Links » Cream » Xu Zhiyong: An Account of My Recent Disappearance

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• Xu Zhiyong: An Account of My Recent Disappearance
• Businessman Hailed for Buying Imaginary Bank
• [GRAPHIC] Weibo: Homage to Li Wangyang
• The Chinese State and Soccer Credibility
• A Woman Devoted to Harmony
• A Strange Apology on a Certain Day
• Controversy Continues over Confucius Institutes
• South China Morning Post Accused of Self-Censorship
• Word of the Week: Drink Tea
• For Better Air, Don’t Pin Your Hopes on Embassies
• The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/20/12
• China Goes on Offensive on Rare Earths Dispute
• Chinese Judges and Contempt Citations
• Chen Guangcheng’s Next Steps

Xu Zhiyong: An Account of My Recent Disappearance Posted: 20 Jun 2012 11:21 PM PDT Xu Zhiyong, noted Chinese rights lawyer and legal activist, was detained by authority on June 7th for his new blog entries calling for "new civic movement" in China. He was released over night and published a blog post explaining his "account of disappearance". In this article, he mentions that the security officers covered his head with a black cloth and took him to a hotel room in outskirt Beijing. From Seeing Red in China. Having traveled for about half an hour, first on highway and then over a bumpy road, we arrived and got out of the car. Intuitively I tried to remove the black cover over my head when a man huffed, "Don't!" and two men seized me by the arms. We got into a room, as I sensed, and I was pressed down into what seemed to me like the corner of a sofa. I was stripped of my belt, my shoe laces and everything I had with me. People were shuffling in and out of the room. One voice said to me, "For now, think what you have done lately. Think hard! We'll ask you questions in the afternoon!" I sat still and said nothing. Xu recalls that last year he was detained by security police for organizing "a relatively large-scale petition for equal rights for education". He was taken to hot-spring resort but refused to cooperate with security police for the so-called "tourism". This time, Xu protest against illegal detention with hunger strike — he refused to accept the meal provided by security officers. After an officer threatened to prosecute Xu under the charge of "inciting subversion of state power", Xu argued that "all of our efforts are to protect the liberty and human rights of each and every Chinese… No one will be able to reverse the historical tide, so don't overdo it." Xu attributed the relatively humane treatment he received to his fame and the "wide attention" from outside world. He expressed gratitude towards the "new citizens" who are concerned with human rights condition in China. He ascribed the detention and harassment to his endless effort to push civil movement and stated that he would be willing to "pay a price for the freedom of the people". From Seeing Red in China. The new civil movement calls individual citizens to spread the principles of democracy and rule of law, to abide a civil code of actions, to reject privileges and corruption. And we advocate liberty, justice and love, which is the spirit of the new civic movement. Our mission is to end, from the root, the cycle of regime change through violence and give freedom back to each and every Chinese. This is the reason for which I lost my own freedom for the time being. Xu was released in the afternoon the next day. The security police took him home but still  stayed outside his apartment. Xu was accused of tax evasion in 2010, but the case was dismissed soon afterwards. Read more about Xu Zhiyong on China Digital Times. © Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: civil society, Human Rights, illegal detentions, lawyers, Xu Zhiyong Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Businessman Hailed for Buying Imaginary Bank Posted: 20 Jun 2012 10:36 PM PDT Lin Chunping, a businessman from Zhejiang, Wenzhou became a hot topic in January when state media reported that he had taken over Delaware-based Atlantic Bank without checking its sources. AP reporter Didi Tang reports, in the context of many other fake products in China and the persuasive effect of foreign brands: The unprecedented acquisition brought him praise: His hometown gave him a prestigious political appointment and state media called his business experience "legendary." […] Chinese reporters could not locate an Atlantic Bank or a bank registration by Lin in Delaware. He's under arrest for an unrelated fraud and has been forced to give up his municipal-level appointment to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the government's top advisory body. Lin claimed that the bank had been run by Jews in order to increase its prestige. He also renamed the bank USA New HSBC Federation Consortium Inc., borrowing from the London-based global banking giant HSBC Holdings. The extent of Lin Chunping's fraud amazed spectators: "People were shocked that an obscure businessman bought a foreign bank and it was a U.S. bank nonetheless. He wasn't even a banker to begin with," said Zhu Xiaochuan, a