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Update on Gao Zhisheng’s Condition Since Release

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China Change translates a series of tweets by Geng He, wife of rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, providing an update on her husband’s situation following his release from a three-year prison term last month.

“Every day police from the Public Security Bureau pay two visits to GaoZhisheng, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, each lasting two to three hours. They kept asking what he does at home. Gao Zhisheng said, read and rest. They demanded to know what he was reading. He said, books available in bookstores.”

“Everyone in my family is tired of this, and is afraid of leaving Gao home by himself (they worry these public security personnel might do something harmful to Gao again). GaoZhisheng said to them, since you spend all day visiting me, making it impossible for me to rest and causing inconvenience to my family in their routine such as going to work and going out to shop for groceries. You may as well put me back to prison.” [Source]

The tweets also contain details on the poor state of Gao’s teeth, which Geng has cited as evidence of mistreatment in prison. (See cartoonist Badiucao’s take on Gao’s teeth.) The damage is reportedly too severe for Gao to receive treatment in Urumqi, but he is unable to go elsewhere due to travel restrictions during his year-long post-prison deprivation of political rights.

Read more on Gao’s case via CDT.


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Gao Zhisheng: Out of Prison, but Not Free

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At The Washington Post, rights lawyer Teng Biao discusses the case of his friend and colleague Gao Zhisheng, who was released from prison last month.

We are happy to see Gao come out of jail alive. But he is not yet free. He is now recuperating at the home of his in-laws in Urumqi. In the first days after his release, he could barely speak, but he appears to be regaining his ability to communicate. His wife reported that about half of his teeth either fell out in prison or are very loose, but Urumqi doesn’t have the dental equipment needed to treat him properly, and the authorities are barring him from traveling elsewhere to seek care. The rest of his physical condition is equally worrisome.

[…] Gao has never broken any law, and his persecution is a stark reminder that China has no rule of law. He now is serving a supplemental sentence of one year of “deprivation of political rights.” Ludicrous as this is (it’s not as though other Chinese have political rights, either), travel, seeing a doctor, reuniting with your family and catching up with friends are not “political” rights under Chinese law. Still, Gao seems to be able to do none of these. […] [Source]

Teng concludes with a plea to China’s leaders to “give back Gao Zhisheng’s freedom to seek treatment and allow him to reunite with his family.” Gao’s wife Geng He, who has posted details of his current situation on Twitter, will also make a public appeal on Tuesday for him to be allowed to join her and their children in California. The family left China in 2010 to escape the pressure frequently applied by Chinese authorities to activists’ relatives and friends. Teng Biao’s family has also been targeted, according to a recent profile at South China Morning Post (via CDT).


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Trial of Human Rights Activist Guo Feixiong to Begin

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Dissident writer and human rights legal activist Yang Maodong, better known by his pen name Guo Feixiong, was detained in August of 2013, formally arrested two months later for “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place,” and finally allowed access to legal representation in November of 2013. The New York Times reports that the activist’s trial is expected to begin on Friday in Guangzhou, and that his lawyers and family members are expecting conviction and imprisonment:

Mr. Yang, who is better known by his pen name, Guo Feixiong, will be the latest prominent rights advocate to go on trial for his part in small but attention-getting protests that rippled across China starting two years ago, when Xi Jinping assumed leadership of the Communist Party. One of Mr. Yang’s lawyers, Zhang Xuezhong, said a court official in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, had notified him that Mr. Yang and another defendant, Sun Desheng, would be tried on Friday.

“We’ll be defending him as innocent,” Mr. Zhang, a lawyer in Shanghai who lost his job as a university lecturer after his outspoken advocacy of free speech, said by telephone.

“This doesn’t amount to a crime, but taking into account the current political situation, I can only say that I’m not at all optimistic about the outcome,” Mr. Zhang said. “But as his defense, we’ll do our best to demonstrate his innocence.”

[…] A writer and businessman, Mr. Yang was previously convicted and imprisoned in 2007 on a charge of illegal business activities related to his publishing work, an accusation that he and his supporters called a pretext to stifle his activism. He was released in 2011. This time, he and Mr. Sun each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, said Mr. Zhang, the lawyer. [Source]

The charges against Yang Maodong and Sun Deshang stem from their involvement in organizing support for Southern Weekly staff members who protested against censorship at the paper in early 2013. The upcoming trial will be the latest in the Xi administration’s ongoing drive to stifle China’s nascent civil society.


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Chinese Activist’s Attorneys Plan No Show in Court

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With the trial of human rights activist Yang Maodong, better known by the pen name Guo Feixiong, set to begin today in Guangzhou, the AP reports that his lawyers are planning not to attend the proceedings:

A scheduled trial for a Chinese human rights activist Yang Maodong may not proceed on Friday after his lawyers said they would not attend the court proceedings because authorities did not let them copy court files crucial to the case.

Lawyer Chen Guangwu said Thursday that he and colleague Zhang Xuezhong are not prepared to mount an effective defense for Yang. The district court in the southern city of Guangzhou has banned them from copying docket files including videos and photos related to Yang’s arrest on suspicion of assembling crowds to disrupt public order, Chen said.

“If we cannot review the files properly, how can we be prepared for the trial?” Chen said, adding Yang had requested in writing that his lawyers not show up for the trial. “It’s a severe mistake for the court to not allow us to duplicate files,” he said.

The court did not provide a reason for the ban, Chen said. Calls to the court were not answered Thursday. [Source]

Guo’s trial comes as the Xi administration continues its hardline approach to civil society and human rights activists. Early this year, several New Citizens Movement activists, including the movement’s founder Xu Zhiyong, were given prison sentences for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order”; their court proceedings drew criticism to Beijing for breaking a pledge to uphold the rule of law. At the New York Times, journalist Xiao Shu warns that Beijing’s continued efforts to limit China’s civil society will only further alienate the authorities from the people:

On Friday my friend [Guo Feixiong] will face trial and likely be sentenced to prison in Guangzhou, a city in southern China. He has broken no laws. In fact, he is going to go to jail for saying publicly what many Chinese leaders have said publicly themselves. Yet the state will almost certainly deem him guilty of “gathering crowds to disturb public order.” This prosecution carries dark significance for all of China.

[…] The power of civil society in China is growing. The public’s rights consciousness is awakening. Yet our civil society is still extremely weak compared with the world’s strongest ruling state.

The Chinese authorities’ overconfidence in hard power and underconfidence in soft power has rendered them incapable of assessing the situation objectively. So officials are fearful and treat the slowly growing rights movement as a mortal enemy. They probably don’t realize that this extreme policy has antagonized people on all sides, stimulating powerful counterforces.

If the government gives no space to the people, it cannot expect the people to give it space in return. If the government gives no retreat route to civil society, it cannot expect civil society to offer a retreat route in return. The government’s imagined “hostile forces” and “color revolution” will turn into self-fulfilling prophecies. If the authorities don’t change direction, they will eventually reap what they sow. [Source]

Last year, Xiao Shu—also a member of the New Citizens’ Movement—was detained for vocalizing support of Xu Zhiyong.


