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.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

July 24, 2008

Top News of the Day
Human Rights Defender - Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚)
Dissident's Wife Writes Appeal to Chinese President
Reuters (via The Guardian), July 24, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/feedarticle/7674038
Yuan Weijing (袁伟静), wife of imprisoned lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), issued an open appeal to President Hu Jintao to stop official harassment of her family. Yuan said in her letter that she could not wait for the Olympics to end, so that she would no longer by “protected” by the security guards who surround her home and interfere with her daily life. Chen, a blind "barefoot lawyer," was involved with exposing enforced late-term abortions in Linyi, Shandong. He was sentenced to four years and three months in prison in 2006.

Related information:
Wife of Jailed “Barefoot Lawyer” Chen Guangcheng Addresses Open Letter to President Hu Jintao
Human Rights in China, July 23, 2008
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/63774
News
Disasters

China Presses Grieving Parents to Take Hush Money on Quake
New York Times, July 24, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/asia/24quake.html

Government
China Urges Free Government Information Disclosure to Improve Transparency
Xinhuanet, July 22, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-07/23/content_8750887.htm

Human Rights Defender - Zheng Enchong (郑恩宠)
郑恩宠被搜家和传唤 揭露刘根山腐败案? (Zheng Enchong Subpoenaed, His Home Searched)
Radio Free Asia, July 23, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zheng-07232008165850.html

Olympics
北京奥运“封网”一月 鼓励网站自行关闭 (Websites Encouraged to Close Voluntarily during the Olympics)
Radio Free Asia, July 23, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/fengwang-07232008131744.html

China Allows Sanctioned Olympic Protests in Designated Areas
Deutsche Presse Agentur (via Monsters and Critics), July 24, 2008
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1418838.php/China_allows_sanctioned_Olympic_protests_in_designated_areas__Roundup_

China Denies Work Visa for Los Gatos Olympian; Political Motive Suspected
Mercury News, July 23, 2008
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9968123

China to Create 'Protest Pens' for Demonstrations during Olympics
The Guardian, July 23, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/23/china

国家工商总局等六部门发出通知 加强奥运期间媒体广告发布管理 (Six Ministries Jointly Issue a Notice on Increasing Management over Ads during Olympics
Legal Daily, July 23, 2008
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/bm/2008-07/24/content_908088.htm

Northeast China City Mobilizes Cabbies in Security Campaign
Xinhuanet, July 23, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-07/23/content_8756065.htm

Olympic Cities Block Foreign Business Visas
South China Morning Post, July 24, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f63359c42705b110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Olympics 2008: Sex Lives and Salaries Off-Limits in Beijing's Courtesy Campaign
The Guardian, July 23, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jul/23/olympicgames2008.china

Tighter Olympics Security Sought
Financial Times, July 23, 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dfebb8f8-5805-11dd-b02f-000077b07658.html

Police
山东牧师被劳教 教友被拘留传讯 (Shandong House Church Pastor Zhang Zhongxin Sentenced to Two Years of Reeducation-Through-Labor; Parishioners Detained and Subpoenaed)
Radio Free Asia, July 23, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jining-07232008095506.html

Protests and Petitions
京設「口袋陣」上訪即遣返 前門禮貌接待 後門集中押走 (Beijing Creates "Booby Trap" to Immediately Return Petitioners to Their Home Provinces)
Ming Pao, July 24, 2008
http://www.mingpaonews.com/20080724/caa1h.htm

Mastermind of SW China Unrest Arrested
China Daily, July 23, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-07/23/content_6871574.htm

普洱市通报“7·19”事件处置情况 (Official Report of the Yunnan Rubber Factory Protest)
Legal Daily, July 23, 2008
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/bm/2008-07/24/content_908085.htm

Public Health
New Antismoking Signs Are Almost Visible Through the Haze
New York Times, July 23, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/world/asia/23smoking.html

Three Gorges
China Clears the Last Town for Huge Dam
Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121684112826878083.html

Tibet
A Rare Tibetan Critic Sues China's Government
Associated Press (via Google), July 23, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gCQ0zbeZlEJV4ddjFHvbVU9VBaXwD923DHO00

新华社证实甘孜格德县更庆寺十天前发生爆炸 (Xinhua Confirms Explosion at Garze Monastery)
Radio Free Asia, July 23, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/tibetan_monk-07232008110323.html


Related news:
四川:通报甘孜德格县寺院房屋垮塌事故调查结果 (Sichuan: Outcome of Investigation into Collapse of Garze Monastery Building)
Xinhuanet, July 22, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-07/22/content_8750076.htm