researcher on China's financial law at CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance in Shanghai. "The news must be credible because it was in mainstream media. The public were amazed how wealthy Wenzhou businessmen were." This event damaged the state media's credibility. According to the AP report, Lin once was also profiled by the ruling Communist Party's newspaper People's Daily. The profile depicts Lin as sharp and hardworking, "selling buttons as a teenager, then purchasing a copper and gold mine in Ghana and investing in the rice business in China." Lin is also accused of faking fapiaos, a special kind of tax receipt that also functions as a bill and state lottery ticket. See also 'Fake takeover: Chinese businessman made up purchase of U.S. bank', at The Los Angeles Times. © Wendy Qian for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: bank fraud, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, financial sector, wenzhou Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

[GRAPHIC] Weibo: Homage to Li Wangyang Posted: 20 Jun 2012 08:19 PM PDT The death of political activist Li Wangyang, found with a noose around his neck on June 6, has caused outrage in China and beyond. Li spent over 20 years in prison for his involvement in the Tiananmen protests. Released for the second time last May, he was blind and nearly deaf from years of torture. Hanging from the bars of his hospital room window, hospital staff and local authorities insisted Li had committed suicide. His family and supporters, however, insists that it was murder: he was too ill, and his two feet were on the floor. Under pressure from Hong Kong activists, China has since promised to investigate the cause of death. Weibo user ylovey528 posted this message and image on June 14 in homage to Li: ylovey528: Wen Jiabao: Sorry, I am too late. ylovey528：温家宝：对不起，我来晚了。 From Right to Left: For democracy, an ordinary man will rise and fall with the nation. Even if I am beheaded, I won't retreat. 為民主，國家興亡匹夫有貴，我就是砍頭，我也不回頭。 Health is dear, life is dearer. Both can be given up for freedom. 溫飽誠可貴 生命價更高 若為自由故 兩者皆可失 Premier Wen has notoriously apologized for arriving late to the scene of many natural and man-made disasters, most recently after last July's deadly train crash in Wenzhou. Just days before his death, Li told Hong Kong Cable TV "I won't retreat, even if I am beheaded." The last two lines are adapted from a poem by Sándor Petőfi, a hero of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848; even Chinese schoolchildren know these words: Life is dear, love is dearer. Both can be given up for freedom. 生命诚可贵,爱情价更高;若为自由故,二者皆可抛   © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: activists, dissidents, li wangyang, sina weibo, Tiananmen, weibo, Wen Jiabao Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

The Chinese State and Soccer Credibility Posted: 20 Jun 2012 07:37 PM PDT With China cleaning its soccer house, The New Yorker's Evan Osnos writes that "deep structural obstacles" remain that will keep any quick fix out of reach: One problem, for instance, is the controlling instinct of the state: to this day, an old-line Soviet-style system still chooses soccer players to be groomed based on height and measurements when they are barely into their teens (a phenomenon I described in the world of Chinese boxing in 2008). In doing so, the system has largely cost itself the prospect of magical outliers, like the beefy Maradona or the mini Lionel Messi, who persisted even after he was told he was "too small to play" as a kid. But, as with so many area of Chinese economics and politics, that state system was mated with a fitful free market and supercharged with cash, without an accountable bureaucracy to keep an eye on it. Ever since the early nineties, China has allowed some of its state-run teams to acquire corporate sponsorships and investors, and dole out higher salaries. But it was so swiftly overrun by gamblers with the power to fix games that the carmaker Geely dropped its support of a club in 2001, after less than a year. "I was shocked," Geely's chief, Li Shufu, told reporters. "For a match, bribes of a million, two million yuan"—a hundred fifty to three hundred thousand dollars—"were offered, and not a single football official or referee ever got caught." Credibility has sunk so far that in the stands these days, fans shout hei shao (black whistle) or da jiaqiu (playing fake ball). Perhaps the greatest indication that the current wave of arrests is likely to yield more headlines than difficult reforms is that some of the people who know the system best are not holding back their views. "Will Chinese soccer be free of corruption after this houseclean? I am not that optimistic," former Zhejiang sports chief Chen Peide, whose public revelations about soccer corruption led to the first wave of arrests more than a decade ago, told Chinese reporters. "It will take long time to solve the problem because the current system is a hotbed for corruption," he said. Still, the Chinese Super League plows ahead with the announcement that soccer star Didier Drogba has signed