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Court Delays Trial After No-Show by Lawyers

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AP reports that the trial of prominent human rights activist Yang Maodong, also known by the pen name Guo Feixiong, was postponed after his lawyers boycotted the proceedings in retaliation for the court’s refusal to provide them with copies of the prosecution’s evidence. From The Washington Post:

A Chinese court on Friday postponed the trial of a human rights activist, Yang Maodong, after his lawyers boycotted the session to protest a denial of their right to copy court files.

Lawyer Lin Qilei quoted family members of fellow defendant Sun Desheng as saying both Yang and Sun told the court that they would remain silent without their lawyers, and the court then decided to reschedule the trial.

[…] On Thursday, his lawyers Chen Guangwu and Zhang Xuezhong said they would not attend the court proceedings because they could not mount an effective defense after authorities did not let them copy court files crucial to the case, including videos and photos related to Yang’s alleged offenses.

[…] Through a statement released by his lawyers late Thursday, Yang said the court had unlawfully deprived him and his legal team of a proper defense. He vowed to remain silent if the trial went ahead. [Source]

Yang, who was detained in August 2013 for his participation in protests outside the headquarters of the liberal and outspoken Southern Weekly newspaper, has a long history of social and political activism. AFP reports:

He is well known for helping residents of a southern Chinese village organise themselves in 2006 against a local Communist Party boss who they accused of illegally selling their land to enrich himself.

Guo was later sentenced to five years in prison for “running an illegal business”, charges his supporters dismissed as trumped up and politically motivated.

After his release in 2011, he called for officials to disclose their assets and in January 2013 helped organise protests supporting the outspoken newspaper Southern Weekend after its new year editorial was censored. He was detained again that August.

“Guo Feixiong is a man of action,” said Beijing-based dissident Hu Jia. “He’s very determined. All he’s done is exercise the rights guaranteed to him under our country’s constitution — freedom of speech, freedom of expression.” [Source]

Yang’s most recent arrest is seen as the latest move by Chinese authorities to intensify the crackdown on activists and political dissidents that has been ongoing since Xi Jinping assumed power. From Human Rights Watch:

Over the past year, the Chinese government has systematically tightened a range of already limited human rights. The government has issued new directives and regulations criminalizing free speech on the Internet and gagging Chinese journalists. The government has issued an internal warning to members of the ruling Chinese Communist Party against “seven perils,” including free press and democracy, in what is known as Document Number 9. This harder-line stance has resulted in the detentions and prosecutions of many activists, including prominent moderate activists such as the lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, the Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, and the legal scholar Xu Zhiyong.

“Xi Jinping’s government seems bent on destroying a community that is arguably one of its best and most moderate assets in addressing serious problems inside China,” Richardson said. “Guo Feixiong should be serving as an anti-corruption adviser to senior leaders – not becoming another victim of their politicized campaigns.” [Source]

Click through to read the full translation of Yang’s statement, prepared by the China Media Project.


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“China’s Rights Abuses Demand Tougher Approach”

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On Sunday, a Washington Post editorial highlighted the mistreatment of recently released rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, as well as Wang Bingzhang, Liu Xiaobo, and his wife Liu Xia, and urged the Obama administration to publicly press China for better treatment of political dissenters.

Is this the product of a rising, confident China — the “China Dream” that President Xi Jinping likes to present to the world? Mr. Gao committed no crime and never questioned Communist Party rule. He was something more dangerous: a lawyer who sought to uphold the law and the constitution that the Communist Party claims to live by. At one time a successful establishment attorney, he began to work pro bono for people he thought were getting a raw deal: practitioners in the Falun Gong spiritual community; peasants pushed off their land by developers with connections. Likely it was his very moderation that Mr. Xi and his cronies found so threatening. Mr. Gao was part of a movement that sought to reform China gradually, peacefully, through the rule of law. Its existence challenged the party’s claim to be the only alternative to chaos. Given the party’s diminishing legitimacy, due to corruption, pollution and other ills, Mr. Gao posed too much of a risk.

[…] The Obama administration says it raises individual human rights abuses in meetings with Chinese officials but keeps the conversations private. Over the past five years, this deference has proved fruitless. It is time for a new approach. Mr. Gao should be allowed to receive medical treatment and join his family in the United States. President Obama should find his voice and make clear that Mr. Gao’s fate is important to the United States. [Source]

The Wall Street Journal argued similarly last Thursday:

Susan Rice completes a three-day visit to Beijing Tuesday, with the aim to strengthen cooperation amid bilateral tension and crises in the Middle East and Europe. A sign that the U.S. National Security Adviser has made progress would be Beijing’s decision to allow human-rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng to leave China for medical treatment in the United States.

[…] While Ms. Rice has plenty on her agenda, from the summit to maritime territorial disputes and cyber espionage, issues of political freedom and human rights deserve a prominent place. One is Hong Kong’s fading freedoms. Another is Gao Zhisheng, a brave advocate whom Beijing has abused long enough. [Source]

If anything, though, U.S. policy may be moving in the opposite direction as China’s resistance to foreign pressure on rights hardens. From a New York Times report on Rice’s visit last week:

[A senior administration official] said Ms. Rice had raised human-rights cases, but declined to say if she had asked her hosts to let Gao Zhisheng, a dissident lawyer released from prison last month, join his wife in San Francisco. Discussing the cases publicly would be “counterproductive,” the official said.

The reticence was unusual, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “It’s quite extraordinary not even to mention the names of imprisoned dissidents whose names have been quietly raised,” he said. “It’s difficult to comment on whether there is something about these particular discussions that require such unusual discretion, but I’m skeptical.” [Source]


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Attorney Says Pu Zhiqiang Could Face Harsher Charges

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Human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, detained in May after attending a gathering to mark the 25th anniversary of the June 4th 1989 crackdown and formally arrested in June on suspicion of causing disturbance and illegally obtaining personal information, may be facing additional charges that could yield up to a ten year prison sentence. Reuters’ Megha Rajagopalan and Sui-lee Wee report:

Prosecutors are considering adding charges of inciting ethnic hatred and discrimination and separatism, a more serious crime, said Pu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping. He said he was less certain of the more serious separatism charge.

“That charge (of separatism) is extremely unusual,” Mo said.

Mo said the charge of inciting ethnic hatred and discrimination stem from a blog post Pu wrote about a violent attack in the southwestern city of Kunming that killed 29 people in March. China blamed the attack on Islamist militants, sometimes referred to as East Turkestan separatists, who it says seek to split the country by seeking an independent state in the country’s far west region of Xinjiang.

“You (the party) just give me one line – extremely heavy casualties with too brutal consequences – but to say you bear no responsibility for Xinjiang separatists’ cruelty, I am not satisfied with that,” Pu wrote in his March 2 microblog post.

