Wednesday, February 27, 2008

February 27, 2008

Top News of the Day
Human Rights Defender - Liu Jie (刘杰)

黑龙江访民刘杰绝食抗议劳教处罚 (Heilongjiang Petitioner Liu Jie Goes on Hunger Strike to Protest Reeducation-Through-Labor Decision)
Radio Free Asia , February 26, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2008/02/26/liujie/
Liu Jie (刘杰) began a hunger strike on February 26 in the Qiqihar Labor Camp where she is detained. She has demanded three things through an intermediary: 1. That President Hu Jintao and other national leaders demand that Heilongjiang Provincial Military Farm Bureau cease in persecuting her; 2. Further deliberation on the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" during the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; 3. The abolishment of the Reeducation-Through-Labor system. Liu, the organizer of a public letter with over twelve thousand signatures, was sentenced to eighteen months of Reeducation-Through-Labor in November 2007.

News
Environment
Bosses May Be Fined for Water Pollution
South China Morning Post, February 27, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d
3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=7bb63da7c2658110VgnVCM
100000360a0a0aRCRD


Mega Dams Meant to Control Siltation Will Add to Ecological Woe, Experts Warn
South China Morning Post, February 27, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d
3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=b7373da7c2658110VgnVCM
100000360a0a0aRCRD


Taps Shut in Central China Due to Red, Bubbly River
Reuters, February 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSPEK41672008
0226


Human Rights
China Ready to Resume Human Rights Talks
Washington Post, February 27, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/
26/AR2008022600903.html


Human Rights Defender - Zheng Enchong (郑恩宠)
Chinese Activist Lawyer Beaten, Detained
Associated Press (available at YahooNews), February 26, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080226/ap_on_re_as/china_
activist_beaten_1


Human Rights Defender - Li Subin (李苏滨)
维权律师入禀法院要求取消暂住证 (Human Rights Lawyers Go to Court Demanding Temporary Residence Permits Be Abolished)
Radio Free Asia, February 26, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/xinwen/2008/02/26/china_
rights_lawyer/

Law
中国拟规定保安不得限制他人人身自由违法搜身 (China Issues Draft Regulations Stipulating that Security Guards Must Not Limit the Personal Liberties of Others or Conduct Illegal Body Searches)
Radio Free Asia, February 26, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2008/02/26/baoan/

Migrant Workers
北京建筑工地农民权益普遍受侵害 (Rights of Migrant Workers on Beijing Construction Sites Frequently Violated)
Radio Free Asia, February 26, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2008/02/26/nongmin/

Olympics
China Slams "Meddling" After Myanmar Boycott Call
Reuters, February 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK34412220080226

China's Olympic Water Province Faces Severe Drought
Reuters, February 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/
idUSPEK3519920080226


Olympics Water Diversion Threatens Millions
Financial Times, February 26, 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/40b3e66a-e49d-11dc-a495-
0000779fd2ac.html


Police
上海维权人士乐见公安局长换新人 (Shanghai Human Rights Defenders Welcome Change in Municipal Public Security Bureau Head, Removing Jiang Zemin's Nephew, Wu Zhiming)
Voice of America, February 26, 2008
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/w2008-02-26-voa30.cfm

Protests and Petitions
两会前当局加强监控访民打压异见人士 (Authorities Heighten Monitoring of Petitioners and Pressure on Dissidents Before the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress)
Radio Free Asia, February 26, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2008/02/26/lianghui/

广州八百市民聚集市国土资源和房管局门外上访 (Eight Hundred Petition at the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Land and Natural Resources and Housing Administration)
Radio Free Asia, February 26, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2008/02/26/guangzhou/

荷泽维权虽遭打压两百工人坚持请 (Two Hundred Heze, Shandong Workers Insist on Petitioning Despite Human Rights Defender Zhou Mengxin Being Beaten)
Radio Free Asia, February 26, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2008/02/26/heze/

Three Gorges
Three Gorges Holdouts Feel the Heat
South China Morning Post, February 27, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d
3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=23963da7c2658110VgnVCM
100000360a0a0aRCRD


Tibet
Tibetans Fear for Man Sent Back to China from Nepal
Agence France-Presse (available at YahooNews), February 26, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080226/wl_sthasia_afp/nepalchina
tibetrefugees_080226083752