Ai Weiwei tax evasion appeal rejected by Chinese court

Ai Weiwei tax evasion appeal rejected by Chinese court
Suddenly, It’s the Society, Stupid
Xinhua's overseas travel expenses made public
Rothschild group has faith in China's A share market
China Hits 538 Million With Increase in Mobile Use
Show Trial Begins for Falun Gong Adherent
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Ai Weiwei tax evasion appeal rejected by Chinese court

Posted: 19 Jul 2012 08:58 PM PDT

Appeal by artist and dissident against a $2m tax fine has been rejected, with Ai Weiwei barred from the court hearing

A Chinese court upheld a $2 million fine for tax evasion against the country's most famous dissident, Ai Weiwei, after barring him from attending the hearing, in a case that critics accuse Beijing of using to muzzle the outspoken artist.

Ai had asked a Beijing court to overturn the city tax office's rejection of his appeal against the tax evasion penalty imposed on the company he works for, Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., which produces his art and designs.

The artist said that Chinese police barred him from showing up in person, saying earlier he had "absolutely no hope" the court would rule in his favour.

"Today's verdict shows that this country, more than 60 years after its founding still has no basic legal process, still has no respect for the truth, still will never give taxpayers and citizens an ability to justify themselves," Ai said.

"The entire judiciary is shrouded in darkness," he told reporters at his home in north eastern Beijing after the verdict.

He has said he will press on with legal challenges, ensuring that he will continue to be a thorn in the government's side.

Beijing's Chaoyang District Court heard the case at a closed hearing in June. Ai, 55, had called the hearing unfair after police warned him to stay away and blocked journalists from approaching the cramped court room which only had five seats.

The court did not answer calls seeking comment.

Tax authorities are demanding the company that markets his work pay a 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) penalty for tax evasion. Supporters of Ai, whose 81-day detention last year sparked an international outcry, have said the tax case is part of the government's effort to muzzle China's most famous social critic.

The loss of his appeal underscores top leaders' increasing intolerance of dissent ahead of a tricky generational transition of power at the end of the year, when Vice President Xi Jinping almost certainly will be anointed to take over from Hu Jintao.

Courts, controlled by the ruling Communist Party, rarely accept lawsuits filed by dissidents, and almost never overturn appeals on existing decisions.

Government efforts to muzzle Ai have frequently backfired, as demonstrated by an outpouring of public sympathy - and cash - in response to the tax penalty. About 30,000 people donated money to help Ai cover an 8.45 million yuan bond required to contest the tax charges. Many of Ai's supporters folded money into paper planes that were flown over the walls of his home.

Suddenly, It’s the Society, Stupid

Posted: 19 Jul 2012 08:59 PM PDT

With China's economy slowing, there's now a consensus in Beijing to fashion what had been a nationwide experiment into the new Party line--instructing cadres at lower levels to take a softer approach to dissatisfaction among the masses.

Xinhua's overseas travel expenses made public

Posted: 20 Jul 2012 04:56 AM PDT

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and the South-to-North Water Diversion Office spent more than 50,000 yuan (US$7,800) per employee per trip overseas in 2011, the China Business News reported July ...

Rothschild group has faith in China's A share market

Posted: 20 Jul 2012 04:56 AM PDT

French-based Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, subsidiary of the Rothschild group, said the company has faith in China's A share market and its investment of US$700 million. Tang Yi, general ma...

China Hits 538 Million With Increase in Mobile Use

Posted: 19 Jul 2012 08:23 PM PDT

Chinese people line up to buy iPhone 4S in a China Unicom store in the early morning on January. (Feng Li/Getty Images)

China's massive Internet population has continued to grow, with more than 538 million people connected by the end of June, according to a Chinese government-affiliated research group.

Mobile phones have become the most popular method for users to connect to the Internet, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which began as a non-profit research group but is now is responsible for Internet affairs under the Chinese regime's Ministry of Information Industry.

