Hundreds of retired teachers not officially on the government payroll petitioned the Hubei Provincial Department of Education and the main provincial government office to demand pensions and wages on par with teachers on the government payroll. Two teachers were detained after unfurling a banner spelling out their demands.¹ Both were released later that day.

May 8, 2009

The family of Zhou Yongjun (周勇军), a former student leader in the 1989 Democracy Movement, was informed of his official arrest on charges of financial fraud and detention in Suining Detention Center in Sichuan Province. Zhou, who holds permanent residence in the U.S. and was previously sentenced to Reeducation-Through-Labor (RTL) for three years on a return trip to China in 1998, had entered China to visit his parents on September 30, 2008. Zhou’s family only learned of this most recent arrest after Zhou was detained for six months after entry.²

May 9, 2009

Dissident Yang Jianli (杨建利) was refused entry to Hong Kong. Yang, a participant in the 1989 Democracy Movement and now exiled in the U.S., was traveling to Hong Kong to organize memorial activities for the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. He was previously denied entry into Hong Kong in August 2008 prior to the Beijing Olympics.³

May 10–12, 2009

During the one-year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, authorities warned families of children lost in the quake to not give interviews or organize collective memorials, lest they face detention. Six parents from hard-hit Dujiangyan were sent with policemen to Hubei for the duration of the anniversary. Journalists from non-domestic media outlets were forbidden from visiting many quake sites, with one describing Deyang, Sichuan, as being “completely shut off.” Meanwhile, non-Chinese-looking reporters were forbidden from entering the city. Additionally, the blog administrator at the web portal Sina deleted several posts and articles written by artist and activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未), who was collecting the names of the school children who perished in the quake. Later that month, Ai’s blog was deleted in its entirety.⁴

May 11, 2009

Nearly 20 petitioners from Shanxi, Henan, and other provinces protested on the roof of a building near the head petitioning office, the State Bureau of Letters and Calls, demanding democracy and human rights and opposing official corruption. Hundreds of other petitioners shouted slogans of support from the street below. Over 100 police officers were sent in to remove the protesters, more than ten of whom were detained.⁵

May 13, 2009

Beijing rights defense lawyers Zhang Kai (张凯) and Li Chunfu (李春富) were violently beaten at their client’s home in Chongqing by local police. They were then brought to the police station for interrogation where Zhang was locked in an iron cage and Li was slapped in the face. Zhang and Li had been in Chongqing to meet with relatives of Jiang Xiqing (江锡清) to discuss Jiang’s death while serving a one-year RTL sentence for practicing Falun Gong.⁶

May 13, 2009

Ti-Anna Wang (王天安) , daughter of imprisoned activist Wang Bingzhang (王炳章), was denied entry to China at the Shenzhen border while attempting to visit her father, despite having a valid visa. Wang Bingzhang, a Canadian citizen and U.S. permanent resident, was an active member of the democracy movement. He entered China in 1998 and was immediately expelled. In June 2002, he disappeared during a trip to Vietnam and later reappeared in China. In February 2003, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Guangdong High People’s Court for terrorism and espionage. He is currently serving his sentence in Wujiang Prison in Shaoguan, Guangdong.⁷

May 15, 2009

Guiyang-based rights defender Chen Xi (陈西) was subpoenaed and questioned by state security officers from the Guiyang public security bureau. The officers questioned Chen on a June Fourth forum he was planning to attend that day, asking about its organizers and how to get in contact with them. According to Chen, fellow activist Du Heping (杜和平) was also detained by police.⁸

May 19, 2009

Liu Zhihua (刘智华), one of four Hunan factory workers to organize a strike in protest of the government’s violent June Fourth crackdown, was released from prison. Liu was arrested in 1989 and convicted of hooliganism and assault. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was later reduced. Liu is the last of his fellow strikers to be released from prison.⁹

May 19, 2009

Han Zhiguang (韩志广) and Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), two Beijing lawyers who traveled to Harbin, were prevented from helping their Falun Gong client LiZhigang (栗志刚) . Han and Jiang were given various excuses as to why they were being refused permission to read Li’s case files. Li has been detained since February 2009.¹⁰

May 19, 2009

Liaoning petitioner Tian Xiuyan (田秀艳) attempted to commit suicide by cutting her wrists after she was detained and beaten by authorities. As hundreds watched Tian lie dying on the road, many did nothing but look on. One local police car was smashed by petitioners on the spot in rage.¹¹

May 20, 2009

Hu Xingdou (胡星斗), professor at Beijing Institute of Technology and blogger, won his lawsuit against the Beijing Xin Net Technology Corporation. Hu suedXin Net after it and the Internet policing agency for Suzhou, Jiangsu, shut down his websites, www.huxingdou.com.cn, www.huxingdou.org, and www.huxingdou.net, over “illicit postings” on March 25, 2009. In shutting down his sites, Xin Net cited three of Hu’s articles, including a five-year-oldpost entitled “The Need to Abolish the Reeducation-Through-Labor System.” Hu stated that he planned to file a lawsuit against the Internet policing agency.¹²

