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)

Ongoing H1N1 Outbreak Cover-up in China

By Fang Xiao & Gu Yunyin, Epoch Times Staff, Dec. 7, 2009-

When the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the outbreak of swine flu, some experts predicted that if swine flu combined with the avian flu in Asia, it would probably cause a genetic mixing of the swine flu and the avian flu, and the result would be very serious.

Currently, H1N1 has already spread in China, but many local officials intentionally hide the outbreak for the sake of promoting their political careers and block H1N1 tests on suspected patients.

Shanghai World Expo an Excuse to Hide the Spread of H1N1

Shanghai resident Mr. Lin told a New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) reporter that hospitals in Shanghai have all received orders from the “higher-ups” to not conduct H1N1 examinations because Shanghai will be holding the World Expo. “Presently, hospitals do not conduct H1N1 exams. Even if one goes to a hospital specializing in treating H1N1 infections, people will be treated like normal flu patients and won’t know whether they have the H1N1 virus.”

Details are also lacking in Southeast China’s Jiangxi Province. Recently a female student died of H1N1 at Lantian College in Jiangxi Province. Her classmate, Zheng, told a Sound of Hope (SOH) Radio reporter that H1N1 has spread on campus for more than a month and has caused several deaths, but it has been covered up.

“She went to the First Hospital of Nanchang University for emergency treatment, but she died. It was H1N1, but no one reports on it. We students talk about it among ourselves, and our teachers also talk about it. The school does not let the public know how serious the H1N1 outbreak is. The First Hospital of Nanchang University is designated to treat H1N1. They have treated many H1N1 patients. I heard there were hundreds.”

A daily average of 140 patients with fever visit the Nanchang City Ninth Hospital, another hospital designated to treat H1N1 patients in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province. Last week there were over 300 such patients every day, with one day having 350 patients with fever. When there are more flu patients, there are also more H1N1 patients, according to a report on Dec. 3 by Information Daily. jxnews.com.cn/xxrb/system/2009/12/03/011259786.shtml

One staff member of the Nanchang City Ninth Hospital told an Epoch Times reporter that although this hospital is designated to treat H1N1 patients, it does not have the authority to confirm the diagnosis of H1N1. “Currently we indeed have a relatively high number of H1N1 patients. We also have many more who are hospitalized. In Nanchang City, only the municipal Disease Control Center (DCC) and the provincial DCC can confirm the diagnosis of H1N1. No hospital can confirm [H1N1 cases].”

Cases Go Unreported

In Weihai City, Shandong Province of Northeast China, a staff member of a hospital told a reporter that she contracted H1N1. She recovered, but the hospital did not include her case in the reported number of H1N1 infections.

She said that at least 200 patients came to her hospital and 90 percent of them are H1N1 patients. “These cases cannot possibly have been reported.

“The first day I had a fever of 101° F. The second day my temperature was as high as 104° F, and it lasted for four to five days. I went to the hospital. I was diagnosed with H1N1. Later, when I recovered, I found out that my case was not reported.

“Health bureaus in some areas do not try to diagnose serious pneumonia patients. There is an unspoken rule that a high H1N1 death toll indicates poor disease control.”

Deaths From Vaccine Reactions

The Chinese regime has reported that only four people have died after receiving H1N1 vaccine injections.

On Nov. 25, the Health Bureau of Gansu Province in North China reported that 114 people had shown abnormal reactions after receiving the H1N1 vaccine injections from the first batch of vaccines. An Epoch Times reporter called the Health Bureau of Gansu Province to ask for the causes of the abnormal reactions.

A staff member at the Immune Programming Division of the Lanzhou City (capital of Gansu Province) DCC avoided the reporter’s question. When asked about the vaccine, he said: “The second batch of vaccines is safe and effective. You can get the information from the Web site of the Health Bureau.” The reporter continued to ask: “What is the difference between the second batch and the first batch? Why do you say it is safe and effective?” The staff member said: “Why do you ask this question?” and then hung up the phone.

The Health Bureau of Gansu Province reported the latest death toll from H1N1 infections was 10 people, but they did not give any detailed information about the fatalities.

