Category Archives: News & Events

Caijing Journalist’s Shaming Signals China’s Growing Control Over News Media

By AMIE TSANG SEPT. 6, 2015

07caijing-master180-v3A screen grab of CCTV footage of Wang Xiaolu, a journalist with the Caijing business magazine. He was compelled to confess that he had written a “sensational” and “irresponsible” article on the stock market. Credit Cctv/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
HONG KONG — When the Chinese Ministry of Public Security arrested nearly 200 people at the end of August for “spreading rumors,” one of the most prominent targets was Wang Xiaolu, a reporter for the respected business magazine Caijing.

Mr. Wang was compelled to confess on television before going to trial. Dressed in a green polo shirt and looking downcast, he told viewers of China Central Television, the main state network, Continue reading

Rights Groups Up Pressure on White House Ahead of Chinese Presidential Visit

2015-09-10

U.S.-based rights groups have called on President Barack Obama to invite activists, lawyers and other members of the country’s nascent civil society into the White House ahead of a visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Efforts by Obama’s administration aren’t enough to change the behavior of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which has stepped up its crackdown on lawyers, rights activists and peaceful critics of the regime since Xi took power in 2012, a letter signed by nine organizations said.

“In light of the high-level reception that will be given President Xi, Continue reading

Two Months On, Lawyers For China’s Detained Attorneys Still Don’t Know Where They Are

 

2015-09-09

image (68)Activists in Hong Kong demonstrate for the release of rights lawyers detained on the Chinese mainland, Aug. 25, 2015.
RFA

Two months after Chinese police carried out a midnight raid on the home of prominent human rights lawyer Wang Yu and her husband, sparking a nationwide police operation targeting hundreds of attorneys, her lawyers marched to a police station near where she is believed to be held to demand a meeting with Wang.

Li Weida and Lu Zhoubin, Continue reading

Guo Feixiong is a finalist for the 2015 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk

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“We didn’t break the law in any way. We made no mistakes. We were simply and sincerely trying to push forward China’s democracy. This is a very persuasive argument.”

Guo Feixiong is the pen name of Yang Maodong, a well known figure in China’s rights defence movement who has previously spent five years in prison for his human rights activities. Continue reading

Bon Jovi’s first gigs in China cancelled by officials

8 September 2015

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Image caption

Frontman Jon Bon Jovi had said he was ‘excited’ to be playing China
Bon Jovi’s first ever concerts in China have been cancelled by government officials, the BBC has learned.

No reason was given, but media reports Continue reading

Wang Qiaoling’s battle to find missing lawyer husband, Li Heping

 

By John Sudworth

BBC News, Beijing

Wang Qiaoling has not heard from her husband Li Heping since he was taken away two months ago

Faced with injustice. there are many people in China who make a perfectly understandable choice: it is better to protect yourself and your family than to risk the wrath of the authorities by speaking out.

And then there Continue reading

Veteran Chinese Rights Activist Qin Yongmin Being Probed For ‘Subversion’

image (1)2015-09-08

Qin Yongmin, in an undated photo.
Courtesy of Qin Yongmin

A veteran Chinese dissident who has been held in detention at an unknown location since January now faces subversion charges, while his wife remains “disappeared,” fellow activists told RFA on Tuesday.

Wuhan-based dissident Qin Yongmin, who Continue reading

Alex Chow and YANG Jianli: Hong Kong: One Year after 8.19

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By Alex Chow and YANG Jianli, published: August 31, 2015

Today marks the first anniversary of the August 31 decision of China’s National People’s Congress prohibiting popular selection of candidates for Hong Kong’s chief executive by the people in Hong Kong. This so-called “Beijing 8.19 Hong Kong political reform” package, violated China’s prior written agreements promising full Continue reading