May 20–June 7, 2009

Several rights defenders were requested or compelled to leave Beijing shortly before the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. Bao Tong (鲍彤), a former aide to Premier Zhao Ziyang (赵紫阳) and now an outspoken critic of the Communist Party, was compelled to leave Beijing by authorities. He was taken to Huangshan, a tourist spot in Anhui, and expected to return to Beijing on June 7. Similarly, activist Qi Zhiyong (齐志勇), who lost both of his legs during the June Fourth crackdown, was initially escorted out of Beijing, but had to return for medical reasons and was subsequently placed under house arrest. Ding Zilin(丁子霖), spokesperson for the Tiananmen Mothers, refused to leave after she was asked, and was instead kept under surveillance. Other activists, including Zhang Xianling (张先玲) of the Tiananmen Mothers, rights defense lawyers Li Heping (李和平), Li Fangping (李方平), Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), Lan Zhixue(兰志学), and Li Xiongbing (黎雄兵), and writer Yu Jie (余杰) were also placed under surveillance, while lawyer Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强) was taken to a suburban resort from June 2 to 7. Two Shanghainese petitioners, Lü Longzhen (吕龙珍) and Wu Dangying (吴党英), were placed under administrative detention and over 30 others were placed under house arrest in their homes or in guest houses.¹³

May 21, 2009

Nanyang, Henan-based democracy activist and Charter 08 signatory Liu Shasha (刘沙沙), also known as Liu Linna (刘琳娜), was surrounded and beatenin an Internet cafe by at least five officials from the security protection group ofSinopec, her employer. Liu was forced to use the Internet cafe because herhome Internet access had been disabled. Liu, who had been put under surveillanceafter disseminating Charter 08 on the streets of Nanyang, was broughtto the hospital following the attack where the surveillance continued. Shebegan a hunger strike on May 24 to protest her treatment and to commemorateJune Fourth. She was released from hospital surveillance on June 9.¹⁴

May 23, 2009

Fujianese barefoot lawyer Ji Sizun (纪斯尊) released a letter from Wuyishan Prison, where he has been held since May 13, 2009, asking the High People’s Court of Fujian Province to hear his case. He was sentenced to three years in prison after applying for permission to hold a demonstration during the Olympics period, in reliance on the government’s promise to allow such permits.¹⁵

May 25, 2009

The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported that three dissidents now living abroad, Wang Dan (王丹), Wang Juntao (王军涛), and Feng Congde (封从德), had been denied visas to Hong Kong. They had been invited to participate in an academic conference on the 20th anniversary of June Fourth at the City University of Hong Kong.¹⁶

May 25, 2009

Ye Shangqing (叶尚青) and four other villagers from Wenling County, Taizhou, Zhejiang, were convicted on charges of “disturbing social order.” Three were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with four years’ suspension while the remaining two were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment with two years’ suspension. All had had been detained for 11 months since April 14, 2008 and later released under bail. Ye and his fellow villagers had been petitioning and demonstrating against the local government since officials seized their farmland in April 2008.¹⁷

May 27, 2009

The Tiananmen Mothers issued a statement via Human Rights in China calling for a reassessment of the June Fourth crackdown. One hundred and twenty-eight signatories demanded truth, compensation, and accountability from the government. The Tiananmen Mothers also released a list of ten additional recently identified June Fourth victims, bringing the total number of named victims to 186.¹⁸

May 28, 2009

Shenyang, Liaoning-based Charter 08 signatory Zhang Huaiyang (张怀阳) was criminally detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” Zhang, who had disseminated the Charter and appealed for support of activists such as Liu Shasha (刘沙沙) using his real identity, was permitted to meet his lawyer, Wang Yong (王勇), on June 16, 2009. According to Wang, Zhang was interrogated by police concerning his online appeal to Internet users to go to Tiananmen Square to commemorate the June Fourth anniversary and as well as three commemorative t-shirts he created.¹⁹

May 29, 2009

Zhang Zilin (张子霖), a Hunan-based rights defender and member of the Pan-Blue Alliance, was released from prison but then taken by state security officers to several tourist sites and kept under house arrest in various hotels. He was finally released and allowed to return home on June 8. Zhang was convicted of blackmail in February 2008 and sentenced to two years in prison, during which he claims he was tortured.²⁰

May 30, 2009

Five former June Fourth prisoners from Zhejiang, Wu Gaoxing (吴高兴), Chen Longde (陈龙德), Wang Donghai (王东海), Mao Guoliang (毛国良), and Ye Wenxiang (叶文相), issued an open letter to the central government through Human Rights in China. The letter called on the government to release thosestill imprisoned after June Fourth, as well as to guarantee social rights andbenefits to those who, because they have been labeled “June Fourth thugs,”remain unable to receive medical treatment, retirement benefits, or even themost basic health insurance.²¹

May 30, 2009

Writer Wu Gaoxing (吴高兴), a former June Fourth prisoner and co-signer of an open letter to Chinese leaders seeking economic redress for former June Fourth prisoners, was taken by police from his home in Taizhou, Zhejiang, about an hour after the letter was made public.²²