a lucrative contract with local club Shanghai Shenhua. CNN's Tom McGowan questions why Drogba, who recently scored the game-winning penalty to win the European championship for English club Chelsea, would make the move to a "football backwater": "All these players going over there are past their prime and looking for one last big payday which will see them through for the rest of their lives," football agent Rob Shields told CNN. "It's definitely money motivated. "It's the commercial side of it. That's what Chinese clubs pitch to the players and their agents. It's not the standard of football they are used to, but the money they can make on the commercial side is absolutely immense." Drogba's former Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka made the switch in January, joining Shenhua on a two-year deal. Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi was recently appointed at Guangzhou Evergrande, an ambitious club which has splashed out on South American players Dario Conca of Argentina and Paraguay's Lucas Barrios. Where Shanghai and Guangzhou are concerned, the recruitment drive is being funded by wealthy individuals who, according to Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategy at England's Coventry University, see football as a way to gain political influence. © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Chelsea, corruption, Didier Drogba, Marcello Lippi, Nicolas Anelka, Shanghai Shenhua, soccer Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

A Woman Devoted to Harmony Posted: 20 Jun 2012 03:15 PM PDT Via CarrotNet: On June 16 at 4 p.m., the F exit to the Great Theater subway stop in Shenzhen was graced with a "black humor" performance. Mocking the national response to the Shaanxi woman whose seven-month pregnancy was forcibly ended, a woman dressed as a pregnant village girl, "showing off" her belly and holding up a shocking sign: "Dearies, I am also a 'woman devoted to harmony.' Beyond the one child I'm allowed under law, I brought the bastards of the village head, the mayor and the dog into this world. No need to make me abort, and no need to fine me… Don't blame me, blame my coochie!" Hordes of people gathered around her and took pictures. Some even stooped to shine her shoes as a show of "respect." © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: abortion, forced abortion, forced abortions, harmonious society, one-child policy Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

A Strange Apology on a Certain Day Posted: 20 Jun 2012 02:17 PM PDT A hotel in the southern province of Zhejiang made a vague apology on an ominous date: The June 12 edition of the Rui'an Daily published an apology letter.  The Rui'an Grand Star Hotel announced that on the evening of June 4 city officials arrived at the hotel to direct business, but the hotel did not actively cooperate. The hotel states, "We hope that you can understand. We again extend our most sincere apologies." 6月12日出版的《瑞安日报》刊登一则致歉信。瑞安市星豪酒店称6月4日晚市府办与相关部门到该酒店指导工作，因该酒店没有积极配合而向瑞安市府办致歉。酒店表示"希望你们能够谅解。再一次向你们表示本酒店最诚挚的歉意。" Letter of Apology Dear Rui'an City Government: On the evening of June 4, the city government and relevant organs arrived at the Grand Star Hotel to direct business, but hotel staff did not actively cooperate. We wish to extend our deepest regret, and hope that you will understand. Once again, we want to express our most sincere apologies. Rui'an Grand Star Hotel June 11, 2012 Responding to the online backlash against the local government, a Rui'an mayoral assistant told New Express on June 15, "This isn't what people think. They made this apology without our knowledge. I have no idea if the person responsible is just ignorant or took the opportunity to be provocative." The hotel has already closed for business due to "incomplete licensing and noise." Via SneezeBloid. Translated by Josh Rudolph. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: June 4th, Zhejiang Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Controversy Continues over Confucius Institutes Posted: 20 Jun 2012 01:19 PM PDT Beijing's Confucius Institute, a program to aid in spreading Chinese soft-power to the world via language and cultural education, has generated much controversy since its beginnings in 2004. While government sponsored efforts to bolster national image through the global promotion of language and culture are not unique to China (see France's Alliances Françaises, Spain's Instituto Cervantes, or Germany's Goethe-Institut), their presence within established universities and exercise of control on class curriculum is. The mainstream media has been paying close attention to this controversy over the past month, after the US State Department complicated visa extension for CI teachers. In May, China Realtime Report's Josh Chin briefly summed up the controversy as follows: Criticized by some as propaganda vehicles, in part because they limit discussion of politically sensitive topics like Tibet and the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protestors, the institutes are nevertheless popular with cash-strapped U.S. universities