huang Xiwei, the founder of BT China, criticized the move in an interview posted on Sina.com, a popular Chinese Internet portal. “Not just film and video sites are affected,” Mr. Huang said. “All Web sites owned by individuals will gradually exit the arena. All paths leading to a future have been blocked.”…… (more from New York Times)

New credence for China’s facilitating illegal North Korean arms exports

By Nicholas Kralev, The Washington Times, USA, Dec. 16, 2009-

Suspicions that China is facilitating illegal North Korean arms exports have gained new credence as authorities investigate a plane carrying weapons from Pyongyang that was detained during a refueling stop in Thailand.

The Russian-made Ilyushin-76, with a crew of four Kazakhs and one man carrying a passport from Belarus, was impounded Friday carrying 35 tons of weapons, reportedly including unassembled Taepodong-2 missile parts. The destination of the plane was not confirmed, but specialists said Iran was likely.

Larry A. Niksch, a specialist in Asian affairs at the Congressional Research Service who monitors North Korea’s proliferation activities, said the Bangkok seizure raises serious questions about China’s role.

“Two-thirds of the flight path of that plane was over Chinese territory,” he said. “It should have raised Chinese suspicions.”

The Obama administration brought up concerns about North Korean use of Chinese airspace for arms exports this summer – shortly after the adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution banning such transfers – but has yet to receive a meaningful response, U.S. officials said.

“North Korean proliferation by air is an important matter for us, and [Philip] Goldberg brought it up during his meetings in July,” said one official, referring to an Asia trip by the State Department envoy for the implementation of Resolution 1874. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing private diplomatic communications.

The resolution, which China supported, lists detailed procedures on how to deal with suspicious vessels and illegal cargo on the high seas, but it is somewhat vague when it comes to air cargo.

In most cases, regardless of the destination of a flight originating in North Korea, it would have to refuel in China or at least fly over its territory, Mr. Niksch said.

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted officials in Beijing in July as saying that inspections of air cargo should be carried out only if there is specific evidence of wrongdoing.

“China has been faithfully implementing relevant U.N. resolutions,” Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Wednesday. “As to whether the North Korean plane violated U.N. resolutions, it’s up to the U.N. Security Council to make a judgment.”

- The Washington Times

One woman’s fight against pollution in China

By Marianne Barriaux (AFP) , Dec. 15, 2009-

XINXIANG, China — After years of campaigning to clean up the sludge-filled rivers and acrid air of central China’s Henan province, Tian Guirong no longer has a bed to call her own and says she fears for her life.

As world leaders huddle in Copenhagen for crunch talks on a global climate change deal, Tian’s story is an example of the huge struggle faced by some developing countries trying to fight pollution.

Her group, the Xinxiang Environmental Protection Volunteers Association, has helped close more than 100 polluting factories — plants she says were responsible for illness and death among local residents.

“I’m scared, I don’t dare sleep at a fixed place. Tonight I’ll be at my son’s, tomorrow at my daughter’s, or I stay at my association,” Tian told AFP in an interview at her office in a derelict former factory in Xinxiang city.

“We receive threatening phone calls, and volunteers have also got phone calls at home late at night,” she said, adding she thinks those who call are thugs hired by angry factory owners.

Tian first started her environmental work in 1998, recycling used batteries……. (more details from AFP)

China Blocks Singapore Site

Radio Free Asia, Dec. 15, 2009-

HONG KONG—The Web site of an influential Singapore news organization has been blocked in China since late Monday for unknown reasons, according to Chinese netizens and staff at the newspaper.

Lianhe Zaobao, or The United Morning News, is a Chinese-language newspaper whose Web site, zaobao.com, could previously be accessed in China without using any firewall-scaling software.

A netizen in China’s northeastern province of Jilin, who asked to remain anonymous, said in an interview he was unable to access the site.

“I am now clicking on Singapore’s zaobao.com, but can’t open it. On the screen there is a message that says ‘The Web page is not accessible,’” the netizen said.

“I used to be able to get on the site but it can no longer be read,” he said.

In an interview on Tuesday, an employee of the Lianhe Zaobao newspaper’s advertising department in China confirmed the erasure of zaobao.com from the Chinese online browsing list.

“The Web site has been blocked and you can’t open it. We don’t know the reason,” he said.

A staff member in the China advertising department at Lianhe Zaobao’s headquarters in Singapore also confirmed the closure of its Web site in China.