May 30, 2009

Xiong Yan (熊焱), one of the 21 most-wanted June Fourth student leaders, was allowed entry into Hong Kong days before the 20th anniversary. Xiong was a member of the Students’ Dialogue Group that met with then-premier Li Peng. Xiong was jailed for two years after the protests before being smuggled out of China via Hong Kong to the U.S., where he now lives in exile. However, Danish sculptor-activist Jens Galschiot was refused entry into Hong Kong after being questioned for five hours by immigration authorities. Galschiot had intended to mark June Fourth in Hong Kong and to repair his “Pillar of Shame” sculpture which commemorates the massacre. He had previously been refused entry to Hong Kong before the Olympics.²³

May 30–June 1, 2009

Beijing writer Yu Jie (余杰) was placed under house arrest on May 30 with officers standing guard outside his home around-the-clock after being under surveillance since May 27. He was barred from attending church and accepting interviews with foreign media. He stated that authorities admitted that they knew their actions were illegal but were merely following their superiors’ orders.²⁴

June 1, 2009

More than 50 activists, intellectuals, lawyers, and others harassed by the Chinese authorities in the lead up to the anniversary of June Fourth issued a public appeal calling on the global community to focus on the government’s widespread infringement of human rights in commemoration of June Fourth. Signatories include Ai Weiwei (艾未未), Bao Tong (鲍彤), Chen Xi (陈西), DingZilin (丁子霖), Jiang Qisheng (江棋生), Zhang Zuhua (张祖桦), Zhao Dagong(赵达功), Ran Yunfei (冉云飞), Huang Yanming (黄燕明), Zhang Jiankang(张鉴康), Yang Hai (杨海), Xie Fulin (谢福林), Li Dongzhuo (李东卓), LiaoShuangyuan (廖双元), Wen Kejian (温克坚), Jiang Peikun (蒋培坤), ZhangXianling (张先玲), Mo Shaoping (莫少平), Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强), Teng Biao(滕彪), Li Heping (李和平), Li Fangping (李方平), Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), andothers. The signatories stated that as the anniversary approached, authorities had issued multiple warnings, stood guard outside their homes, and tried to force them to leave their homes, making their lives unbearable.²⁵

June 1, 2009

Huang Wei (黄伟), a Wenzhou, Zhejiang-based folk singer and signatory to Charter 08, was detained by Wenzhou state security officers as he set out to Beijing,where he planned to commemorate the 20th anniversary of June Fourththrough music. In late July 2009, he was sentenced to one-and-a-half years ofRTL by Wenzhou authorities, which he is serving at the Jinhua RTL center.²⁶

June 2, 2009

Numerous Shenzhen dissidents were monitored in the lead up to the June Fourth anniversary and warned that they were forbidden to write articles related to June Fourth or meet with sensitive figures. In addition, Hong Kong television programs airing June Fourth content previously available in Shenzhen were subsequently made unavailable. Guo Yongfeng (郭永丰), Shenzhen-based activist and organizer of the China Politics Monitoring Committee, was warned not to publish any papers prior to the anniversary and was prevented from meeting with Independent Chinese PEN Center councilman and Charter 08 signatory Zhao Dagong (赵达功). Shenzhen activist Yang Yong (杨勇), who had returned to his native town in Nanchang in May, was warned by authorities not to return until the anniversary had passed.²⁷

June 2, 2009

Liang Mingyuan (梁明远), Huang Xiaogang (黄小刚), and Luo Jianfei (罗建飞), former workers in the state food distribution system, were taken away in theearly morning by the Pengshui District Public Security Bureau in Chongqing oncharges of disrupting unit order. Laid-off in 1999 due to system reforms, theyhad sought to settle the issue via legal channels.²⁸

June 2, 2009

Xiang Xiaoji (项小吉), one of the student leaders of the Tiananmen Square movement, was denied entry into Hong Kong. Xiang, who now lives in exile in the U.S., fled China via Hong Kong following the June Fourth crackdown. He had previously been allowed into Hong Kong in 1999 to convene the June Fourth 10th anniversary forum at the University of Hong Kong.²⁹

June 3, 2009

The movement of activists was further restricted on the day before the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. In Zhejiang, Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕) , wife of imprisoned activist Hu Jia (胡佳) , was barred from leaving her family home and meeting with relatives, as was Chinese Democracy Party committee member Zhu Yufu(朱虞夫) . Additionally, Charter 08 signatory Zou Wei (邹巍) and Guangdong rights defense lawyer Tang Jingling (唐荆陵) were forced to take a “vacation.”³⁰

June 3, 2009

Wu’er Kaixi (吾尔开希) , one of the student leaders of the Tiananmen Square movement, was denied entry to Macao after arriving from Taiwan. Authorities asked him to leave immediately but he refused, saying that if they wished to repatriate him, they would have to do so by force. In exile for the past 20 years, he has been unable to see his parents. He was deported back to Taiwan on June 4, 2009.³¹