eager to take advantage of the subsidized language instruction. The US isn't the only country where worry over CI's operations can be found. The Guardian's Tania Branigan covered Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the UK, responding to academic critiques of the institute in Britain: "Some people are not comfortable to see the rapid growth of Confucius Institutes. They cling to the outdated 'cold war' mentality," Liu Xiaoming said at a recent Edinburgh gathering for the European branches. "They criticise Confucius Institutes for being a tool of China's 'national propaganda'. They label teaching Mandarin as 'ideological infiltration.' So they have from time to time made irresponsible remarks in western media." [...]Liu's remarks came after Professor Christopher Hughes, a China expert at the London School of Economics, raised concerns about hosting such centres in the wake of  last year's scandal over the LSE's dealings with the Gaddafi regime. Hughes said it was "gross interference" for Liu to complain about an internal discussion on ethics at the LSE. "He has insulted me and misrepresented my views by saying that I 'have a cold war mentality' for raising important ethical issues and merely repeating what Chinese leaders have said about the Confucius Institutes," he said. Today's edition of Canada's Globe and Mail picked up the story of Sonia Zhao, once a teacher at McMaster University's CI. Zhao, a Falun Gong practitioner whose mother suffered in China's crackdown on the organization, quit her post and sought political asylum in Canada, unwilling to adhere to Beijing's restrictions on classroom conduct. Zhao's story, covered last summer in the Falun Gong-connected Epoch Times, has prompted the administration at McMaster to put pressure on Beijing to change its operating procedure: "If my students asked me about Tibet or about other sensitive topics, I should have the right to talk about them, to express my opinion – but [I wasn't] allowed to say that freely," Ms. Zhao said in an interview. "During the training in Beijing, they do tell us: Don't talk about this. If the student insists, you just try to change the topic, or say something the Chinese Communist Party would prefer." Andrea Farquhar, McMaster's assistant vice-president of public and government affairs, says the university is "looking for clarity" from its Chinese partners on aspects of their agreement, notably hiring practices, and is "raising the concerns that we had, and that had been brought forward to us, and looking to find some solutions to that." [...]Having lent its name to the Confucius Institute on its campus, McMaster says it is insisting that Canadian laws and expectations be respected. Partners in China have shown a willingness to consider adjusting the "screening process," Ms. Farquhar said, and the future of the institute may hinge on exactly how it proposes to do so. "The other part of the dialogue we were having was that if we can't get a resolution to this, that being able to continue on with the kind of agreement that we have at the moment would be difficult." In light of a bounty of critical English-language press, Global Times has been publishing more cheerful pieces, praising CI efforts. See "Confucius Institute in Britain promotes better understanding about China," or this more recent article profiling a CI at the University of Hawaii: Confucius Institutes (CIs) and Confucius Classrooms (CCs) have mushroomed in the US since the establishment of the first CI at the University of Maryland in 2004. Currently there are 81 CIs and more than 300 CCs in the US. The Confucius Institute at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (CI-UHM) was established in 2006. Since its establishment, the CI-UHM has contributed greatly to the US, both educationally and economically, via academic activities and cultural exchanges.The CI-UHM has fostered mutual understanding and friendship between China and the US. To date, the CI-UHM's partner university, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) has sent 13 co-directors, teachers and volunteers to take up terms of one to two years at the CI-UHM. All have been warmly welcomed by the university, the local schools, and the community. Through their interactions with the Americans, both sides have learned much more about each other, and have forged friendly relations in the process. The CI-UHM has helped with the teaching of foreign languages in Hawaii in general and of Chinese in particular, mainly in two ways.