Category Archives: Headlines

China set to ban all foreign media from publishing online

Government directive: ‘Sino-foreign joint ventures, Sino-foreign cooperative ventures and foreign business units shall not engage in online publishing services’

Hardeep Matharu, @Hardeep_Matharu

china-internet-REX

Only wholly Chinese owned companies will be able to publish online – subject to strict self-censorship Rex Features

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Defense Attorneys For Jailed Chinese Rights Lawyers ‘Fired’

The defense attorney for jailed rights lawyer Li Heping discovered he was relieved of duty

The defense attorney for jailed rights lawyer Li Heping discovered he was relieved of duty when he visited his client in detention, Feb. 18, 2016.

A number of prominent Chinese human rights lawyers being held on suspicion of subversion have allegedly “fired” their defense attorneys, but those familiar with the case said it was the authorities who terminated the defenders. Continue reading

China/Tibet: Writer and Activist sentenced to three years for ‘separatist’ writing and activities

Druklo19 February 2016 – The three year sentence handed down to Tibetan writer, translator and activist, Druklo (pen-name Shokjang), on 17 February 2016 is an appalling violation of free speech, PEN International said today.  PEN believes that the charges brought against Shokjang by the intermediate public court in Malho Prefecture (Jainca County), which include instigating a separatist riot in the 2008 Tibetan unrest and writing articles detrimental to social security on social networks, are solely for exercising his right to free speech. PEN International calls for his immediate and unconditional release. Continue reading

International publishers urge Chief Executive to take action on missing booksellers

18 February 2016, Hermina Wong

Publishing and bookselling associations based in the US and Europe have penned a joint letter to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, urging him to take action on the missing Causeway Bay booksellers. Continue reading

Dystopian Hong Kong Movie Disappears From Cinemas

10 Years

An undated publicity shot shows cast and crew during the making of the Hong Kong independent movie “10 Years.” Jevons Au

As Hong Kong struggles to maintain existing freedoms of expression in the face of growing pressure from Beijing, movie houses in the former British colony have mysteriously dropped an independent film depicting a dystopian future for the semiautonomous city in spite of massive success at the box office. Continue reading

Wife of Jailed Xinjiang Activist Left With Baby, No Income

Li Aijie

Li Aijie, wife of jailed Xinjiang-based rights activist Zhang Haitao, and the couple’s baby in an undated photo. Photo courtesy of Li Aijie

The wife of jailed rights activist Zhang Haitao, a critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, said on Tuesday that she has been left with no income, relying on relatives to feed the couple’s child over Chinese New Year. Continue reading

The 7th Congress of ICPC Membership Assembly Held on Internet

Press Release
9 Feburary 2016

ICPC-logoThe Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) held its 7th Congress of Membership Assembly at a Google group forum on Internet on 22 Janurary – 09 Feburary 2016. Among ICPC’s 318 members, 162 participated in the Congress. According to the agenda adopted by the Congress, five sessions were held. The Congress adopted an amendment to ICPC’s Rules of Procedure of Membership Assembly, approved the work report and financial report submitted by the Board and elected the new Board in accordance with the ICPC’s Charter. Columnist Mrs. Tienchi Martin-Liao, a former president, has been re-elected the new President.
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China Denies Gao Yu Permission to Leave For Germany

Gao Yu-Hong Kong

Demonstrators hold placards showing portraits of Chinese journalist Gao Yu during a protest in support of her outside the China liaison office in Hong Kong, April 17, 2015.

Authorities in the Chinese capital have effectively denied permission to veteran journalist Gao Yu to go to Germany for medical treatment, even though she is being allowed to serve her sentence outside of jail. Continue reading