The new overall figures show a jump from the 485 million who were on the Internet a year ago. However, growth has slowed in the past six months with only an increase in around 25 million new Internet users, according to state media.

There are more Chinese Internet users than the combined entire populations of Brazil and the United States, the respective fifth and third largest countries by total population, and the entire population of the European Union, which has around 500 million people.

More than 388 million people used their mobile devices to connect to the Internet and outnumbered desktop users for the first time, according to the report. More than 380 million people accessed the Internet via desktop computers.

"Information spreads faster via the Internet, for example on [microblogging site Sina] Weibo, where users post updates that could affect a lot of people," Wei Wuhui, an Internet expert with Shanghai Jiaotong University, told the state-run Global Times.

The report also pointed out that 27.7 percent of mobile Internet users watch videos online with mobile devices and cellular phones.

The Chinese Communist Party heavily censors Internet content that it deems subversive or sensitive through the so-called "Great Firewall of China." Authorities have blocked searches including the Tiananmen Square incident, terms relating to the persecution of adherents of the Falun Gong meditation, and terms relating to a number of rumors.

Virtual Reality of a Chinese Internet Cop Pt. 3: Bridge Over Troubled Routers (Illustration)

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Show Trial Begins for Falun Gong Adherent

Posted: 19 Jul 2012 07:49 PM PDT

300 households, in Zhouguantun Village of Botou City, in Hebei Province signed a petition requesting the release of Wang Xiaodong, a local Falun Gong practitioner who was arrested. (The Epoch Times)

The trial against a Falun Gong practitioner who inspired 300 village households to sign a petition demanding his release began its court session at the Botou City Court behind closed doors on July 18. One of the first thing communist judicial authorities did was fire his lawyers and appoint him their own.

Falun Gong practitioner Wang Xiaodong was arrested at his home in Zhouguantun Village in Botou City, Hebei Province on February 25. He was then brought to the Botou City Detention Center. In April, representatives from 300 households in Zhouguantun Village put their signatures and thumbprints to a petition requesting the release of Wang. The petition eventually reached the upper echelon of the Party leadership, according to sources familiar with the situation who previously spoke to The Epoch Times under conditions of anonymity.

Wang's family did not receive notice from the court until 5pm the day before the session. In addition, Falun Gong practitioners in Botou City were prohibited from attending the court session and some were also placed under police surveillance.

According to an insider source, security was extremely tight on the day of the court session. The street in front of the Botou City Court was blocked off. No vehicles or pedestrians were permitted to enter. Police officers were seen standing in front of the building.

Later, a large number of policemen and plain clothes policemen arrived, according to the source. Police were also stationed at major intersections along the route from the Botou City Detention Center to the court. Several police cars were parked near the court entrance.

Wang Xiaodong's older brother told The Epoch Times that local authorities did not allow family members and friends aside from Wang's mother and older sister to attend the court session.

In addition, the court forcibly dismissed the two Beijing lawyers who were hired by Wang's family to defend Wang, despite strong opposition from Wang Xiaodong and his family. The court sent in two government-designated lawyers to represent Wang instead. Wang's older sister asked to defend his brother herself, but her request was also denied by the judge, according to Wang's brother.

The court session began at 9am. Two hours later, the court was adjourned with no verdict made.

Before Wang's trial, Wang's younger sister Wang Xiaomei was sentenced to one-year of forced labor at the Hebei Province Women's Labor Camp for her efforts in gathering the 300 petition signatures that supported Wang's release. Prior to her arrest, Wang Xiaomei also wrote a letter to appeal to the international community, calling for their help in releasing her brother.

Her family's requests to visit her were denied, according to a report by New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television. Only after Wang Xiaomei's 13 year-old daughter agreed to persuade her mother into giving up her beliefs did the police grant permission for her daughter to see her.

Read the original Chinese article.

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Where Obama Shines

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 10:00 PM PDT

In a world characterized more by anxiety than overt conflict, President Obama's situation-specific foreign policy strategy has been nimble and effective.