June 3, 2009

In Guiyang, Guizhou, more than 30 activists planned to gather in Heping Park to commemorate the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. However, on the eve of the anniversary, authorities cut their phone lines and detained several members of the group. Others, including Chen Defu (陈德富), were not detained but put under 24-hour surveillance.³²

June 3–7, 2009

Beijing rights defense lawyers Lan Zhixue (兰志学) and Tang Jitian (唐吉田) were detained for questioning by the police from the Sijiqing substation of the Haidian Branch Office concerning a robbery that had happened the previous month. Lan stated that police were using this as an excuse to obtain information that was unrelated to the case. Lan was released after several hours of questioning and Tang was released after more than ten hours. On their way home, at about 2:00a.m. on the morning of June Fourth, Tang was forcibly taken away by five policemen and detained in a hotel basement and guestroom. He was released in the late afternoon of June 7 after being questioned for three days.³³

June 4, 2009

In Beijing, access to Tiananmen Square was restricted to prevent commemorations of the 20th anniversary of June Fourth.³⁴

June 4, 2009

Tiananmen Mothers spokeswoman Ding Zilin (丁子霖) was prevented from laying flowers at Muxidi, near Tiananmen Square, where her son perished 20 years ago. Ding had been allowed to do so in the previous two years for her son, as had other parents who had lost their children in the June Fourth crackdown.³⁵ Additionally, over ten family members of Tiananmen Square victims were prevented from paying their respects at Beijing’s Wan-an cemetery.³⁶ In Shanghai, rights activist Cai Wenjun (蔡文君) was beaten by officers who were watching over her as she left her home, dressed in white to commemorate the day.³⁷

June 4, 2009

According to estimates by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, around 150,000 people gathered for a candlelight vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to commemorate the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. Police estimates placed the number at around 62,800.³⁸ Five Guangzhou Cable Television station employees in Guangzhou, Guangdong, were later suspended after broadcasting footage of the June Fourth vigil on June 5. Higher-level employees might also be punished.³⁹

June 7, 2009

Shanghai intellectual Feng Zhenghu (冯正虎) attempted to enter Shanghai after a two-month long Japanese visit, but was forced by authorities to return to Japan. Feng initially refused to enter Japan after his return flight landed, but eventually entered. Feng continued to try to return to China several times, including a refused attempt to board a Northwest Airlines flight to Shanghai on July 2, 2009. Finally, on July 31, in his seventh attempt, he was able to arrive at Shanghai airport but was forcibly returned to Japan on the next day.⁴⁰

June 8–9, 2009

Religious officials in Ji’nan, Shandong, signed documents effectively closing the Changchunli Church (长春里教堂) , suspending church gatherings, and removing its pastor from power. When they tried to close the church on June 8, the practitioners present resisted. However, on June 9, over 40 people were sent to forcefully seal off the church. Previously, local officials had reduced the size of the church from 1,128 m² to 300 m².⁴¹

June 9, 2009

The detention of Beijing intellectual and Independent Chinese PEN Center President Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) was extended by Beijing authorities after a six month period of so-called “residential surveillance.” According to Liu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping (莫少平) , the investigation of Liu is still in progress. Liu was criminally detained by police on December 8, 2008, on the eve of the release of Charter 08, to which he was an early signatory. Liu’s “residential surveillance” began shortly thereafter. However, contrary to laws on “residential surveillance,” Liu has been detained in a location away from his domicile.⁴²

June 11, 2009

Beijing rights defense lawyer Li Fangping (李方平) submitted a request on June 11, 2009, to Li Yizhong (李毅中) , Minister of Industry and Information Technology, to hold a hearing on the Ministry’s “Green Dam” policy requiring that all computers sold in China—either manufactured in China or imported—be equipped with filtering software as of July 1, 2009.⁴³

June 11, 2009

Rights defense lawyer Li Subin (李苏滨) filed a complaint against the Beijing Judicial Bureau and the Henan Judicial Department, alleging that the authorities violated the law by failing to carry out their duty to transfer his lawyer’s file, leaving him unable to obtain a lawyer’s license. Li originally practiced law in Henan, where he won suits against local- and provincial-level authorities who tried to keep him from practicing. Despite his victory, he has been unable to obtain his lawyer’s license since 2002. In 2005, he began working at Beijing’s Yitong Law Firm as an administrator, assisting in many rights defense cases. In October 2008, Li, along with fellow attorney Cheng Hai (程海) , were asked to leave Yitong after involvement in a campaign calling for the direct election of officials in the Beijing Lawyers Association. In March 2009, the Haidian District Judicial Bureau in Beijing suspended Yitong from practicing for six months under the pretext that the firm had allowed Li to practice without a license.⁴⁴

June 11, 2009

While Lin Xuguang (林旭光) , a handicapped petitioner from Fuzhou, Fujian, and his brother were petitioning in Beijing over the demolition of their home and commercial store by Fuzhou authorities, their two residential homes in Fuzhou were forcefully demolished by local authorities. Because of his petitioning, Lin was detained for ten days and was ordered to serve RTL for one year. Lin was also petitioning against the relocation and demolition plan and had refused to sign a compensation agreement with local authorities on his own residential house. According to witnesses, over 300 people and one hooklift truck dismantled the two homes and took away all of their belongings.⁴⁵

