China`s Human Rights Violations

[badguy2000]

The state has been taking control of industries that are underdeveloped and riddled with corruption. It doesn't want to leave them in the hands of oligarchs who go to UK and spend all the money in London. It is all part of Putin's war against oligarchs. The takeover is what it deems as necessary for the defence of the state, basically anything to do with the supply chain for the military and parts of our energy diplomacy. United Russia understands they have gone too far with the takeovers and are running out of investment capital, so they will sell companies that the state does not run well. It is the best way to plug the budget deficit. Russians can't make roads for shyte.

I am very curious since when Russian have become human-right- lovers?

 

[nimo_cn]

The largest human right violation in the universe is when millions of people are starving while the goverment does nothing other than bragging about cheap freedom. And that is exactly what is happening in India, that is the most shameful thing in the world.

Kommunist, despite all the thing you mentioned about China, common Chinese people have a better life than their Indian counterparts. And further more, our children are having and still will have a much more decent life than your children. And that is the basis of huaman right, the right to have a better life. Any government who fails to give a better life to its citizens commits the most severe human right violation, and that is what your government is doing.

 

[hbogyt]

The tank should have rolled over that student on the spot I say. He would probably wuss out at the last moment. The government just didn't have any experience dealing with large unsanctioned demonstrations nor did it have any anti-riot equipment. No one knows exactly what happened on that day, or who attacked first.

 

[Pintu]

I think , I have earlier posted this but I am posting it just for the information about the incident :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyPgHwB82xY

another from YouTube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB70mWXrzEE

From Wiki :

Tank Man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regards

 

[Emperor]

The largest human right violation in the universe is when millions of people are starving while the goverment does nothing other than bragging about cheap freedom. And that is exactly what is happening in India, that is the most shameful thing in the world.

IS that the definition for Human-right violations being taught in China?
well,could be.No wonder its a state published dictionary.
For your Information and correcting your dis-information: Population of India during 50`s ,right after getting Independance is 300 million.And 65% of the population were poor then after being robbed by brits.Now its population is 1.2 billion while the BPL is 25% which is approx 300 million.Did you noticed any improvement? Since India was being ruled by democracy and not by a crazy communism the growth and poverty elevation occurs at a slow pace.And I seriously pity you with your comparison of poverty and human-rights violations.
Poverty can be state caused or self caused while violating human-rights is entirely a state factor. And are you chinese members suggesting the indian gov to commit such gross human -rights violations to get rid of poverty in India?

Kommunist, despite all the thing you mentioned about China, common Chinese people have a better life than their Indian counterparts. And further more, our children are having and still will have a much more decent life than your children. And that is the basis of huaman right, the right to have a better life. Any government who fails to give a better life to its citizens commits the most severe human right violation, and that is what your government is doing.

I agree,A common chinese in the coastal region is having better life in terms of infrastructure,education,money,........,but with no freedom and no good oxygen to breath lungs full.
But I would like to put a note that all these developments that these common Chinese are enjoying are the benefits of the reforms made in 70`s.And It took 40 years to reach the situation.While OTOH ,Indian reforms occurred in the late 90`s which is a mere 10 years back.But on contrast India is standing in a relatively far better position as compared to China while providing the basic human rights to its citizens.
key point:
Being a hare is one thing,but finishing the race is the most important thing.

Obviously India dont want to be a hare and its democracy prohibits it from being efficient.On the contrary A Tortoise wins the race even though it walks slow and lives longer( for instance ,centuries)

And take the similar logic to those poor In India,Definitely they want to be a tortoise.(Dont forget to mention them ,"I will provide you a glass full of milk to drink,given you have to keep running all the time while drinking or else if you want to sit peacefully I will give you a glass full of water to kill your hunger")

 

[johnee]

The largest human right violation in the universe is when millions of people are starving while the goverment does nothing other than bragging about cheap freedom. And that is exactly what is happening in India, that is the most shameful thing in the world.

Kommunist, despite all the thing you mentioned about China, common Chinese people have a better life than their Indian counterparts. And further more, our children are having and still will have a much more decent life than your children. And that is the basis of huaman right, the right to have a better life. Any government who fails to give a better life to its citizens commits the most severe human right violation, and that is what your government is doing.