Inciting ethnic hatred or discrimination carries a prison sentence of up to three to ten years in serious cases.

Authorities have transferred Pu’s case to prosecutors who now have to decide how to proceed. […] [Source]

As part of a broad crackdown on civil society, Beijing has been aggressively targeting human rights lawyers and activists. Several prominent international human rights groups penned a joint letter to Barack Obama ahead of his recent trip to China, urging him to publicly press China on its human rights record.

In response to a rise in violence in Xinjiang and greater China carried out by members of the Uighur ethnic minority, a “people’s war against terrorism” is being carried out in the region. Some point to increasingly oppressive policies in the region as a major source of unrest.

Read more on Pu Zhiqiang’s case, via CDT.


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Rights Lawyer Denies Inciting Hatred, Other Charges

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Rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang has denied all of the prospective charges against him, according to his own lawyer Mo Shaoping. Pu was detained ahead of this year’s 25th anniversary of the 1989 June 4th crackdown, and formally arrested for causing disturbance and illegally obtaining personal information shortly after it passed. Last month, Mo reported that Pu might face further charges arising from weibo posts criticizing China’s harsh policies in Xinjiang. From the AP’s Didi Tang:

Mo Shaoping said he obtained a police document urging prosecutors to indict Pu on charges of inciting state subversion, fanning ethnic hatred, provoking trouble, and illegally obtaining personal information.

Mo said he shared the information with Pu at Beijing’s No. 1 Detention Center and that Pu denied all of the charges.

[…] It was not immediately clear when prosecutors would indict Pu, and Mo said they were planning to give police another month to provide additional materials.

Mo said Pu has received medicine for his health conditions while in detention, but also underwent grueling interrogation. [Source]

Mo had previously complained of being barred from meeting Pu and seeing materials related to his case. From Radio Free Asia on Monday:

“They are doing this deliberately,” Mo said. “They told us we had to wait until the lead prosecutor comes back from a business trip, but then they still dragged their feet and didn’t make an appointment for me to see [Pu].”

He said it has been three weeks since Pu’s case was transferred to the procuratorate, and yet he hasn’t been allowed to review the evidence against his client.

“There is no good reason for refusing a lawyer permission to review case files,” Mo said. [Source]


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Guo Feixiong, a Civil Rights Hero

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Human rights lawyer and activist Guo Feixiong was arrested in late 2013 on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order” after participating in the Southern Weekly anti-censorship protests in January of that year. He stood trial in late November 2014—after his lawyers boycotted an earlier session to protest procedural violations—and his verdict has yet to be announced. Following Guo’s trial, veteran journalist Xiao Shu wrote an op-ed in the Chinese-language edition of the New York Times, which China Change has now translated. In the article, Xiao Shu profiles Guo as a pioneer for China’s embattled civil rights movement:

A civil rights movement has been unfolding in China. As Martin Luther King Jr. was to the American civil rights movement, essential figures have been emerging from the movement in China. Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄), who was tried on November 28 for “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place,” is one of them.

While the American Civil Rights Movement fought for the rights of millions of African Americans, the Chinese civil rights movement is fighting for the rights of all but every Chinese citizen. For in China, it is not just the powerless who do not have rights; those who are in power are not protected by the law either, once they lose out in power struggles. Almost every Chinese can identify with African Americans fighting for civil rights in the 1960s, except that he or she is in an even worse lot where there is no freedom, equality or justice.

This is precisely why Guo Feixiong has devoted himself to the rights movement. […] [Source]

Read more about central authorities’ crackdown on civil society, via CDT.


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“Little Cause For Optimism” in Shadow of Pu Zhiqiang Case

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At The Guardian, rights lawyer Teng Biao writes that “China’s civil society has little cause for optimism in 2015,” focusing on the arrest and looming prosecution of his colleague Pu Zhiqiang:

Pu has a knack for hitting the nail on the head when analysing problems, and great foresight for larger issues. He is generous in aiding friends facing difficulties. Tall, handsome, with a strong voice, he fought evil with fury and righteousness in court. In a democratic system, he would have been a charismatic leader.

[…] He attributed his ability to avoid persecution to his understanding of politics and his tact. He was so deeply moved by The Lives of Others, a film about the work of the secret police in East Germany, that he purchased many copies of the DVD and handed them out to secret police, hoping this would help them to retain a shred of their humanity. When they illegally put him under house arrest he still tried to calmly reason with them, knowing that to a certain degree these people who did evil things were also victims of the system.

[…] Despite the pressure, civil society in China is prepared to fight for its survival and growth. There will be detours, setbacks, low points and sacrifices, and more people such as Pu will pay a high price. But the motivation for this harsh crackdown is also the evidence that it will not stop China from moving towards becoming a free, democratic country. [Source]

Teng’s article includes a brief description of the breadth of sensitive cases with which Pu was involved. Pu’s own case also exemplified the current crackdown for Chang Ping, writing earlier this month at Deutsche Welle. From a translation at China Media Project:

The arrest and expedient trial of Beijing lawyer Li Zhuang shocked the legal community in China at the time. The eventual fall of Bo Xilai in one of China’s most high-profile corruption cases ever was applauded by the same legal community. What no one had predicted was that rights defense lawyers in China would fare even worse under President Xi Jinping, and that the media would likewise be put in a chokehold.

However one chooses to view it — in terms of the degree of repression involved, or in terms of the absurdity of the charges — the Pu Zhiqiang case today is far more shocking than the Li Zhuang case ever was in Bo Xilai’s Chongqing. Pu Zhiqiang, who through skillful debate, ingenuity and drama, defended the likes of Tan Zuoren (谭作人) and Ai Weiwei (艾未未), is now locked up behind bars, incriminated by his own words (因言获罪).

What we should find especially concerning is that Pu Zhiqiang’s own defense lawyer, Qu Zhenhong (屈振红) has also been detained. This being the case, it’s difficult to imagine anyone else daring to step forward to defend this defender. It took courage enough in the present climate to extend birthday wishes to Pu Zhiqiang on Weibo. [Source]

Human Rights Watch called on Friday for Pu’s release, as well as that of lawyer Guo Feixiong and scholar Guo Yushan:

There is no publicly available credible evidence of illegal behavior in any of their cases, yet all three are likely to advance in the coming weeks as judicial personnel handle these cases with instructions from Communist Party authorities.

“Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, the crackdown on dissent has netted some of China’s most respected critics known for their innovative activism developing the rule of law,” said Sophie Richardson, China director. “Prosecuting and imprisoning these well-established public figures indicates near-zero tolerance for independent activism.”

[…] All three focused on social issues recognized to be important by the government, including the rule of law, the fight against corruption, and inequality. All have carefully and painstakingly adhered to peaceful and lawful means in their activism. During a demonstration in January 2013 against the censorship of Southern Weekly, Guo Feixiong ensured the demonstrators did not block the gate of the publication, the road, or the pedestrian path, and that they left the demonstration promptly by the end of the workday.