When asked by the reporter about the true death toll, the staff member of the Gansu Province DCC said that he does not have the authority to release this information. He said that most deaths are from middle-aged people. A municipal DCC staff member stated that only the provincial Health Bureau has the authority to release the information about H1N1.

In 2003, during the SARS epidemic, Chinese Communist authorities, in order to pursue economic development, pressured local officials about the “control” of the epidemic and told those officials that they would be dismissed from their positions if SARS infections occurred in their area. As a result, the reported number of SARS was zero for each locale.

Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in China’s Southern Guangdong Province, expressed his concern about the reassortment (genetic mixing) of H1N1, the virus that causes swine flu, and H5N1, the virus that causes avian flu. He said, “Inside China, H5N1 has been existing for some time, so if there is really a reassortment between H1N1 and H5N1, it will be a disaster.

“This is something we need to monitor—the mutation of the virus. This is why reporting the death rate must be really transparent,” according to an interview with Reuters Television.

- The Epochtimes

China: 2,000 Church Members in Shanghai Hunted, Interrogated and Threatened after Stand-off with Police

China Aid, November 13, 2009 -

SHANGHAI–Tensions reached a high when Public Security officials sealed off the doors and locked down Wanbang Missionary Church the evening of Thursday, November 12. Church members banded together at the doors as  officials barred the entrance to protect the associate pastor as he tried to leave the premises. PSB officials blocked their way, creating a standoff until church members agreed to leave after meeting for a short prayer service. Under the protection of the crowd, the associate pastor of Wanbang Church was able to escape.

Preparing to welcome President Obama, local Shanghai authorities have  launched a city-wide man-hunt for the members of Wanbang church, endeavoring to disband all religious meetings with the efforts of multiple agencies, including PSB, RAB, SSB (State Security Bureau) and Offices from District, Building management, and more. Already, many of the 2000 members have been severely questioned and threatened. These attacks followed the PSB’s unsuccessful attempts to break up the church gathering the morning of Sunday, November 8th, in their building and the first attack on November 2nd. Authorities broke in and banned the church on Sunday, November 2 (See the press release), (the first attack since banning the church in February) and issued the formal Notice of Abolishment to senior Pastor Cui Quan on Tuesday, November 10. All of seven church pastors also received official notices declaring their pastoral status as “self-claimed illegal preachers” and were ordered to stop their “illegal religious activities.”

The church website was also forcibly shut down by government censorship services the morning of November 8, to prevent any negative reporting on human rights prior to President Obama’s visit to China. Pastor Cui’s cell phone number is “no longer in service.” These restrictions are another step in clamping down on all communication of churches in the days before President Obama visits China, illustrating how bold the Chinese have become in blatantly ignoring religious freedom and human rights. Due to the intense central government-led crackdown, ChinaAid has been unable to obtain a copy of the Notice of Abolishment or any formal documentation of these attacks. Click here for a translation of the Chinese report on the incident, 11/12. …… (more details from China Aid)

China Activist Denied Entry to Shanghai Eight Times

By Li Benzheng, Epoch Times Staff, Nov 5, 2009 -

TOKYO— Prominent Chinese dissident and participant in the June 4, 1989 democracy movement, Feng Zhenghu has been trying to return to China—unsuccessfully. Nov. 4 marked the eighth time he was forced out of his own country.

Feng had emigrated to Japan after being persecuted by the Chinese regime following his participation in the student movement. He returned to Shanghai in 1999 where he started a consulting firm. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau charged him with “operating an illegal business” in 2001. At that time he served a three-year prison term. Now he has become a prominent defender of human rights in China, prompting officials to monitor and even kidnap him in the past. (See Amnesty press release)

‘I Used My Last Bit of Strength’

Feng told an Epoch Times reporter that he flew out of Tokyo the evening of Nov. 3 on an All Nippon Airways (ANA) plane, landing in Shanghai Nov. 4. Chinese police promptly forced him back onto the ANA plane and refused to allow the plane to depart without him, ultimately delaying the flight for over an hour.