June 13, 2009

Over 200 petitioners gathered on a highway in Beijing near the South Railway Station and Supreme People’s Court, blocking traffic for around one hour. Some petitioners held up their petitions on the highway. Around 70 police office and security workers tried to remove the petitioners from the road and were unable to detain them. The next day, security on the road had increased, with officers’ cars and a helicopter watching the area.⁴⁶

June 13–14, 2009

Thousands of taxi drivers in Xining, Qinghai, went on strike for one day, demanding assurances that they would be able to renew their business licenses. Hundreds of drivers followed the strike with a sit-in protest outside the municipal government headquarters the next day. In the week prior, local media had reported that Qinghai provincial authorities would shorten the business license efficacy period from 12 years to eight, leaving many drivers to wonder who would have the rights to operate their taxis—themselves or the companies they worked for. Protesters dispersed after government officials promised a response.⁴⁷ On June 26, the Xining police announced that they had arrested 11 drivers whom they believed had “formed a plan, instigated a disturbance, incited petitioning, and spitefully acted” in organizing the strike and protest.⁴⁸

June 14, 2009

Gao Zhiyi (高智义) , the elder brother of prominent rights defense lawyer Gao Zhisheng (高智晟) , visited Gao’s home in Beijing but was prohibited to enter by the Beijing police. When Gao Zhiyi asked to see his brother at the local police substation, the officers replied that he would have to report to a higher authority. He was also told that he would need the signature of either Gao Zhisheng or Gao’s wife, Geng He, in order to enter their home. Gao, voted in 2001 as one of “China’s top-ten lawyers,” has been missing since he was forcibly taken from his hometown, Xiaoshibanqiao Village, Shenquan Township, Jiaxian County, Shaanxi, by more than ten state security policemen.⁴⁹

June 16, 2009

Environmental activist Sun Xiaodi (孙小弟) and his daughter, Sun Haiyan (孙海燕) (also known as Sun Dunbai [孙敦白]), were detained on suspicion of“providing state secrets overseas.” Sun, who was a worker at No. 792 UraniumMine in Gansu, reported on nuclear contamination and other consequencesbrought about by the mine in order to protect the environment anddefend the rights of mine workers. In 2006, he was honored as a recipient ofthe Nuclear-Free Future Award. Since then, he has been increasingly harassedby authorities.⁵⁰

June 17, 2009

Prominent Shanghai-based rights defense lawyer Zheng Enchong (郑恩宠) was stripped and beaten while detained for nine hours after being summoned by Shanghai police. During the interrogation, officers slapped Zheng’s face repeatedly, hit the back of his head, and tried to burn his lips and eyelids with cigarettes.⁵¹

June 18, 2009

Chongqing rights defender and Charter 08 signatory Chen Yang (陈杨) was told that he had been sentenced to one year of RTL. On June 3, Chen was detained by officers from the Xiejiawan substation of the Chongqing public security bureau. He had planned to wear white on June 4 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the June Fourth crackdown.⁵²

June 19, 2009

Shenzhen dissident Li Tie’s (李铁) case against the Futian District police in Shenzhen was heard in the Futian District Court. Li brought an administrative suit against the police after he had been detained for 15 days on charges of “disturbing public order,” based on the fact that he organized distribution of National Reform Suggestions to bystanders on November 20 at a Futian District street. On December 31, 2008, when he was in Shanghai seeking public opinion on the National Reform Suggestions, he was taken back to Shenzhen and put into detention. In November and December 2008, Li Tie went along the coast cities to seek public opinions on the National Reform Suggestions. No verdict in the court action has been reported.⁵³

June 19, 2009

Guangxi petitioner Huang Liuhong (黄柳红) was tried, having been detained in September 2008 during the Paralympics in Beijing, where she had planned to protest against judicial corruption. She was detained by petitioner retrievers from Guangxi with her then-four-month-old son, her elderly mother, and her two sisters. According to an interview given to The New York Times, while she was being returned to her hometown, the retrievers stripped her and her sister naked in order to prevent them from escaping. Huang was then secretly detained along with her son for over 300 days in a guesthouse under “residential surveillance” before being tried and sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year suspension. Her two elder sisters also received the same sentence after similarly being detained for over 300 days. She was released after the decision was announced on July 17, 2009.⁵⁴

June 23, 2009

The Beijing procuratorate approved the formal arrest of independent intellectual and Independent Chinese PEN Center president Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.” Liu had been detained since he was subpoenaed by the Beijing police on December 8, 2008, in connection with his signing of Charter 08. In a Xinhua News Agency article released on June 24, the Beijing Public Security Bureau claimed that Liu had incited the subversion of state power and the overturn of the socialist system through the fabrication of rumors and slander. They also stated that Liu has “fully confessed.”⁵⁵ In response, Ding Zilin (丁子霖) and Jiang Peikun (蒋培坤) of the Tiananmen Mothers issued a statement condemning the arrest and demanding attention from the international community.⁵⁶

