China: Qin Yongmin’s wife calls for medical parole

From RFA’s Cantonese service:
I am Qin Yongmin’s ex-wife. My name is Li Jingfang. My hope is that the authorities will show some leniency, understanding and generosity to those in prison at this time, with the approach of the Olympic Games. I really hope that Qin Yongmin will be released from jail a little earlier. He [...]

China: Hu Jia sentenced to 3 1/2 years

Authorities in Beijing have sentenced AIDS activist Hu Jia to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for “incitement to subversion” after he wrote articles online critical of China’s hosting of the Olympics. The sentence was handed down Thursday by the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court.
We cannot accept this verdict, because the peaceful words Hu expressed are irrelevant to [...]

China: Pregnant woman’s flight from abortion squad

In Zhubao township in the eastern province of Shandong, family planning officials detained and beat the sister of one pregnant woman who had already given birth to one child, the family told RFA’s Cantonese service.
The woman, who lives near Linyi city, where family planning abuses have already been widely documented, is eight months pregnant. She [...]

China: Family planning abuses return in Shandong

China has recently announced its family planning policies are here to stay. This report from RFA’s Mandarin service finds out about the situation in Linyi city and Yinan county in the eastern province of Shandong, three years after civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng made his first blistering expose of human rights abuses under the [...]

China: Hu Jia tried for subversion, verdict expected soon

Hu Jia stood trial Tuesday on charges of subversion.
His lawyers revealed that prosecutors focused on Hu Jia publishing six articles on boxun.com and talking to two overseas media outlets.
Hu Jia didn’t deny these charges during the trial, and his lawyers tried to defend him from the perspective of freedom of speech.
Lawyer Li Fangping said: “We [...]

Newsdesk: Hu Jia’s trial is on Tuesday

Hu’s lawyer Li Fangping told RFA’s Cantonese service:
“They (the court) officially notified us tonight that Hu’s case will be tried next Tuesday [at the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court]. The indictment is very simple, consisting only of two sentences. The charge is ‘incitement to subvert state power’.” (more…)

China: UPDATED-Hu Jia indicted for subversion

UPDATE: from RFA’s Mandarin service [独家报道：律师拿到对胡佳“涉嫌煽动颠覆国家政权罪”起诉书]
HONG KONG—Authorities in Beijing have formally charged AIDS activist Hu Jia with “incitement to subversion” after he wrote articles online critical of China’s hosting of the Olympics, his lawyers said.
Baby Under House Arrest: Hu Qianci at four months. Courtesy of Zeng Jinyan’s blog.
(more…)

China: Petitioner belief prompts pre-Olympic rush on capital

There is a saying among petitioners that if your problem cannot be solved before the Olympics, it will be even harder after the Games.
- Petitioner Liu Feiyue
The strength of this belief reminds me of the mythologies and stories told by other groups in a state of severe disempowerment, like street children. These stories are used [...]

China: “Help us, journalists!”

From RFA’s Mandarin service (in Chinese): In recent days around 1,200 petitioners have penned an open letter to China’s parliament calling for greater recognition of the rights violations they say they suffered at the hands of officials.
Several hundred petitioners marched towards Gongyi East overpass Thursday hoping to meet with foreign journalists, but the group was [...]

China: Clashes with the chengguan in two cities

RFA/Mandarin — Monday, Feb. 25, 2008. From Hong Kong-based reporter Qiao Long:
Last week in southern China’s Nanning city, a vegetable peddler was beaten up by urban management officers, triggering confrontation between angry bystanders and the officers for about two hours.
According to China’s Nanguo Zaobao newspaper, on the afternoon of Feb. 23, urban management officers, also [...]