Category: China

Communist China: Rock Church of Zhengzhou, Henan Banned; 7 Christians Still Detained

Communist China: Rock Church of Zhengzhou, Henan Banned; 7 Christians Still Detained
— “ChinaAid received more details regarding the persecution of Rock (Panshi) Church, a house church in Zhengzhou City, Henan. On June 14, government officials forcibly abolished and sealed Rock Church’s building. Eight Christians have been detained, with one released.”

Communist China blocks Google access, accuses it of breaking Communist law

Communist China accuses Google of breaking the law
— “The Chinese government has blocked access to Google across large swathes of the country and accused the internet giant of breaking Chinese law.”

Communist China blocks Google access
— “The Chinese government’s campaign against Google continues with a fresh crackdown on the search giant.”

Communist China accuses pro-democracy activist Liu Xiabo of inciting a rebellion

China accuses pro-democracy activist Liu Xiabo of inciting a rebellion
— Daily Telegraph: “Liu Xiaobo, one of China’s most famous pro-democracy advocates, has been charged with trying to subvert Communist Party rule.”
— “It added that Mr Liu had been ‘spreading rumours and defaming the government’ and that he had ‘confessed to the charge in preliminary police investigation'”
— “After being held for seven months in a secret jail, Mr Liu, 53, was formally arrested for ‘alleged agitation activities aimed at subversion of government and overthrowing of the socialist system’, according to Xinhua, the state news agency.”
— “The crime of inciting a subversion can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, according to Mr Liu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping.”
— “Mr Liu has been held in a secret prison somewhere in Beijing since last December. In one of two meetings with his wife since the beginning of the year, he told her he was being held in a small room with no windows.”
— “He was arrested one day before releasing Charter 08, a petition calling for the end of one-party rule in China and the establishment of a multi-party democracy.”
— “Charter 08 was initially signed by 300 lawyers, intellectuals and dissidents. It won widespread praise overseas, and has unsettled the Communist Party at home. As many as 8,000 people have come forward to sign it, despite the risks of publicly supporting such a document.”
— “Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, is under constant surveillance and the police have built a guardhouse outside her Beijing apartment.”

Communist China tells Dell, HP to include Censorship Software

US firm warns PC makers over Chinese software
— “Beijing has notified PC companies that it requires all PCs sold in China from July 1 to include Green Dam/Youth Escort, a censorship software commissioned by the Chinese government”

PC makers plead with China for release from Youth Escort

Trade Groups Ask China to Scrap Filter

AP: China says unpopular filtering software optional
— “China appeared to cave in to public pressure Tuesday by announcing that computer users are not required to install Internet-filtering software — though it will still come with all PCs sold on the mainland.”
— “A Ministry of Industry and Information Technology official reached by telephone told The Associated Press that use of the “Green Dam Youth Escort” software is ‘not compulsory.’ He would not give his name as is customary with Chinese officials.”
— “China already has the world’s most extensive system of Web monitoring and censorship and has issued numerous regulations in response to the rise of blogging and other trends. Operators are required to monitor Web pages and bulletin boards and delete content deemed subversive.”

BusinessWeek: China’s PC Censorship Software Blocks More than Sex
— “The controversial new software blocks political and religious websites and is ‘far more intrusive’ than other content control software, say OpenNet researchers”

Communist China: State Religious Leaders and Government Officials Attempt to Forcibly Demolish Church in Shandong

(Communist China) State Religious Leaders and Government Officials Attempt to Forcibly Demolish Church in Shandong
— “ChinaAid has learned that on June 8 and June 9, leaders from government-sanctioned organizations in Ji’nan Municipality of Shandong province colluded with officials from the Bureau of Religion to forcibly take over and demolish the Christian Changchunli Church of Ji’nan.”

Communist North Korean Central “News” Agency: 2 Americans illegally crossed into NKorea

Report: 2 Americans illegally crossed into NKorea

AP: “Two American journalists sentenced in Pyongyang last week to 12 years’ hard labor were detained in North Korean territory after crossing into the country illegally, state-run media said Tuesday, providing the first details about the circumstances of their arrest.”

“Laura Ling and Euna Lee of Current TV were taken into custody on the North Korean banks of the Tumen River after crossing over from China illegally three months ago, the official Korean Central News Agency said.”

“The women, tried in North Korea’s highest court earlier this month, ‘admitted and accepted’ their punishment of 12 years’ hard labor for committing politically motivated ‘criminal acts,’ the report said.”

“‘The accused admitted that what they did were criminal acts committed, prompted by the political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system of the DPRK by faking up moving images aimed at falsifying its human rights performance and hurling slanders and calumnies at it,’ it said.”

— N. Korea: Journalists admitted to ‘criminal acts’

Link to R.E.A.L. petition and article

Link to other petition

Also:

— Video May Undercut U.S. Efforts to Secure Release of Reporters Jailed in North Korea
— Obama says nuclear-armed N. Korea ‘grave threat’