“For years activists could mostly predict what kind of work or degree of pressure on authorities would eventually get them into trouble,” Richardson said. “But if these experienced and skillful moderates are prosecuted for their work, all bets on where the repression ends appear to be off.” [Source]

HRW went on to describe “procedural violations that are so blatant as to appear politically sanctioned,” and noted that Guo Yushan’s defense lawyer Xia Lin, like Pu’s, has also been detained. Both Xia and Qu have in turn been denied access to their own defense lawyers.

Joshua Rosenzweig recently highlighted the targeting of lawyers at ChinaFile:

[…] Chinese lawyers enter the courtroom knowing that trials in their country are not conducted on a level playing field. In many cases, they find that the prosecutor is not their only adversary and that they are also faced with judges who ignore procedures, restrict the scope of debate, or limit the amount of time available to present defense arguments.

This environment has contributed to growing tension and conflict between judges and lawyers, especially lawyers who feel a moral responsibility to challenge hypocrisy and injustice within the country’s legal system. Sometimes, these conflicts escalate into heated arguments or lead lawyers to disrupt trial proceedings by refusing to speak or leaving the courtroom in protest. Lawyers risk losing their right to practice by pursuing such tactics, but many do so anyway to signal their refusal to be part of unfair judicial processes that fail to protect individual rights.

The authorities now appear to be raising the stakes even further, with a recent proposal to amend Article 309 of the Criminal Law that would make “insulting, defaming, or threatening a judicial officer” and “engaging in other acts that seriously disrupt the order of the court” subject to up to three years’ imprisonment. Many lawyers have interpreted the proposal as an attempt to “gag” them. More than 500 to date have signed an open letter (which I have translated below) calling on the National People’s Congress Standing Committee to reject the proposed provisions. Though tiny relative to the total number of registered lawyers in China, this collection of signatures nevertheless demonstrates a strong degree of professional solidarity extending well beyond those lawyers who identify themselves as human rights lawyers and reflects a common concern for preserving the rights of lawyers in China’s legal system. [Source]

Read more on the crackdown on rights lawyers from Frances Eve at ChinaFile and at CDT, and on the precarious standing of China’s lawyers more generally from Tian Wenchang at Caixin.


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Inventing a Crime in the Case Against Pu Zhiqiang

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Rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang has been detained since May while prosecutors build a case against him on potential charges of “picking fights and causing trouble,” “inciting ethnic hatred,” “inciting separatism,” and “leaking personal information.” The case reportedly hinges on 28 Weibo posts written by Pu between 2011 and 2014 on a variety of topics. For the New York Review of Books, Perry Link looks at the Weibo posts and surmises that if Pu is handed a heavy sentence, “the effects on China’s Internet will be devastating. The casual sarcasm that has been the coin of its realm will suddenly become perilous, and self-censorship will become even more pervasive than it already is.” He writes:

In his comments on Uighurs and Tibetans, Pu tries to appreciate how ethnic minorities see things—not ideologically but as practical matters of daily life. He hears about a new regulation ordering that Buddhist temples in Tibet hang portraits of the top Chinese leaders—all Han—and that the stated reason for the move is “to dissipate religious consciousness.” He posts: “Are Han heads insane? Or only the head Hans?” When militant Uighurs massacre people at the Kunming railway station, Pu denounces the violence but then posts, “This is a result, not just a cause.”

The posts that the regime seems to be counting as “picking fights and causing trouble” usually show disrespect for the Communist Party’s fakery. They are sometimes blunt (“This Party, top to bottom, could not survive without lies”) and sometimes wickedly witty. On Shen Jilan, a representative of record-setting longevity in the People’s Political Conference, who boasted of casting not one single “nay” vote in sixty years, Pu wonders: “Good at feigning stupidity? Or is this authentic stupidity?”

It may seem odd to detain someone first and then go look for the reasons for the detention, but in fact this is a well-established pattern. In the trial of the Maoist “Gang of Four” after Mao Zedong died, in Deng Xiaoping’s charges against the dissident astrophysicist Fang Lizhi in 1989, in the prosecution of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo in 2009, and in many other cases, the questions “What law was broken?” and “What facts show that it was broken?” have both been researched after detentions are ordered. And in Pu’s case, by going after Internet speech, however harmless or trivial it may be, the authorities may be staking out a further area in which the regime of Xi Jinping hopes to tighten its control. [Source]

Read more about Pu Zhiqiang, via CDT.


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Lawyers Protest Assault against Female Lawyer

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A group of Chinese lawyers released the following statement in response to the alleged assault of Beijing-based lawyer Cui Hui by court officials and police officers in the Chinese capital. From Siweiluozi’s Blog:

On 2 April 2015, lawyer Cui Hui from Beijing’s Hengqing Law Firm went to the Tongzhou District Court in Beijing, where she was physically assaulted twice by Yang Yu and Lai Xiulin, both of the court’s enforcement division, and a court police officer. The assault left her with minor injuries, including contusions on both eyes, bruises on her face, and multiple soft-tissue injuries on her limbs. Lawyer Cui is understood to have previously reported unlawful behavior by judges in the Tongzhou Court’s enforcement division to the Tongzhou District Procuratorate in connection with a case she was handling. This angered the judges, who found many ways of making things difficult for Cui, including this recent violent assault against her inside the court.

As legal professionals, we are concerned about our colleague, Lawyer Cui Hui, and are extremely shocked and angered by the hideous acts committed by judges and court police at the Tongzhou District Court. [Source]

The lawyers along with Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) have called on Chinese government authorities to launch an independent investigation into the case. From CHRD:

CHRD joins more than 300 lawyers in China in calling for an independent investigation into the alleged violence against lawyer Cui Hui (崔慧), and for the perpetrators to be held legally accountable. Judges and bailiffs at a Beijing courthouse attacked Cui on April 2. The physical assault on Cui, a 51-year-old female attorney at the Beijing Hengqing law firm, follows a pattern of increased violence against Chinese human rights attorneys while they conduct their work. One of the most outrageous incidents in the past year involved the torture of four rights lawyers in police custody in Heilongjiang Province in March 2014, which authorities still have not investigated.

[…] According to other lawyers familiar with the case, under Chinese law, the Tongzhou District Public Security Bureau should have put the two judges who assaulted Cui under administrative detention. The lawyers said that the two should be detained while waiting for the evaluation by judicial authorities of medical reports on injuries that Cui sustained, before authorities decide whether to put them under criminal detention. But the Tongzhou police have taken no action against the two men. Meanwhile, police have not considered Cui’s request for an evaluation of the medical report. The delay only means that no criminal investigation can proceed and the suspects remain free.