All human right violations are justified by citing large GDP numbers, and relatively better living conditions, wonder what happens if there is an economic slow down in China? Maybe time for another round of :tank: to roll out on its own citizens.

 

[nimo_cn]

IS that the definition for Human-right violations being taught in China?
well,could be.No wonder its a state published dictionary.

That is my personal understanding. Do you even need to be taught to distinguish what are Human-right violations?

For your Information and correcting your dis-information: Population of India during 50`s ,right after getting Independance is 300 million.And 65% of the population were poor then after being robbed by brits.Now its population is 1.2 billion while the BPL is 25% which is approx 300 million.Did you noticed any improvement?

I appreciate the great improvement India has achieved in the last 50 years, and i hope India can do better in the future.

Since India was being ruled by democracy and not by a crazy communism the growth and poverty elevation occurs at a slow pace.

That is exactly what i am talking about, people are suffering because of this tortoise speed. And if people are suffering, isn't that human-violation?

And I seriously pity you with your comparison of poverty and human-rights violations.

I seriously pity you with you failing to realize the correlation between poverty and human-rights violations.

Poverty can be state caused or self caused while violating human-rights is entirely a state factor.

In the case of India, you tell me if the massive poverty is caused by state or caused by the indian themselves?

And are you chinese members suggesting the indian gov to commit such gross human -rights violations to get rid of poverty in India?

No, i am suggesting, by failing to pull indian people out of poverty, the indian gov is committing human -rights violations.

I agree,A common chinese in the coastal region is having better life in terms of infrastructure,education,money,........,but with no freedom and no good oxygen to breath lungs full.

Do you know how hard it is to give common Chinese the terms mentioned in your list? It is definitely easier to give them cheap democracy.

No freedom? Why i am not surprised to hear this exaggeration? Sorry i am tired of refuting this, so give up on it this time.

But I would like to put a note that all these developments that these common Chinese are enjoying are the benefits of the reforms made in 70`s.And It took 40 years to reach the situation.While OTOH ,Indian reforms occurred in the late 90`s which is a mere 10 years back.

That is what many Chinese despise about India. India should have taken the initiative to reform, because India a democracy, the people's will should be easily reflected in the Indian government.

But on contrast India is standing in a relatively far better position as compared to China while providing the basic human rights to its citizens.[/B]

If a better life is not counted as the basic human right, then you are right.

key point:
Being a hare is one thing,but finishing the race is the most important thing.

Obviously India dont want to be a hare and its democracy prohibits it from being efficient.On the contrary A Tortoise wins the race even though it walks slow and lives longer( for instance ,centuries)

In the fairy story, the Tortoise wins because the hare falls asleep before it arrives at the end point. I can't believe you use this story as an analogy to prove India is more promising than China,it is not convincing at all. You must pray to God that China will fall asleep.

And take the similar logic to those poor In India,Definitely they want to be a tortoise.(Dont forget to mention them ,"I will provide you a glass full of milk to drink,given you have to keep running all the time while drinking or else if you want to sit peacefully I will give you a glass full of water to kill your hunger")

Are you sure? If so, i believe Indian people are the most patient people i have ever known.

 

[Vladimir79]

The largest human right violation in the universe is when millions of people are starving while the goverment does nothing other than bragging about cheap freedom. And that is exactly what is happening in India, that is the most shameful thing in the world.

Is that why people starving in Inner Mongolia have to migrate to Russia?

Kommunist, despite all the thing you mentioned about China, common Chinese people have a better life than their Indian counterparts.

Is that why millions of Chinese illegally cross the Amur to face discrimination and even death to start a new life in a place even Russians consider a hell-hole?

And further more, our children are having and still will have a much more decent life than your children.

So growing up near cancer causing industrial waste and heavy pollution causing chronic emphysema is a decent life for a child? Better than India??

And that is the basis of huaman right, the right to have a better life.

I suggest you rexamine the UN declaration of human rights. Getting a job is not the end of it.

