Activist exposed radioactive contamination of Yangtze River

Epoch Times
Jan 29, 2010

Sun Xiaodi, an environmental activist who exposed radioactive contamination of the Yangtze River, was sentenced to a forced labor camp along with his daughter. Groups supporting human rights in China are protesting the sentences.

Sun had worked as a warehouse manager at the No. 792 Uranium Mine in Gansu Province. When he became aware that the mine was discharging radioactive material directly into the Yangtze River, he spent more that a decade trying to expose the problem, according to Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch (CRLW) in China.

Sun was able to meet with foreign journalists in June 2004 to describe the environmental degradation that was occurring and provide them with relevant materials and photos of the mine. He has been under constant surveillance for his activities over the years and has been detained several times.

Human Rights in China reported that he was sentenced to two years of forced labor for leaking state secrets to foreign agencies by the Diebu County authorities. Sun’s daughter, Sun Dunbai, was sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor for her involvement.

Unnamed sources in Gansu Province say that agents of the Chinese Communist Party picked Sun up on June 15, 2009 after he appealed to the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, calling on the international community to pay attention to the severity of the radioactive contamination in China.

On June 12, prior to his arrest, unidentified robbers ransacked Sun‘s house and destroyed half of his book collection. The incident was followed by threats from local police and Domestic Security officials who attempted to warn Sun against reporting on the nuclear contamination in Gansu Province.

They promised to buy Sun a house in another place if he would leave the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture area and stop reporting on the radioactive contamination.     more …

BBC News

China must account for the whereabouts of ethnic Uighurs forcibly repatriated from Cambodia, a US-based rights group has said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said such groups had “disappeared into a black hole” on their return to China.

The Uighurs fled to Cambodia after mass ethnic riots in China in July. Beijing has referred to them as criminals.

In December, a group of 20 Uighurs were put on a plane to China despite opposition from the UN and US.

They said the group were likely to face persecution in China.

“Uighur asylum seekers sent back to China by Cambodia have disappeared into a black hole,” said Sophie Richardson of HRW.

“There is no information about their whereabouts, no notification of any legal charges against them, and there are no guarantees they are safe from torture and ill-treatment.”

HRW said a number of the group had given detailed accounts of past torture and persecution in China and that threats had been made against their families.

The organisation said China has a history of executing or imposing harsh sentences of Uighurs sent back from abroad and that there were unconfirmed reports some members of a group previously returned had been sentenced to death in western Xinjiang province.     more …

BBC News
January 30, 2009

The US has defended a proposed weapons sale to Taiwan following a furious response from China.

The US State Department said on Saturday that the sale contributed to “security and stability” between Taiwan and China, Reuters reported.

Beijing announced a series of moves against the US in retaliation for the proposed $6.4bn (£4bn) sale.

Ties between the two countries are already strained by rows over trade and internet censorship.

ANALYSIS
Damian Grammaticas
Damian Grammaticas, BBC News, Beijing

You would expect China to react angrily to any proposed arms sale to Taiwan, but this time it seems to be going further than before.

Suspending military exchanges is a classic reply from Beijing and it may not even concern the US too much.

China’s threat to impose sanctions on US firms supplying arms to Taiwan is interesting if perplexing.

It’s unclear what “sanctions” would involve in practice, since US firms aren’t allowed to sell arms to China

China’s threat to withdraw co-operation on key international and regional issues is the most serious one. Here China can make life difficult for Washington.

It can complicate US attempts to deal with nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea, it can refuse to help in currency and trade issues.

But what is China trying to achieve by sounding so furious? Maybe Beijing’s real aim is to try to deter America from future arms sales – for example the fighter jets and submarines which Taiwan really wants.

“Such sales contribute to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said US State Department spokeswoman Laura Tischler, quoted by Reuters.

The US is the leading arms supplier to Taiwan and has a treaty obligation to provide it with defensive arms.     more …

The New York Times
January 30, 2010
By KEITH BRADSHER

HONG KONG — The Chinese government announced late Saturday an unusually broad series of retaliatory measures in response to the latest United States arms sales to Taiwan, including sanctions against American companies that supply the weapon systems for the arms sales.

The Foreign Ministry announced in a pair of statements from Beijing that some military exchange programs between the United States and China would be canceled in addition to the commercial sanctions. Furthermore, a vice foreign minister, He Yafei, has called in Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the United States ambassador to China, to protest the sales.

The American decision to sell more weapons to Taiwan “constitutes a gross intervention into China’s internal affairs, seriously endangers China’s national security and harms China’s peaceful reunification efforts,” Mr. He said in the ministry’s statement.

