Six Death Crimes Within Seven Days, All in Beijing

China has seen a slew of crimes in a single week, all occurring in Beijing.

The Authority Ringleaders Behind The Petitioner-Interception Lawsuit Escape Justice

In 2012, China’s first lawsuit from intercepting and detaining petitioners got widespread media attention. On February 5th in Beijing, ten accused offenders were all given jail terms ranging from six months to two years. However, the petitioners were dissatisfied with the verdict, as the court ignored the ringleaders’ liabilities. They decided to continue to appeal.

According to Radio Free Asia, the petitioner victim were angry with the verdict. They felt it dissociated the defendants from the authorities.

Pollution in China Goes ‘Off the Charts’ Beyond the Measurements

The stifling pollution currently plaguing much of northeastern China has reached levels so high it is beyond the measurements used in the U.S. to chart air quality.

“What Beijing is experiencing — and even worse in the provinces — is off the charts from anything we experience in the United States, and likely more than anything we’ve experienced in our country’s history,” said John Walke, the director of the Climate & Clean Air Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group.

China Ends Microblog Weibo’s Anonymity

Authorities implement a new measure to monitor the country’s blogosphere

Beijing-based microbloggers on Friday will be prevented from registering an account on one of the country’s hugely popular Twitter-like services in anything but their real name, verified by their national ID card.

The move has been slammed by netizens and rights groups alike as a huge blow to freedom of expression in China, where many rely on services like Sina Weibo to find news and views that have been censored out of the tightly controlled state media.

“The microblog revolution, sharing of opinions, and increased circulation of news resulting from microblogs have led the regime to take certain measures,” the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in an annual report this week.

Foreigners’ Appeal for Justice on China’s Tiananmen Square: 10th Anniversary

Half a world away from home, I look into the mirror to see if the spy camera is visible. I am in Beijing, China, and have sewn a pinhole camera into the shoulder strap of my backpack. After catching my own eyes in the mirror, a bolt of fear stabs through my heart. Being caught as a spy in Mainland China is no small charge. They apply the death penalty for much smaller crimes.

After a brisk but shaky five-mile walk to Tiananmen Square, I stand aghast at the size. It’s really hard to imagine it filled with tanks and students. The day is bright and chilly. The gentle, cold north wind hits my face as I catch sight of the main flagpole. I arrive at the rendezvous point standing alone, wondering if they are going to make it.

Before I know it, over 30 people from over 10 countries, wearing their national flags, gather to appeal for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. On cue, most sit in meditation while a few unfurl a 12-foot golden banner sporting three giant Chinese characters that read, “truthfulness, compassion, tolerance.” Passersby are shocked. I stand motionless capturing the event with my hidden video camera. In less than 30 seconds police vans scream in from all directions.

Ai Weiwei supporters strip off as artist faces ‘porn’ investigation

When artist Ai Weiwei disappeared, supporters made online appeals for his return. When authorities handed him a £1.5m tax bill, they sent money to help pay it. And now that he faces an investigation for spreading pornography – his admirers have stripped off.

Internet users began tweeting their nude photographs after Ai announced that authorities had questioned his cameraman over pictures which showed the artist and four women naked.

Many Chinese contemporary artists have taken pictures of themselves without clothes, and the pictures of Ai that have emerged so far do not appear sexually charged. Some suspect that it may be an attempt by the authorities to smear the artist, whose 81-day detention this spring caused international outrage.

Chinese medias quiet on Ai Weiwei

While the twists and turns in the case of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and his tax demand are being closely followed by Western media, they are making no headlines in China.

Some 30,000 supporters have made small donations to Ai to help him pay a huge fine imposed by the authorities, which is seen by activists as part of a government effort to silence the outspoken artist.

But the official media have made almost no mention of the case in recent days.

A notable exception is the Global Times, a nationalist tabloid owned by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, which has published commentaries in both Chinese and English questioning the level of domestic support for him.

Ai Weiwei turns tables on China’s Communist regime

By Pascale Trouillaud (AFP) , BEIJING — Artist and fierce government critic Ai Weiwei has turned the tables on China’s Communist regime by transforming a crippling tax fine he says is designed to silence him into a huge wave of solidarity.

The painter, sculptor, architect and activist was a thorn in the side of the government even before he managed to pay a 8.5 million yuan ($1.3 million) bond thanks to money raised by some 30,000 Chinese people in record speed.