The Tongzhou District People’s Court did not respond to Cui’s original complaint for 14 days. So far, the court has not asked about Cui’s injuries nor offered any apology. On April 13, the court issued a brief statement—after Cui went public with the incident—saying it would conduct an investigation. The Tongzhou court is not well-positioned to investigate behavior of its own personnel in a impartial manner. The court may also be attempting to preempt any investigation by the police or the procuratorate. [Source]

Cui’s case speaks to a broader crackdown on civil society in China, which rights lawyer Teng Biao described as having “little cause for optimism.”


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China Defends Prolonged Detention of Pu Zhiqiang

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Civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang was detained in May 2014 after attending a gathering to mark the 25th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, military crackdown on protesters in Beijing. Several other participants were also detained but have since been released; Pu’s lawyer and niece, Qu Zhenhong, was detained a few days later and is still being held as part of the same case.

Pu’s case has been repeatedly delayed by the procuratorate, but the most recent delay will be the last, according to China Human Rights Defenders:

Pu’s lawyer has confirmed that this is the last action that authorities are permitted to do in order to prolong his detention, according to Chinese law. “He can either be sent to trial or freed” on May 20, the lawyer said. [Source]

Lawyers in Pu’s case believe that prosecutors haven’t found enough evidence to convict him. Radio Free Asia reported on May 4:

Pu, 50, is being charged with “incitement to subvert state power,” “incitement to separatism,” “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” and “illegally obtaining citizens’ information.”

But authorities have obstructed meetings with his lawyers, who have accused them of deliberately delaying Pu’s case to stretch out his detention.

“They are still deciding whether or not to take his case to court,” one of Pu’s defense lawyers, Mo Shaoping, told RFA.

“The opinion of his lawyers can be summarized in a single sentence,” he said. “We are of the opinion that the final result of the police investigation is that none of the four charges against Pu Zhiqiang will stand up.” [Source]

In late 2014, Pu’s lawyer Mo Shaoping told the media that prosecutors were considering the more serious charges relating to separatism and subversion based on a series of Weibo posts he wrote which referenced government policies in Xinjiang and Tibet. The 28 Weibo posts named by prosecutors were later released and partially translated by China Real Time.

On the anniversary of his detention, the U.S. State Department issued a statement calling for his release:

The United States remains deeply concerned that China continues to hold Pu Zhiqiang on allegations of “provoking disturbances,” “inciting ethnic hatred,” “separatism,” and “illegally obtaining personal information.” We are also troubled by reports that he has not enjoyed prompt access to counsel and other procedural safeguards and has been subjected to harsh conditions and denied access to proper medical treatment.

We reiterate our call on China to release and remove all restrictions on Pu Zhiqiang, and to respect his rights in accordance with China’s international human rights commitments. [Source]

The next day, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson responded in a routine press conference. From the transcript:

Q: US State Department Spokesperson Jeff Rathke issued a statement on May 6, saying that the US remains deeply concerned about China’s detention of Pu Zhiqiang which has lasted for one year, and reiterating their call on China to release him. What is China’s comment on that?

A: It seems to me that some people in the US always want to play world police or judge, trying to reach as far as they can. As is known to all, the US is facing a lot of problems inside its own country. It is better for the US to give priority to and concentrate its efforts on domestic affairs.

China is a country under the rule of law. The judicial authorities of China handle the relevant case in accordance with the law. We call on the American side to discard the double standard, be discreet with words and deeds and stop meddling with China’s judicial sovereignty and domestic affairs in any form. [Source]

Read more about Pu Zhiqiang, via CDT.


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Pu Zhiqiang Indicted for “Inciting Ethnic Hatred”

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After a year in detention, rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang has been formally indicted on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “causing a disturbance and provoking trouble.” Two other charges against him, “inciting separatism” and “illegally obtaining personal information,” have been dropped, but he still faces up to eight years in prison. BDC050714

The charges against Pu appear to stem from about 30 messages he posted on Weibo, which were critical of government policy, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet. (The original messages are compiled in full on CDT Chinese.) Verna Yu at the South China Morning Post reports on the indictment:

“He was incriminated for the opinions he expressed, just because he posted about 30 microblog messages – I don’t think this is acceptable,” Shang said.

[…] Shang earlier said Pu’s microblog messages from 12 Weibo accounts between 2011 and last year were used to indict him. His commentaries were mostly sarcastic criticisms of the Communist Party and its policies towards ethnic minorities and neighbouring countries.

Human rights advocates say Pu’s arrest is aimed at silencing him and is part of the wider crackdown on rights lawyers, activists and civil society under President Xi Jinping’s ideological campaign.

In his commentaries, Pu had been highly critical of the party. “From top to bottom, the Communist Party cannot survive without telling lies,” he said in one post. [Source]

While the indictment ensures that Pu will face trial, no trial date has been set, Edward Wong reports at the New York Times:

“He brazenly insulted others, and the circumstances were vile and destructive to social order,” the prosecutors said in the announcement. “He should be pursued for criminal culpability under the law.”

Mr. Pu and his supporters have maintained that the case is a baseless, politically motivated attack on a lawyer who long irked officials by challenging them in court and online. His lawyers said Mr. Pu adamantly rejected the charges.

“Of course, he’ll maintain that he’s innocent and will continue to defend himself,” Shang Baojun, one of Mr. Pu’s two lawyers, said by telephone.

The prosecutors’ announcement did not give a date for Mr. Pu’s trial; a court will announce it later. Mr. Shang said that a trial could be two or three months away, and that he would meet with Mr. Pu next week after obtaining a copy of the indictment. [Source]

Read more by and about Pu Zhiqiang, and about the ongoing crackdown on civil society under Xi Jinping, via CDT.

(Image above by Badiucao for CDT.)


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Civil Society’s Diminishing “Space to Negotiate”

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Amid ongoing arrests of civil society activists and proposed legislation that would limit the activities of foreign NGOs in the country, Zeng Jinyan writes about a shifting dynamic between domestic NGOs and security forces in China. She profiles Guo Yushan, co-founder of the Transition Institute of Social and Economic Research, who is in detention on suspicion of “illegal business activity,” a charge frequently used against NGOs. Zeng describes Transition Institute as an “indigenous” group, which she defines as: “its thinking was shaped by the Chinese cultural ideals of the traditional scholar and the heroic knight; its research and activism were focused on local issues; and, furthermore, some of its responses to police interference can also be described as ‘indigenous.'” She explains that even such groups, which historically have played an important role as a channel to convey concerns from the lowest rungs of society to officialdom, are finding themselves on the wrong side of the security apparatus:

[..W]ith their pursuit of temporary and superficial stability through ever-increasing spending, Chinese authorities have strayed far from the means and ends of social governance: instead of seeking solutions to real social problems, this product-oriented bureaucracy is geared only towards the perceived “quick fix” of suppression.

Guided by this new methodology, the state security apparatus has no real interest in distinguishing the content and nature of different activists’ work, their individual characteristics, the threat they pose to the regime or their level of cooperation with the state, nor are the police keen to weigh the impact of their arrest on the government’s performance and public image. This new methodology has turned rights activists into standardized objects of business.

The true interests of the authorities lie in how to improve their business and increase output. Consequently, norms which originally played an important role in constraining the conduct of the police, such as humanity, morality, ideological values, the government’s image and public opinion have been severely weakened in the current police system.

The government’s adjustment of its overall attitude and policies towards NGOs represents another change. Decades-old independent film festivals have been cancelled, workers’ rights groups have been repressed, sometimes violently, the Liren Library has been disbanded, and the Transition Institute has been forcibly closed. The authorities also ordered the arrest of women’s rights activists and placed restrictions on—and attempted to close—the Beijing Yirenping Center. Groups with positive and moderate agendas that originally had a certain survival space have lost almost all possibility of existence. The closure of TI illustrates that in dealing with police control, pragmatic NGOs no longer have space to negotiate. This is a sign that the Chinese government is not simply strengthening its anti-foreign philosophy, but moreover, ultimately trying to control pragmatic NGOs by upgrading them to the category of political opposition groups. In other words, Chinese rulers cannot tolerate indigenous civil groups that—in the style of traditional Chinese literati—offer advice on how to govern society. [Source]

Likewise, the space to negotiate is also closing fast for China’s rights lawyers, many of whom defend disenfranchised members of society fighting for their legal rights, similar to the work of “pragmatic” NGOs discussed by Zeng. As Zeng writes, the families of several of lawyers who have been detained have tried the same approach as Guo of trying “to understand and engage with the Chinese authorities’ way of thinking” in order to ensure the safety of the detained. But as the cases of lawyers Gao Zhisheng, Pu Zhiqiang, and others show, this tactic has failed to protect them. The Economist writes about 14 civil rights advocates who were pictured on the cover of Asia Week Magazine 10 years ago and hailed as the vanguard of the new rights protection, or weiquan, movement. All 14 have since been imprisoned, detained, beaten, threatened, or have fled the country:

It has been a long and hard fall that says much about the Communist Party’s chosen path of evolution. Activists seeking to protect the legal rights of ordinary citizens rose to prominence in the early 2000s. At the time the party was trying to professionalise its legal system, to encourage people to seek redress through the courts and to reassure them that their land, their homes or the wealth they were fast accumulating would be safe from local officials who often had scant regard for the sanctity of private property. At first the party tolerated the activists’ emergence. It soon lost patience.

Since Xi Jinping took over as China’s leader in 2012, he has tightened the noose on them further. The remaining outspoken weiquan activists have been jailed or silenced. On May 15th prosecutors in Beijing formally charged Pu Zhiqiang, a 50-year-old lawyer who had been in custody for more than a year, with “inciting ethnic hatred or discrimination” and “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”. Mr Pu is a giant of the weiquan movement; his trial, which is likely to take place in a few weeks, will cast an even deeper chill over like-minded lawyers. [Source]

Global Voices gathers responses on Weibo to the charges against Pu Zhiqiang. Read more about Guo Yushan, civil society, and rights lawyers in China, via CDT.


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China Hails “Tremendous” Human Rights Progress; Activists, Lawyers Differ

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The State Council Information Office today released a white paper titled “Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2014,” the twelfth such report since its 45,000 word tome in 1991. The paper’s introduction hails “tremendous achievements” made under the guidance of the CCP last year, demonstrating the country’s progress on the “correct path of human rights development that suits its national conditions.” The following nine chapters each cover a different realm of human rights, illustrated with a dizzying selection of government statistics.

Both the emphasis on “national conditions” and the immediate focus on the “right to development” in chapter one continue China’s sustained efforts to elevate its successes in poverty reduction and economic development above individual and political rights. From a Xinhua report on the white paper:

China has also made notable progress in improving the right to development, which is a fundamental human right for people of the world’s largest developing country.

According to the report, the country’s annual per capita disposable income reached 20,167 yuan (3,290 U.S. dollars) in 2014, up 8 percent over the previous year and faster than the economic growth rate last year.

Substantial efforts were made to alleviate poverty, including more government funds for infrastructure in the least-developed rural areas and relocation of people in uninhabitable regions.

[…] Unfortunately, some countries have always turned a blind eye to Chinese progress in human rights or even slung mud over its record in this regard.

The concept of human rights varies in different countries and will be updated according to the changing reality. The rest of the world should respect China’s unique conditions and traditions. [Source]

Over the past year, China’s opposition to universal human rights has been particularly noticeable in a spirited Party campaign against “Western values” throughout society.

A definition of human rights that places economic development and subsistence first and foremost has featured in these reports since 1991, and is also a hallmark of Beijing’s annual criticisms of the human rights record of the U.S.Breakthroughs in China’s cultural industries are another unconventional rights benchmark employed by the report. From The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Chin:

In the report’s first section, titled “Right to Development,” this year’s white paper backed up Beijing’s claim to have better protected the Chinese people’s cultural rights by pointing to, among other things, China’s burgeoning television, cartoon and film production.

In 2014, the paper noted, China produced 429 TV series, accounting for 15,983 episodes, and cartoon programs amounting to 138,496 minutes. The report also flagged growth on the silver screen, saying the country produced a total of 618 feature films — 36 of which earned more than 100 million yuan each — and racked up total box office revenues of 26.9 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) last year.

The latter figure represented a 36% increase over 2013, the white paper said. It wasn’t clear from the report how that growth related to human rights. The State Council Information Office, which produced the report, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[…] The report said that 90% of the economic and social development goals set out in the country’s most recent five-year plan had either been exceeded, nearly fulfilled or made smooth progress. It also said China had achieved most of the targets set out in a four-year national human rights action plan set to end this year. It did not identify in either case which targets had been missed. [Source]

This year’s paper has unsurprisingly met criticism from rights activists and lawyers who argue that 2014 actually saw substantial erosion of human rights on many fronts. Joanna Chiu reports for dpa:

“The human rights record last year was particularly appalling, even compared to China’s poor human rights records in previous years,” said Maya Wang, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“In 2014 the government detained a large number of activists, tightened or passed new regulations to restrict freedom of the press and freedom of speech on the internet and in universities, and made significant moves to push people to adhere strictly to Party ideology, as exemplified by Document No. 9,” Wang told dpa. [For further context on Document No. 9, or the related 2014 detention and recent sentencing of journalist Gao Yu, see prior coverage via CDT]

[…] Monday’s white paper also said China’s legal reforms gained momentum last year, citing the October adoption by the leadership of a blueprint to promote the rule of law.

[…] However, Chinese lawyers say not much has changed, while working conditions for some have worsened.

