December 19, 2008

Top News
Human Rights Defender - Ni Yulan (倪玉兰)
Chinese Housing Activist Sentenced to 2 Years
Associated Press (via Yahoo! News), December 18, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_on_re_as/as_china_housing_activist

Beijing housing rights activist Ni Yulan (倪玉兰) was sentenced to two years in prison on December 18, on charges of “obstructing official business.” Ni, who is handicapped, was arrested in April 2008. Her trial was originally scheduled for August 4, 2008, but it was postponed without explanation just before the Olympics. She was previously imprisoned for one year in 2002 for fighting evictions in Beijing. In November 2008, her home was bulldozed, leaving her husband homeless.

News
Economic Development
President Hu Eulogizes Three-decade Reform
Xinhuanet, December 18, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/18/content_10523763.htm

Human Rights Defender - Hu Jia (胡佳)
北京监狱宣布取消胡佳的正常探视 (Beijing Prison Announces Revoking of Hu Jia's Normal Visits)
Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/hujia-12182008163952.html

Human Rights Defenders
中国当局继续传唤恐吓联署《08宪章》人士 (Authorities Continue to Subpoena and Threaten Signers of "Charter 08")
Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/China_dissident-12182008120031.html

Labor
Rescuers Fail to Reach 18 Trapped Miners in China
Reuters, December 18, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4BH7LL20081218

Macau
澳门回归九周年 民间团体发起游行对二十三条立法表忧虑（视频）(Demonstration on Article 23 Planned in Macau for 9th Handover Anniversary)
Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/aomei-12182008090226.html

Related news:
New Macau Association Confirms Rally on Handover Day
Macau Daily Times, December 15, 2008
http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20449&Itemid=28

Media
Chinese Author of Book on Famine Braves Risks to Inform New Generations
International Herald Tribune, December 18, 2008
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/18/asia/famine.php

中国多名记者失踪 (Whereabouts of Several Chinese Journalists Unknown)
Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jizhe-12182008104718.html

Protests and Petitions
China Protest Decries Eating Cats
Associated Press (via China Post), December 19, 2008
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/local-news/other/2008/12/19/188363/China-protest.htm

Protesting China Workers in Standoff with Police
Associated Press (via Yahoo! News), December 19, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/ap_on_re_as/as_china_factory_protest

沪访民上京申请游行遭截访及拘留 (Shanghai Petitioners Returned to Shanghai and Detained after Going to Beijing to Apply to Demonstrate)
Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/fangmin-12182008095255.html

Tibet
七名藏人涉参与骚乱被判无期徒刑至八年 (Seven Tibetans Involved in March Unrest Sentenced from Eight Years to Life Imprisonment)
Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/China_Tibet-12182008115646.html