“I used up my last bit of strength,” Feng said of his struggle with the Shanghai ground staff of ANA who forced him back into his seat. Police videotaped the scene including Feng’s efforts to reason with the police. Feng remarked that the tape would serve as evidence of the crime against him. Other passengers were also witnesses to the scene.

Back at the Narita Airport in Tokyo, Feng refused to process entry papers and informed the Japanese authorities of his ordeal. He donned a t-shirt with “Kidnapped” on the front and “Injustice” on the back and displayed banners which read, “A citizen forced out of his own country,” and “Shame on Beijing.”

“Why would the Japanese authorities go through all the trouble to deport illegal immigrants and at the same time force a person who wants to go back to his country to stay in Japan?” Feng asked. He hopes the Japanese authorities will refuse to cooperate with the Chinese officials.

On Nov 4, Feng spent his first night at the Narita Airport. He has said that he will not re-enter Japan.

The last time Feng had tried to return to China was on June 7. At that time, the staff at the airport inspection station kept him on the plane by saying he was a suspected carrier of bird flu.

- The Epochtimes

Shanghai Church Banned by State Agencies

China Aid, Nov. 4, 2009-

SHANGHAI– On November 2, more than 30 officials from Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, the State Administration on Religious Affairs (SARA) and two other government agencies forced entry into the Wanbang Missionary Church of Shanghai. They singled out Cui Quan, the senior pastor of the church, and the leaders from the different agencies interrogated him one by one. They accused the church of holding an illegal gathering and ordered the members to cease their meetings indefinitely. Meanwhile, Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau police stations around the city conducted interrogated other major church partners affiliated with Wanbang Missionary Church. They police officers unanimously concluded that the church was meeting illegally, and they subsequently threatened the church leaders, banning the church, and forbidding them from meeting in the future.

Wanbang Missionary Church came under fire by the local authorities earlier this year, when SARA officials tried to disband the 4th Seminar of the Chinese Urban House Church Pastors Fellowship, hosted by the church in February. Under the threat of cancellation, Wanbang Church moved their conference to another location, and later discovered their landlord was being pressured to terminate their rental contract withing the following 30 days. View the Press Release from February 14, 2009.

Wanbang Missionary Church of Shanghai has a congregation of about 1,200 and is one of the most influential urban house churches in China.  The brazen persecution of the church by the government is a sign that the government’s persecution of house churches is escalating.

- China Aid

China: Shanghai Rights Activist Beaten and Detained Following Protest

Human Rights in China, October 29, 2009 -

Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that Shen Peilan (沈佩兰), a Shanghai-based forced-evictions petitioner, has been detained. Shen’s husband, Cai Jingcheng(蔡净成), told HRIC that Shen was taken away from their home at 3:00 p.m. on October 29 by officers from the public security bureau of Maqiao Township in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. Based on information provided by Shen before her detention, she was beaten by police officers on October 27 when she went to visit rights defense lawyer Zheng Enchong (郑恩宠). Shen had participated in a rally on Nanjing Road in Shanghai on October 23, 2009, to protest the conviction of another Shanghai petitioner, Duan Chunfang (段春芳), who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Prior to that, just before October 1, Shen went to Beijing.

Cai told HRIC that the police at Maqiao Township public security bureau said that Shen is forbidden to go to Beijing, and that she was being detained for ten days for “disturbing public order.” Cai said that the police refused to give him any official documentation regarding the detention. …… (more from Human Rights in China)

East China Petitioner Gets One Year and Six Months in Prison for “Obstructing Official Business”

Human Rights in China (HRIC), October 23, 2009 -

Human Rights in China (HRIC) learned that on October 23, 2009, Duan Chunfang (段春芳), a Shanghai petitioner and Charter ’08 signer, was sentenced by a Shanghai court to one year and six months in prison for “obstructing official business.” Duan’s family members said that this is an unjust ruling and that they plan to appeal. Duan has been petitioning the authorities for redress for the 2007 death of her brother, Duan Huimin (段惠民), while he was serving a Reeducation-Through-Labor (RTL) sentence.

In 2000, Duan Chunfang and her brother began petitioning the authorities after her home was demolished by the government and he lost his job. On November 3, 2006, while petitioning in Beijing, they were beaten by around ten men – including one named Gao Weiguo – who had been sent by Shanghai authorities to Beijing to intercept petitioners. The brother and sister were brought back to Shanghai, and Duan Huimin was subsequently sentenced to 13 months of Reeducation-Through-Labor (RTL). He received no medical treatment in detention and his condition worsened. On December 31, 2006, the authorities decided to let Duan serve the remainder of his sentence outside of RTL facilities. While being escorted home by RTL officials, Duan asked to be taken to a hospital but was abandoned in the street instead. After his family retrieved him, he died two days later.

Following Duan Huimin’s death, Duan Chunfang continued to go to Beijing, to seek reparations for her demolished home and justice for her brother death. She also signed Charter ‘08. On June 23, 2009, Duan Chunfang and her husband were surrounded and beaten by a dozen or so policemen. Her arm was injured in several places. On July 3, she was detained and accused of assaulting policemen. She was later formally arrested on suspicion of “obstructing official business.”…… (more from Human Rights in China)

China: 13-storey apartment building collapse in Shanghai, Kiled one worker

a toppled 13-storey apartment building that buried one worker in Shanghai June 27, 2009

Report from Reuters

Christian Attorney Zheng Enchong Interrogated and Tortured by China Police

ChinaAid, June 23, 2009 -

SHANGHAI – On June 17 Christian human rights attorney, Zheng Enchong, was interrogated and tortured for nine hours by Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers because of his work defending Chinese citizens whose land has been confiscated by the government. During his detention, he was beaten, stripped and cigarettes were held to his lips and eyelids. Zheng Enchong has filed a written protest and plans to file a complaint to the central government.

According to ChinaAid sources, Zheng Enchong was summoned by four officers from Zhabei District Branch of Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau on June 17. During his detention, officers took turns slapping him five or six times in the face, and hitting him three times in the back of his head. Police also held lit cigarettes to his lips and eyelids. Later, the officers pulled him from the seat and took off all his clothing, except his underwear. Police threw his personal belongings, including: money, keys, pen, and a Bible and some cookies to the floor. Then the PSB officers proceeded to search his body.

Authorities compiled a written record of the interrogation without interrogating Zheng at all, and, then, wanted him to sign it. Instead, he wrote down a statement on the record describing his violent treatment by the PSB. He denounced authorities for using the same method on him as they use on Falun Gong practitioners.

Attorney Zheng has been summoned by officials nearly 20 times, and his house searched twice in the past two and a half months. In 2003,  he filed a major legal case exposing how government officials conspired with Zhou Zhengyi, “the richest man in Shanghai,” to illegally confiscate homes for demolition. Since that time, Zheng Enchong has been continually harassed and persecuted by Chinese officials. He was sentenced to three years in prison for “illegally providing secrets to overseas entities.” The charge related to two faxes regarding workers’ protests that Zheng was accused of sending to Human Rights in China, a non-profit organization. Zheng has also been beaten by authorities four times, so badly that he now has difficulty walking.

“As an internationally well-known Christian human rights lawyer, Attorney Zheng has always defended the poor and vulnerable,” said Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid and a friend of Mr. Zheng and his family. “The repeated harassment and torture against such a conscientious rights defender demonstrates the Shanghai authorities’ total disregard to citizens’ basic human rights. We encourage the international community to continue to press the Chinese authorities to stop these hideous acts and to hold the abusers accountable”.

ChinaAid calls on the international community to contact the Chinese Ambassador urge that the violence against Zheng Enchong end, and that government respect and uphold human rights according to the Chinese Constitution and international agreements:

Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
3505 International Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: (202) 495-2000
Fax: (202) 588-9760

- ChinaAid

China Attorney: “Falun Gong is a role model for society”

By Li Zhen, Epoch Times Staff,  May 13, 2009 -

In the last week, Shanghai-based human rights attorney, Zheng Enchong, was called into the police station three times, and had his home ransacked. He has been called to the police station a total of 56 times now.

Zheng kept his calm and sense of humor. He told The Epoch Times, “On May 4, I was called to the police station the 54th time. Maybe on June 4 it will be the 64th time, on July 20 it will be the 72nd time, and on October 1 it will be the 100th time.”

