All internet phone will be banned in China except two state-owned networks, Skype illegal

- Malcolm Moore in Shanghai, telegraph.co.uk -

China on Thursday announced that it had made illegal the use of Skype, the popular internet telephony service, as the country continues to shut itself off from the rest of the world.

In the latest move dashing Western internet company hopes of breaking into China, it was announced that all internet phone calls were to be banned apart from those made over two state-owned networks, China Unicom and China Telecom.

“[This] is expected to make services like Skype unavailable in the country,” reported the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist party.

‘Most Sophisticated’ Android Trojan Surfaces in China

pcmag.com, Dec. 30, 2010 -

Geinimi, a highly sophisticated Trojan, has been detected in Android devices in China.

However, it appears to be more of a sign of things to come rather than a serious threat to U.S. Android users.

Dubbed Geinimi (a scrambulation of Gemini) by Lookout Mobile Security, a startup based in San Francisco, the botnet-like Trojan sends location information, device identity and even stored contacts to an unknown server.

According to Lookout co-founder Kevin MaHaffe, the most significant feature of Geinimi is its sophisticated command-and-control mechanism.

Freed? China’s Tainted Milk Powder Campaigner Zhao Lianhai Unreachable

Reporters Without Borders calls on the Chinese authorities to provide clear information about the apparent release of Zhao Lianhai (赵连海), an online activist who was arrested in November 2009 and was given a 30-month jail sentence last month for creating and running a website about the tainted milk powder sold by the Chinese company Sanlu.

After initially going on hunger strike and announcing his intention to appeal, he told his lawyers he wanted no more contact with them and would not after all file an appeal. This led human rights groups to suspect that he had reached an agreement with the authorities under which he would be granted a parole, possibly on medical grounds.

A Villager’s Death Exposes Chinese Government Credibility Crisis

Wall Street Journal, Dec. 28, 2010-

On Christmas Day, Qian Yunhui, a villager in eastern Zhejiang province with a long history of petitioning against alleged abuses by local government, was crushed to death under the wheels of a heavy truck. That much is fact. Gruesome pictures of his mangled body circulated widely on the Internet within hours of his death.

But the online uproar that followed–and the response of local officials–offers a window into a new political reality in China, one that has profound implications for how this country is governed.

Hottest Topic on China Internet: Suspicious Death of a Land Protection Campaigner- Qian Yunhui

By XIYUN YANG and EDWARD WONG, New York Times, December 28, 2010-

BEIJING — The photograph is so graphic that it appears cartoonish at first glance.

A man lies on a road with his eyes closed, blood streaming from his half-open mouth, his torso completely crushed under the large tire of a red truck. One arm reaches out from beneath the tire. His shoulder is a bloody pile of flesh. His head is no longer attached to the flattened spinal cord.

Senior Chinese reporter dies 10 days after being beaten, may related to his reports critical of the local officials, colleagues believe

Committee to Protect Journalists-

New York, December 28, 2010–The death of Sun Hongjie, a senior reporter at the Northern Xinjiang Morning Post, must be fully investigated by regional authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and by central authorities in Beijing, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sun died in a hospital in Kuitun today, 10 days after being beaten by several men at a construction site, international news reports said.

At least six young men attacked Sun at the Kuitin construction site, where the reporter had gone to meet a source, according to international news reports. Authorities dismissed journalism-related motives last week, saying the attack stemmed from an online dispute involving a social media acquaintance of Sun.

Han Han, China’s most popular blogger, shuts down new magazine after one issue, without knowing “who I’ve displeased”

Jonathan Watts in Beijing, The Guardian, Dec. 28, 2010 -

He may be China’s most popular blogger, a champion rally driver, a banned novelist and arguably the coolest man in the country, but Han Han’s attempt to launch a publication for alternative thinkers appears to have collapsed after one issue.

The hero of the chattering classes lost a vocal cord today with the closure of his literary magazine, Party, which has been locked in a struggle with the authorities since it was founded in early 2009.

Teng Biao: ‘A Hole to Bury You’- A first-hand account of how China’s police treats law professor

By TENG BIAO, Beijing, Via Wall Street Journal, Dec. 27, 2010-

On Dec. 23, the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Forced Disappearance came into force. China has declined to accede to this convention. My experience that same day is just one of many examples of how the authorities continue to falsely imprison Chinese citizens.

