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.

Friday, May 16, 2008

May 16, 2008

Top News of the Day
Tibet

Tibet Sees Scattered Protests, Arrests
Radio Free Asia, May 15, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet_detain-05152008132952.html
Scattered protests are reportedly still taking place in Tibet two months after the unrest in Lhasa in mid-March. In the week of May 11, authorities detained about 20 Tibetan monks and nuns in two separate protests in Garze [in Chinese, Ganzi], a heavily Tibetan town in Sichuan Province. Three monks, Lobsang Tenpa, Palden Tsondru, and Lobsang Choeden, chanted their support for the Dalai Lama, and 14 nuns protested the detention of two nuns. In Lhasa there was an additional protest; a couple, Shelok and Yangdzom, was detained for passing on information about the condition of Tibetan prisoners.

News
Disasters

China to Allow Foreign Help as Death Toll Is Raised
Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121083757999794937.html

China: Quake Death Toll Could Reach 50,000
Associated Press (available at YahooNews), May 16, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/china_earthquake

Why Did So Many New Buildings Fail?
South China Morning Post, May 16, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=868591d688de9110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

地震凸现中国贫富“裂缝” (Earthquake Exposes Poverty Gap)
Radio Free Asia, May 15, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/rich_poor-05152008105318.html

西南水电告急 (Hydroelectric Power Facilities in Southwest China at Risk)
Nanfang Weekend, May 15, 2008
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/southnews/zmzg/200805150054.asp

Media
互联网“问题地图”该打了 (Chinese Authorities to Censor Online Maps that Threaten State Security)
Legal Daily, May 16, 2008
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/bm/2008-05/16/content_854478.htm

CNN Apologises for Commentator's Remarks
South China Morning Post, May 16, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=b4da91d688de9110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Reporter Who Wrote about Violent Official Jailed 4 Years
South China Morning Post, May 16, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=f1bb91d688de9110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Protests and Petitions
四名军转干部因上访被拘留 郑明芳劳教中几近失明 (Four Soldier-Turned-Cadre Representatives Detained over Petitioning)
Radio Free Asia, May 15, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junzhuan-05152008083158.html

Tibet
Dalai Lama Kicks off Western Tour with China Broadside
Agence France-Presse (available at YahooNews), May 15, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080515/wl_sthasia_afp/chinatibetrightsdalaioly2008diplomacy_080515170914