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.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

August 12, 2008

Top News
Human Rights Defender - Hua Huiqi (华惠棋)
Detained Chinese Activist Says He Escaped
Associated Press (via Google), August 12, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gl3910JlgH5mrH6L1yqP183Oc10gD92GINJ80

Hua Huiqi (华惠棋), a Beijing-based house church activist, issued a letter stating that he has escaped from the police who were watching over him and is in hiding. Hua was detained on August 10 en route to a church service attended by U.S. President Bush. His captors warned at the time that they would break his legs if he tried to go to the church, where he was baptized.
Related information, including a translation of Hua’s letter:
In Hiding, Beijing House Church Activist Hua Huiqi Appeals for Help
Human Rights in China, August 11, 2008
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/68598
News
Disasters

Twenty Die in Torrential Rain in Southwest China
Agence-France Presse (via China Post), August 12, 2008
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/local%20news/other/2008/08/12/169741/Twenty-die.htm

Environment
Decree on Energy Saving at State-Funded Organizations Issued
Xinhuanet, August 11, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-08/11/content_9186968.htm

Related information:
《公共机构节能条例》 (Regulations on Energy Efficiency at State-Funded Institutions)
Xinhuanet, August 11, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/politics/2008-08/11/content_9179896.htm

Labor
Rescuers Find Bodies of 9 Miners Trapped in Gas Blast
China Daily, August 11, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-08/11/content_6926218.htm

广东严查非法“洋打工” (Guangdong Increases Examination over Illegal Foreign Workers)
Nanfang Daily, August 04, 2008
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/nfrb/200808040033.asp

Media
China's Media Censored over Stabbing
The Age, August 12, 2008
http://www.theage.com.au/world/chinas-media-censored-over-stabbing-20080811-3tmf.html

2 Reporters, Photographer Detained in Uygur Region
The Yomiuri Shimbun, August 12, 2008
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20080812TDY02304.htm

Screws Tighten on Mainland Journalists
South China Morning Post, August 12, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=1b4c6136ab2bb110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Olympics
China Bans Child Singer with Crooked Teeth from Singing at Opening Ceremony
Times Online, August 12, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4512250.ece

Protests and Petitions
奥运维稳上海访民人权受侵 殴打羁押不断 (Attacks on Shanghai-based Petitioners Continue during Olympics)
Radio Free Asia, August 11, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shanghai_fangmin-08112008144011.html

北京访民接受外国记者采访被刑事拘留 (Beijing Petitioners Criminally Detained for Accepting Foreign Media Interviews)
Radio Free Asia, August 11, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/bj_fangmin-08112008095527.html

Beijing Denies Right to Protest in Park
Financial Times, August 11, 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/27660ab2-67d3-11dd-8d3b-0000779fd18c.html

Taiwan
Men Arrested after Swimming to Taiwan
South China Morning Post, August 12, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=d0c7087e302bb110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

XUAR
Death Toll for Xinjiang Attack at Eleven
Caijing, August 11, 2008
http://english.caijing.com.cn/20080811/77166.shtml

Teen Bombing Suspect Held in Xinjiang Hospital
Shanghai Daily, August 12, 2008
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=370123

Three Killed in Renewed Violence in China's Far West
Reuters, August 12, 2008
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAPEK9954420080812

Uygur Bombers Included Teenage Girl, Authorities Say
South China Morning Post, August 12, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=131a6136ab2bb110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD