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, October 19, 2009

October 19, 2009

Top news
Human Rights Defender – Guo Quan (郭泉)
China Jails Ex-professor 10 Years for Subversion
Reuters, October 17, 2009
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43225420091017

On October 16, 2009, Guo Quan (郭泉), a former associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of subversion of state power. The verdict comes well over four months following his trial on August 7, 2009, exceeding by two months the time limit required to conclude a case under the Criminal Procedure Law. Guo, who was detained on November 13, 2008, by the Nanjing police, was formally a member of the state-approved China Democratic League and is the founder of the New Democracy Party of China; he was expelled from the league and fired from his university in late 2007, after founding the NDP.
Related information:
Democracy Activist Gets Ten Years for “Subversion of State Power”
Human Rights in China, October 16, 2009
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/172027
Related news:
學者郭泉顛覆國家罪成囚 10年 (Scholar Guo Quan Convicted of Subversion, Sentenced to 10)
Apple Daily, October 18, 2009
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?&iss_id=20091018&sec_id=15335&art_id=13324938
News
Corruption
New Anti-Graft Laws, Including on Bribery, Get Judicial Blessing
South China Morning Post, October 17, 2009
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=99ff83a1d3e54210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Environment
粤北粤东大面积受旱影响5万人饮用水 (Large-scale Drought effecting 500,000 in Northern and Eastern Guangdong)
Eastday, October 19, 2009
http://news.eastday.com/c/20091018/u1a4738520.html

Hong Kong
香港擬在台灣設立辦事機構 充當兩岸中介角色 (Hong Kong to Establish an Administrative Office in Taiwan, Playing the Mediator between Both Sides of the Straits)
International Herald Leader, October 19, 2009
http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/9/1/1/1299862/1.html

Human Rights Defenders
異見女作家小喬 入境處限今日離境 (HK Immigration Tells Exiled Writer Xiao Qiao to Leave Today)
Ming Pao, October 18, 2009
http://www.mingpaonews.com/20091018/gon1.htm

Labor
山西煤焦领域成腐败“重灾区” 小煤矿走向消亡 (Corruption Has Turned Shanxi Mining Areas into "Disaster Zones"; Small Mines Dying Out)
Eastday, October 19, 2009
http://news.eastday.com/c/20091019/u1a4738823.html

药厂毒气泄漏致13名工人紧急入院 (13 Workers Hospitalized after Poisonous Gas Leak in Pharmaceutical Factory)
Changjiang Times, October 18, 2009
http://news.163.com/09/1018/01/5LSE840800011229.html

Land Policy
河南水庫遷民規模僅次三峽 (Henan Evicts Residents for Reservoir Project; Second in Scale to Three Gorges Eviction)
Ming Pao, October 18, 2009
http://inews.mingpao.com/htm/INews/20091018/ca71238i.htm
Related news:
China Starts Resettling 330,000 for Water Project
Associated Press (via Yahoo! News), October 18, 2009
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091018/ap_on_re_as/as_china_water
無地農民工成城市新群體 移民化傾向引擔憂 (Landless Farmers Become a New Group in Cities)
Economic Information Daily, October 19, 2009
http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/9/1/1/1299776/1.html

Law
全國人大常委會將首次審議選舉法修正案草案 (Standing Committee to Deliberate Draft Amendment of Election Law)
China News Service, October 19, 2009
http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/9/1/1/1299895/1.html

Media
Frankfurt Book Fair's Controversial Guest of Honor: China
Christian Science Monitor, October 17, 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1017/p06s01-woeu.html

网吧是应该关还是应该管?——“冠县无网吧”追踪 (Should Internet Cafes Be Regulated or Should They Be Shut Down? The Case of Guan County, Shandong)
Xinhua News Agency, October 18, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-10/18/content_12262794.htm

Migrant Workers
新疆计划生育免费服务将全面覆盖流动人口 (Free Family Planning Services for Migrant Workers in XUAR)
Xinhua News Agency, October 18, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-10/18/content_12260778.htm

Police
湖北石首市人民法院公开宣判“6·17”聚众扰乱社会秩序案 (Hubei Court Tries Participants in Shishou Riot)
Xinhua News Agency, October 17, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2009-10/17/content_12255588.htm
Related news:
Ten Convicted of Rioting after Chef's Death
South China Morning Post, October 19, 2009
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=32224058c8864210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD
Public Health
15,000 to Move Away from Lead Poisoning Threat in C China
Xinhua News Agency, October 16, 2009
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-10/16/content_8805161.htm

Industrial Salt in Food Poisons 26 in Shanghai
China Daily, October 18, 2009
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-10/18/content_8807717.htm

Taiwan
Kaohsiung Risks the Wrath of Beijing by Screening Kadeer Film
South China Morning Post, October 19, 2009
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=217f83a1d3e54210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

XUAR
China's Xinjiang Trials Fail Global Standards: Rights Group
Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo! News), October 16, 2009
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091016/wl_asia_afp/chinaunrestxinjiangtrialrights

Beijing Presents 'Evidence' Kadeer was Behind Riots
South China Morning Post, October 17, 2009
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=c0bf83a1d3e54210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD