Human rights groups condemn China’s proposal allowing police to hold people for up to six months without informing relatives

Chinese police will gain new legal powers to detain suspects for up to six months without telling their families where or why they are held, according to a state newspaper’s account of planned reforms.

Human rights activists and legal scholars warned that the change would legitimise an alarming pattern of detentions under the residential surveillance law, which was initially intended as a less punitive measure than formal detention.

Most of those who went missing in a crackdown on activists, dissidents and lawyers this year were taken to secret locations chosen by police. They were held for weeks or even months under residential surveillance. The law does not specify that relatives must be informed, presumably because it was assumed suspects would be held at their homes. In comparison, police must inform relatives within 24 hours of detention and must seek prosecutors’ approval for arrest within 30 days.

Chinese general Jin Yinan’s sensitive spy talk leaked online

Footage of a Chinese general discussing sensitive spying cases has been leaked on to YouTube in what appears to be an embarrassing failure of secrecy for the usually tightlipped military.

It was not clear when or where Major General Jin Yinan made the comments and China’s defence ministry did not respond to questions about the video. Calls to the National Defence University, where Jin is a lecturer, went unanswered.

While some of the cases had been announced before, few details had been released, while others involving the military had been entirely secret.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says Beijing ‘a constant nightmare’ in first article since his detention

Despite a ban on giving interviews or discussing his detention by authorities earlier this year, Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei has spoken out again.

This time, Ai has written an impassioned article in Newsweek Magazine about Beijing, describing the story simply as “a piece about the place I live in.”

But it’s so much more than that, and it marks a change in tone from Ai’s previous pieces. In the article, Ai accuses officials of “deny[ing] us basic rights,” compares migrant workers to slaves, and describes Beijing as “a city of violence.”

Diplomat exposed Chinese tiger farm horrors

AN AMERICAN diplomat posed as a Korean tourist to investigate a notorious tiger breeding centre in southern China, where he saw animals whipped, made to perform ”marriage processions” and reportedly sold to be used in traditional medicines.

As a result of the undercover visit to Xiongsen Tiger and Bear farm, the US government was notified of doubts about China’s conservation efforts, according to a diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks.

The investigation was inspired by a flurry of foreign media reports in 2007 alleging the farm offered tiger meat in its restaurant and tiger bone wine in a shop.

Greenpeace Finds Toxic Chemicals NPE in Top Clothing Brands in China, including Adidas and Li Ning

(Epochtimes)- Traces of toxic and hormone-disrupting chemicals have been found in clothes bearing 14 top manufacturing brands, Greenpeace said in its report released on Tuesday in the Philippines and China, where many of the clothes are made.

Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) were found pervading clothing and fabric-based shoes sold internationally by brands such as Adidas, H&M, and Abercrombie & Fitch. NPE breaks down to form nonylphenol, which interrupts biological endocrine functions and harms the reproductive system.

“Scientific research has shown that NPE have direct correlation with premature puberty,” Zhang Kai, who was in charge of the investigation, told Chinese business daily Changjiang Daily. “Experiments have confirmed that these environmental hormones could induce male fish to transform into female fish.”

Writer Lü Gengsong Released from Prison, refuses Conditions of Deprivation of Political Rights

(HRIC) – Writer Lü Gengsong (吕耿松) was released from the Xijiao Prison in Hangzhou on August 23, 2011, after serving a four-year sentence following a conviction for “inciting subversion of state power.” Lü is also subject to one year of deprivation of political rights following his release, which includes prohibitions on publishing and accepting interviews.

According to an informed source, after his release, when officials in Lü’s Neighborhood Committee asked him to sign a guarantee that he would abide by the conditions of deprivation of political rights, Lü refused to sign. In addition, he tore up his copy of a document specifying the terms of his “community correction” (社区矫正), correctional measures that should not have been applied to him. The source also said that the Xijiao Prison administration has not returned to Lü the six diaries he kept in prison and the manuscript of a book he wrote.

Lü is the author of the History of Corruption in the Communist Party of China (中共贪官污吏), published in 2000, and many articles on topics including corruption, organized crime, and freedom of religion. Lü was detained on August 24, 2007, on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and “leaking state secrets” and convicted on the first count on February 5, 2008. In ruling against Lü, the court cited 19 articles which he posted on overseas websites and a total of 470 words from those articles as evidence of his crime. In total, Lu wrote more than 226 articles and more than one million words.

China’s Communist Party Chief Warns Web Portal Over Chinese ‘Twitter’ Microblogging Service

(Foxnews)- Beijing’s Communist Party chief issued a veiled warning to Chinese internet portal Sina over its Weibo microblogging service after a visit to the company’s headquarters, a sign of the government’s growing anxiety over Weibo’s explosive growth and spreading influence that threatens the government’s media controls, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Internet companies should “step up the application and management of new technology and absolutely put an end to fake and misleading information,” Liu Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and a member of the party’s powerful Politburo, told company executives during Monday’s visit according to state media.

