Category Archives: News & Events

XIAO GUOZHEN: China vs. Its Human Rights Lawyers

 

01xiao-articleLarge-v2By XIAO GUOZHEN August 4, 2015

Golden Cosmos

Until two years ago, I lived in Beijing and belonged to a loosely organized group of legal professionals known among ordinary Chinese as weiquan lushi, or rights defense lawyers. The government called us “a criminal gang” that disturbed social order because we openly challenged the way the Communist Party controlled China’s legal system. Most of the people we helped were seen by officials as troublemakers: petitioners whose houses had been forcibly demolished, political dissidents, members of Christian house churches, Falun Gong practitioners, and migrant workers bullied by their urban employers.

In 2013, I came to the United States as Continue reading

China to Send Police Officers Into Internet Companies to Curb ‘Lawbreaking’

8a4bb71f-a723-4503-8aee-ba7bbbc3f1252015-08-05

A man surfs the Internet at a coffee shop in Beijing in a file photo.
AFP
The ruling Chinese Communist Party looks set to further tighten its grip on the nation’s 650 million netizens with the stationing of specialist police officers in major Internet companies.

“We will further deepen and expand our Continue reading

Human Rights, Press Freedom Groups Call For Release of Jailed Chinese Journalist

718eabe4-7963-4674-a380-76e28aa22b652015-08-06

A file photo of Gao Yu speaking in Hong Kong.
AFP

Human rights and press freedom groups on Thursday called on Beijing to release veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu, who is currently serving a jail term for “leaking state secrets,” amid fears that her health may be rapidly deteriorating.

Gao, 71, currently suffers from chronic heart pain, Continue reading

Beijing Extends Detention of Top Rights Lawyer Amid Ongoing Crackdown

ed3d813a-f0b2-4af0-aa23-58ea8c129bb82015-08-04

Rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who has been held on questionable charges since May 2014, in an undated file photo.
AFP

Authorities in the Chinese capital have once more extended the criminal detention of a top rights lawyer, his attorney said, amid an ongoing crackdown on the country’s legal profession.

Pu Zhiqiang, 50, was indicted on May 15 for “incitement to racial hatred” and “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” after being held in criminal detention for more than a year.

While the move should mean his case now moves to trial, Continue reading

Hong Kong Activists Write to Chinese Police Calling For Lawyers’ Release

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Hong Kong resident signs postcard calling for release of Chinese rights lawyers, Aug. 2, 2015.
RFA

Activists in Hong Kong have launched a postcard campaign targeting Chinese officials over the detention of dozens of rights lawyers in a nationwide crackdown on the country’s embattled legal profession.

By 4.00 p.m. local time on Monday, at least 265 lawyers, law firm staff, Continue reading

Zhai Minglei: Getting Rid of Lawyers Is the Start of Fascism

Published: July 26, 2015

“This vulgar, uncultured lot is the spawn of the Maoist period and Maoist thinking. They are carrying out the legalist ideas of Han Feizi (韩非子), getting rid of anyone they cannot convert to their own views. As a result, the prisons are filled with the moaning of prisoners of conscience, while state media clamors with slavish voices.”

When I was a reporter at Southern Weekly (《南方周末》) [2000-2003], I crossed paths with lots of different types of lawyers. Sometimes they were allies, other Continue reading

Fears Grow For Gao Yu Amid Huge Political Pressure

2015-07-29

718eabe4-7963-4674-a380-76e28aa22b65A file photo of Gao Yu speaking in Hong Kong.
AFP

Fears are growing over the health of veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu, who is serving a seven-year jail term for “revealing state secrets,” following a recent medical check-up and amid continuing political pressure on her in prison.

Gao, 71, was sentenced by the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court in April Continue reading

UK denies Ai Weiwei full business visa based on disputed ‘criminal’ history

British embassy officials say celebrated Chinese artist failed to declare his record on application – but supporters say he was never actually charged with a crime
ca46adaf-5e9d-48dd-9b09-f5da20d4887f-bestSizeAvailableAi Weiwei with his recently returned passport. Photograph: Ai Weiwei/EPA
Tom Phillips in Beijing

Thursday 30 July 2015 02.52 EDT Last modified on Thursday 30 July 2015 02.57 EDT

The dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has accused British authorities of turning their backs on human rights defenders after UK immigration officials rejected his application Continue reading