The HRIC Daily Brief is a daily selection of news stories and commentary related to human rights in China, drawn from Chinese- and English-language news and online media sources that we monitor daily. In addition to headlines and source links, HRIC also provides English translation of Chinese headlines.

Monday, April 30, 2007

April 28-30, 2007

Top News of the Day

Human Rights Defenders - Yang Jianli (杨建利)
杨建利北京获释 将往山东祭奠亡父 (Political Activist Yang Jianli Freed After 5 Years' Imprisonment for Spying)
Radio Free Asia, April 27, 2007
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2007/04/27/
yangjianli/

Political activist Yang Jianli (杨建利), a US permanent resident, was released from a Beijing prison on April 27, 2007 after serving a five-year sentence for spying and illegally entering China. He was detained in April 2002 while entering the mainland on a friend's passport after Beijing refused to renew his own due to his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. According to his lawyer, Yang is still being deprived of his political rights and has no freedom of speech, so he cannot speak with the press. Yang says that he will visit his father's grave before going back to the US.


News
Government
《行政机关公务员处分条例》保障依法行政 (New Regulation Issued on Punishing Civil Servants for Administrative Wrongdoing)
China Youth Daily, April 30, 2007
http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2007-04/30/content_
1750146.htm


Human Rights Defenders - Huseyin Celil (塞利尔)
Canada Tries Diplomacy with China in Row over Jailed Imam
Agence France-Presse (via YahooNews), April 29, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070429/wl_asia_afp/
canadachinadiplomacytraderights_
070429033022;_ylt=
Aq0dIEXzcRqMQQrUkHzgA2hPzWQA


Labor
我国职业病防治面临四大挑战 (Four Major Challenges to Improving Occupational Health)
China Youth Daily, April 30, 2007
http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2007-04/30/content_
1750156.htm


Slow Killer Takes Thousands of Miners' Lives
South China Morning Post, April 28, 2007
http://china.scmp.com/chimain/ZZZ1ZUBU01F.html

Media
Google and MySpace Expanding in China
San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/
28/BUG8TPH0ME1.DTL


《三联生活周刊》副主编苗炜因文革报导被降职 (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Sanlian Life Weekly Demoted Over Sensitive Cover Story on the 'Gang of Four')
Radio Free Asia, April 27, 2007
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/xinwen/2007/04/27/china_
freedom_speech/


章诒和呼吁中国作家维护自身权益 (Writer Zhang Yihe Urges Chinese Writers to Stand Up for Their Rights)
Voice of America, April 27, 2007
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/w2007-04-27-voa45.cfm

Olympics
'Strike Hard' Olympics Policy Hurts Freedom in China - Amnesty
Agence France-Presse (via YahooNews), April 30, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070430/wl_asia_afp/
oly2008chnrightsamnesty_0704300
04021;_ylt=AtK_
17BdkNwF.XRuJ3gQOzNPzWQA


US Activists Detained for Mount Everest Protest Say They Feared for Their Lives
International Herald Tribune, April 28, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/28/asia/AS-
GEN-Nepal-China-Tibet-Protest.php


Police
广西法官定为猝死 死者家属称仍有疑问无法解释 (Investigators Say Guangxi Judge Died a "Sudden Death" in Detention, But Family Suspects Foul Play After Finding Bruises and Stitches on Body)
EastDay.com, April 30, 2007
http://news.eastday.com/c/20070430/u1a2803728.html

Politics
Beijing Spring: Democracy Is in the Air
Asia Times Online, April 28, 2007
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ID28Ad02.html

Appointment of Party Outsider Just a Small Step
South China Morning Post, April 30, 2007
http://china.scmp.com/chimain/ZZZ4WHRU01F.html

Protests and Petitions
成都警方警告拆迁户不得接受RFA采访 (Chengdu Police Warn Forced Eviction Petitioners Not to Speak to Radio Free Asia)
Radio Free Asia, April 27, 2007
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/xinwen/2007/04/27/
china_demolition/


百人签名抗议新疆师范大学开除预防艾滋病活动人士常坤 (Hundreds Join Signature Campaign to Protest Against Xinjiang Normal University’s Expulsion of AIDS Activist Chang Kun)
Radio Free Asia, April 28, 2007
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2007/04/28/
xinjiang/


Religion
Rebirth of Taoism Fills Spiritual Void in Rush to Consumerism
South China Morning Post, April 30, 2007
http://china.scmp.com/chitoday/ZZZ3GYBU01F.html

陕西天主教主教吴钦敬被官方带走一直下落不明 (Shaanxi Bishop Wu Qinjing’s Whereabouts Unclear After Being Taken Away by Police a Month Ago)
Radio Free Asia, April 26, 2007
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2007/04/26/
zhouzhi/


Hong Kong
Beijing 'in Fear of Early Democracy'
South China Morning Post, April 30, 2007
http://www.scmp.com/topnews/ZZZ9HYBU01F.html