“The site can’t be accessed in China since [Monday], and it is inconvenient for me to talk about the reason. But as far as I know, this is because of technical problems on the Chinese side,” the staff member said.

When asked if the shutdown was due to any reporting that would be viewed as sensitive in China, the Singapore-based staff member declined to comment.

Calls to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the governing body that monitors China’s Internet content, went unanswered.

Sensitive article

Lianhe Zaobao is seen as an amicable media outlet in China, and its Web page was previously one of the extremely few overseas Chinese language media sites to remain unblocked.

But cyber analysts in China say the Monday shutdown is likely related to a recent article Lianhe Zaobao ran headlined “Cyber Crackdown in China Angers Netizens.”

Beijing-based cyber expert Xun Jian, whose own Web site, The Future Society, was censored recently, warned that China would pay a price for the Internet crackdown……. (more details)

Eyewitness to Organ Harvesting in China: ‘It was extremely horrible’

Epoch Times Staff,  Dec 14, 2009 -

An eyewitness has recounted in vivid detail the story of a woman in China—a high school teacher in her 30s—who was detained, tortured, raped, and finally operated on to extract her organs while she was still alive.

“I have witnessed all these with my own eyes, but I regret that I didn’t take any photos,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It is the first time investigators have spoken to an eyewitness in a case of harvesting organs from a living Falun Gong practitioner.

A 30-minute interview, in two separate conversations, was carried out by an investigator from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), and a recording is available on its Web site.

The events took place in 2002, and investigators located the policeman only this month.

According to the English transcript, the witness worked for the public security system of Liaoning Province in 2002 and said he himself had participated in torturing and interrogating Falun Gong practitioners “many times.”

No Anesthetics

On April 9, 2002, two military surgeons came to the makeshift “black jail,” a small hotel rented as a “training center,” according to the witness. One of the military surgeons was from the General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region of People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and the other one was a graduate of the Second Military Medical University, he said. They took the woman to a hospital.

“At that time, we had been interrogating and severely torturing her for about a week,” he said. “She already had countless wounds on her body. Also, [we] used electrical batons to beat her. She had already become delirious.”

“Prior to this, she suffered even greater humiliation,” he said. “Many of our policemen were perverted. They were using pincers and other equipments that I don’t know from where they got them, to molest her. I have witnessed all these with my own eyes. … She had some good looks, relatively beautiful, (so the policemen) were raping her. … This was far too common.”

The policeman said he was on armed guard duty in the room while he watched the surgeons cut the woman’s chest open while she was still alive. No anesthetics were used, he said.

“They cut her chest with a knife,” he said. “She shouted ‘Ah’ loudly, saying ‘Falun Dafa is great.’”

“She said, ‘You killed me, one individual.’ [I think] it roughly meant, ‘You killed one individual like me. Can you kill several hundred million of us, people who are being persecuted by you for our true beliefs?’

“At that moment, that doctor, that military surgeon, hesitated. Then he looked at me, then at our [policemen’s] superior. Then our superior nodded, and he continued to do the veins. … [Her] heart was carved out first, next were the kidneys. When her cardiac veins were cut by the scissors, she started twitching. It was extremely horrible. I can imitate her voice for you, although I couldn’t imitate it well. It sounded like something was being ripped apart, and then she continued ‘Ah.’ After that, she always had her mouth wide open, with both her eyes open wide. Ah … I don’t want to continue.”

The organ harvesting took place in an operating room on the 15th floor of the General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, the witness said. It began at 5 p.m. and lasted 3 hours…….(more details from The Epochtimes)

Top China Editor Demoted After Obama interview– Propaganda Officials Angry At Liberal Publication

Tania Branigan in Beijing , Guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 December 2009 -

The top editor of one of the most influential and combative newspapers in China has been demoted weeks after an interview with Barack Obama due to censors’ anger, industry sources have said.

Southern Weekend confirmed Xiang Xi had been named as “executive” editor-in-chief, claiming that it was only a change of title. Three employees told Reuters he had been demoted after pressure from the propaganda authorities. All staff requested anonymity.

It is understood the White House initiated the interview during Obama’s visit last month. Usually, visiting leaders speak to official newspapers or the state broadcaster CCTV. “Xiang Xi was de facto top editor at Southern Weekend and in effect he has been shifted from number one to number two … This could be a way to stave off more pressure from above,” said Michael Anti, a Chinese blogger and media commentator based in Beijing.