Any government who fails to give a better life to its citizens commits the most severe human right violation, and that is what your government is doing.

Is living in the industrial wasteland of China with no personal freedoms better than living in the Tang Dynasty? During the "prosperous age, people had all the necessities of life and freedom. Some of China's best works came out of that period. Not to mention they had clean air and rivers. They had more "human rights" than Chinese today.

 

[nimo_cn]

All human right violations are justified by citing large GDP numbers, and relatively better living conditions, wonder what happens if there is an economic slow down in China? Maybe time for another round of :tank: to roll out on its own citizens.

We are not justifying human-right violations that are happening in China, these horrible things cann't be justified, even if CCP does provide us with better living conditions. We despise CCP as well as you do when it commits human right violations.

But the thing here is about the thread, it is not truely for the improvement of human right in China, it is more like to show how gross China is. Do we really need to talk about these violations happening in China, which is well-known within and without China?

 

[johnee]

We are not justifying human-right violations that are happening in China, these horrible things cann't be justified, even if CCP does provide us with better living conditions.

Very well said.

We despise CCP as well as you do when it commits human right violations.

But, you cannot anything about it, this is precisely what is being pointed to you, that however much you despise it, you can do nothing about it.

But the thing here is about the thread, it is not truely for the improvement of human right in China, it is more like to show how gross China is.

Perhaps you are correct, but that does not change the facts about China.

Do we really need to talk about these violations happening in China, which is well-known within and without China?

Well, talk is not enough, but atleast thats a start. Eventually, people must be able to make Govts accountable to people for any violation.

 

[nimo_cn]

Is that why people starving in Inner Mongolia have to migrate to Russia?



Is that why millions of Chinese illegally cross the Amur to face discrimination and even death to start a new life in a place even Russians consider a hell-hole?



So growing up near cancer causing industrial waste and heavy pollution causing chronic emphysema is a decent life for a child? Better than India??



I suggest you rexamine the UN declaration of human rights. Getting a job is not the end of it.



Is living in the industrial wasteland of China with no personal freedoms better than living in the Tang Dynasty? During the "prosperous age, people had all the necessities of life and freedom. Some of China's best works came out of that period. Not to mention they had clean air and rivers. They had more "human rights" than Chinese today.

Vladimir79, all the problems you mentioned are directly or indirectly caused by poverty, we never deny poverty exists in China, that is why we put economy development as a priority.

 

[Vladimir79]

Vladimir79, all the problems you mentioned are directly or indirectly caused by poverty, we never deny poverty exists in China, that is why we put economy development as a priority.

Living in pollution is not caused by poverty, it is caused by poor government policies. When pollution destroys 1 million hectares arable land per year, creates air you can't breath, and pollutes most of your water supplies this is not aiding human rights, this is destroying it.

 

[enlightened1]

China dissident Liu Xiaobo faces subversion charges​

Mr Liu has been a political activist for more than two decades​

Chinese police have recommended that prosecutors formally charge top dissident Liu Xiaobo with inciting subversion, his lawyer has said.

Mr Liu has been detained for a year without charge.

Mr Liu was detained on 8 December 2008 after co-authoring Charter 08, a manifesto urging political reform.

The likely charge of "inciting subversion to state power" is routinely used against anyone criticising the Chinese Communist Party.

"The public security organs feel the [prosecutors] should charge him and have recommended that they do so," Mr Shang said after seeing a copy of the recommendation.

"It is two-fold. One part relates to Charter 08 while the other relates to articles of his posted on the internet after 2005," Mr Shang said.

"This marks the end of the investigation phase and the beginning of the prosecution phase," he said.

'Citizens' movement'

Mr Liu is a writer and former university professor who has spent much of his time since being a leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests either in prison or under various forms of house arrest or close monitoring.

He has continued to write and publish his writings on the internet, calling for democratic pluralism in China.

Charter 08 is a petition first circulated online last year that calls for human rights protection and the reform of China's one-party communist system.

"We hope that our fellow citizens who feel a similar sense of crisis, responsibility, and mission, whether they are inside the government or not, and regardless of their social status, will set aside small differences to embrace the broad goals of this citizens' movement," the Charter says.