The burly artist disappeared into police custody for 81 days earlier this year. He was released in June, but on November 1 was ordered to pay 15 million yuan in back taxes levied against a company he set up.

Days later, a spontaneous online movement to help Ai began. Supporters sent him money orders, cheques, Internet transfers, and even rolled bank notes into balls and threw them over the walls of his Beijing studio.

Beijing Tiananmen Square self-immolation: where truth is swept away into a dustman’s cart

Even after nearly three years reporting in China, there is still something amazing about the fact that a man can set himself on fire in Tiananmen Square, in broad daylight, and then no one hears or says a word about it.

As it happens, the incident we report today that occurred on October 21st was witnessed by a Telegraph reader who photographed the aftermath and – after hearing nothing more about it – decided it was right to alert the wider world.

The picture shows several hundred people who must have also witnessed what happened after Mr Wang, a 42-year-old man from Huanggang in Hubei, set himself on fire in protest at a court judgment that, we must presume, he felt was so unfair his only recourse was to self-immolate.

Such incidents, which are not completely uncommon in China, reflect the frustration faced by ordinary people as they seek justice from a system of courts and government that offers little recourse to the weak.

Ai Weiwei vows to clear tax charges amid fresh obstacles from China authorities

Ai Weiwei has said his life is turning into a “Hollywood movie” as Chinese officials throw up fresh obstacles to his efforts to clear tax charges against his company.

Hours before the deadline for paying the 15m yuan (£1.47m) fine, tax officials told the artist and human rights campaigner he could not use his mother’s house as collateral and that there were problems with the funds he had raised in a public appeal.

“I only heard this morning about this money problem,” Ai told the Guardian on Monday. “They put us in a very difficult situation. They are not following the law. There is nothing I can do.”

His lawyers plan to put up a 8.4m yuan bond, allowing them to lodge an appeal against a tax evasion charge they claim is a politically motivated attempt to pressure him into silence.

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.

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.

Chinese internet activist Wang Lihong faces up to five years in prison for ‘creating a disturbance’

(Guardian)– Protesters gathered outside a Beijing court on Friday as a Chinese internet activist went on trial in a case the demonstrators see as a warning shot to other rights campaigners.

Wang Lihong faces up to five years in prison for “creating a disturbance”. She was detained in March amid a sweeping crackdown on the rights movement, apparently triggered by government fears of protests inspired by the Arab spring.

Canadian embassy’s posting on fugitive Lai Changxing taken off Chinese Microblog site

        In the slow-evolving world of diplomacy, it may be the biggest innovation since the wax seal: social media that lets Canadian diplomats go around the censors to speak directly to, and hear from, the citizens of the world’s rising superpower.

Tired of having their message telegraphed (or not) through the muddying filter of China’s official media, the Canadian Embassy in Beijing opened an account on the popular Twitter-style social networking site Sina Weibo in June 2011. Rather than waiting for the next ministerial visit before issuing a bland statement, Embassy staff now post four or five items a day on Weibo – many of them inane or irreverent, all of them in Chinese.

Chinese journalists suspended for reporting train disaster

(Independent)– Two leading journalists have been suspended in China after their candid coverage of a train crash amid anger at the government for trying to muzzle critics of the country’s vaunted high-speed rail project.

One of the journalists was reportedly suspended for his reports on the crash on 23 July, when a high-speed train ploughed into the back of a stationary one, killing at least 40 and injuring more than 190. He had questioned whether China was putting too much emphasis on technological advance at the expense of safety.

The government has faced a wave of criticism over what caused the crash, and the delay by the country’s leaders in visiting the scene of the crash at the eastern city of Wenzhou.

Chinese TV producer Wang Qinglei suspended for crash reportage

New York, August 2, 2011 (CPJ)–The suspension of a state television producer for his coverage of last week’s fatal train crash sends a disturbing message to Chinese media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Information authorities intensified media restrictions at the end of last week in an effort to restrain the unusually probing media treatment of the July 23 disaster. But their initial propaganda directives were widely ignored and the railway ministry’s response to the crash launched a flood of online criticism.

Chinese journalists reported that China Central Television’s “24 Hours” news producer  was suspended for his July 26 coverage of the crash. The show questioned the cause of the collision, featured footage of the victims in hospitals, and asked whether the country was putting progress before the welfare of the people. It is not clear whether the journalist’s suspension amounted to a permanent dismissal.