The Obama administration notified Congress on Friday of its plans to proceed with five arms sales transactions with Taiwan worth a total of $6.4 billion. The arms deals include 60 Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot interceptor missiles, advanced Harpoon missiles that can be used against land or ship targets and two refurbished minesweepers.

China has regarded Taiwan as a breakaway province ever since the Communists prevailed in 1949 in China’s civil war and the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan. The United States has been supplying Taiwan with arms under the Taiwan Relations Act, which Congress approved in 1979 and which mandates that the United States supply weapons that Taiwan could use to fend off an attack by mainland Chinese forces.    more …

Taipei Times
Jan 25, 2010
By: Nat Bellocchi

Google’s announcement on Jan. 12 that it would pull out of China because of hacking and restrictions on searches keyed on the google.cn platform was a shot heard around the world.

While the shot fired in 1775 by a US minuteman in Concord, Massachusetts, was a sign that the colonies were no longer willing to endure restrictions imposed by a repressive British Empire, the Google shot may be a wake-up call to those in the business and political communities that have chafed under restrictions imposed by Beijing.

Companies angling for a share of China’s market have largely turned a blind eye, or even aided and abetted Beijing in its restrictions and censorship. The prevailing justification was that companies have to follow local laws and, as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer once said, “want to be part of the solution.”

Private companies have in fact aided the isolation of Taiwan at the behest of China by declining to do business there. It is all the more remarkable (and somewhat embarrassing) then that the first shot of resistance comes from a private US firm rather than a Western government.

But the submissive stance of Western companies and governments is giving way to a rebellion in the ranks, caused by China’s increasingly aggressive and haughty positions on everything from Internet hacking and repression in Tibet and East Turkestan to the climate talks in Copenhagen and support for the regimes in Sudan and Iran.

Google’s step is a courageous move that has prompted considerable rethinking among businesses and governments around the world: People are losing patience with Beijing’s heavy-handed ways. Many in the West are reconsidering the wisdom of engagement policies that assumed that economic development would lead to political liberalization in China.    more …

Sound of Hope Radio Network
By Ai Lin and Yu Shan

After Google announced its possible plan to quit from China, the Global Online Freedom Act (GOFA) drafted by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) in 2006, has once again been put under the spotlight.

The GOFA, a bipartisan bill, was re-introduced by Smith and Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) in 2009, but it has yet to be brought to the floor of the House for a vote.

It is designed to help U.S. Internet companies resist attempts by repressive governments, like China and Iran, to make them a party to their censorship and surveillance. It was crafted because it is difficult for these companies to stand up to China when they are asked to block Internet sites, censor search engine results, and help the regime identify political and religious dissidents.

Regarding the possible influence of the GOFA on China, Mr. Caoan, a well-known commentator on issues related to China, addressed the consequences during an interview on Sound of Hope Radio (SOH).

Caoan said that information flow between China and the democratic world is unbalanced. “It is well-known that Beijing’s media, such as CCTV and People’s Daily, can broadcast or publish freely in the United States. Yet U.S.media are not allowed in mainland China. This violates the principle of equality of the WTO.” Moreover, Beijing can also shield true information from the Chinese people with its great Internet firewall.

The Asia-Pacific Human Rights Foundation began to promote the GOFA, appealing for equality in communications around the world since early 2007, he continued.     more …

Epoch Times
By Gu Yunyin

China Mobile in Shanghai announced that it will censor text messages and forward offending messages to the police.
China Mobile in Shanghai announced that it will censor text messages and forward offending messages to the police.(Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images)

China Mobile, the largest mobile phone company in China, recently said it is censoring text messages based on a list of keys words provided by public security agencies.

A user’s text message account may be disabled if the content of a message is deemed “indecent” or “sexually explicit.” Human rights advocates and attorneys say the practice is illegal and only an excuse by Chinese authorities to conduct censorship.

Text messaging has been disabled on more than 70,000 phones in Shanghai, according to the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily. An employee with China Mobile in Shanghai told The Epoch Times on Jan. 19 that some cell-phone users whose service has been disabled have come to the company to have it restored.

The company has issued orders about the handling of these requests: “The person must go to the public security agencies to verify the content of the message in question,” according to a Jan. 16 report in the Shanghai Youth Daily.    more …

Epoch Times
Jan 24, 2010

Eleven of 200 teachers who were protesting a land expropriation at their middle school in Sichuan Province found themselves buried alive when the ground they stood on collapsed due to excavation by the construction crew. Six were rushed to a hospital with injuries.

