(March 31, 2011) Thousands of Chinese residents displaced by the Xiangjiaba hydrodam protest China’s resettlement policies.
Thousands of Chinese citizens protest forced resettlement by hydro dam, clash with police
Chinese geologist Fan Xiao’s open letter urging Chinese officials not to destroy rare fish reserve (translated by Probe International)
(March 25, 2011) Chinese geologist and environmentalist Fan Xiao has sent a letter to high ranking Chinese officials, urging them not to destroy the rare fish conservation zone they’ve created on the Yangtze. Plans are in the works to build the Xiaonanhai dam within the conservation zone, which would be the second time the Government redrew the zone to accommodate dams. Building the dam would violate the government’s own environmental protection rules, and would put over 100 rare species of fish at risk. He calls for public hearings and an administrative review, in hopes of convincing officials to abandon the plan.
Prominent Chinese activist and wife beaten
(February 11, 2011) According to CNN, blind Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng and his wife have been beaten and placed under house arrest. Chen had only recently completed a four year prison sentence for publicly criticizing government policies. Chen has been a prominent human rights activist since 1998, when he organized protests against water pollution from a local factory in Yinan County.
Hernando de Soto: Egypt’s economic apartheid
(February 9, 2011) Renowned Peruvian economist and international development scholar Hernando de Soto wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal about how the lack of property rights in Egypt has led to widespread economic marginalization, fueling the current uprising.
Guizhou Detains Activists
(December 7, 2010) Chinese authorities hold a group of activists who planned to host a conference on human rights.
“China’s green laws are useless”
(September 23, 2010) In a speech in August, Peking University professor and expert in environmental law, Wang Jin, argued that legislation in China is failing to tackle pollution. This is a summary of his remarks.
Damming dissent: China jails journalist for Sanmenxia dam corruption exposé
(September 14, 2010) The Chinese government continues to muzzle anyone who exposes abuses in relocation programs, writes Brady Yauch.
Jailed China earthquake activist’s appeal declined
(June 9, 2010) Amnesty International has condemned Wednesday’s court decision to uphold a five year sentence imposed on a Chinese activist who tried to publicize the number of children who died during the Sichuan earthquake and the corruption that led to their deaths.
Liberty endures in two-system China
(June 7, 2010) While China still often treats dissent with a mailed fist, the lesson of Hong Kong over the last 13 years is that Beijing is also capable of using the velvet glove, writes Gideon Rachman in The Financial Times.
Trampled under the foot of development: Chinese citizens fight for fair compensation
(June 4, 2010) Chinese citizens being forcefully evicted from their homes are continuing their fight to receive fair compensation from developers and local officials. A month after homeowners were pushed from their homes to make way for the Pubugou dam reservoir in China’s Sichuan province, 700 homeowners in Beijing’s Laogucheng neighbourhood are refusing to leave—even as they face assaults by window-smashing thugs—until they receive fair compensation from a powerful developer.
Liu Xiaobo’ conviction killed the constitution, Bao Tong says
(February 16, 2010) It is a great pity that the government seems not to want progress; that it seems to have given up trying. The Chinese Constitution and the rights of its citizens have been recklessly trampled by the one-party system. There is no end to the number of cases of injustice, or miscarriages of justice that this system churns out. The case of Liu Xiaobo is just the latest warning sign.
Rule of law meets the Three Gorges dam
(January 27, 2010) Ren XingHui, a Beijing resident, has made headlines in the Chinese Internet press by using the country’s new disclosure law to request information about government funding of the Three Gorges dam.
Vaclav Havel and other Czech dissidents stand up for Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo
(January 9, 2010) Editor’s note: When a group led by former Czech president Vaclev Havel went to the Chinese Embassy in Prague this week to deliver an open letter in support of the recently sentenced human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, officials would not open the door. The Post reprints the letter below.
The Language of Human Rights
(January 19, 2010) The very grammar of justice has fallen into the wrong hands, writes Robert Amsterdam in the Wall Street Journal.
China auditor finds US$34 billion misused funds
(December 30, 2009) China’s auditor has found that 234.7 billion yuan (US$34.37bil) in public funds was misused in the first 11 months of 2009, with much of that tied to China’s massive stimulus package, the Caijing magazine said on Monday.
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