It has been signed by more than 10,000 people, including leading intellectuals, writers and dissidents, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a network of activists.

Since Mr Liu's arrest, Western governments, rights groups, scholars and a group of Nobel Prize winners have called for his release.

His wife, Liu Xia, and a range of rights groups last week renewed those calls as the anniversary of his detention approached.

Liu Xia says she has not seen or spoken to her husband since March when police arranged a short, supervised meeting for the couple in a Beijing hotel room.

She said she was "outraged" after reading the three-page investigator's report.

"This report alleges that his crime is very serious and I expect they will try to jail him for 10 years or more," she said.

 

[no smoking]

Living in pollution is not caused by poverty, it is caused by poor government policies. When pollution destroys 1 million hectares arable land per year, creates air you can't breath, and pollutes most of your water supplies this is not aiding human rights, this is destroying it.

On the contrast, living in pollution is caused by poerty: people is trying to get out of poverty at any cost. Actually, as the town my father was borned, the highest pollution comes from the factories owned by local family. Most of workers were family members. They cannot afford any expensive anti-pollution equipment. They are living in the pollution created by themselves. But they would rather suffer from pollution than living in poverty.

There are lots of examples that the gov's decision of closing the high-pollution factory was protested by the local worker as they are in fear of losing job.

 

[Vladimir79]

On the contrast, living in pollution is caused by poerty: people is trying to get out of poverty at any cost. Actually, as the town my father was borned, the highest pollution comes from the factories owned by local family. Most of workers were family members. They cannot afford any expensive anti-pollution equipment. They are living in the pollution created by themselves. But they would rather suffer from pollution than living in poverty.

There are lots of examples that the gov's decision of closing the high-pollution factory was protested by the local worker as they are in fear of losing job.

So people who are rich enough to own factories cause pollution because they live in poverty? I never heard that one before.

 

[no smoking]

So people who are rich enough to own factories cause pollution because they live in poverty? I never heard that one before.

Look, you don't even know what kind of factories are the main source of pollution in china. Actually, the biggiest source of pollution are the small factories. Generally, there are no more than 10 workers working there. Most of the workers are the family member or relatives: such father or son. The owner of these factories are not rich just a bit better than poor. They are using the low tech to produce the cheapest goods. The workers cannot even enjoy safty protection. If they bring into any additional protection with extra expense, their product will loose competence. That means the whole family will lost their income.

[mod]Don't repeat this again, follow rules or severe action will be taken[/mod]

 

[nitesh]

cross posting:

The long road to justice

Land rights and eviction are a problem in China today. Most Chinese have to quietly accept their fate. But Shanghai resident Ma Yalian fought the law. And what began as a fight to save her home led her to take on a far bigger battle.

MA YALIAN faced threats to her life, suffered beatings, and spent months in detention centres. But slowly, her voice began to be heard.

DEFIANT: File photo of a house owner defying `development'. The house was eventually demolished. PHOTO: AFP


It all began, as so many stories do, with a knock on the door. On the morning of August 4, 1998, Ma Yalian found three officials from a local real estate firm outside her Shanghai home. Demolition papers in hand, they uttered the words Chinese home-owners dread to hear: her three-story family home in downtown Shanghai was to be torn down to make way for an urban redevelopment project. Then came the second blow. She would be relocated to a cramped, dingy apartment in Shanghai's outskirts, and given little compensation. “Fight the order at your own risk,” the men warned.

In many ways, Ma Yalian's story is hardly unusual. Every year, tens of thousands of Chinese lose their homes to influential real estate companies. Evicted residents are routinely forced out of their houses with little or no compensation, and often have little recourse to justice. Every year, there are an estimated 90,000 “mass incidents” — official speak for protests — reported across China. The majority of them involve land rights issues. Most residents have to quietly accept their fate, intimidated by the influential real estate mafia and befuddled by opaque laws.