[...] An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education mentions another cause for concern: CIs sometimes target children with cultural activities organized from their offices in institutes of higher education. The CI homepage's "Chinese for Kids" section releases a series of  "中国历史尝试" [Common Knowledge about Chinese History] cartoons, depicting often politically-charged historical events from a CCP perspective (see The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea [link deleted from the website, but found thanks to a tweet from @prchovanec]). Since 2004, the Chinese government has spent at least $500 million establishing CIs, a point not lost on Chinese nationals, as illustrated by commentary and cartoons circulating China's blogosphere and translated by CDT. See also "Is China Squandering its Soft Power Investments" via CDT. Confucius has become the face of China's soft power campaign. Since 2011, a statue of the ancient Chinese sage has ironically faced the portrait of Chairman Mao - a man who declared war on Confucianism - in Tiananmen Square. "有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎?" "Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?" - Confucius, The Analects, Book 1 © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: confucius institute, education, soft power Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

South China Morning Post Accused of Self-Censorship Posted: 20 Jun 2012 01:19 PM PDT The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's premier English language newspaper, has come under fire for allegedly censoring a story about the death of dissident Li Wangyang, who was found hanged under suspicious circumstances in a hotel in Hunan. Reuters reports: On June 7, the English-language Post printed a full story on the suspicious death of Chinese dissident Li Wangyang in hospital on the mainland, but in an abrupt about-turn, cut the story back to a news brief buried in the back pages. Li had just been released from more than 22 years in jail for his role in the June 4, 1989, pro-democracy protests in Beijing when he was found dead in hospital in Hunan province, his neck tied with a noose made from bandages. Authorities said it was suicide, but his family suspect foul play. Prominent coverage by other Hong Kong media helped generate a public outcry, protests and a rare request by Hong Kong's leader for an investigation into the tragedy by Beijing. In a tense email exchange circulated widely in media circles, Alex Price, a sub-editor at the paper, asked his Chinese editor-in-chief, Wang Xiangwei, why the story was cut down in a way that "looks an awful lot like self-censorship". An editorial in Asia Sentinel gives more details about the exchange between Wang Xiangwei and Alex Price: Alex Price, a senior sub editor at the paper, sent Wang an email saying "A lot of people are wondering why we nibbed the Li Wangyang story last night. It does seem rather odd. Any chance you can shed some light on the matter?" Wang answered curtly: "I made that decision." When Price asked in a subsequent email: "Any chance you say why? It's just that to the outside world it looks an awful lot like self-censorship," it generated an explosion from Wang. "I don't have to explain to you anything. I made the decision and I stand by it. If you don't like it, you know what to do." "Li Wangyang, a good man died for his cause and we turned it from a story into a brief. The rest of Hong Kong splashed on it," Price responded. "Your staff are understandably concerned by this. News is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations. Please explain the decision to reduce the suspicious death of Li Wangyang to a brief. I need to be able to explain it to my friends who are asking why we did it. I'm sorry but your reply of "it is my decision, if you don't like it you know what to do" is not enough in such a situation. Frankly it seems to be saying "shut up or go." Earlier this year, Asia Sentinel published another report questioning whether the South China Morning Post is being unduly influenced by Beijing (via Shanghaiist). Read more about Li Wangyang, the South China Morning Post, and about Hong Kong media via CDT. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Hong Kong media, li wangyang, press freedom, South China Morning Post Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Word of the Week: Drink Tea Posted: 20 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Editor's Note: The Word of the Week comes from China Digital Space's Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China's online "resistance discourse," used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness. If you are interested in participating in this project by submitting and/or translating terms, please contact the CDT editors at CDT [at] chinadigitaltimes [dot] net. 喝茶 (hē chá): drink tea "Drinking tea" refers to the widespread practice by the Domestic Security Department police and other authorities of inviting citizens who have been engaged in subversive behaviors to "tea," where they are interrogated about their political activities and warned against further involvement. One who has been compelled to attend these tea sessions is said to have "been tea-drinked" (see to be XXed). Read about the experiences of the tea-drinked who had things to say around the time of the 2010 World Expo, the anniversary of Tiananmen and the Jasmine Revolution. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: drinking tea, GMH Lexicon, grass-mud horse lexicon, word of the week Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

