interesting video of (part of the) session of the European Parliament
Conditions for Chinas Rights Defenders Worsens: Hearing – YouTube.
New Tang Dynasty Television
NTDTV’s Channel
Posts Tagged ‘China’
Tiananmen Commemoration by the Visual Arts Guild Highlights Modern Rights Defenders
June 14, 2011Tiananmen Commemoration Highlights Modern Rights Defenders 22 years later. Victims and witnesses of the 1989 TiananmenMassacre shared the way they saw and experienced the demonstrations, the massacre, and the long-term effect it has had on the Chinese psyche at a commemoration held by the Visual Arts Guild. Two contemporary rights defenders, Ai Weiwei and Zhao Lianhai, both currently detained in China, were honored at the event.
One of those recognized was Ai Weiwei. The world-renowned artist/activist is currently detained by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for his political expressions, which include a recent video (Without Fear or Favor by Ai Weiwei on TED). Zhao Lianhai was also recognized for his efforts in bringing to light the melamine-tainted milk scandal in 2008. Zhao was sentenced by the CCP to 2 1/2 years in prison after he set up a website, Kidney Stone Babies, to advise parents of the toxic milk after his own child suffered from kidney illness from the tainted dairy. He was released on medical parole last December, then again taken into custody on May 26, apparently because of his public demand for the release of Ai Weiwei that same week.
The keynote speaker, Perry Link, a professor of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages at UC Riverside, is one of the West’s top experts on China, its language, culture, and people. His report on how China is good at “forgetting” massacres and how also the media quickly lose interest in worth reading in full on http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/tiananmen-commemoration-highlights-modern-rights-defenders-57592.html
Chinese Human Rights Defender Liu Xianbin heavily punished
March 31, 2011On Friday 25 March, a court in Sichuan province sentenced Liu Xianbin to ten years in prison for writing articles calling on human rights and democracy, which is considered inciting ‘subversion’. His wife, Chen Mingxian, said the court did not allow Liu to defend himself. His lawyer, Chen Wei, was also charged on Monday with inciting subversion (as were two other persons from Sichuan: Yunfei and Ding Mao).
Many human rights organisations from around the world – including Hong Kong – have criticised the trial and are calling on the Chinese authorities to immediately release Liu (e.g. Amnesty International’s Catherine Baber says the ten-year sentence is “appalling” and a travesty of justice). Liu is a veteran of the human rights movement and has been imprisoned several times for his work. He served 2 years for taking part in the 1989 democracy movement and in 1999 he was sentenced to 13 years after helping to establish the China Democratic Party. He was released early in 2008, but arrested again in June 2010.
Many human rights organisations from around the world – including Hong Kong – have criticised the trial and are calling on the Chinese authorities to immediately release Liu (e.g. Amnesty International’s Catherine Baber says the ten-year sentence is “appalling” and a travesty of justice). Liu is a veteran of the human rights movement and has been imprisoned several times for his work. He served 2 years for taking part in the 1989 democracy movement and in 1999 he was sentenced to 13 years after helping to establish the China Democratic Party. He was released early in 2008, but arrested again in June 2010.
This tenacious and courageous HRD deserves admiration and support.
NGOs in China and Europe, just published, contains fascinating information
March 8, 2011One should be careful praising books to which one has contributed oneself. But I make an exception for this volume which makes a comparison of the experiences of NGOs in China and Europe. The chapters on China contain the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of various types of NGOs currently active in the country. The contributions on foreign NGOs in China, non-governmental think tanks, public interest legal organizations, labour related NGOs and charity organizations, are the first in English to discuss successful experiences as well as the difficulties they face in the post-Mao era. They show that the Chinese government does not know on which foot to dance. It wants a flourishing civil society (without which social and economic growth cannot be sustained) but also wants to continue to exercise full control over developments less ‘harmony’ is threatened. This applies specially to NGO work in the sensitive human rights sector.
The European studies draw examples from countries where the experiences of NGOs are at various stages of development. The section on NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe examines the rapid expansion of civil society and their pivotal role in promoting political change and building democracy in a transitional society, as well as the challenges they confront in advancing a strong civil society. Those chapters on NGOs’ experiences in Western European countries, especially in the Netherlands and the UK, provide insightful information and examination of the most contentious issues about NGOs’ accountability, fundraising, governance and relationship with their governments.
Contents: Introduction: challenges and opportunities for NGOs in different parts of the world, Yuwen Li; Part I NGOs in the Context of China: International NGOs in China: current situation, impacts and response of the Chinese Government, Han Junkui; The development and institutional environment of non-governmental think tanks in China, Jia Xijin; Development of charities in China since the reform and opening up, Liu Peifeng; The development of women’s NGOs in China, Shen Guoqin; Public interest legal organizations in China: current situation and prospect for future development, Xie Haiding; A review of the development of labour organizations in China in the 30 years since the reform and opening up, Zhou Shaoqing. Part II Civil Society Organizations in Europe: The voluntary sector and government: perspectives from the UK, Liz Atkins; Creating an enabling environment for NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe, Nilda Bullain; Socially responsible NGOs? A European perspective, Paul Dekker; The role and organization of voluntary action, Richard Fries; Oversight on fundraising by NPOs: Dutch experiences with a European perspective, Adri Kemps; Civil society in the Czech Republic, Petr Jan Pajas; Learning for a lifetime: NGOs, capacity building and nonprofit education in Eastern Europe, Balazs Sator.
My own contribution: ” The international human rights movement: not perfect, but a lot better than many governments think” traces the development of the international human rights movement of the last 60 years and zooms in on those aspects that are the most often misunderstood – or found objectionable – by authoritarian states.
The editor is Yuwen Li, Associate Professor of Chinese Law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The publisher is Ashgate, 340 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4094-1959-4 (ebook, ISBN 978-1-4094-1960-0)