But Ma Yalian fought the law. A decade-long struggle took her across every level of China's judicial system, from a local district court in Shanghai to the Supreme People's Court in Beijing, the highest court in the land. She faced threats to her life, suffered beatings, and spent months in detention centres. But slowly, her voice began to be heard. Her struggle grew far beyond the immediacy of her case, beyond compensation amounts and questions of relocation. She took on a much larger battle: reforming her country's judicial system.

Inherent tensions

The People's Republic of China's judicial system has, since its founding in 1949, always functioned with inherent tensions. The Constitution guarantees human rights, the rule of law and an independent judiciary, as in any liberal democracy. But, given the nature of China's one-party political system, the courts have always functioned within limits firmly set by the ruling Communist Party.

Over the past three decades, after Deng Xiaoping launched his economic “reform and opening up”, China has had to open up its legal system too. Particularly after China's accession into the World Trade Organisation in 2001, Beijing has had to professionalise its courts to make them more transparent. The last decade has seen a slew of significant judicial reforms. Chinese enjoy more legal rights now than they have ever before in the country's history. However, there are limits to reform. Despite progressive changes in Central laws, their enforcement by local governments remains arbitrary at best.

Into a legal maze

Ma's story illustrates what happens when a Chinese citizen openly challenges this system's arbitrariness, and the often alarming gap between the theory and practice of law in China. Ma first took her case, in the face of threats to her life and after a brutal assault by thugs hired by the local mafia, to the Nanshi District People's Court, a lowest level court. Without a second glance, the court threw out her case.

China has a unique redressal system, a legacy from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Citizens can appeal the verdicts of provincial courts — notorious for their willingness to bend Central laws for local interests — by petitioning the Central government. The petition system has in recent years come under strong criticism from lawyers and rights activists, who say it has grown into yet another mechanism which facilitates the silencing of dissenting voices.

In March, 2000, Ma travelled to Beijing, petition in hand, to appeal the verdict. Her trip didn't last long. Before she reached the national petition office, she was intercepted by Shanghai police officials, who locked her up at a shourong qiansong prison — a detention system solely created to prevent petitioners from having their voices heard in Beijing. She was released after two days, with a stern warning and a promise: return to Shanghai, and the case would be heard.

It wasn't. Over the next two years, Ma would make at least half a dozen trips to Beijing. On each occasion, she was, along with other petitioners, detained by officials. On one Beijing visit, Ma managed to secure a meeting with a well-intentioned Supreme Court judge, who she said was alarmed by the facts of her case. He presented her with a court order calling on the Shanghai court to hear her case. But when she returned home, again, the court refused. In September, 2001, she was arrested in Shanghai on criminal charges for “illegal petitioning activities” — ironically, a right guaranteed to her under the law.

Challenging the law

When I met Ma in Shanghai, almost a full decade after her battle first began, I was struck by two things: her willingness to tell her story, despite the many threats she continues to face, and her unyielding faith in the law, even after her many failed trips to Beijing and repeated detentions. She said she decided, early on, that the only way she could challenge the legal system was from within. So, at every opportunity she got, she began studying it. She wrote a series of widely-read articles in online journals, criticising the petitioning system and calling for judicial reforms. Slowly, her voice began to be heard in the legal community. Unfortunately for her, it was also heard by the authorities. Following the publishing of her articles, she was sentenced to 18 months of “Re-education through Labour” in February, 2004, on the more serious charge of stirring social unrest.

“I had no access to legal counsel, and even my family couldn't visit me,” Ma said. “I wanted books on law, but they were all confiscated. I was deprived of all basic rights even prisoners are supposed to have in jail. And I had committed no crime.” She said suffered regular beatings, and on occasions had to be taken to a prison hospital in Tilanqiao, Shanghai, for treatment. After her release, her family hired Guo Guoting, a well-known human rights lawyer, to represent her. Under pressure from the government, he eventually went into exile in Canada. Her case remains unresolved. She says she will continue to appeal.

The road to Reform

Lawyers in Shanghai and Beijing who were familiar with Ma's case made the rather ironic point that in China, it has always taken extreme cases, like Ma's, to bring about changes to the system. A case often cited is the death of Sun Zhigang, a 27-year-old graduate student who died in custody in a Guangzhou detention centre, held for not carrying the right identification papers. Widespread public indignation led to a landmark reform of detention laws.