According to Reuters, the Chinese foreign ministry approved the meeting, angering propaganda officials . Another editor said the officials restricted questions and slashed material approved for publication, although a White House transcript did not contain extra material.

Many early copies of the paper did not contain the interview at all – apparently because printing was delayed by intense last-minute discussions with officials which even included the font size of the headline. The bottom halves of its two pages were almost blank with a brief message: “It’s not every issue we have an exclusive interview, but you can come here every week to understand China.” It seemed to reflect the Chinese newspaper tradition of “opening a window to the sky” – leaving an empty space to show something had been cut. “Whether that was the intention of the ad, it was certainly read that way,” said the editor from another publication, who said censors also told the paper not to print a note from Obama which remarked on the importance of a free press.

The liberal newspaper is known for its pioneering investigations of social problems and official corruption, although in recent years pressure from the authorities has reined it in.

One blogger wrote that he had not bought the newspaper for over a year, feeling its influence had decreased, but now wanted to support it.

“Unexpectedly, this incident [the blank space] made me inspect it again,” he added.

- The Guardian

China Human Rights Briefing, December 5-11, 2009

Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), December 12, 2009 -

Headlines

Freedom of Expression

Liu Xiaobo’s Case Transferred to Procuratorate after One Year in Detention

Drafting of Charter 08 Called “Criminal” in PSB’s Case against Liu Xiaobo

Guangdong Professor Loses Job Because of Political Expression

Arbitrary Detention

Beijing Court Sentences “Black Jail” Guard to Eight Years in Prison for Rape

Court Refuses to Accept Chen Yang’s Lawsuit Challenging RTL Decision Review

Hangzhou Court Police Detain Activist Chen Baogen Seven Days for “Obstructing Business”

Sichuan Democracy Activist Chen Yunfei Taken Away by Police

Dalian Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison

Hubei Activist Denied Medication in Black Jail

Five Veterans’ Representatives Detained in Hubei

Hangzhou Police Place Dissident Zhu Yufu under Residential Surveillance

Hangzhou Resident Detained For Refusing to Sign Demolition Agreement

Torture or Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment

Poor Conditions in Prison Lead to Health Problems for Imprisoned Activist Lü Gengsong

Freedom of Association and Assembly

Dismissed Civilian Policemen in Hubei Placed under House Arrest

Guiyang Police Continue to Harass Members of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum

Harassment of Activists

Xi’an Debarred Lawyer Zhang Jiankang Interrogated for Organizing Charter 08 Anniversary Gathering

Zhejiang Lawyer Prevented from Traveling to Hong Kong

Forced Eviction and Demolition

Pregnant Woman Beaten in Jinan Forced Eviction

Citizens’ Actions

Charter 08 Signatories Issue Public Letter in Support of Liu Xiaobo

Beijing NGO Yirenping Issues Anti-Discrimination Handbook

CHRD Issues Statement Marking Human Rights Day

Law and Policy Watch

Peking University Legal Scholars Call Eviction Regulations “Unconstitutional”

State Council Proposes “Public Hearing System” for Citizen Feedback on Draft Laws

Eighty Percent of Local Regulations Drafted by Officials Responsible for Enforcement

In a dangerous move, China police finally ask prosecutors to charge famous dissident Liu Xiaobo

Reporters Without Borders, Dec. 10, 2009 -

Reporters Without Borders completely rejects the charge of “subverting state authority” which the Chinese police have asked the prosecutor’s office to bring against Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波), a famous writer and free speech activist who has been held for the past year without being charged.

Liu’s lawyer announced yesterday that the police had finally sent the case to the prosecutor’s office recommending a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Liu was arrested in December 2008 for posting articles online and helping to draft Charter 08, a call for democratic reform.

“Once again, the Chinese authorities have no scruples about bringing baseless charges,” Reporters Without Borders said. “But no one is fooled. Liu is going to be prosecuted for practising and defending free expression. By taking him to court, the security forces are trying to intimidate China’s intellectuals and Charter 08’s many signatories by making it clear they will tolerate no debate about the country’s future.”

The press freedom organisation added: “The national and international pressure for Liu’s release must not let up. The fact that he has been held for more than a year without being charged shows that the regime is split on what to do about this moderate intellectual, who is widely respected in China and abroad. His prosecution – and the debate it will inevitably provoke – should show the authorities they made a mistake when they decided to detain him.”

Inspired by Charter 77, the charter circulated by Czechoslovak dissidents in 1977, Charter 08 was released on 8 December 2008, two days before the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Originally signed by some 300 intellectuals and human rights activists, it now has more than 10,000 signatures.

A former University of Beijing philosophy professor and winner of the Reporters Without Borders press freedom prize in 2004, Liu is committed to the idea that the Chinese media will one day be able to operate as a real fourth estate and stand up to the omnipotent Communist Party.

Examples of some of Liu’s statements about freedom of expression:

In an interview publish on Times Online in April, Lieu said: “The Internet is God’s present to China. It is the best tool for the Chinese people in their project to cast off slavery and strive for freedom (…) The Internet has brought about the awakening of ideas among the Chinese. This worries the government, which has placed great importance on blocking the Internet to exert ideological control (…) The scandals that are censored in the traditional media are disseminated through the Internet. The government now has to release information and officials may have to publicly apologise.”

In a message posted on the website of the PEN American Centre in February 2006, Liu said: “We, writers, who are writing in mainland China, who are writing in the Chinese language, are often called dissident writers by others (…) We will not yield to the pressure (…) we will maintain the spirit of the freedom of writing. I want to make an appeal again to writers throughout the world, to continue to pay attention to Chinese writers and their conditions of writing and thus help them to obtain their freedom of writing.”…… (more details from Reporters Without Borders)

China’s ‘Made in China’ Problem

By Dexter Roberts, Businessweek, December 10, 2009 -

Beijing – It’s been a rough year for Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel. Revenues for the company, based on the windswept grasslands 350 miles northwest of Beijing, are off by 21%, and the steelmaker is likely to book its first loss since going public nearly a decade ago. Slowing exports have hurt, but the biggest problem has been surging output at home. Chinese steel production is up 10.5% this year, and capacity is on track to exceed 700 million metric tons annually—about 200 million more than China consumes. “[Overcapacity] is affecting every company in the industry,” says Yu Chao, Baotou’s investor relations chief. “We have no choice but to accept this.”

Can this be the same China that’s expected to grow by more than 8% this year? While Beijing’s $586 billion stimulus package has helped the mainland navigate the global financial crisis, there’s a downside. Fixed asset investment—money spent on factories, highways, and other big-ticket projects—soared 40% in the first half and accounted for nearly all of the country’s growth.

The easy credit helped boost demand for commodities such as steel, chemicals, and glass. But it also led to a boom in new factories to make those goods. That may increase trade frictions if China starts exporting the excess at cut-rate prices—what trade experts call dumping. With the mainland’s steel production capacity outstripping domestic demand by nearly 30%, “will they shut those plants down and lay those people off, or export their way out of it?” asks Daniel R. DiMicco, CEO of Charlotte-based steel producer Nucor (NUE). “Their tendency is to export.”

China’s state planning agency is warning of massive overcapacity in a half-dozen industrial sectors. Cement makers have added 600 million tons of annual production capacity this year to the 1.9 billion tons China already had. Aluminum smelters are running at only two-thirds capacity vs. nearly four-fifths last year. And over the past two years the number of Chinese companies making wind power equipment has quadrupled to more than 80.

RISK OF LOAN DEFAULTS

Washington is starting to take action. China now faces duties that nearly double the price of tubular steel exports to the U.S. after the Commerce Dept. issued a preliminary ruling that Beijing is dumping the tubes, which are used in the oil industry. “China keeps adding capacity even though there’s no need for it anywhere in the world,” says Roger Schagrin, a Washington lawyer representing American steelmakers in the tube complaint. He says Chinese exports of tubular steel to the U.S. tripled over the last three years to 2.1 million tons annually, though the surge has slowed since the ruling. American manufacturers of coated paper have filed a similar complaint. ……. (Business Week)

Shanghai Rights Activist Not Allowed Back to China, Stranded in a Japanese Airport for more than 1 month

By Ren Zihui, Epoch Times Staff, Dec. 10, 2009-

TOKYO— Feng Zhenghu carries a Chinese passport, speaks the Chinese language, and usually lives in Shanghai, China—but for the last month he’s been stranded in a Japanese airport eating airplane crackers, not allowed back to his homeland.