That evening, I was in the Xizhimen area of Beijing chatting with my colleagues Piao Xiang, Xu Zhiyong and Zhang Yongpan. Ms. Piao had been disappeared after she and I went to Dandong on Oct. 7 to argue the court case of Leng Guoquan, a man framed by the police for drug trafficking; she had only been released on Dec. 20. Her abductors had been officers from the state security squad of the Public Security Bureau. I asked her to narrate the entire process of her disappearance in detail.

Germany reports ‘sharp rise’ in cyberattacks, many originating in China

AFP, Dec.27, 2010 -

BERLIN — Germany detected a sharp rise in cyberattacks in 2010, many originating in China, and plans to set up a special centre next year to deal with the danger, the government said on Monday.

“There has been a sharp rise in so-called electronic attacks on the networks of German government and local authorities,” interior ministry spokesman Stefan Paris told a regular government briefing.

Kindergarten Children punished by applying electric iron on faces- Teacher Not Properly Punished, Parents Say

By Quincy Yu, Epoch Times Staff, Dec. 26, 2010 -

A teacher at a private kindergarten in Xinghua City, Jiangsu Province, chose an unusual and painful form of punishment for seven young children who had spoken out of turn in her class on Dec. 14: she applied an electric iron to their faces. Two of the children had to be taken to hospital.

Local Communist Party authorities in a press conference on Dec. 18 explained that the teacher had assumed that the iron was no longer hot when she pressed it on the faces of the children, since it had been unplugged for a while.

Pope hits at China’s curbs on religion in Christmas message

AFP, Dec.25, 2010 -

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI rapped China for its curbs on religion and freedom of conscience in his Christmas message Saturday, reflecting the tense relations between the Vatican and Beijing.

“May the birth of the Saviour strengthen the spirit of faith, patience and courage of the faithful of the Church in mainland China, that they may not lose heart through the limitations imposed on their freedom of religion and conscience but, persevering in fidelity to Christ and his Church, may keep alive the flame of hope,” he said.

Chinese Nobel Prize Winner Supporters Rally on Christmas in Hong Kong

NTD TV, Dec. 25, 2010 -

A group of people marched in Hong Kong to demand the Chinese regime release jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo on Saturday (December 25), the one-year anniversary of his imprisonment.

Holding banners reading ‘Free Liu Xiaobo’ and dressed in Christmas costumes, some 30 supporters gathered at a police station and made their way to the communist party liaison office.

Under heavy police presence, the demonstrators chanted “Support Charter 08″ and called for the release of Liu and other “prisoners of conscience.”

Three Tibetan Monks Flee China After Arrest Warrant Issued

NTD TV, Dec. 2010 -

On November 15th, 2010 these three Tibetan monks arrived in Dharamsala, India after escaping from China. They had feared for their lives after holding a protest against Chinese communist rule.

Their names are Lobsang Norbu, Khedup Gyatso, and Kunga Rinchen. They’re from a Tibetan region of Sichuan province called Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

This man translated for the monks.

Mentally Disabled Forced into Slave Labor at Party-Backed ‘Rescue’ Center in China

By Sophia Fang & Gisela Sommer, Epoch Times Staff, Dec. 24, 2010 -

Local Communist Party officials in Sichuan Province are behind an institution that kidnaps mentally handicapped and homeless people and forces them into slave labor, according to an investigative journalist from Hong Kong.

The inmates were hired out as laborers as far away as Xinjiang Province. To turn them into “good workers” they were beaten and shocked with electric batons and kept in subhuman living conditions, reports say.

Doctor warns medical community about China’s organ harvesting

By Melissa Evans Staff Writer, Dec. 22, 2010 -

For Dr. Eric Jay Goldberg, an international organ transplant expert, the math doesn’t add up.

In the United States, those who need kidney transplants wait between three to five years for donor match to surface; for those who need a liver, the wait is about seven years.

But for paying customers, China will perform kidney transplants in a week, and can find a liver in about a month.

“You would have to have thousands and thousands of donors to satisfy that demand,” said Goldberg, who spoke Wednesday at a medical center in Torrance. “China can hardly account for that kind of supply.”