For Better Air, Don’t Pin Your Hopes on Embassies Posted: 20 Jun 2012 11:42 AM PDT On June 13, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cui Tiankai made the following statement amidst continued controversy over U.S. embassy and consulate air quality monitoring: Beijing is over 16,000 square kilometers big. Relying on just one or two points to monitor air quality won't work. Relying on amateur institutions such as foreign embassies is also unacceptable, and moreover exceeds their function. Ultimately, we must depend on the Chinese people's own efforts. 北京面积大到1万6000多平方公里，要做好空气监测仅靠一两个点不行，依靠外国驻华使馆这样一些非专业机构也是不行的，并且这已经完全超出了驻华使馆的职能。归根结底还是要靠我们中国人自己的努力。 Read netizen reactions to the dispute. Via SneezeBloid. Translated by Josh Rudolph. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: air pollution, air quality, Cui Tiankai, environmental data, environmental regulations Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/20/12 Posted: 20 Jun 2012 05:07 AM PDT The big China story today (in my opinion, anyway) concerns rare earth production and exports. You can see my post on the topic here, read the government's new White Paper, and see all the independent, and not-so-independent, press coverage. China is facing a potential WTO dispute on this subject, but whether today's big pushback will make any difference remains to be seen. In other news: Wall Street Journal: : Yes, there's political showmanship in China. But it's the wrong kind. — Fantastic article on politicos in China and image displays. A fascinating subject, particularly if you're familiar with the kind of spin and posturing that goes on in Western countries. The one thing that holds true everywhere, it seems, is that folks today are way too jaded to fall for fake humility. Diplomat: China's Monroe Doctrine — Discussion of China's territorial disputes, including the current South China Sea kerfuffle. The author answers the question "Why can't China have a Monroe Doctrine?" with a discussion of how China's situation differs with that of the U.S. in the 18th Century. I'm a sucker for these comparative approaches. Reuters: SEC seeks Big 4 audit papers from China — if you've been following the ongoing fight between U.S. and China regulators over accounting firm oversight, here's the latest. The U.S. SEC is moving forward with its investigation. This is turning into one of my favorite reality shows. PC World: Chinese Watchdog Group Takes Aim at Apple's Repair Policies — A consumer watchdog group in China has criticized Apple for its repair policies. I doubt this will hurt Apple all that much in China, given their excellent image here. On the other hand, they sometimes use refurbished parts when doing repairs? That ain't cool at all, although as long as the customer is put on notice when they purchase/go for repairs, I doubt there is a legal problem here. South China Morning Post: Mistrust of Beijing at post-97 high — I was in Hong Kong recently and noticed this myself when talking to locals. The negativity concerning Beijing was appreciably higher than I remembered it being in the past, although when I tried to dig down and discover the reason behind the bad feeling, there was a lot of vagueness and general unease, as opposed to criticism of specific policies. The Guardian: Hong Kong journalists complain about editor's self-censorship — speaking of the South China Morning Post and Hong Kong's relationship with the Mainland, this sort of thing doesn't help. Folks at the SCMP are apparently not happy with editors who may be "managing" stories about the PRC a bit too much. TechNode: Lashou Cancels IPO Plan — the IPO market sucks at the moment, particularly for Chinese companies, which no one trusts anymore. So you've got a whole lot of tech ventures over here that have been built on VC/PE money in the hopes of the magical payout (aka IPO) that may not materialize. How are these guys going to get paid? Wall Street Journal: Africans' Protests Highlight Tensions in Guangzhou — here's an update on that story about an African expat who was beat up by a crowd after getting into a dispute following a traffic accident. He later died in police custody, and the African expat community (part of it, anyway) publicly protested on Tuesday. I've never before seen expats engage in this sort of activity before, but knowing the kind of (very poor) treatment Africans receive here, I can't be too surprised. ChinaSmack also has a good post on this, with pics as usual. Global Times: Stricter laws proposed against foreigners illegally in country — while one expat was beaten to death down South, the government is still debating the need for toughen up laws on illegal residents/workers. You know, because that's obviously the big problem here. All this anti-foreigner stuff is a useful reminder that although China desperately needed foreign expertise a number of years ago, that is no longer the case. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