He has tried to return to China eight times, but has been sent back every time. On Nov. 4 when Chinese police forced him onto a flight back into Japan upon his arrival in Shanghai, he got the idea of camping out in Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, hoping that officials in China would relent to the very public standoff and let him back in. But so far, that wish hasn’t materialized.

Chinese authorities refusal to allow him into the country came after he published articles criticizing Chinese authorities for the Tiananmen Massacre of 1989. Feng, 54, was also fired from his position as director of the China Enterprise Research Center.

“So many people have got the courage to stand up and change the situation in China; I think the Chinese legal system, and human rights in China will be established. I believe that in the future, China will become better and better,” he said to an Epoch Times reporter.

After being fired he began promoting human rights in Shanghai, attracting the attention of public security officials. In February of this year the Shanghai Public Safety Bureau warned him to stay in Japan temporarily to “avoid persecution” on the 20th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre. On June 7 he tried to return for the first time, but staff at the airport inspection station in Shanghai kept him on the plane by saying he was a suspected carrier of bird flu. He was then sent back to Japan. Similar things happened the next seven times he tried to go back……. (more details from The Epochtimes)

Imprisoned journalist’s letter details the torture, beatings, and hard labor

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- December 9, 2009) CHRD has obtained copies of letters written by imprisoned journalist Qi Chonghuai (齐崇淮) which detail the torture, beatings, and hard labor to which he has been subjected over the past two and half years. A person familiar with Qi’s handwriting has verified the letters to be authentic.

“The physical abuses to which Qi Chonghuai has been subjected are shocking, and clearly violate the Convention against Torture, which China has ratified,” said Renee Xia, CHRD’s International Director. “Prison guards who implicitly or explicitly condone violence between inmates must be held accountable.”

Qi’s wife Jiao Xia (焦霞) was last able to visit her husband on February 4, 2009, and his brother was barred from visiting with him in June of this year.  Qi, who was sentenced to four years in prison for “extortion and blackmail” on May 13, 2008, is currently imprisoned in Tengzhou Jinzhuang Prison.

According to Qi’s letters, he was first tortured while in pre-trial detention. During an interrogation on August 13, 2007, Qi was bound to an iron chair and beaten until he lost consciousness by a Tengzhou City policeman. During the 408 days Qi was held at the Tengzhou City Detention Center before being sentenced, he reported being beaten “nearly every day.”

On August 8, 2008, Qi was transferred to Tengzhou Prison. On the day he arrived, he was beaten by fellow inmates, suffering a broken rib. In the following year, Qi was beaten on at least six more occasions.

On April 30, 2009, a prison guard named Liu Huanyong (劉煥永) confiscated a number of Qi’s manuscripts which documented the conditions inside the Tengzhou Prison. Afterwards, that same guard dispatched an inmate, Zhai Fengqiang (翟鳳強), to “do away” with Qi.  “I was ruthlessly beaten at the bottom of a 130-meter deep mine,” Qi writes. “My entire face was mangled and bloody, and I lost consciousness. I don’t know how long I was down there.  Two fellow inmates found me and dragged me out of the mine, narrowly saving my life. If not for them, I would still be at the bottom of that mine.” He did not regain consciousness until May 6.

Qi’s letters vividly describe other harrowing details of prison life. “After I was sent to Tengzhou Prison, the kinds of maltreatment of prisoners I experienced first-hand and witnessed made my heart shiver.”  Since his sentence began, Qi has been forced to perform hard labor in coal mines run by the prison. Working over ten hours per day without adequate food, water or rest, Qi has been forced to carry very heavy rails to construct tracks for mining carts and push mining carts. According to Qi, as a result of the combination of beatings and relentless labor, his left thumb, knees and waist are permanently injured and he has difficulties walking.

The prisoners who work at the mine are provided with little or no protective gear, and many are ill with pneumoconiosis. When they are ill or injured, they are given no medical attention. According to Qi, for a prison population of 2,800, there is only one doctor. Qi witnessed the deaths of a number of fellow prisoners as a result of the harsh treatment. …… (more details from Chinese Human Rights Defenders)

Visiting Chinese Scholar Blocked by China Stranded in Sweden

By Huizhi, Epoch Times Staff, Dec. 9, 2009 -

SWEDEN—Visiting scholar Xiao Qiao is stranded in Sweden with no legal status after she was banned from returning home to Shanghai by the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau.

In 2002 Xiao, whose given name is Li Jianhong, started an independent Web site in China called QiMeng Forum or A Forum for Enlightenment. The site carried information about the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre and was shut down by Chinese authorities.