June 25–July 16, 2009

At least six netizens, including Fan Yanqiong (范燕琼), Chen Huanhui (陈焕辉) and his wife, Wu Huaying (吴华英), You Jingyou (游精佑) and Peter Guo Baofeng (郭宝锋), were criminally detained on suspicion of libel by Fuzhou police in association with disseminating information related to the case of Yan Xiaoling(严晓玲), a 25-year-old woman who had been gang raped and left to die. Some believe that the rape was connected to local police. One of the netizens, Guo, notified the public of his detention through posts on Twitter. Lawyers for the netizens were initially denied visits on grounds of “state secrets.”⁵⁷

June 26, 2009

For the first time since he was detained on December 8, 2008, independent intellectual Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) was permitted to meet with his lawyers, ShangBaojun (尚宝军) and Ding Xikui (丁锡奎) at Beijing No. 1 Detention Center, where Liu is detained. However, Liu’s chosen lawyer Mo Shaoping (莫少平) was prevented from meeting him because Mo’s name was in Liu’s case files. The meeting lasted for just over 30 minutes.⁵⁸

June 29, 2009

Shanxi petitioner Ren Jiancai (任建才) and another petitioner Xue Jianhui (薛建辉) learned that they both were sentenced for one-year-and-a-half of RTLfor their involvement with a demonstration atop a building near the head petitioningoffice, the State Bureau of Letters and Calls, on May 11, 2009. Thepetitioners unfurled banners, dispersed leaflets, and shouted slogans. Theywere detained on May 12 by Beijing Public Security and sent back to Shanxi.⁵⁹

June 29, 2009

Changchun, Jilin petitioner Yang Yimei (杨一美) learned that she was sentenced to 15 days detention after being “retrieved” from Beijing back to Changchun on June 26. Yang had travelled to Beijing to apply to demonstrate and was rejected.⁶⁰

July 1, 2009

Police refused Liu Xiaobo’s request to be released on bail.⁶¹

July 4, 2009

Dalian-based rights defense lawyer Wang Yonghang (王永航) was secretly detained. Officers searched Wang’s home and detained him and his wife without providing any documentation; his wife was released the next day. Wang’s lawyers were not allowed to meet with him. Wang has represented clients in several Falun Gong-related cases.⁶²

July 7, 2009

Beijing-based Uyghur activist Ilham Tohti lost contact with outside sources and was presumed detained. Police were seen surrounding the Beijing-based professor and writer’s apartment. In addition, his website, Uyghur Online, went silent after Tohti predicted that police were watching him. The site had been a popular forum for Uyghur-related issues before becoming blocked following the July 5 riots in XUAR and subsequent allegations by XUAR Chairman Nur Bekri that the website had helped instigate the riots. Tohti was later set free without explanation on August 23, 2009 and he later disclosed that he was put under house arrest, first in a hotel and then in his home.⁶³

July 7, 2009

Rights activist and Pan-Blue Alliance member Zhang Qi (张起) was sentenced to four years in prison and two years of deprivation of political rights on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.” Zhang was detained in May 2009 after posting articles online about the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Zhang’s family, who were not permitted to attend his trial, plan to appeal the ruling.⁶⁴

July 9, 2009

He Hongchun (何洪春) , the great uncle of a three-year-old child who perished when her kindergarten collapsed in the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake, was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year suspension on charges of organizing to disrupt social order; he was released following the ruling. He was amongst the family members of the deceased children who negotiated with and protested against the Beichuan branch of China Life Insurance Company for giving substantially lower insurance payments than those to families in other areas. He’s family denied that he was an organizer of the protests and stated their intent to appeal the sentence.⁶⁵

July 14, 2009

The Beijing-based public interest organization Open Constitution Initiative (OCI), also known by its Chinese name, Gongmeng (公盟) , received notices from the State Administration of Taxation and the Beijing taxation bureau ordering it to pay 1.42 million yuan (US$208,000) for tax violations and fines. OCI, which registered as a for-profit company rather than a civil society organization due to the restrictive requirements under relevant regulations, had recently been advising family members of victims of the tainted milk powder scandal to file suits against those responsible.⁶⁶

July 16, 2009

Environmental activist Sun Xiaodi was ordered to serve two years of RTL by Gansu authorities; his daughter Sun Dunbai was ordered to serve one-and-a-half years of RTL.⁶⁷

July 17, 2009

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs shut down the Law Research Center of Open Constitution Initiative. The Bureau of Civil Affairs stated that the research center was shut down because it did not register with the government. In addition to delivering the shutdown notice, it confiscated computers and other office machines, as well as files and documents.⁶⁸

July 17, 2009

Yan Zhengxue (严正学), a Zhejiang-based artist, was released three months before his scheduled release due to ill health. He suffers from several ailments, including severe hypertension. During his time in prison, Yan once attempted suicide in protest. Yan was detained and his Taizhou home searched on October 18, 2006; he was formally arrested on November 15, 2006. In 2007, he was sentenced to three years on charges of subversion of state power.⁶⁹