Ma's case, along with a few similar cases from the 1990s, has resulted in small but significant changes. In 2003, following protests from lawyers, Beijing abolished the controversial shourong system. In cities like Beijing and Shanghai, governments have vastly improved compensation payments. In January, 2008, China passed a new property law, aimed at reducing its seeming arbitrariness.

Detentions of petitioners are now no longer as widespread, though they still do take place. In a report released last month, Human Rights Watch documented cases of dozens of petitioners who have, since 2003, been locked up in extra-judicial centres which have replaced the shourong jails. China's Foreign Ministry has denied the existence of these “black jails”. But the testimonies in the HRW report closely echo Ma's own story, and underscore the limits of the law's reach in China. Ma spent several months in one of these prisons between 2004 and 2006, locked up in the basements of nondescript government-run hotels in Shanghai suburbs.

A challenge

Public resentment over land rights, scholars say, remains the single biggest cause of social unrest in China. Every week, local newspapers are littered with stories of aggrieved residents protesting the loss of their homes. Just last month, in Chengdu, Sichuan province, a 47-year-old woman died setting herself ablaze atop her home, in a confrontation with local officials who were set to demolish her house. Her story received widespread national attention and public sympathy. Even the usually staid State-run China Daily newspaper warned in an editorial that the incident pointed to the increasing sensitivity with which land rights were viewed in China, and the urgent need for ensuring basic property rights.

This month, five law professors from Beijing's prestigious Peking University called on the National People's Congress, China's highest legislative body, to reform property laws and demolition procedures. They said current practices violated property rights guaranteed under the Constitution, and pointed to the often close ties between real estate developers and government officials. “Such twisted relations between urban development and personal property have resulted in many social conflicts,” warned Shen Kui, one of the five scholars.

In the past three decades, China has sought to professionalise and modernise its legal institutions. Indeed, Chinese enjoy more rights now than ever before in the country's history. But the evolution of China's judicial system now stands at a crucial crossroads. Nicholas Bequelin, a China scholar at Human Rights Watch, argues that we may have now come close to reaching a point where any further reforms will begin to erode the ruling Communist Party's power. The Party, now more than ever, faces an increasingly tricky tightrope walk. It has to balance its persistent need to ensure its unchallenged political control with satisfying a growing demand from its citizens — a demand for the rule of law.

 

[ppgj]

China sentences dissident to 11 years for subversion
Beijing, December 25, 2009.

Chinese lawyer Shang Baojun, right, is pushed by a plain clothes security personnel away from journalists gathered outside the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court to cover the trial of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in Beijing.

A Chinese court handed down a harsh 11-year sentence to a prominent dissident Friday on subversion charges after he called for sweeping political reforms and an end to Communist Party dominance.

The sentencing of Liu Xiaobo comes despite international appeals for his release. Rights groups said the harshness of the sentence was a warning to others who challenge China’s one-party rule.

Liu was the co-author of an unusually direct appeal for political liberalization in China called Charter 08. He was detained just before it was released last December. More than 300 people, including some of China’s top intellectuals, signed it.

The verdict was issued at the No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in Beijing after a two-hour trial Wednesday in which prosecutors accused Liu of “serious” crimes.

“All I can tell you now is 11 years,” the defendant’s wife, Liu Xia, told The Associated Press on Friday. Diplomats said they were told by Liu’s lawyers that he had been deprived of his political rights for a further two years.

The vaguely worded charge of inciting to subvert state power is routinely used to jail dissidents. Liu could have been sentenced for up to 15 years in prison under the charge.

A San Francisco-based human rights group, the Dui Hua Foundation, said it was the longest sentence that it knew of since the crime of inciting subversion was established in 1997.

Mr. Liu is the only person to have been arrested for organizing the Charter 08 appeal, but others who signed it have reported being harassed.

Abolishing the law on inciting to subvert state power is among the reforms advocated in Charter 08. “We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes,” the petition says.

