Monthly Archives: 12 月 2016

PEN International’s Open Letter: Time for China to release writers, journalists and activists

pen2016Today, on World Human Rights Day, our Pen International community of writers, readers, activists and publishers condemn the Chinese authorities’ sustained and increasing attack on free expression and call for an immediate end to China’s worsening crackdown on fundamental human rights. Continue reading

The European Union Delegation in China issues the following statement in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in China

Bruxelles, 09/12/2016 – 13:49 – UNIQUE ID: 161209_11

Every year on 10 December the international community celebrates the anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This anniversary is an opportunity for both the EU and China to examine their progress in protecting the human rights of all persons. Continue reading

China: PEN renews its calls to release all writers, journalists and publishers

pen-digital-freedom-logo7 December 2016

RAN 24/16

 

 

Ahead of World Human Rights Day, PEN International reiterates its calls on the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all writers, journalists, bloggers and publishers held for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of opinion, expression and association. The number of detained and imprisoned writers in China is among the highest in the world. PEN also calls on the authorities to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights without further delay. Continue reading

China Protests Trump’s Taiwan Presidential Phone Call, Media Issues Warnings

president-elect-donald-trump-speaks-during-a-rally-at-the-lackawanna-college-student-union-in-scranton

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Lackawanna College Student Union in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Nov. 7, 2016. AFP

China on Monday said it has lodged a diplomatic protest in Washington after United States president-elect Donald Trump took a phone call from the president of Taiwan, an island claimed but never ruled by its ruling Chinese Communist Party. Continue reading

Tienchi Martin-Liao: Elegy of a Chinese Peasant Woman

while-their-parents-go-to-work-in-the-cities-children-in-rural-china-are-left-behind

While their parents go to work in the cities, children in rural China are left behind and inherit generational poverty. Image via: Wikimedia Commons.

A tragedy in rural China highlights the socioeconomic divides that have left rural peasant women behind.

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Tsoi Wing-Mui: Causeway Bay Bookstore Incident and Hong Kong’s Press Freedom

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Wing Mui TSOI speaking at PEN International 82nd Congress held in Ourense, Spain, on 28 September, 2016

There once was a famous saying in Hong Kong: A border separates Hong Kong from Mainland China. On both sides of this border are the same people with the same cultural tradition and they belong to same race. But there is a key difference: People on one side can criticize anyone but their government while people on the other side can criticize anyone but their wives. Continue reading

Interview: ‘They Humiliate You, And Treat You Like Animals, Worse Than a Dog’

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Wang Qingying (R) is shown following his release from prison. Photo courtesy of Xi Sen

A rights activist, one of the Guangzhou Three, recently released from prison in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, says he is having trouble returning to normal life, detailing ongoing restrictions on his movements and a lack of income. Wang Qingying, who was sentenced on Jan. 29, 2016 by the Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong’s provincial capital Guangzhou alongside Tang Jingling and Yuan Xinting, spoke to RFA following his release at the end of his two-and-a-half year sentence, most of which was served in pretrial detention: Continue reading

Three Human Rights Defenders Held in Unknown Locations, ‘at Risk of Torture’

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Detained Chinese rights lawyer Xie Yang, in undated photo. Photo courtesy of an RFA listener.

Concerns are mounting over the continued detention of three prominent Chinese rights defenders all detained or “disappeared” last month, rights group said. Continue reading