Footage broadcast on state-run Beijing TV Tuesday showed Liu and dozens of officials touring the Sina offices and getting an introduction to Weibo from CEO Charles Chao. Also on hand were former Google China head Kai-Fu Lee and Beijing real estate mogul Pan Shiyi, two of the most influential users of the service with more than six million followers each.

Chinese Site Bans Censorship Evading Software- VPN

(BEIJING) — A major Chinese online commerce site has banned sales of software used to bypass Internet censorship amid Beijing’s efforts to block the development of a Middle East-style protest movement.

But Taobao.com, part of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, said it took the action on its own and received no official order.

A notice on Taobao.com said virtual private networks and Internet protocol proxies were being used to illegally visit foreign websites. It told merchants that use the site to stop selling them and said the accounts of violaters might be canceled. (See China’s ‘first blogger’ on censorship, creativity and dissent.)

China documentary shows military university attacking U.S. targets

(zdnet)- Summary: A Chinese military propaganda video appears to show hacking software targeting U.S. IP addresses.

A Chinese military propaganda video may have let slip something the West has suspected for a long time: that China is attacking U.S. targets electronically.

Whilst the Chinese government denies any links to cyber-attacks or hacking U.S. targets, proof appears to have emerged in form of a military propaganda video dating back to mid-July of this year.

Only lasting six-seconds, the screen shows software developed by the Electrical Engineering University of China’s People’s Liberation Army — the military of China’s ruling party — attacking a website using an IP address belonging to the University of Alabama.

N.Korea Bought Huge Numbers of China Military Vehicles

Some 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese-made military trucks and jeeps entered North Korea last month, it was confirmed Monday. According to video clips obtained by the Chosun Ilbo, over 100 military trucks and jeeps made in China went to North Korea everyday last month after going through customs in Dandong.

There were eight video clips of varying lengths ranging from two minutes to 16 minutes. The footage shows Chinese-produced military vehicles standing in the 10,000 sq.m parking lot of the Dandong customs office waiting to be cleared along with other civilian cars, and two-story trailers loaded with military vehicles waiting on the side road to enter the customs office. A local source in Dandong said, “Normally, all Chinese-made vehicles going into North Korea were civilian, but in July, a massive number of military cars went to North Korea.”

China state-run military TV program shows cyber warfare against US entities (photo)

(Epochtimes)- A standard, even boring, piece of Chinese military propaganda screened in mid-July included what must have been an unintended but nevertheless damaging revelation: shots from a computer screen showing a Chinese military university is engaged in cyberwarfare against entities in the United States.

The documentary itself was otherwise meant as praise to the wisdom and judgment of Chinese military strategists, and a typical condemnation of the United States as an implacable aggressor in the cyber-realm. But the fleeting shots of an apparent China-based cyber-attack somehow made their way into the final cut.

The screenshots appear as B-roll footage in the documentary for six seconds—between 11:04 and 11:10 minutes—showing custom-built Chinese software apparently launching a cyber-attack against the main website of the Falun Gong spiritual practice, by using a compromised IP address belonging to a United States university.

EXPOSED: A picture of the hacking software shown during the Chinese military program. The large writing at the top says "Select Attack Target." Next, the user can choose which IP address to attack from. The drop-down box is a list of Falun Gong websites, while the button on the left says "Attack."

13 American scholars barred from traveling to China for their book on Xinjiang

(washingtonpost)- Thirteen American scholars say they have been barred from traveling to China because of a book they wrote, an incident that raises awkward questions about academic freedom at a time of unprecedented collaboration between U.S. and Chinese universities.

The academics have taken to calling themselves the Xin­jiang 13 to emphasize their shared misfortune. Seven years ago, they assembled a book about Xinjiang, a vast region of western China that has a large Muslim population and an occasionally violent separatist movement.

They say their book triggered a backlash from the Chinese government because of its sensitive topic. Contributors have repeatedly been refused visas, thwarted from returning to the region that is the focus of their careers.

Chinese magazine president and editor punished for citing historian

New York, August 19, 2011 (CPJ)–The demotion of a magazine president and suspension of an editor for an interview deemed critical of a Communist Party legend are the latest punitive steps taken by authorities against mainstream journalists in China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Chen Zhong, president of the Guangzhou-based biweekly Nanfeng Chuang (Window on the South), was removed from his post, though not dismissed, and editor Zhao Lingmin was suspended during an internal meeting on Monday, international news reports said. These measures were related to Zhao’s July 25 interview with Taiwanese historian Tang Chi-hua, according to a letter the editor wrote to his colleagues that was published online by the Hong Kong University-based China Media Project.

Reporters Nearly Brawl With Chinese Officials During Joe Biden’s Beijing Speech

(Huffington Post)- American reporters on Joe Biden’s trip to China are reporting tensions with Chinese officials after they were shoved out of the vice president’s speeches on Thursday.

Biden was in China to talk economics with the largest holder of American debt after the U.S. debt agreement and the country’s credit rating downgrade. Reporters were scheduled to cover a welcome ceremony, and hear speeches by Chinese Vice President Xi Jingping and then Biden.