“Authorities have done a lot of work on paper, but at this point, very little has changed in actual practice,” human rights lawyer Mo Shaoping told dpa. […] [Source]

Lily Kuo at Quartz provides more on dissonance between China’s interpretation of human rights and that of its critics:

The report, released without warning by the State Council today, is also an illustration of the disconnect between China’s definition of human rights and that of its critics. Specifically, China equates economic development with human rights—as opposed to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which includes statements such as “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” and “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”

[…] A recent Human Rights Watch Report criticizes China’s penal system for torturing arrested suspects by beating them, shackling them to chairs, or hanging them by their hand cuffs. Other groups have criticized the increase in arrests of moderate activists, human rights lawyers, and regular citizens.

Chinese officials, in contrast, view arrests as a sign of better policing. The white paper says that over the past year it has prosecuted 712 people for crimes of terrorism and “inciting separatism,” a charge often given to activists in Tibet or Xinjiang. The report also says that 168,900 people were arrested last year for drug-related crimes. [Source]

The white paper’s chapter on “Democratic Rights” lauds developments in the protection of free speech. From another Xinhua report:

The freedom of speech is being better protected in China, as the country is working to promote citizens’ democratic rights, a white paper on China’s human rights said Monday.

[…] The public can air opinions, and raise criticisms and suggestions freely through the news media, and discuss problems of this country and society, it said.

The government encourages enterprises to provide various Internet services to the public in accordance with the law so as to create a good environment for the public to acquire and exchange information, the white paper said, adding that a cleaner cyber space is becoming an ever important place for the public to get information and make their voices heard. [Source]

While the year did indeed see the further sanitization of cyberspace, the case that online speech became “better protected” in China last year is harder to make. 2014 saw the first public trials to follow a 2013 campaign against Internet rumors and the introduction of a legal mechanism to punish online “rumor-mongers” that met criticism from rights lawyers. As the once lively dialogue on Sina Weibo began to cool amid that campaign, new regulations on relatively private instant messaging applications  shut down scores of public WeChat accounts by March 2014. A crackdown on Internet pornography launched in April was criticized as simply another means of ensuring that Party propaganda sounded louder than opposition online. In August, the State Internet Information Office released further regulations for instant messaging services. In October, a Supreme People’s Court ruling expanded government jurisdiction over ISPs’ data, granting the Party yet another lever on online public opinion. As 2014 came to a close, China’s leading Internet companies signed a pledge to assist the government in “cleaning up” the Internet by “self-managing” comments on their sites.

Chapter five of the white paper focuses on the “Rights of Ethnic Minorities.” Looking mainly to Xinjiang and Tibet, this section also dwells heavily on the right to development, highlighting the fruits of economic growth enjoyed by ethnic minorities living there. A report from Michelle FlorCruz at the International Business Times summarizes Free Tibet’s argument that development should not qualify as a rights victory for Tibetans:

On the same day as the release of the white paper, British activist group Free Tibet released a statement saying that ongoing construction efforts put forth by Beijing have polluted the only water source in the Tibetan village of Shadrang. The report says that various infrastructure and mining projects have disrupted the natural habitat and have had a profound effect on resources for local residents.

“Infrastructure projects in Tibet are motivated by China’s focus on resource exploitation, not the interests of Tibetans,” Alistair Currie, campaigns and media manager for Free Tibet, said in a statement. “Roads and highways facilitate the movement of equipment and workers in, and extricated resources out. Pollution, destruction of the environment and land-grabbing are part and parcel of the economic exploitation of Tibet, and of little concern to China’s government. This is a deep source of grievance to Tibetans and increasingly a flashpoint for protest.” [Source]

The white paper lauds the provision of “solid and convenient houses” for Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, but a 2013 Human Rights Watch report detailed severe social and economic damage from involuntary settlement policies in the region.

Yet another report from Xinhua cites the white paper’s assurance that “the religious belief freedom of ethnic minorities” was “fully guaranteed” in 2014:

Taking Tibet as an example, currently there are 1,787 venues for various religious worship activities there, with 46,000 resident monks and nuns, said the white paper released by the Information Office of the State Council.

Living Buddha reincarnation, a special succession system of Tibetan Buddhism, is respected by the state, it said, adding that there are 358 living Buddhas in Tibet.

[…] The Chinese Islamic Association has compiled and published Islamic scriptures in Arabic. The Association has also set up a website in the Uygur language, providing introduction of religious knowledge and online explanation of the scriptures.

In 2014, a total of 14,466 Chinese Muslims made the pilgrimage to Mecca. Relevant government departments have sent accompanying medical staff to guarantee the pilgrims’ health and safety, the paper said. [Source]

Developments reported elsewhere in 2014, however, again offer a different picture. In Tibet, where Xinhua posits that the “Living Buddha reincarnation” system is respected, the Dalai Lama’s 2014 suggestions that his current incarnation may be his last was greeted with official castigation. In Xinjiang, a “people’s war on terror” was launched in May 2014 in response to rising violence in the region, amid further regulation of religious practice among the predominately Muslim Uyghur population of the region.


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The Ripple Effect of a Chinese Lawyer’s Detention

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In an article from the Chinese edition of the Financial Times, Freedom House’s Sarah Cook examines the prosecution of rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and its implications for his family, clients, colleagues, the broader public, and the Party itself. Prosecuting even peaceful and moderate opposition, she argues, risks driving some to more extreme measures:

By harshly punishing an activist who has tried to work within the existing political and legal system, the leadership is signaling that such efforts are futile, and that incremental change is not possible. This risks increasing the number of people who see direct confrontation and the end of one-party rule as the only solution.

Despite tight censorship, an undercurrent of resentment at Xi’s increased repression is already apparent. An initial outpouring of support for Pu (including subtle online references by entertainment celebrities) hinted at the widespread public displeasure over the attorney’s mistreatment.

The potential costs to the party’s reputation, even among its core supporters, was evident from a Weibo comment made by Zhou Zhixing, the editor of two journals read by official elites, shortly after Pu’s detention: “Joining the party used to be sacred, but it has been made profane … going to prison used to be miserable, but has been made glorious.” By arresting and prosecuting Pu, the Communist Party is reinforcing the legitimacy problem it hoped to quash.

So long as Pu has not yet been sentenced, there remains a window of opportunity for China’s leaders to mitigate the damage described above. [Source]

Some have expressed similar fears that Beijing’s hard line in Xinjiang might alienate moderate Uyghurs. But scholar Wang Lixiong suggested last year that this could be a deliberate strategy, so “then you can say to the West that there are no moderates and we’re fighting terrorists.”


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Lawyers Worry New Rules Will Limit Clients’ Defenses

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At The New York Times, Cherie Chan reports on human rights lawyers’ concerns that proposed changes to China’s criminal law, which could land attorneys in jail for courtroom conduct vaguely defined in the provisions, could limit their ability to effectively defend clients:

The changes to China’s criminal law, which the National People’s Congress took up last week, would criminalize “insulting, defaming or threatening judicial officers,” “not heeding the court’s admonition” or “severely disrupting courtroom order.” Violators would face potential fines and up to three years of imprisonment.

