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, June 23, 2008

June 21-23, 2008

Top News of the Day
Human Rights Defender - Wan Yanhai (
万延海)
万延海与欧盟议员见面后被公安跟踪骚扰 (AIDS Activist Wan Yanhai Followed and Harassed by Police after Meeting with EU Official)
Radio Free Asia, June 20, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/china_sue-06202008104005.html
Prominent AIDS activist Wan Yanhai (万延海) reported to RFA that he has been closely followed by police officers since meeting with European Parliament member Jules Maaten on June 18. Police had warned him not meet with Maaten that morning. Wan noted that the police have not issued him a subpoena and therefore have no legal right to follow him; he tried to raise a suit against the police department for its illegal actions on June 19, but the court would not accept it. Wan is the director of AIDS awareness group Aizhixing Institute, which announced in April 2008 that it would be cutting back on services before the Olympic Games due to increased harassment of its clients.

News
Corruption

CPC Publicizes Party's Five-Year Anti-Corruption Plan
Xinhua (via People's Daily), June 23, 2008
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90785/6434727.html


Related information:
建立健全惩治和预防腐败体系2008-2012年工作规划 (2008-2012 Plan for the Prevention and Punishment of Corruption)
Xinhuanet, June 22, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-06/22/content_8417974.htm
Officials Held over Relief Grain Scam
China Daily, June 21, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/21/content_6784130.htm

Disasters
富新二小家长向官要答复 外媒记者遭粗暴驱赶羁押 (Police Dispatched to Disperse Gathering of Parents Who Lost Children in Quake; Detain Foreign Reporters)
Radio Free Asia, June 20, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/fuxin-06202008130645.html

Mental Health Huge Task in China Quake Zone: WHO
Reuters, June 20, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK17305020080620

Over 18,000 Missing Since May 12 Quake
Xinhua (via China Daily), June 23, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/23/content_6785478.htm

Economic Development
China to Launch 10 Key Projects in Western Regions
Xinhuanet, June 21, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-06/21/content_8413779.htm

Environment
Contentious Dam Begins Power Generation
South China Morning Post, June 23, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=a1210ad3221ba110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Scandal of the Cancer Villages Lurks behind China's 'Green' Makeover
The Guardian, June 22, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/22/china.olympicgames2008

Human Rights Defenders
中国新《律师法》实施律师会见当事人依旧难 (Still Difficult for Lawyers to Meet with Clients Despite New Amendments to Lawyers Law)
Radio Free Asia, June 21, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/lu-06212008005525.html


Related information:
Press Release: Revised ‘Lawyers Law’ Fails to Protect Lawyers
Human Rights in China, June 19, 2008
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/56883
Labor
Minimum Wage Hike Planned to Plug Labor Shortage
China Daily, June 21, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/21/content_6784122.htm

Media
China's Internet Censorship Getting Worse: Activist
Agence France-Presse (via Google), June 20, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hCJt9_DPuxiA9xPN-_N_Usrmg_DQ

China's Overeager American Censors
Forbes.com, June 20, 2008
http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/06/20/internet-censorship-china-tech-security-cx_ag_0620censure.html

Olympics
American Team Sent to Beijing over Nuclear Games Threat: Report
South China Morning Post, June 22, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=d3dfe8dd7fbaa110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

China Cracks down Ahead of Games
The Independent, June 23, 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-cracks-down-ahead-of-games--human-rights-852344.html

China Cracks down on Cars for Olympics
Financial Times, June 23, 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/475ae4fe-3f11-11dd-8fd9-0000779fd2ac.html

China Demolishes Mosque for Not Supporting Olympics: Group
Reuters, June 23, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK18996820080623

访民因奥运行动受阻 投诉国际奥委会 (Shanghai Petitioners Raise Complaint to IOC after Detainment and Threats to Not Petition during Olympics)
Radio Free Asia, June 20, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/aoyun-06202008095654.html

Foreign Journalists Arrive for Organised Trip
South China Morning Post, June 21, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=0158ecddae6aa110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Heavily Guarded Olympic Torch Is Conveyed Through Tibetan Capital
Washington Post, June 22, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/21/AR2008062100321.html

Lake Successfully Refilled after Drought
Shanghai Daily, June 21, 2008
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080621/article_364017.htm

Olympic Networks Win Right to Broadcast from Tiananmen Square
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), June 20, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/story/2008/06/19/olympic-broadcasters.html

Olympic Torch in China's Qinghai Province
Voice of America, June 22, 2008
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-06-22-voa28.cfm

Reporters Stopped from Seeing Sensitive Tibetan Temple
Agence France-Presse (via Google), June 22, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ioetFeDMSc_xuTO8dgU-1QlMsxwg

State-Approved Tibetan Celebrities Join Relay Runners
South China Morning Post, June 22, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=2dbfe8dd7fbaa110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Protests and Petitions
China Supreme Court Urges Multiple Ways to Ensure People's Voices Heard
Xinhuanet, June 23, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-06/23/content_8422499.htm

Tibet
3 Tibetan Activists Jailed in Nepal for Anti-China Protests, Hundreds More Detained
Los Angeles Times, June 21, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/asia/la-fg-nepal22-2008jun22,0,3464347.story

China Releases 1,157 Involved in Tibet Unrest: Xinhua
Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo! News), June 20, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080620/wl_afp/chinatibetunrestrelease

Qomolangma to Limit Tourist Number to Protect Ecology
China Daily, June 23, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/23/content_6785029.htm

Tensions Rise between Tibetans, Chinese Muslims
Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-muslims23-2008jun23,0,6800977.story

Three Months after Riots, Tibetans Need Help Not Crackdowns, Say Observers
South China Morning Post, June 21, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=01c8eda5e76aa110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Tibet to Reopen to Foreign Tourists Soon
Xinhua (via China Daily), June 21, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/21/content_6783726.htm

With Olympic Torch (Briefly) in Tibet, China Assails Dalai Lama
International Herald Tribune, June 22, 2008
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/22/asia/torch.php