July 22, 2009

Xie Fulin (谢福林) and his brother, both members of the Pan-Blue Alliance, were criminally detained by Changsha police on charges of “stealing electricity.” Family members believe that Xie, a local activist and frequent petitioner, was detained to restrict his activities during the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.⁷⁰

July 26, 2009

Tashi Rabten, a Tibetan writer and university student from Ngawa (in Chinese, Aba [阿坝]) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, disappeared after his university went on break for the summer holiday. Tashi Rabten, who writes under the pen name Te’urang, is the editor of a banned literary magazine, Eastern Snow Mountain, on the 2008 Tibetan protests. He reportedly had been under surveillance prior to his disappearance.⁷¹

July 29, 2009

Prominent Beijing-based rights defender Xu Zhiyong (许志永), director of the public interest organization Open Constitution Initiative, was detained by Beijing police officers without explanation. On August 18, 2009, he was officially arrested on charges of tax evasion. Xu was later released on bail on August 23, 2009, again without explanation. When Xu was released, he was told by the police that his colleague, Zhuang Lu (庄璐), who was detained on the same day as Xu, was released on August 22 under bail, but nobody received news of her release until August 25, when she telephoned her mother. Zhang is not reachable by outsiders.⁷²

July 29, 2009

The Beijing Yirenping Center (北京益仁平中心), specializing in public health education and advocacy, was raided by Beijing police officers and authorities on the Ministry of Culture’s suspicions of publishing without the proper permits. Authorities collected 90 copies of the Center’s newsletter and demanded that Lu Jun(陆军), the Center’s director and a prominent Hepatitis B activist, appear for questioning on August 4, 2009. The Center was founded in 2006.⁷³

July 31, 2009

Three netizens, including Fan Yanqiong, Wu Huaying, and You Jingyou, were officially arrested on suspicion of “fabricating stories to frame others,” while at the end of July netizens Yang Xueying (杨雪英) , Chen Huanhui (陈焕辉), Lin Aide (林爱德), and Peter Guo Baofeng were released on bail, after they were detained by Fuzhou police in connection with their disseminationof information related to the case of Yan Xiaoling, a young womanwho was gang raped and left to die. The rape is believed by some to be connectedwith local police.⁷⁴

Late July 2009

The family of democracy activist and poet Luo Yongquan (罗勇泉) was orally informed by a state security officer that Luo had been ordered to serve two years of RTL for publishing poems attacking the government and the Party. Luo, who is also a signer of Charter 08, went missing in May 2009, when he was detained by state security officers from Shaoguan, Guangdong. Luo had previously been ordered to serve three years of RTL on “anti-Party and anti-socialism” charges in 2001 for his participation in the leading committee of the China Democracy Party in 1998.⁷⁵

August 5, 2009

Sichuan rights activist Huang Qi (黄琦) was tried in a closed hearing on charges of “illegal possession of state secrets.” No verdict was issued. Two days before the trial, Pu Fei (浦飞), who was to appear in court to testify in support of Huang, was abducted in Chengdu by four police officers and taken to Nantong, Jiangsu. Pu is a volunteer for Tianwang Human Rights Center, a group founded and run by Huang. Huang, whose lawyers entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf, was abducted along with Pu by unidentified people on June 10, 2008, and formally arrested on July 18, 2008. At the time of his abduction, Huang was in the Sichuan earthquake zone researching and publishing news about the plight of parents who had lost children in the disaster.⁷⁶

August 5, 2009

The Beijing government for the first time commented on the fining of Open Constitution Initiative and the detention of its co-founder Xu Zhiyong. In anews conference, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs spokesman Guo Xusheng (郭旭升) said that he “did not know the cause” of Xu Zhiyong’s detention,but stated that OCI did not meet the requirements for registration as a nonprofitorganization and therefore was an “illegal organization.”⁷⁷

August 6, 2009

In Guiyang, Guizhou, local activists came under increasing pressure from localauthorities. Activist and dissident Chen Xi (陈西) was summoned by local statesecurity officers in the early morning and questioned for nine hours concerningan administrative suit filed by Chen and nine other Guiyang activists against theGuiyang police after the police had threatened them, followed them, and placedthem under surveillance around the time of the 20th anniversary of June Fourth.Around the same time, another Guiyang activist and writer, Wu Yuqin (吴玉琴), was told by officers from her local substation to not travel outside of Guizhouduring the national holiday, and that she would be under 24-hour surveillancebeginning September 20, 2009.⁷⁸

August 6, 2009

At least eight Chinese journalists who were investigating casualties due to metal leaks at the Changsha Xianghe Chemical Plant in Shuangqiao Village, Zhentou Township, Liuyang, Hunan, were detained by authorities. Villagers, who had protested against the factory the week before and who were barred twice from protesting thereafter, had been warned by authorities to not speak to journalists. According to a government investigation, the factory, which processed indium and cadmium, had been leaking hazardous chemicals since 2004.⁷⁹

