Hamish McDonald

China's 16th Party Congress has drawn a number of petitions and open letters from Chinese dissidents calling for political reform and greater openness. At the same time, Chinese authorities have begun arresting some vocal dissidents in order to maintain a “peaceful and stable” atmosphere for the...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT WITH EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (PDF 1.03 MB) FREE Adobe Acrobat Software to read PDF files FOR RELEASE ON NOVEMBER 6, 2002 For further information, contact:

BEIJING - China's Communist Party chieftains faced calls for political reform and greater transparency from dissidents and top academics on Wednesday in the final countdown to a watershed congress this week. Nearly 200 Chinese political activists signed an open letter urging the party to reverse...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Human Rights in China (HRIC) has received a copy of an open letter to the 16th Party Congress signed by 192 opposition activists from 17 provinces and cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. In the largest nationwide political action in recent years, the signatories make six...

In its efforts to further muffle opposition voices prior to the 16th Party Congress, Chinese authorities have initiated a new round of arrests, with at least two dissidents, Fang Jue and Xu Wanping , reportedly detained. Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned from a reliable source that Fang Jue...

BEIJING - Human rights groups urged President Bush Tuesday to press Chinese President Jiang Zemin to free political prisoners and curb abuses against a Muslim ethnic group when the leaders meet in Texas this week. A group of followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, banned in China since 1999...

One major issue for anyone using the Internet in states which tightly control and police online access is not getting caught surfing forbidden sites or downloading denied data. Some American hackers have released a program that allows surfers to hide their tracks. Ian Hardy filed this report on the...

Human Rights in China (HRIC) welcomes the release of public health and AIDS activist Dr. Wan Yanhai . This release following a relatively short period of detention is a victory for the international AIDS activist and human rights communities, Dr. Wan’s friends, family, colleagues, and supporters...

For more information, CONTACT SharonAnn Lynch: 646-645-5225 Laurie Wen 917-443-4121 Kate Krauss 215-731-1844 China's #1 AIDS Activist Detained While China Seeks $90 Million from the UN for AIDS

Verne Kopytoff

One of China's most prominent AIDS activists Wan Yanhai has been arrested for allegedly revealing state secrets, his wife said as a series of human rights groups called for his immediate release. Wan, who founded and ran the AIDS Action Project, a private group pushing for the rights of China's...

By Carrie Kirby Internet protesters suggest government is cutting off access China's 46 million Internet users are unable to access popular search engine Google, and most believe that the Chinese government is blocking the site as part of a crackdown on the Internet in preparation for a politically...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 6 - August 18, 2002 FALUNGONG

For Immediate Release

July 8-22, 2002 INTERNET

HUMAN RIGHTS STRATEGY REPORT In April 2001, HRIC convened a two-day consultation to explore more effective human rights strategies for China. Building upon discussions with participants, including former government officials, scholars, activists, business people and journalists, in November 2001...

Inside and outside China, much has been said and written about the impact of WTO entry on the lives of the country’s people. In this essay, Pitman B. Potter raises some questions about its potential to transform China’s legal system.

Two new books in English about Chinese workers make important contributions to the growing body of information on the Chinese working class, past and present. Tim Pringle points to some lessons for effective strategies to support China’s labor movement that arise from his reading of these books...

Mainland Report section July 1999 Special Anti-Corruption Edition FORMER DAQING MAYOR QIAN DIHUA ARRESTED Richest man in the area kept 29 mistresses By Wen Qingtian [Jiang Weiping’s pen name]

Massive violations exposed The prisoners of Hunan Red Mountain Prison speak bitterness

Gong Liwen , mother of Li Hai, a human rights activist jailed in 1995 for making public a list of individuals sentenced to prison terms for their participation in the 1989 demonstrations, wrote a letter of appeal to US President George Bush on September 23, 2001, asking him to help get Li Hai out...

Punished for providing a public service

HRIC is frequently asked, “What can I do to make a difference?” This page gives suggestions on what you can do in specific areas of concern. URGENT MEDICAL CONCERN

Ma Wenlin was sentenced to a five-year prison term in November 1999 for “disrupting social order” and “illegally detaining” a county official. Ma, a lawyer from Shaanxi Province, represented 5,000 farmers in a lawsuit against unfair taxes and contributed to efforts petitioning leaders in Beijing to...

New York At the invitation of Human Rights in China, Li Xiaoming, a former PLA officer who had taken part in the suppression of the student movement of June Fourth, 1989, will come to New York to participate in June 4 commemorative activities. Li Xiaoming will arrive at JFK Terminal 8 on American...

April 29 - May 12, 2002 MINING ACCIDENTS On May 4, state media reported 34 people were killed and two others feared dead following two deadly explosions on the same day in southwestern and central China. 23 people were killed in a gas explosion at an illegal mine in Weining County, Guizhou Province...

April 15-28, 2002

In an open letter released today, 114 relatives of June 4th Massacre victims are demanding that Li Peng, widely believed to have ordered the massacre, be held legally accountable, and that the official verdict on June 4th be overturned. The letter is addressed to the National Peoples Congress (NPC...

On January 24, 2002, Wang Daqi, 70, professor of construction at Hefei Industrial University, and editor of Ecology magazine, was secretly detained by Chinese authorities. Approximately seven officers from the State Security Bureau confiscated Wang's journal, name cards, telephone book, and other...

A memorial service for Wang Ruowang (the most senior and first Chinese dissident to die in exile) will be held December 29th, noon-2pm at Central Funeral Home, 136-25 41st Ave., Flushing NY . This will be the largest gathering of Chinese dissidents and activists in exile post-Tiananmen Square, 1989...

As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson visits China on November 8-9 for the final workshop in a year-long program of technical cooperation with the Chinese government, Human Rights in China (HRIC) points out that the government has done little to give practical meaning to...

For Immediate Release

Li Wangyang, veteran labor rights activist from Hunan Province, was sentenced to ten years in prison for "incitement to subvert state power" in the People's Intermediate Court of Shaoyang on September 20. Li was charged with the crime after his case attracted international media attention and he...

Veteran democracy activists Mu Chuanheng and Yan Peng from Qingdao, Shandong Province, were both formally charged with incitement to subvert state power on August 28th.