Mr. Liu’s lawyer, Shang Baojun, said he had 10 days to appeal.

The United States and European Union have urged Beijing to free Mr. Liu.

“We are deeply concerned by the sentence of 11 years in prison announced today,” Gregory May, first secretary with the U.S. Embassy, told reporters outside the courthouse. May was one of a dozen diplomats stopped by authorities from attending the trial and sentencing.

“Persecution of individuals for the peaceful expression of political views is inconsistent with internationally recognized norms of human rights,” Mr. May said.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters this week that statements from embassies calling for Mr. Liu’s release were “a gross interference of China’s internal affairs.”

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the ruling showed the government would be taking a hard line against human rights activists in the year ahead.

“This verdict is also an explicit warning from the government to China’s intellectuals, civil society activists and human rights defenders that the state will severely punish those who the government perceives as a threat to its monopoly on power,” said the group’s Asia researcher, Phelim Kine.

“I think it is an absolute Draconian sentence,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, a New York-based group.

“This is a gutting of any pretext of any freedom of expression in China,” she said.

Mr. Liu, a former Beijing Normal University professor, spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square, which ended when the government called in the military killing hundreds, perhaps thousands.

More than 300 international writers, including Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco and Margaret Atwood, have called for Mr. Liu’s release, saying he should be allowed to express his opinion.

Charter 08 demands a new constitution guaranteeing human rights, the open election of public officials, and freedom of religion and expression. Some 10,000 people have signed it in the past year, though a news blackout and Internet censorship have left most Chinese unaware that it exists.

Mr. Liu has been the only person arrested over the charter, but rights groups said several signers had been harassed or fired from their jobs, and warned not to attend the trial or write about it online.

The Hindu : News / International : China sentences dissident to 11 years for subversion

 

[ppgj]

Chinese dissident's jailing draws international anger

Page last updated at 15:09 GMT, Friday, 25 December 2009

Liu Xiaobo (left) met his wife for the first time in months at his sentencing

There has been widespread condemnation of the jailing by China of leading dissident, Liu Xiaobo, for subversion.

The US, UN and EU were joined by human rights groups in a chorus of anger over Mr Liu's 11-year sentence.

The UN human rights commissioner said it was "extremely harsh", and cast an ominous shadow over China's commitments to protect human rights.

Mr Liu, 53, helped draft Charter 08, a petition urging political change in China. His wife said he would appeal.

Liu Xia was allowed to see her husband for the first time since March at Friday's sentencing in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

'Major criminal'

"We were able to meet for 10 minutes and we were all smiles when we spoke. I smiled so that he could be calm," she told AFP news agency.

ANALYSIS

Micky Bristow, BBC News, Beijing

Liu Xiaobo's sentence could have been worse - he could have been given a maximum of 15 years in prison but no-one is yet suggesting that the activist got off lightly.

Human rights groups and others with knowledge of China's legal system say this is a harsh sentence. Amnesty International said that according to their records this is the longest sentence handed down for this charge since 2003, perhaps longer.

China's Communist Party leaders appear to be sending a message to anyone else who might want to challenge their total grip on power: don't. Chinese people have been given many freedoms since reforms were first begun 30 years ago, but this sentence shows that they have only very limited political rights.

Mr Liu's lawyer said he had pleaded not guilty to charges of "inciting subversion of state power".

The verdict said Mr Liu "had the goal of subverting our country's people's democratic dictatorship and socialist system. The effects were malign and he is a major criminal," Reuters news agency reported.

Mr Liu has been in jail since 2008, after being arrested for writing a petition known as Charter 08.

It called for greater freedoms and democratic reforms in China, including an end to one-party rule.

The former university professor is a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests.

More than 300 international writers, including Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco and Margaret Atwood, have called for his release.

Western diplomats and journalists were barred from attending the trial and sentencing.

'Gross interference'

But outside the Number One Intermediate People's Court, US embassy official Gregory May urged China to free Mr Liu immediately.

"Persecution of individuals for the peaceful expression of political views is inconsistent with internationally recognised norms of human rights," Mr May said.