China Goes on Offensive on Rare Earths Dispute Posted: 20 Jun 2012 03:33 AM PDT China already lost one case at the WTO on raw materials export limitations, which it attempted to defend based on environmental concerns. The big question hanging out there since that decision was made concerned the application of that legal reasoning to similar limitations on rare earths. Huge issue for certain industries, such as the tech sector which relies heavily on certain rare earths for hardware manufacturing. China is in negotiations with the U.S. et al on this dispute, and normally we would expect either some sort of settlement or a formal case being filed. But not yet. The news today is that China is getting out in front of this whole thing with the issuance of a White Paper on China's domestic policy, press releases, and a slew of articles and Op/Eds in state media. If you read the paper today, it was easy to tell what Topic A was. Will this sway opinion? Just who was the intended audience anyway? Does this mean that China expects the U.S. to file a case and is trying to take the sting out of that announcement? Given the raw materials decision, won't China lose this case anyway? Stay tuned. This should be interesting. In the meantime, here are some links: AFP: China says rare earths practices meet WTO rules Full Text: Situation and Policies of China's Rare Earth Industry (text of the White Paper) Xinhua: Stricter regulation on rare earth exploitation © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: rare earths, raw materials, world trade organization

Chinese Judges and Contempt Citations Posted: 20 Jun 2012 03:01 AM PDT Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court has fined a Chinese textile machinery company 100,000 yuan ($15,700) and detained one of its executives for defying a court order in an intellectual property case, the court announced Tuesday. The ruling demonstrates the Shanghai court system's ongoing efforts to crack down on companies and individuals who ignore court orders. [ . . . ] The intermediate court fined the company, which is based in Foshan city, Guangdong Province, on June 16 and ordered that He Baiwei, its sales and marketing director, be detained for 10 days for defying the order. The company, which officials asked not be named, ran afoul with the court when it put one of its products on display at a textile machinery convention in Shanghai last week after the court issued an injunction barring the company from doing so, according to a news release from the court. The court issued the injunction as part of an intellectual property dispute between the company and Picanol NV, a Belgium-based textile machinery manufacturer that accused the Guangdong company of ripping off the design of one of its products, according to the court. (Global Times) Wow. I'm not used to judges being that aggressive, but it's a good thing. I still remember when judges were so timid about new procedures that they wouldn't issue injunctions and wouldn't grant asset protection orders or document seizure requests. Those days are long gone, at least in many cities, and these days, particularly in IP cases, an injunction is not a rare occurrence. For many commercial disputes, protective orders are absolutely necessary. What's special about this case in Shanghai? Well, the fact that it's in Shanghai is a big part of it. This is China's second-most important city (Note: I live in Beijing) and, some would say, the commercial capital of the nation. What the courts do there, and what signals they put out, matter a great deal. Additionally, this is an IP infringement case involving a foreign patent owner. These are the kinds of cases that receive quite a lot of scrutiny because of the parties involved and the underlying cause of action. Without a case precedent system in Chinese law, we're always looking at what the (important) courts are doing and what signals are being sent out to the public. This is not the first time a judge has issued such a contempt citation, but unfortunately I do not have statistics on how common this is. Just going by personal experience, I'll go out on a limb and say that it's fairly rare. And this begs the question as to whether this will become more common in the future. Why is this important? Do litigants defy court orders on a regular basis? Perhaps not formal court orders, but there's a bigger picture here. Personally, I'd like to see more of a "tough guy" image put out there by judges. Perhaps if more litigants, like this patent infringer from Guangdong, were afraid of judicial penalties, they would be less likely to do things like hide documents and lie to the court. Wishful thinking perhaps, but it couldn't hurt. Before you scoff and say that a contempt order is a minor thing, note that in the case cited to above, the defendant's sales and marketing director was actually thrown in jail for 10 days. That's a big deal. I am reminded of something my first year Property Law professor said to us about environmental litigation. He said that fines and damages from administrative or civil litigation are rarely high enough to change the behavior of corporations. On the other hand, you go after a CEO or executive, frog march them out of their office and put them in jail for a while, then you may start to see some action. Agreed. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: contempt of court, litigation