The above are all “politically sensitive” dates under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). June 4 is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre; July 20 is the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong; and October 1 is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Phone calls to Zheng have also become difficult. Police repeatedly take away his cell phones, yet appellants who have admired Zheng for his work, have continued to give him new cell phones. He also receives a large number of harassing calls from the police. On May 9, Zheng told The Epoch Times, “They usually ransack my house on Wednesdays. This week, they called me to the station on Wednesday instead of ransacking my home. They were trying to lower my guard. They came on Thursday instead and brought testing equipment. They even searched the hallways, but they didn’t find anything.”

He said with chagrin, “They wanted to find my communication devices, namely my cell phones, in order to block my communication to the outside world. In April, they came three times and took away more than a dozen cell phones. But this time, they didn’t take away anything.

“They thought I wasn’t receiving any help. A lot of appellants are actually helping me. I have been able to keep contact with the outside world. I think it’s supposed to be this way.”

Despite being closely monitored and harassed by the CCP, Zheng wanted to send his greetings to the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi, in honor of May 13, World Falun Dafa Day.

He said, “As a Christian, I would like to send my greetings to Mr. Li Hongzhi for his upcoming birthday on May 13. I would also like to congratulate all Falun Gong practitioners [for International Falun Dafa Day]. Ten years ago, the CCP banned Falun Gong and began the persecution. From what my friends and I can see, Falun Gong’s greatest contribution was to invent software that broke through the Chinese regime’s Internet censorship.

“In Shanghai, such software is quite common now. This has enabled us to see the world outside of the CCP’s control. From my personal perspective, I think Falun Gong practitioners are respected because of their high morality. Both in China and overseas, they have persevered in their faith. The Epoch Times, Sound of Hope Radio, and NTDTV have reported a large number of human rights abuses in China. This was quite encouraging. In addition, the Divine Performing Arts have brought the true Chinese culture to the world. I think this is something that no other group can accomplish. Falun Gong provided moral inspirations and is a role model for society.”

- The Epochtimes

FDA Recalls Dangerous Face Paints Made In China

Matthew Borghese, AHN Editor, May 13, 2009 -

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Shanghai Color Art Stationery Company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are issuing a recall for children’s face paint that may be harmful when used.

The FDA issued a recall after exposure to the product led to “rashes, itchiness, burning sensation, and swelling where the face paints were applied.” The FDA tested the paint and found “significant microbial contamination” in “most of the products.”

The products were sold by Fun Express Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oriental Trading Co. The colors effected by the recall include blue, purple, red, orange, black and green.

- AHN

Intel to close China Shanghai plant amid global crisis: statement

SHANGHAI (AFP) — The world’s largest chip maker Intel Corp said Thursday it would shut down an assembly and test factory in Shanghai and move it to a city in China’s far west due to the global economic crisis.

The move will affect about 2,000 employees, who will be offered jobs in the western city of Chengdu or other Chinese locations where Intel operates, the US-based company said in a statement.

The consolidation, which will take place over the next 12 months, came “as a result of current economic conditions”, the statement said.

“The economic downturn has had an enormous impact on the semiconductor sector, forcing companies to take measures to cut costs,” said Liu Liang, an analyst with Industrial Securities, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

“Moving operations from Shanghai, a high-cost city, to a cheaper place like Sichuan might be an effective way to cope with the financial crisis,” he said.

Intel plans to keep a research and development centre in Shanghai, which will also remain the China headquarters for the company.

It said it was still going ahead with the construction of a plant in the northeast Chinese city of Dalian. The cost of this plant was previously given as 2.5 billion dollars.

Intel last month announced plans to close facilities in Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States. Those moves were expected to affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees worldwide, the company said.

- AFP, Feb. 5, 2009

In China, out-of-work migrants destabilizing

Anna Mehler Paperny, Chronicle Foreign Service, the San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, January 23, 2009-

On a recent Sunday morning, the scene on the K290 train heading west from Shanghai to China’s rural heartland was one of chaos.

The hard-seat cars teemed with passengers, many of them migrant workers fighting to place their baggage in overhead compartments or find space to sit in the aisles.