A construction team from the Hot-Arm International Co. began digging on the grounds of the Fengjie Middle School in Chongqing on Jan. 18. School officials initially contacted the police who came briefly but did not handle the problem. Teachers then came out at noon to protest, but the crew continued to dig.

According to a report in the Yangcheng Evening News, physics teacher Chai Haiyun said the construction team supervisor shouted, “Only 200,000 yuan for each body, so dig on!” The comment angered the teachers, who then refused to leave.

The team hollowed out the ground underneath where the teachers were standing, and the ground collapsed, sliding down the slope.

“It all happened so fast,” Chai said. “When we realized the land beneath us started to crack, it was too late. Eleven of us fell and three were completely buried.” Other teachers quickly dug them out, and six were taken to the county People’s Hospital. Chai was diagnosed with a rib fracture.     more …

BBC News

US President Barack Obama continues to be “troubled” by alleged cyber-attacks originating in China on the internet search giant Google, officials say.

A White House spokesman said Mr Obama wanted “some answers” and agreed those responsible should “face consequences”.

The comments came after China denounced US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s criticism of its internet restrictions, saying it was harming relations.

Google has said it will decide shortly whether to end its China operations.

The company currently holds about one-third of the Chinese search market, far behind Chinese rival Baidu, which has more than 60%.

‘Consequences’

Earlier on Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the US should “respect the facts” and stop making “groundless accusations”.

ANALYSIS
Damian Grammaticas
By Damian Grammaticas, Beijing
For China, the row sparked by Google has put it in an extremely uncomfortable position. It is under the harsh glare of US scrutiny on several sensitive issues: internet censorship, the silencing of dissidents and human rights campaigners, cyber attacks launched from China, and the difficulties big US companies find doing business in China.

Hillary Clinton’s criticism of internet controls would have been pretty tough for Beijing to hear. So it is no surprise it has replied robustly. But China is on the back foot in this dispute.

The statement called on the US to “handle sensitive issues in an appropriate way”. Decoded, that means China would rather it was all dealt with quietly, something that does not seem likely now the argument has become so public and far-reaching.
Tech groups back Clinton stand
China’s media lashes out
Chinese debate internet freedom

“The US has criticised China’s policies to administer the internet, and insinuated that China restricts internet freedom,” Ma Zhaoxu said.

“This runs contrary to the facts and is harmful to China-US relations.”

The warning from Beijing came after Mrs Clinton said in a speech that the internet had been a “source of tremendous progress” in China, but that any country which restricted free access to information risked “walling themselves off from the progress of the next century”.

The private sector had a shared responsibility to safeguard freedom of expression and should take a “principled stand” against censorship, she said.

Mrs Clinton also called on the Chinese authorities to investigate Google’s complaint that hackers in China had tried to infiltrate its software coding and the e-mail accounts of human rights activists, in a “highly sophisticated” attack.

Hillary Clinton: “We look to the Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough review”

“Countries or individuals that engage in cyber-attacks should face consequences and international condemnation,” she added.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday, White House spokesman Bill Burton made it clear that President Obama agreed with her.

“As the president has said, he continues to be troubled by the cyber-security breach that Google attributes to China,” he said.     more …

BBC News
January 24, 2010

China has denied any state involvement in alleged cyber attacks on Google and accused the US of double standards.

A Chinese industry ministry spokesman told the state-run Xinhua news agency that claims that Beijing was behind recent cyber attacks were “groundless”.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week asked China to investigate claims by Google that it had been targeted by China-based hackers.

The US search giant has threatened to withdraw from China.

“The accusation that the Chinese government participated in [any] cyber attack, either in an explicit or inexplicit way, is groundless. We [are] firmly opposed to that,” the unnamed spokesman of China’s ministry of industry and information technology told Xinhua.

Isn’t it true that even in the United States, the homeland of Google, certain government agencies are also reported of often entering a massive number of personal e-mail accounts with certain excuses?

“China’s policy on internet safety is transparent and consistent,” he added.

Separately, China’s state-run China Daily newspaper said America’s internet strategy was “to exploit its advantages in internet funds, technology and marketing and export its politics, commerce and culture to other nations for political, commercial and cultural interests of the world’s only superpower”.

It also described the US government as being hypocritical, saying the country’s “certain government agencies” had reportedly illegally checked a massive number of personal e-mail accounts.

On Thursday, Mrs Clinton urged Beijing to investigate the alleged cyber attacks on Google.

Hillary Clinton: “We look to the Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough review”

“We look to Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the cyber intrusions,” she said.

Mrs Clinton added that companies such as the US giant should refuse to support “politically motivated censorship”.

Again in reference to China, she said that any country which restricted free access to information risked “walling themselves off from the progress of the next century”.     more …