Biden was a few minutes into his speech when Chinese officials began directing reporters to the exits. Reporters insisted on staying, as their agreement had called for, but officials turned to bodily force to shove them out. According to the Los Angeles Times, Chinese officials locked arms and pushed forward in attempt to force reporters close to the exit.

Australia ABC keeps distance with China’s state-run media

(SMH)- THE ABC says its independence charter stops it getting too close to Chinese-state controlled media after its rival Sky News gained a strategic toehold in China in the contest for Australia Network.

Sky News has signed with China’s state television, CCTV, for live broadcasts into the world’s most populous market – a deal central to its pitch for the $223 million contract to run Australia’s overseas television service.

The promise of greater access in China was key to a panel of public servants in May judging Sky News the better bid over the ABC, only for the Gillard government to intervene before its final decision and to change the tender rules.

Anger Over Migrant School Closures in Beijing

(RFA)- Authorities in Beijing are questioning a prominent rights lawyer who had been following the plight of thousands of migrant workers and their families after schools providing education for their children were demolished.

“I heard this morning that Xu Zhiyong was taken away for a cup of tea by the national security police at around 10:00 a.m.,” fellow rights lawyer Peng Jian said on Thursday.

The phrase “to drink tea” usually means a questioning or interrogation session with state security police, which can last from a couple of hours to a couple of days.

Train Crash Heightens Safety Concerns over China Exports

(Epochtimes)- Experts agree that the deadly July 23 train crash has put an end to China’s ambitious plans to export high-speed railway (HSR) technology and equipment to other parts of the world. This is just the latest and most sensational of many horror stories in which poor quality has damaged prospects for exporting Chinese goods. At the root of this stubborn quality problem across China’s major exporting industries lies prevalent corruption and the Chinese authorities’ blind pursuit of political achievements.

HSR Export Dream Crashes

Beijing had successfully branded its high-speed railway network as a symbol of the “China Model.” The regime’s propaganda touted the HSR as fast, low cost, and large, both a symbol of national pride and a miracle to the rest of the world.

Force-disappeared Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s Probation Ends, Family Wants Him Home

(Epochtimes)- Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s five-year probation period ended on Aug. 14, and his family wants him to come home alive.

Gao has been missing for 16 months since a brief public appearance in April 2010, after which he was again taken into extralegal custody by Chinese authorities; they told Gao’s family little more than that he has “gone missing.” He had been in detention, with no legal procedures, for a year before that short-lived reappearance.

Brother of missing Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng appeals for news

(Guardian)- The brother of missing Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has issued a plea for news of his whereabouts, and believes that he remains in extra-judicial detention despite recently ending a five-year probationary period.

Gao is among China’s most prominent dissidents and his case may be among the human rights issues raised by the US vice-president, Joe Biden, who arrives in China on Wednesday.

A rights advocate who tackled many causes anathema to the ruling Communist party, Gao was sentenced to three years in jail in 2006 for “inciting subversion of state power”, a charge often used to punish critics of one-party rule.

Tens of thousands protest against chemical plant in northern China

(Guardian)- Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Dalian on Sunday to demand the relocation of a chemical plant that has been constructed on the coast of the port city in northeast China.

The demonstration – one of the biggest in a series of recent NIMBY rallies against potential polluters in China – was sparked by the news last week that a protective dike around the Fujia factory in the Jinzhou industrial complex had been breached by rain and high waves ahead of the approach of Typhoon Muifa.

Group calls for release of detained Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng at end of probation period

(ChristianToday)- The missing Christian human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s 2006 probationary sentence for “subversion of state power” is due to expire on 14 August. He has not been heard from for almost 18 months and repeated inquiries to the Chinese authorities have not been met with a response.

Gao Zhisheng was sentenced three years’ imprisonment and five years’ probation in 2006. In a letter to Gao, published by China Aid, his wife Geng He wrote, “This August 14 is the last day of the probation period and should be the date when you regain freedom. I am looking forward to this day and to hearing your voice and to our family being reunited. The whole family looks forward to this day!”

Tibetan Exiles Accuse Chinese of Cyber-Attacks

(VOA News)- By mobile phone, Internet and shortwave radio, Tibetan exiles maintain a constant watch on their friends, contacts and relatives living in Tibet under Chinese control.  China’s increasingly sophisticated ability to conduct cyber-warfare is making the task more challenging, and pushing Tibetan exiles to develop training programs for keeping themselves secure online.

Kanyak Tsering is an exiled Tibetan monk.  He belongs to a Dharamsala, India-based branch of the Kirti monastery, a Buddhist compound across the Chinese border that has been under a lockdown by security forces for months.

Suspected China spear-phishing attacks on Internet continue to hit Gmail users

Computerworld – Months after Google said that Chinese hackers were targeting the Gmail accounts of senior U.S. government officials, attempts to hijack Gmail inboxes continue, a researcher said Thursday.

“Once compromises happen and are covered in the news, they do not disappear and attackers don’t give up or stop. They continue their business as usual,” said Mila Parkour, an independent security researcher based in Washington, D.C., on her Contagio Malware Dump website.