Chun yun, or spring festival transport, is the world’s largest human migration, involving hundreds of millions of people annually traveling home before the Lunar New Year. But this year, migrants returning home before the Year of the Ox begins Monday got an early start after hundreds of thousands of workers lost their city jobs.

Work drying up

“There is no work,” said Yang Nan, who returned to Sichuan province last month with her husband, Gou Zong Hai, and their 10-month-old daughter, Zhao Yin, after working in the eastern city of Wuxi. The occasional construction work that Gou relied on to feed the family dried up during an economic crisis that is closing factories throughout China’s industrial heartland.

As global recession slows demand for cheap consumer goods – whose export has fueled China’s breakneck economic growth for nearly three decades – the government is facing waves of factory closures and layoffs. In 2008, 670,000 small and medium-size businesses closed, laying off an estimated 10 million people, mostly migrant workers, according to the ministry of human resources and social security.

The government of agricultural Henan province announced that 3.7 million jobless migrants recently returned. In industrial Guangdong province, by contrast, more than 600,000 migrants have left for home, and the provincial governor says another 1 million could leave in coming months as more businesses close or lay off employees.

Some observers are worried that an army of unemployed workers could spark widespread social unrest.

Destabilizing force

“If these people organize, it could be quite different than what happened in ‘89,” said Melissa Thomas, a partner in the Shanghai office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, an international law firm that advises foreign companies doing business in China, referring to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square that left as many as 3,000 dead or injured. “These are people who feel they have nothing to lose, because there’s nothing for them. The government is really aware of that.” …… (more details from the San Francisco Chronicle)

China manufacturing sector close to recession: CLSA

AFP, Jan 2, 2009-

SHANGHAI (AFP) — China’s manufacturing sector is close to a technical recession after output contracted at a record pace in December, a leading independent brokerage said Friday.

The CLSA China Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) which measures manufacturing activity nationwide, stood at 41.2 in December and although it was up from November’s 40.9, overall output still contracted, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said.

A reading above 50.0 means the manufacturing economy is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates an overall decline.

The December figure represents the fifth contraction in a row, CLSA said.

The direction of China’s manufacturing sector reflects the overall direction of the world’s fourth-largest economy.

The PMI figures indicate a large manufacturing slowdown in the fourth quarter.

“Chinese manufacturing activity was very weak in December. Output contracted at a record pace, employment fell for the fifth month and work in hand declined,” said Eric Fishwick, head of CLSA Economic Research.

“With five back-to-back PMIs signalling contraction, the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 43 percent of the Chinese economy, is close to technical recession,” he said.

The World Bank has predicted that economic growth in China next year will slow to a 19-year low of 7.5 percent.

The PMI is based on data compiled from a monthly survey of purchasing executives in more than 400 manufacturing companies in various industries across the country.

- AFP

Industrial protests spread to China’s commercial capital Shanghai

By Channel News Asia’s China Correspondent Glenda Chong, Singapore, 10 December 2008 -

SHANGHAI: Recession-related worker unrest in China has spread to the country’s commercial capital.

Workers at a factory of Taiwan-owned, Singapore-listed Huan Hsin Holdings have refused to work since Monday due to salary issues.

Shanghai Yihsin Industry Company, which has six plants in Shanghai, is a wholly-owned unit of Huan Hsin Holdings.

Hundreds of factory workers maintained a peaceful protest outside the Yihsin factory in Shanghai’s south-western suburb of Minhang for the third straight day.

A worker said: “We rarely have any orders now. The workshops are all closed. We were told that we would be transferred to other factories. Our factory will be closed soon.”

The factory reportedly employs about 2,000 workers who are demanding for compensation, severance pay and legal benefits due to them.

Under labour laws enacted last year, employers in China have to pay workers a whole host of compensation allowances.

These include a so-called “high temperature” fee of no less than US$1.50 a day if they work in indoor temperatures of higher than 33 degrees Celsius. Those working the graveyard shift for 12 hours must also get an extra 60 US cents allowance.

The protesting workers said they have only been paid their basic salary of about US$140.

“We want our high temperature fees and night shift compensation. If they give us, we will go wherever they post us. It is just this simple,” one said.