China Steps Up Web Monitoring, Driving Many Wi-Fi Users Away- Costly Web monitoring software required installed

BEIJING — New regulations that require bars, restaurants, hotels and bookstores to install costly Web monitoring software are prompting many businesses to cut Internet access and sending a chill through the capital’s game-playing, Web-grazing literati who have come to expect free Wi-Fi with their lattes and green tea.

The software, which costs businesses about $3,100, provides public security officials the identities of those logging on to the wireless service of a restaurant, cafe or private school and monitors their Web activity. Those who ignore the regulation and provide unfettered access face a $2,300 fine and the possible revocation of their business license.

“From the point of view of the common people, this policy is unfair,” said Wang Bo, the owner of L’Infusion, a cafe that features crepes, waffles and the companionship of several dozing cats. “It’s just an effort to control the flow of information.”

China: Architect of Falun Gong Persecution Rumored Dead

NEW YORK – If rumors of former Chinese Communist Party head Jiang Zemin’s death prove true, in the coming days, the world’s media will debate his legacy. For hundreds of millions, Jiang will mostly be remembered as the architect of the most systematic, deadly, and protracted assault on Chinese citizens in decades: the persecution of Falun Gong.

With the man who unleashed a campaign of violence, lies, and mass arrests having left this world, his victims and many Chinese with a sense of justice are breathing a sigh of relief. Although his henchmen continue the atrocities, at least Jiang can no longer harm them. There is one less bit of evil in the world.

Week 13: China arrests 19 more Christians in Beijing

BEIJING (BP)–Despite restrictions due to the Chinese Communist Party’s 90th anniversary, members of Shouwang Church in Beijing continued to meet outdoors July 3, leading to at least 19 arrests.

Church members defied the Chinese government for the 13th consecutive week with the outdoor service. The illegal church, which was evicted from its leased meeting space in April, reported in a translated statement on ChinaAid.org that police were waiting outside the church’s designated worship site, an open-air plaza in northwest Beijing, and “only a few dozen people” were able to meet because, “many believers were under stricter detainment at home. Some individuals were taken to be detained in hotels nearby.”

Former CCP Leader Jiang Zemin Hospitalized, Near Death, Internet Rumors Say

Jiang Zemin, former supreme leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is said to be hospitalized and approaching death, according to a flurry of recent microblog comments and online rumors.

Jiang failed to show up at the recent 90th anniversary of the founding of the CCP, and Internet users are saying it’s because he was in hospital, dying.

A series of articles and statements have alluded to the case but all remain unconfirmed. Users commenting on it on Sina Weibo, the Chinese censored version of Twitter, report having their posts deleted.

Boxun, a dissident website and clearing house for unconfirmed news, lead the reports.

Tens of Thousands Appeal in Beijing

Swarms of slogan-shouting petitioners in Beijing are challenging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ahead of the party’s 90th anniversary, some of them yelling: “Knock down the Chinese Communist Party!”

To clean up the streets for the 90th anniversary celebrations of the CCP’s establishment, Beijing authorities have launched another round of arrests against the continuous stream of aggrieved citizens from all around the country who come to Beijing to making appeals to higher level regime offices.

As world hesitates, China stands firm on dissent crackdown

BEIJING(AFP) — The international community’s mixed response to China’s crackdown on dissent — ranging from public criticism to total silence — has handed Beijing leeway to maintain its hard line, experts say.

Since Chinese authorities, apparently spooked by the pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Middle East, began detaining lawyers, artists and other activists in February, a parade of Western leaders have met with Beijing’s top brass.

Some have slammed China over the clampdown — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this month called it a “fool’s errand”.

Week 7: China arrests 25 more Christians

BEIJING (BP)–They came hoping to sing hymns, read Scripture and worship together, but 25 members of Shouwang Church in Beijing were arrested May 22 during the seventh consecutive week that the congregation has bucked the Chinese government and refused to stop meeting.

Few other details of the latest round of arrests were available, but ChinaAid — which monitors religious freedom in China — reported that 18 of the church members had been freed by the end of the day.

In one possible sign that the confrontation is not nearing an end, the last two weeks have seen an increase in the number of church members attending the illegal service. After 13 members were arrested in the fifth week, 20 were arrested last week, and now 25.