Freedom to Believe- A powerful message Chinese former prisoner of conscience Bu Dongwei shared with Amnesty members

Dear Amnesty Supporter,

Are you celebrating a holiday this December? Gathering in a place of worship? Displaying a symbol of your faith?

I was tortured for my faith — forced into a Chinese “re-education through labor” camp for more than two terrifying years for being a practitioner of Falun Gong.

I will never forget the day when seven policemen rushed into my home and arrested me. I was preparing a bath for my daughter – she was only 1 ½ years old.

Amnisty International- URGENT ACTION: Falun Gong practitioner at risk of torture in China: Guo Xiaojun

Falun Gong practitioner, Guo Xiaojun, a former lecturer at Jiaotong University in Shanghai, is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in prison. He was convicted solely on charges which relate to his practice of Falun Gong and based on a confession he says was extracted through torture.

Guo Xiaojun was taken from his home in Shanghai by eight plainclothes police and security officers on 7 January, 2010. They forced their way into his home, without a warrant, and pushed him to the ground in front of his wife and four year old child, cutting his head. The police then ransacked his home, finding only a few books relating to Falun Gong. Police then took him to the Baoshan District detention centre. He was later charged with ‘using a heretical organization to subvert the law’ based on allegations that he had distributed Falun Gong materials. This charge was made following a confession which Guo Xiaojun told lawyers’ was extracted through torture. Since his detention Guo’s family have not been able to visit him.

Facebook in China: Connecting with 1bn people – and the censors

Social network chief Mark Zuckerberg photographed meeting boss of Chinese search engine Baidu in Beijing

Mark Zuckerberg thinks that China is not just a place where it would be nice to do business; it’s where the social network’s future must inevitably be found. “How can you connect the whole world if you leave out a billion people?” he asked in October.

And so he began his first visit to the country this week. Just as well it wasn’t a week ago, when China banned pictures of empty chairs as they were considered symbolic of those designated to activist Liu Xiaobo at the Nobel peace prize award ceremony in Oslo. Liu has been jailed in China for “inciting subversion of state power”.

China cited severe violations of religious freedom in U.S. Annual Report

The U.S. State Department’s recently released annual Report on International Religious Freedom continues to cite China for severe violations of religious freedom.

The Chinese constitution states that citizens “enjoy freedom of religious belief,” and bans the state, public organizations, and individuals from compelling citizens to believe in, or not believe in, any religion.  But both the Chinese constitution and its laws only protect what they refer to as “normal” religious activities, which are overseen by the five state-sanctioned “patriotic religious associations.”

Chinese Regime Profits by Re-selling Cheap Venezuelan Oil

Leaked diplomatic cables from February this year suggest Venezuelan officials are angry at Chinese companies. They said the companies bought their oil for cheap and made big profits by selling it to other countries.

The two countries began trading oil with much fanfare last year. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proclaimed he wanted to triple his country’s oil exports to China to one million tons in five years. The two countries invested billions in joint development projects.

China: Account for “Disappeared” Uighurs

(New York) – The Chinese government should account for a group of 20 ethnic Uighurs deported from Cambodia one year ago, Human Rights Watch said today. Over the past year, the Chinese government has consistently refused to provide information about the group’s status and well-being.

Imprisoned 10 Years in China, Epoch Times Editor up for Release

After spending the last 10 years of his life in a Chinese prison, Zhang Yuhui is scheduled to be released on Dec. 21. The former editor-in-chief of the China branch of The Epoch Times was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role with the uncensored, Chinese-language edition of the newspaper.

A photograph of Zhang, a letter to his wife, and a letter to the U.S. Congress, which were smuggled out of the prison by inmates in 2004, are among the few records of his life obtained over the last decade. Unable to contact the outside world or his wife and two children, his current condition is unknown. He is known to have been tortured by the Chinese authorities in the early years of his arrest.

China’s ‘most promising’ young poet Wang Zang has been taken away by police for one week

A prominent young poet from the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou has yet to return after being taken from his home last week by authorities, a fellow poet in Germany says.

Germany-based poet Xu Pei, who appeared in a cage at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair to protest the Chinese government’s detention of writers, said that Wang Zang was among those targeted by police in the clampdown on members of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum last week.