Beijing has strengthened its crackdown on NGOS over the past two years, apparently triggered by its fear that civic groups could play a role in a color revolution, like in the Ukraine.

TAIPEI TIMES EDITORIAL: Why Beijing needs groups like PEN
Sunday, Dec 30, 2007, Page 8

Over the past month, Chinese activists have been served a grim reminder that Beijing has yet to understand the value of civil society.

A series of police sweeps has targeted civic groups and dozens have been arrested. Last week police detained Shanghai author Li Jianhong (李劍虹) and other members of Independent Chinese PEN, which promotes freedom of expression, to block an annual meeting of the association.

The irony of the situation is that civic groups hold the key to resolving many of Beijing's biggest headaches. Where Chinese authorities are dragging their feet, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are pressing for real progress. Their work on everything from caring for AIDS orphans to demanding factory clean-ups promises a better living standard for the lowest social strata.

Many of these groups work to resolve key causes of social unrest, yet Beijing persists with a crackdown on civil society that has strengthened in the past two years and will only contribute to instability, rather than forging Beijing's vision of a "harmonious society."

China's fear of civic groups is no doubt fueled in part by the memory of a Falun Gong sit-in in 1999 in Beijing. The terror of not having foreseen the mobilization of thousands of citizens was a rude awakening for the top political echelon and sparked the policy to eradicate the Falun Gong -- even though the demonstration was apolitical.

But another factor fuels China's fears. Beijing has spent the past two years fretting over tales of Eastern European and Central Asian "color" revolutions. Russia believes these revolutions were Washington-backed moves to contain the extent of Moscow's power, and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) has clearly taken the warning to heart.

During his term, Hu has backtracked on years of looser reins on civic groups, which have been key to movements such as Ukraine's Orange Revolution.

And as far as Hu is concerned, any civic group is game. This month, 70 people were detained in a raid on a Bible study circle that met outside of the state-controlled religious framework. Beijing targets any organized platform for discussion -- political or apolitical -- that does not fall under its oversight.

But if there's anything more anathema to Beijing than civic groups, it is those with an international connection. So for the same reason Beijing does not recognize the pope or the Dalai Lama, and it largely blocks NGOs with international secretariats from setting up shop.

For that reason, it is surprising and a cause for hope that Beijing has, to some extent, tolerated the existence of Chinese PEN. Its members are no stranger to police harassment, but this latest incident was the first time its year-end meeting was blocked.

For PEN members -- who were given no reason for Beijing's wrath -- it is a clear sign that they will have to fight to keep their foot in the door. Another PEN center, Tibetan PEN, exists only in exile.

Beijing has lost sight of the goal. A flourishing civil society will be key to engaging the government on issues where it has made feeble progress because of corruption.

But the Chinese Communist Party is busy countering NGOs -- or, as Hu allegedly called them in an internal report, the "smokeless guns" of a US-backed plot. Regardless of what Washington is or isn't plotting, Beijing is sabotaging a wealth of resources.
This story has been viewed 268 times.

Taipei Times editorial, "No reason to trust Xinhua's facts"

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/12/16/2003392791

As news from China becomes increasingly common fare for media outlets around the world, reports from Xinhua news agency -- whose head is a top Chinese Communist Party official -- and other state-run media firms are proliferating, often as the only source, with little or no concern as to the trustworthiness of the content.

Beijing's announcement that it has reduced the application of the death penalty by 10 percent this year was widely regarded as newsworthy. But some journalists said little or nothing about compelling reasons to doubt the report.

Although the UN has called on countries that implement the death penalty to make public the details of all capital punishment cases as well as annual statistics, China continues to treat executions as a state secret. In the vast majority of cases, China does not publicly announce that a punishment has been handed down, let alone say why. Occasional comments by high-level officials, however, indicate the number of cases each year amount to thousands more than those the government makes public.

Likewise, in the wake of a visit by the UN rapporteur on torture, whose report was hardly flattering,Xinhua countered with a report that authorities had launched an anti-torture campaign and would install cameras in police interrogation rooms to discourage forced confessions -- a story that was covered in Western media.

It should come as little surprise that Beijing, in the face of mounting international pressure from non-governmental organizations and governments, is reporting sweeping improvements. But Beijing has offered not one shred of evidence to back its claims. This, combined with its continued belligerence toward journalists and independent bodies seeking to verify these claims, are ample cause for skepticism.

Reporters Without Borders, whose chief, Robert Menard, visited Taipei last week, has found in interviews with Xinhua journalists that the agency has been tasked by the government with manufacturing three versions of reality in its daily work.

News deemed too sensitive for public consumption is earmarked for circulation to government officials, while the public may, at most, hear a modified version of such reports (for example, casting demonstrators in a bad light). Meanwhile, the non-Chinese speaking world is served up a third version, in which some events -- such as natural disasters and protests -- may be reported on more extensively than at home, apparently to create the illusion of openness in the Chinese media.

Xinhua reports that seem to portray China as openly facing issues of political dissent, social unrest and corruption seem increasingly common. In the past few months, state media have variously said officials are aware of and dealing with any number of illegal land seizures, unsafe factories, corrupt officials and cases of "mass incidents."

But the content of many Xinhua reports -- including subjects that should not be political, such as death tolls and evacuation numbers in natural disasters, or the spread of diseases -- are rendered meaningless in the absence of evidence and the freedom to double-check official figures.

China's manipulation of the media reveals a government as bent on secrecy as it is on appearing open. Until Xinhua has earned credibility -- which will require broad reforms in the state and party apparatuses -- international media have a responsibility to their readers to make it clear when there is cause to doubt the source of a piece of news or when figures cannot be independently confirmed.

Social and political rights probation is a special punishment in China, often given after a prison sentence. The punishment is usually left out of English reports, even though the probation sentence may be several years. I suspect it is so often not mentioned in English reports because it is difficult to translate and explain, but I feel it is important to increase awareness of this sentence.   more »

Part one in a series of articles about censorship and propaganda in China. This first article discusses the media.   more »

An introduction to China's Constitution from a human rights perspective. These are paragraphs you should be aware of -- but what rights do they really grant?   more »

Although China made torture illegal ten years ago, torture is still prevalent, to say the least, and seems to be particularly widespread and brutal towards specific groups in society and in specific regions.   more »

In China today there are about 70 crimes one can be sentenced to death for, including violent crimes, so-called "political crimes", drug-smuggling, and bag-snatching, to give a few examples. The list of crimes punishable by death has tripled over the past 20 years...   more »

Falun Gong (FG) is a Buddhism-and-qigong-based religion/philosophy. (Think of Qigong as something like Chinese yoga.) The persecution of FG in China is methodical, thorough and brutal...   more »

Although China's constitution grants religious freedom, China only has five state-approved religions, all state-run and state-monitored. What this means is that not only are all other religions banned...   more »

Xinjiang (a.k.a. East Turkestan) is China's largest province and is mostly populated by non-Chinese ethnicities, such as the Uyghurs, a Turkic people. Major problems in Xinjiang are the oppression of Uyghur culture and Islam. Since Sept 11th 2001, China has also been using the "War on Terrorism" as an excuse for oppression in Xinjiang...   more »

Laogai, or Chinese gulags, are China's forced labor prison system to "reeducate" dissidents. Unlike China's normal prison system, the laogais are not part of the judicial process...   more »