Liu Xiaobo is a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests

In Brussels, the EU presidency, currently held by Sweden, said it was "deeply concerned by the disproportionate sentence".

UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay, in Geneva, said the case represented "a further severe restriction on the scope of freedom of expression in China".

Beijing has accused Washington and the EU of meddling.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters this week that statements from embassies calling for Mr Liu's release were "a gross interference of China's internal affairs".

'Disgrace'

Human rights organisations joined the outcry from diplomats; Reporters Without Borders branded the sentence "a disgrace".

US-based Human Rights Group and UK-based Amnesty International said the case was a warning to China's intellectuals and activists.


"This verdict is also an explicit warning... the state will severely punish those who the government perceives as a threat to its monopoly on power

Human Rights Watch"

In Hong Kong, a group of around 50 people protested against the sentence.

Photos taken outside China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong showed three people being treated for injuries.

A security guard, a protester and a police officer were hurt during the demonstration, said the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Liu is the only person to have been arrested for organising the Charter 08 appeal, but others who signed it have reportedly being harassed.

In earlier interviews with the BBC, co-signatories of the petition said they were ready to be punished alongside Mr Liu, to stand up for their ideas.

Abolishing the law on inciting to subvert state power is among the reforms advocated in Charter 08.

The petition says the "practice of viewing words as crimes" should be stopped.

BBC News - Chinese dissident's jailing draws international anger

 

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Profile: Liu Xiaobo, an uncompromising critic of Beijing

Jane Macartney, China Correspondent December 25, 2009

(AFP/Getty Images) Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo is by nature ebullient. The Chinese literature scholar dominated the conversation with his criticism of the poor quality of contemporary writing when he came over for dinner in 1987.

Two years later he flung his arms around me in excitement on Tiananmen Square, where he and three other scholars had staged a hunger strike in solidarity with student pro-democracy demonstrators.

He is a man driven by his views on right and wrong – whether as a literary critic or a critic of one-party systems.

Born in the gritty rust-belt of northeastern China in 1955, he was sent down the countryside during the chaos of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution but received a PhD in Chinese literature from Beijing Normal University in 1988. He was already making a name for himself as one of China’s premier commentators on literature but had shown no great interest in politics.

He went to the universities of Oslo and Hawaii as a visiting scholar before receiving a place at Columbia University in March 1989. When student demonstrators gathered in Tiananmen Square to protest against corruption and to demand democracy in the spring of 1989, Liu Xiaobo wanted to be there.

He rushed back from the United States and gathered two other scholars and one of China’s top pop stars to support the students by staging a hunger strike in the centre of the square. Less than two days later he found himself negotiating with officers of the People’s Liberation Army for the students’ safe withdrawal from the square as the military crushed the demonstrations.

He was immediately arrested and held for 20 months before being released without charge. That marked the end of his teaching career but the start of decades of political activism.

Mr Liu was detained and ordered to serve three years of “re-education through labour” – an administration punishment that requires no judicial process – after he called for the release of those jailed for the Tiananmen Square protests and for his opposition to the government’s verdict that the protests were a counter-revolutionary rebellion.

Upon his release I asked him whether he would continue with his criticisms of Communist Party rule. He guffawed with laughter at the very idea of abandoning his ideals and living a quiet life.

As a leading member of the Independent China Pen Centre, a grouping of Chinese writers, Liu remained in close contact with many intellectuals and had been largely free to attend meetings and writing groups despite constant police surveillance. It was his contacts among independent-minded scholars that enabled him to gather 300 signatures for the Charter 08 that he co-authored in late 2008.

The widely circulated manifesto calling for rights enshrined in China’s own constitution – such as freedom of speech and democracy – has now been signed by 10,000 people.

Mr Liu knew that writing the petition was a risk and could anger the Communist Party, but he never expected that this latest in a string of similar calls from intellectuals would evoke such wrath. One signatory told me: “It seemed to be just another petition and so I signed up just as for all the others. But this time it seems to have been different. The Party loathes anyone who engages in organisation and Liu Xiaobo is paying for that.”

Profile: Liu Xiaobo, an uncompromising critic of Beijing - Times Online