Another added: “We will continue doing this. They should give us what is due. We don’t ask for extra.”

According to some workers, they were told in September that they would be paid, but have yet to see the money. They also said they have been threatened since they began their protest.

One of the factory workers showed footage recorded on her mobile phone, showing a scuffle with police. She also told Channel NewsAsia that some of her colleagues had been beaten up by gangsters on Monday.

The company’s secretary said they are dealing with the situation. A company spokesman also said production at the factory has not been suspended.

The electronics component company manufactures for Siemens, Sony and Lucent Technologies. Parent company Huan Hsin reported that net profits fell 86 per cent in the third quarter of this year to about US$500,000.

- Channel News Asia

China Students Report Their Professor as An Anti-Revolutionist for Criticizing the Authority

Epoch Times Staff,  Dec 4, 2008  -

Cartoon from http://new.qzone.qq.com/622007995/

Professor Yang Shiqun from Shanghai East China University’s Humanities department has been reported to the Chinese communist regime by his students for criticizing the authorities in class earlier in November. The authorities are now investigating him as a “anti-revolutionary” suspect.

“My boss informed me today that some students from my ‘Ancient Chinese’ class reported me to the Security Bureau and Board of Education for criticizing the government in class, and added that the case is already under investigation,” said Yang in his article titled ‘Students Reported Me as An Anti-Revolutionist.’  “It is pathetic that students will be so unscrupulous as to report a teacher as an anti-revolutionist.”

Yang recalled that he made comments pertaining to aspects of Chinese culture that relate to the class text.  He said he also occasionally referred to contemporary issues with negative comments on the regime. “I distinctly remember that two female students confronted me after class, tearfully accusing me of criticizing Chinese culture and the Chinese government,” he said.

To their accusation, Yang replied that he had the right to speak his mind, and explained that they did not have to take the class if such comments displease them.  “But they went behind my back and reported me and even accused me of other charges.  It was really surprising,” he said.

“It is ridiculous how something like this could happen in a university in the 21st century,” Yang said.

“Looking back on all the strange events that happened in Chinese schools recently, I pray for China and Chinese people. When will China wake up from its ignorance? When will its education system get back on the right track? When will Chinese students be able to think for themselves?”

His post has sparked intense discussions. Most remarked that they could not understand the actions of these two female students.

“I used to think that the days of people being charged of this sort of things were long gone together with the Cultural Revolution,” wrote Zhang Ming, a political critique, in response to the article. “Now I realize that I was too optimistic.  I’ve completely underestimated the effect the government has had on students and teachers.  Even today in an environment where harmony is emphasized, we still have a hostile society where people report on others for anti-revolutionist activity.”

- The Epochtimes: Shanghai Professor Denounced for Criticizing the Chinese Regime

China: Released Shanghai Rights Defenders Recount Cruel Treatments In Prisons

By Gu Qing’er, Epoch Times Staff , Dec 2, 2008 -

Shanghai petitioners unite to defend their rights. (The Epoch Times)

Shanghai rights defenders Ms. Mao Hengfeng, Mr. Du Yangming, and Mr. Tian Baocheng were recently released from prison. They recounted the cruel treatments they suffered in prison.

On Dec. 1, about 150 Shanghai petitioners held a welcome back party in a restaurant for Du Yangming and Tian Baocheng, and Mao Hengfeng, who was released two days before the others. They also mourned the death of another Shanghai rights defender Chen Xiaoming.

Some shouted, “Give me back my home. Give me back my property. We demand democracy and freedom. We oppose the Chinese Communist Party’s fascist dictatorship. We oppose the Chinese Communist Party’s cruel tortures. Down with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Ms. Mao Hengfeng was dismissed from the soap factory where she worked in Shanghai in 1988 for refusing to abort her second pregnancy. She has been actively involved in opposing the CCP’s brutal “single child policy” for the past 20 years and has been appealing for this cause for over 10 years.

She was put in a mental hospital against her will three times, kept in detention centers three times, and was in a labor camp for a year and a half. On Jan. 12, 2007, she was again sentenced to serve two years and six months for a prison term. She was released on Nov. 29, 2008.