Chen Guangcheng’s Next Steps Posted: 20 Jun 2012 02:20 AM PDT A month on from Chen Guangcheng's arrival in New York, The Washington Post's William Wan reports on his life and studies in the US. Five times a week, under the guidance of an English tutor at New York University's law school, Chen has been using the Declaration of Independence as a makeshift textbook. The 236-year-old document can make for difficult reading, but for a man who spent most of the past decade imprisoned in China while fighting for the rights of his fellow villagers, it resonates deeply. And so he persists, breaking down the syllables into manageable parts. […] Today, the 40-year-old self-taught lawyer and his family are still adjusting to the change — from being confined to the bare-walled room where they were watched by authorities in rural Shangdong province to a new three-bedroom apartment in bustling Lower Manhattan's Greenwich Village, supported by tutors, law professors, PR managers, interpreters and security personnel. The international spotlight on them has faded, but its glare is still felt in the form of entreaties from agents, politicians, reporters and activist groups. Chen and his wife have received calls from the well-meaning (disability groups wanted to give him a guide dog, Chinese American Christians offered their vacation homes) and from those with less altruistic aims (Hollywood producers are pushing to buy the movie rights to his story and a raft of TV news producers are vying to book him). Chen is determined not to be sidetracked, however. His main focus remains on China, and most urgently on his own family and supporters who remain there. From Erik Eckholm at The New York Times: In an interview Monday, Mr. Chen, 40, a blind, self-taught lawyer, displayed anger at the Beijing government for failing so far to investigate the local officials who persecuted him and beat his relatives. He and his wife, Yuan Weixing, said they remained desperately worried about the harsh treatment of those they left behind in Shandong Province. In previous statements, Mr. Chen expressed hopes for rapid legal changes in China and said he took Beijing officials at their word when they promised to punish provincial officials who he said had exceeded their powers. On Monday, he repeated his belief that the rule of law is inevitable. But he has seen no signs, he said, of an honest inquiry into what many experts call his blatantly illegal treatment over the years, retaliation for agitating on behalf of the disabled, farmers and women who were forced to have abortions. Sounding more defiant than he did right after his arrival on May 19, he threatened to embarrass the Chinese government severely if they did not act soon. "If they don't open an investigation in a timely manner, I will quickly make my next step," he said. "Then the central government will not have an opportunity to be the good guy." Chen would not give details of this "next step", but told Radio Free Asia in an interview last month that "there are things that I still have not made public—I don't feel it is yet the time. The day I do so, those with any conscience at all will be shocked." Foreign Policy, meanwhile, has published an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, conducted immediately after the fraught negotiations which ultimately secured Chen's passage to the US. Details of her account are scattered throughout the article, which concludes with some speculation on China's long-term political motives for the deal. Until our conversation, Clinton had said virtually nothing publicly about the case of Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident whose fate had become the object of a week of frenetic negotiations when his escape from village house arrest to the U.S. Embassy collided with a visit to Beijing by Clinton herself. Amid the unfolding drama, the secretary had smiled and nodded her way through elaborately choreographed high-level annual talks and a variety of photo ops at which she gamely recited paeans to constructive dialogue and plugged cut-rate cookstoves for the developing world. But Clinton had in fact spent the last few days in hard-nosed deal-making with the Chinese that nearly ended in an embarrassing failure, until she personally intervened, twice, with her counterpart, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo: the first time to reassure Dai about a deal to allow Chen to stay in China and study law; then, when Chen balked at that, to secure agreement that he and his family could leave for the United States. "We were in a very difficult position because we had pushed their system just about to the breaking point," recalled a senior official who was present. "We knew it, they knew it, and they knew we knew it." Other US officials have previously disclosed their version of events to The Washington Post (via CDT). © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, Dai Bingguo, Hillary Clinton, lawyers, legal system, new york city Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

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