Xiao came to Sweden in 2008 by invitation of the Swedish Ministry of Culture. She lived in Stockholm on a visa until October of 2009. On her return trip to Shanghai, the Division of Exit-Entry Administration in Shenzhen deported her to Hong Kong—a place where she has no permanent residency status. Consequently, she flew back to Sweden to appeal for humanitarian intervention.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Xiao said, “My passport has expired. I have submitted a letter to the Chinese embassy appealing my passport status. In addition, I am demanding an open apology and financial compensation from the Division of Exit-Entry Administration of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau for denying my re-entry into China last month.”…… (more details from The Epochtimes)

China Human Rights Briefings, November 27-December 4, 2009

Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Dec.9, 2009-

Headlines

Freedom of Expression

Hunan Rights Activist Seized for Reporting on Official’s Death

Xi’an Activist Harassed after Interviews with Foreign Media

Guangzhou Human Rights Lawyer Interrogated by Police for Lecturing on Twitter

Freedom of the Press

British TV Reporters Seized by Police in Wuhan Following Interview with Psychiatric Hospital Detainee

Arbitrary Detention

Chinese Authorities Mark “Legal Publicity Day” By Detaining Petitioners, Activists

Recently-Released Democracy Activist Zhang Lin Again Detained

Henan AIDS Patient Detained in Black Jail, Placed under Surveillance

Shanghai Democracy Activist Released Following Two Months of “Soft Detention”

Wife of Detained Sichuan Activist Liu Zhengyou Criminally Detained

Heilongjiang Petitioner Detained in Psychiatric Hospital for Nearly Three Years

Hubei Teachers’ Organizer Sent to RTL for Leading Petitions

Harassment of Activists

Guiyang Police Summon Rights Activist Chen Xi, Step up Pressure on Guizhou Rights Forum

Recently-Released Activist Zhang Lin Summoned, Threatened by Police

Harassment of Petitioners

Hundreds of Shanghai Petitioners Seized in Beijing, Forcibly Returned

Forced Eviction and Demolition

Guiyang Residents Kidnapped, Threatened as Homes are Demolished in the Middle of the Night

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment

Qi Chonghuai, Imprisoned Reporter, Victim of Repeated Beatings and Mistreatment

Citizens’ Actions

CHRD Issues Statement Protesting Recent Actions against House Churches

Beijing NGO Aizhixing Announces Free Legal Aid for Uyghurs

CHRD Issues Statement in Support of Feng Zhenghu’s Airport Protest

Charter 08 Signatories Pass Ten Thousand, Public Letter Issued as Anniversary Approaches

Law and Policy Watch

China Daily Editorial Advocates Stronger Legal Oversight of Religion in China

Minister of Public Security Threatens Increased Internet Control in Opinion Article

Jiangsu People’s Congress Mandates Use of Video Surveillance in Guesthouses, Other Businesses

New Shanxi Petitioning Regulations Detail Prohibited Actions, Punishment for Petitioners

AIDS Activists Exposes Plight of Sufferers in China

NTDTV, Dec. 8, 2009 -

“So what I want to say now, is to leave the truth to the world’s people.”

That was Dr. Gao Yoajie speaking at a press conference. She says she wants “to leave the truth to the world’s people.”

A retired Gynecologist, Dr. Gao has traveled around China to help AIDS sufferers since the 1990s. That was when HIV was spreading rapidly in Henan province where blood was being sold at unsanitary collection centers.

But for all her work, Dr. Gao suffered years of harassment and the Chinese regime put her under house arrest.

Last week, she released her latest book “Blood Disaster: 10,000 Letters” in Washington, D.C. It’s a compilation of thousands of letters she received from AIDS sufferers, orphans who lost their parents to AIDS, and AIDS petitioners.

Dr. Gao says the Chinese communist regime is suppressing AIDS activists.

[Gao Yaojie, AIDS Activist]:
“Tempting activists with money doesn’t work, also not with material wealth, housing or cars. When all that fails, the [regime] starts to suppress, they follow you, monitor you and put you under house arrest. If all that fails, like with the case of Hu Jia, they will throw you in jail.”

Dr. Gao refutes the Chinese regime’s claim that AIDS is mostly spread in China through sexual activities or drugs. She says her own investigations show 90% of transmissions are from blood transfusions.

- NTDTV