August 7, 2009

Nanjing, Jiangsu-based activist Guo Quan (郭泉) was tried on charges of “subversion of state power.” He pled not guilty. Guo is the founder of the China New Democracy Party; he lost his job as an associate professor at Nanjing Normal University after founding the party. One day before the trial, Guo’s lawyer, GuoLianhui (郭莲辉) , was subpoenaed by approximately nine police officers and taken to a local police substation; Guo Lianhui was released shortly thereafter and told that it was a mistake.⁸⁰

August 7, 2009

Prominent rights defense lawyer Li Xiongbing (黎雄兵) , serving as counsel in Open Constitution Initiative’s tax case, went to the Beijing local tax authority to get the paperwork necessary to pay OCI’s fines; Li was told that he needed a letter of authorization from OCI in order to pay the fine. On August 10, 2009, Li and Wang Gongquan (王功权) , a researcher at OCI, went to the local tax authority with a letter of authorization and again requested the paperwork to pay the fine, but again they were refused. They were told that they could not get the paperwork to pay the fine because the letter of authorization did not have the signature of OCI’s legal representative, Xu Zhiyong. This effectively made the fine unpayable, as Xu was in detention and therefore unable to sign his name.⁸¹

August 10, 2009

Dalian-based rights defense lawyer Wang Yonghang (王永航) was formally arrested on charges of “using a heretical organization to undermine implementation of the law.” Wang, who has represented several Falun Gong-related cases, was secretly detained on July 4, 2009.⁸²

August 11, 2009

Zhang Hui (张辉) , a Beijing-based rights activist and co-founder of the public interest group De Xiansheng Research Center (德先生研究所) , was notified that the website for De Xiansheng would be permanently shut down by the host, Shanghai Yingke Digital Business Co, Ltd. The host informed Zhang that the site was being closed because it “had too much false information and too many political topics.” De Xiansheng Research Center was established in 2008 by Zhang Hui and other activists; its primary goals are to research constitutional aid, promote the development of civil society, and offer legal aid.⁸³

August 12, 2009

Sichuan-based writer and environmentalist Tan Zuoren (谭作人) was tried in the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court on charges of “subversion of state power.” The verdict has yet to be announced. Before Tan’s trial, eleven supporters were detained—and two, including prominent artist and activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) , beaten—by police to prevent them from attending. Others including Tan’s relatives were barred from the trial; only his wife, elder daughter, and government officials were permitted to attend. Tan Zuoren was detained in March 2009; he was investigating the students who were victims of the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the sub-standard construction of the collapsed schools. In February 2009, he wrote a proposal, “5.12 Student Archive,” which called on volunteers to travel to Sichuan to document the cases.⁸⁴

August 12, 2009

Beijing-based rights activist and petitioner Zhou Li (周莉) was criminally detained for “organizing and inciting the masses.”⁸⁵

August 13, 2009

Two Beijing-based non-profit organizations were investigated by representatives from the Municipal Industry and Commerce Bureau. Three officials from the Haidian District Industry and Commerce Bureau visited the office of the BeijingYirenping Center, a public health organization for Hepatitis B patients, asking to see their registration papers and inquiring about the organization’s financial affairs and its everyday activities. They also took pictures of the office. BeijingAizhixing Institute (北京爱知行研究所) , a public health organization for HIV/AIDS research and support, underwent a similar inspection by local officials. According to Aizhixing’s director, Wan Yanhai (万延海) , the inspection was similar to those that took place before the Olympics in 2008.⁸⁶

August 14, 2009

Prominent Beijing-based rights defense lawyer Li Xiongbing was forced by police to leave Beijing and return to his hometown in Hubei Province; he returned to Beijing on August 17. Li had been repeatedly warned by the police about his involvement with Open Constitution Initiative; he was told to “sever” himself from the group by August 18.⁸⁷

August 15, 2009

Liu Shihui (刘士辉) , a rights defense lawyer currently serving as counsel to imprisoned legal activist Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄) (a.k.a. Yang Maodong [杨茂东]), was notified by his firm that he had to be let go because of pressure from the authorities. Officials from the Guangzhou Bureau of Justice spoke with a partner from Liu’s law firm, demanding that they “drop” Liu because Liu had provided a letter of introduction with the name of a different attorney on it when he went to Meizhou Prison to meet with Guo on July 7, 2009.⁸⁸

August 17, 2009

The public interest group Open Constitution Initiative was officially shut down by the Haidian District Industry and Commerce Bureau in Beijing. Officials from the bureau informed OCI co-founder Xu Zhiyong, then detained at Beijing No. 1 Detention Center, that it had been shut down because it had provided “false data” when it registered as a company and because its public interest activities were inconsistent with its commercial enterprise designation.⁸⁹

August 24, 2009

Hunan activists and brothers Xie Fulin (谢福林) and Xie Shulin (谢树林) were formally arrested on charges of “stealing electricity.” Due to their poor health, their lawyers planned to apply to have them released on bail.⁹⁰