Ms. Mao endured many cruel tortures in prison and she held hunger strikes three times. She was stripped naked in public everyday for six months for refusing to wear a prison uniform. She was also subjected to different torture methods for over 50 days. She was tied and confined to a bed for over 20 days. She was injected with high dosages of unknown harmful drugs against her will in the hospital.

Mr. Du Yangming, 65, is a long time petitioner after he was forcefully evicted from his home. He was detained three times and sentenced to serve re-education through labor for one year and six months. He was arrested at home on June 2, 2006 and on Dec. 18, 2006, Shanghai’s Zhabei District People’s Court sentenced him to two years and six months in prison.

Mr. Tian Baocheng and his wife Zhang Cuiping were forcefully evicted from their home which is also a retail store in Shanghai’s prosperous Zhabei District. They were imprisoned twice for appealing to authorities in defense of their rights.

On July 8, 2006, Zhang Cuiping was again sentenced to a year and a half in a labor camp, while Tian Baocheng was sentenced to two and half years.

These petitioners are mostly older people who were forcefully evicted from their homes. They have been persisting in their appeals to the authorities to speak out about their rights to no avail.

Some were beaten, detained, sentenced, beaten to death, or died from complications. Some held hunger strikes, or were forced to jump from buildings, or were forced to commit suicide by slitting their wrists. Also, some were forced to become homeless and many families were broken up as a result.

- The Epochtimes

(part 2) Member of European Parliament Discusses Sensitive Issues With China Rights Lawyer in Shanghai

By Li Zhen, Epoch Times Staff, Nov 28, 2008 -(cont’d)

Mrs. Helga Truepel has her photograph taken with Shanghai petitioners at lawyer Zheng Enchong’s home. (The Epoch Times)

Member of the European Parliament Helga Truepel met with renowned Chinese human rights lawyer Zheng Enchong at his place of residence in Shanghai on November 25.

The CCP Should be Held Responsible for the Tibet Issue

When Truepel told Zheng that the European Parliament was in support of the Dalai Lama, Zheng gave his committed stance on the issue.

“I am a lawyer, said Zheng. “I know that in 1954 the CCP and the Dalai Lama reached seventeen agreements. Who tore up the agreements first? It was Mao Zedong, former CCP leader. According to the agreements, the social system in Tibet was to remain the same. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) marched into Tibet only for defense. But after 1959, the CCP forced Tibet to change its social structures, which caused the Dalai to flee from his hometown. It is the CCP that broke the agreements.”

Truepel remarked that she was surprised at Zheng’s open attitude on the Tibet issue. Zheng said that many people hold similar viewpoints in China, but there are no channels available for them to express their opinions.

Falun Gong Broke Through China’s ‘Berlin Wall’

When Zheng was asked how he was still able to know current news, he explained that although the CCP has completely suppressed freedom of information, Falun Gong practitioners had developed software to break through the blockade, enabling Chinese people to look at overseas news.

“The Berlin Wall in China collapsed. Falun Gong did it.  They have provided us this special software, gifts from the Gods,” said Zheng.

Confirming the Quitting the CCP Movement

Zheng told Truepel about his story. Although he used to follow the CCP, he recently made a declaration of withdrawal from the Communist Young Pioneers and the Communist Youth League.

During the meeting Zheng opened his window and showed Truepel a wilderness of slum areas. “Five million migrant workers in Shanghai cannot afford to live in a ground level house, so they have to stay in these rickety chambers. It is the situation of China`s human rights. I hope you also visit Anhui, Sichuan and Henan Provinces for more information about human rights for China’s peasants.”

The 58-year old Zheng has advised more than 500 families displaced by Shanghai`s urban redevelopment project on their rights to fair compensation. In 2003, he was able to successfully initiate a public trial against Shanghai real-estate tycoon Zhou Zhengyi.

That same year, Zheng was sentenced to three years in prison under a trumped up charge of “betraying state secrets.” Since his release in 2006, he has been kept under house arrest and intense surveillance by the police.

Part 1 Part2

- The Epochtimes: Member of European Parliament Meets Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Zheng Enchong