The changes toughen the current law, which only restricts “gathering people to stir up trouble in a court” or assault on judicial officers.

“The amendment will put huge psychological pressure on lawyers,” said Li Fangping, a human rights lawyer based in Beijing. “Lawyers will have to be very careful when speaking up in court.”

After the changes were proposed last year, more than 500 lawyers signed an open letter in protest. They said there was no clear definition of “insulting,” “defaming” and “threatening,” leaving it up the authorities to decide what constitutes a violation. The letter said the changes would put defense lawyers at a disadvantage and restrain their freedom to speak.

[…] “In the past, the worst-case scenario was that lawyers would be beaten up for speaking up in court,” Mr. Li said. “With the new law, they can be imprisoned.”

The authorities “can use this law whenever they feel necessary,” he said. […] [Source]

Human rights lawyers in China have long faced assault by police and court enforcement officials, as was recently seen in April when lawyer Cui Hui was assaulted in Beijing, or earlier this month when Tang Jingling was attacked by plain-clothed personnel outside of a political trial in Guangzhou. Last week, a post from Human Rights Watch outlined 11 other cases where lawyers were physically assaulted while doing their jobs over the past year, described cases where lawyers have been incarcerated even prior to the proposed changes to the criminal law, and explained how this directly undermines the rule of law:

Physical assaults are just one of many dangers lawyers – especially those who defend unpopular issues or clients – face in advocating for their clients’ fair trial rights, as previously detailed by Human Rights Watch. They are also vulnerable to detention and imprisonment: human rights lawyer Tang Jingling is currently detained for “inciting subversion,” while human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang is detained for “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Both are expected to be tried in the coming months.

Article 306 of the Criminal Law also allows lawyers to be prosecuted for “enticing” suspects to “falsify evidence” or “change their testimony contrary to facts,” which gives the authorities another powerful tool to intimidate lawyers. Lawyers can also be denied a license to practice, especially during the annual evaluation of their performance by judicial authorities. In August 2014, for example, Cheng Hai was suspended from practice in Beijing and Wang Quanping had his license cancelled in Guangdong Province, both because of their work representing clients in what are perceived as sensitive cases, such as those imprisoned for involvement in the New Citizens Movement, a group that promotes civic rights and participation.

“Lawyers in China should go into court fearing that the worst possible outcome is losing their case – not violent assault by officers of the court,” Richardson said. “That such beatings take place, including in courtrooms, and without accountability, is a powerful indictment of the Chinese government’s hollow claim to the ‘rule of law.’” [Source]


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Dozens of Rights Lawyers & Activists Held or Missing

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Chinese Human Rights Defenders reports that at least 57 rights lawyers, law firm staff, and activists have been detained, questioned, or otherwise restricted [zh] across China in the past 48 hours. Verna Yu reports at South China Morning Post on several detentions at Beijing’s Fengrui law firm:

Fengrui’s head, Zhou Shifeng, was seen being taken away by three unidentified men early yesterday, wrote Liu Xiaoyuan, a partner at the firm, on Twitter.

Zhou had gone to a Tongzhou district detention centre to meet a client, Zhang Miao, on Thursday night, Liu wrote. Zhang, a news assistant for German weekly Die Zeit, had just been freed after nine months in custody. [Read more on Zhang’s case from CDT, and on her release from The New York Times.]

[…] According to Liu’s Twitter account, another lawyer, Li Zhu-yun, was taken from her home and had her flat searched by a dozen plain-clothes police.

A staff member, Liu Sixin, disappeared after calling Liu Xiaoyuan at around 8:45am and telling him, “They are coming”, before the call went dead, Liu Xiaoyuan said.

[…] A fifth Fengrui employee – rights lawyer Wang Yu – had gone missing early on Thursday, after sending her friends a text message saying someone was trying to force open her front door, according to rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders. [Source]

Wang’s husband and 16-year-old son, whom she had earlier seen off at the airport, reportedly did not take their flight. China Change translated a statement signed by over 100 lawyers defending Wang and criticizing the manner of her detention. Among these supporters was Li Heping, now also detained. From Chris Buckley at The New York Times:

“We’re used to seeing lawyers detained at a courtroom, but this seems like it’s different,” said William Nee, a China researcher at Amnesty International in Hong Kong. “It looks like a large-scale, coordinated thing, rather than catch and release. It has the potential to be a lot more serious.”

The best known of the lawyers taken away was Li Heping, who was in his home on Friday morning when the police entered, searched the home, seized computers and documents, and took him away, his brother Li Chunfu said in a telephone interview, citing his brother’s wife, who was at home.

[…] Li Heping, who did not belong to the same firm as the others who disappeared, has acted as the lawyer for some of China’s most prominent dissidents and rights campaigners. One client was Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal advocate who escaped house arrest in his village in 2012, fled to the American Embassy in Beijing and eventually settled in the United States.

Mr. Liu [Xiaoyuan] said he was baffled by the apparent detention of his colleagues. But they may have been detained because their law firm had employed Wu Gan, a combative activist who used the Internet to publicize controversial cases, said Maya Wang, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. [Source]

Read more on Wu’s case via CDT. Liu Xiaoyuan, whose clients have included Ai Weiwei and Ilham Tohti, is now also apparently missing after warning that he believed he was being watched. Fei Chang Dao reports that searches for Wang Yu and Li Heping have been blocked on Sina Weibo.


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Badiucao (巴丢草): Black Friday Portraits

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Badiucao has drawn portraits of eight of the dozens of human rights lawyers and activists who were rounded up by police on July 10, which some netizens are now calling Black Friday.

Free the Rights Defense Lawyers, by Badiucao for CDT:
自由维权律师 组图1 拷贝

The lawyers pictured include Wang Yu, Sui Muqinq, Liu Shihui, Liu Xiaoyuan, Wang Quanzhang, Zhou Shifeng, Li Heping, and Liu Sixin. The Ministry of Public Security has said the detainees are “suspected of illegally organizing paid protests, hyping public sentiment and fabricating rumors on the Internet to sway court decisions.” From a Xinhua report:

According to a statement from the Ministry of Public Security published on Saturday, the suspects consists of lawyers as the core organizers and social media celebrities and petitioners, who are in charge of planning and implementation.

The statement accused the group, led by Fengrui Law Firm, of disrupting public order and seeking profits by illegally hiring protesters and swaying court decisions in the name of “defending justice and public interests.”

Since July 2012, the group has organized more than 40 controversial incidents and severely disrupted public order, it added. [Source]

All of the lawyers detained have worked on human rights cases in recent years. A full list of those detained is being updated via Google Docs (Chinese).

CDT is now selling t-shirts and iPad covers featuring Badiucao’s work in our Zazzle store. See also a Q&A with Badiucao in which he discusses his artistic and personal influences, and his earlier cartoons for CDT.


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