Links » Cream » Law Against Forced Psychiatric Treatment Adopted

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• Law Against Forced Psychiatric Treatment Adopted
• Chen Guangcheng: “Speak Out … The Sky Won’t Fall.”
• Drawing the News: Politics in the House
• Bo Xilai Case Sent to Prosecutors
• Photo: Birds, by Gonzalo RA
• Sensitive Words: Wen Jiabao’s Family Wealth
• Inside China’s “Sunshine Detention Centre”

Law Against Forced Psychiatric Treatment Adopted Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:04 PM PDT Xinhua reports that, after almost 30 years of efforts, China has adopted its first mental health law to protect patient privacy and other rights, and to combat the problem of wrongful institutionalisation. Under the new law, there should be no infringements upon the dignity, personal safety or the property of mentally ill people. The law also stipulates that institutions and individuals should protect the privacy of mentally ill people by preventing leaks of private information, such as their names, addresses and employment status, unless the sharing of such data is necessary for institutions and individuals while exercising their lawful duties. China currently has about 16 million people suffering from severe mental disorders, according to the Ministry of Health. […] The law is expected to curb abuses regarding compulsory mental health treatment and protect citizens from undergoing unnecessary treatment or illegal hospitalization. Xinhua notes the 2011 case of Chen Guoming, held in an asylum for 56 days at his wife's instructions after he refused to lend money to her family. But forced psychiatric incarceration has also been used as a political weapon against activists, petitioners and whistleblowers. From Reuters' Sui-Lee Wee: "We welcome it because having a law is better than not having one," Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, told Reuters. "The most important thing that this law does is it will allow civil society to step in to monitor and press for improvement in the management of mental health in China, including … pushing for greater transparency and progressive curtailment of police rights." […] But Bequelin said he was still concerned about China's police-run psychiatric hospitals, which confine people the authorities consider troublemakers. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: human rights watch, illegal detentions, laws, legal system, mental health, mental hospitals, mental illness, psychiatry Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Chen Guangcheng: “Speak Out … The Sky Won’t Fall.” Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:16 PM PDT The Atlantic's James Fallows spoke recently to legal activist Chen Guangcheng, currently living in New York after his dramatic escape from house arrest in April. Chen explained his views on the deterioration of rule of law in China, the country's prospects for peaceful reform, and the role that international pressure might play in encouraging it. As you think about the overall situation for the rule of law, and development of civil society and individual liberties in China, would you say that things are on the whole getting better? Or getting worse? […] I think China has taken the first step, which is to make sure that there are rules and regulations and laws that govern the society. China is not doing a great job of the second step, which is to make sure that those rules are implemented and complied with in practice. Law enforcement generally speaking cannot function in today's Chinese society. That is what has given rise to all these numerous cases in which the government ignores the rules that they themselves have set up. For instance, the case of my nephew [Chen Kegui, arrested after Chen's departure], and my own case. These are all examples of the government's blatant ignorance of the law. The government acts contrary to the law, tortures people, 'disappears' them, does all sorts of things to the innocent people without any legal basis, What do you think outside individuals or organizations who support China's evolution to a rule-of-law society can most usefully do? […] I want to deliver this message to people in any democracy in the world. I want to let them know that every effort they have made in this respect will make a huge difference in China. I urge them to have faith in their ability to make changes in China. Be confident and speak out. The sky won't fall just because people speak up on their own opinion. Chen reiterated his view that Western companies should take on more social responsibility in China, singling Google out for praise: "It really has played a model role in this respect …. So far I believe that Google has earned the confidence of the Chinese people." Chen finally met with his admirer Christian Bale this week at an awards dinner hosted by Human Rights First. The Batman star mounted an unsuccessful attempt to visit Chen last December in the village of Dongshigu where he and his family were being illegally held. One of the guards who aggressively blocked Bale's visit went on to attain some measure of Internet stardom as a new Batman nemesis and generally Photoshopped omnipresence. Fallows also wrote a short passage on Chen for The Atlantic's Brave Thinkers 2012 feature: Chen, who has been blind since early childhood and taught himself law, showed physical courage comparable to the Tank Man's in climbing over walls and feeling his way along roadsides for miles, to escape the house in which local authorities had detained and physically abused him and his family for years. He broke a bone in his foot and fell repeatedly, but he continued on. Yet his more impressive courage is intellectual and temperamental. Intellectually, he has challenged Chinese authorities, not to give up their hold on power, but instead to live up to the commitments they have made to Chinese citizens, on issues ranging from the rights of the disabled to protection against forced abortions. Temperamentally, he has remained resolute and optimistic, even while knowing that his family still in China is vulnerable to retribution, and that as an exile, he may lose influence in his homeland. Also on the Brave Thinkers list is Shanghai-born architect Jun Xia, currently directing the design of the 121-floor Shanghai Tower. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, chen kegui, Christian Bale, civil society, corporate responsibility, Google, James Fallows, rule of law Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Drawing the News: Politics in the House Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:05 PM PDT From world politics to personal freedoms, this week's cartoon selection runs the gamut of major recent events in China. The week as a microcosm of China's ills: at the top, onlookers take photos of a forced demolition with their cell phones, uploading to Weibo accounts like "@PeacefulChina," "@PeacefulUniverse" and "@PeacefulMyAss." The "peaceful" prefix is often used in the official Weibo accounts of the Public Security Bureaus. Musician Zuo Xiao has now brought his protest against the forced demolition of his home online. But will his message get across to the general public? He has competition. Plastered to the side of the house is a graffitied ad–8 yuan to add 1000 Weibo followers–an injunction that "Family Planning Is Good," and this important notice: "Nobel Roof Tiling reports you have won the prize. Please transfer RMB30,000 to Agricultural Bank account number XXX." That last jab is at the planned "Mo Yan Culture Experience Zone," a US$112 mil government project for the Nobel winner's hometown. Below that violent scene, a tyrannical kindergarten teacher lifts up one of her students by the ears, barking, "Let's see you tear up another leader's portrait!" A Chinese factory supervisor will be deported from Cambodia for cutting up photos of the late Norodom Sihanouk, king until 2004. Another child is tied up and shut up in a garbage can that warns, "According to the laws and regulations, this user does not exist," a reference to removing Weibo users who cross political lines. Lindihuan (@小林-数码生存) has little hope for Weibo to effect any change beyond these particular circumstances. The online public stumbles around blindly at the bottom, each person asking the other "What do you think, Watson?"         In two weeks, the world's two largest economies will undergo two very different leadership transitions. In one, it will be a meticulously planned changing of the guard; in the other, a battle to the bitter end. In the eyes of Benevolent Brother (@仁哥时漫), China's transition could hold surprises. A group of nine rats (the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee?) argue as their leader shouts over them. They remain unaware of the mutinous group marching into their cave. Meanwhile, woodland creatures gather in awe outside a gated compound where a donkey and an elephant fight to the death.     The U.S.-China relationship is one of the most vital today, but do the two understand each other? Beijing frets that the U.S. "pivot to Asia" is really a pivot away from China, as America strengthens its partnerships with Burma, Thailand and other regional players. Add the scant discussion of China in this week's final presidential debate and some will ask if these two major powers are even playing the same game of chess. In "Connect," B. Kuang's answer is that the two aren't even playing the same type of chess. So, what's next for China after the reshuffle of the 18th Party Congress? Could reform be afoot? Marx, Lenin and Mao were conspicuously absent from several Chinese Communist Party statements this week. Mao Zedong Thought may even leave the Party constitution. And Xi Jinping may urge reform as future president. Then again, the world is always waiting for China to change. In Old Pinzi's view, political reform is as slow as a snail, taking the stage in what could be a very long, drawn out performance. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: 18th party congress, Drawing the News, forced demolition, leadership transition, mo yan, Politburo Standing Committee, political cartoons, political humor, u.s.-china relations Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Bo Xilai Case Sent to Prosecutors Posted: 26 Oct 2012 11:18 AM PDT Following the announcement on Friday of Bo Xilai's expulsion from the National People's Congress, The Wall Street Journal's Carlos Tejada reports the latest step in the process of bringing him to trial: Xinhua late Friday said the Supreme People's Procuratorate has decided to put Mr. Bo under investigation for alleged criminal offenses, as well as impose what it said were "coercive measures" on him in accordance with the law. It didn't elaborate. The Supreme People's Procuratorate investigates cases at the national level and prosecutes serious criminal cases. The Bo case still requires a formal indictment before it moves to trial, making it increasingly unlikely that Mr. Bo's fate will be decided before the Nov. 8 beginning of the 18th Party Congress, which kicks off the leadership change. Chinese leaders are thought to have been anxious to conclude the scandal surrounding Mr. Bo ahead of the congress, in part because his case raises uncomfortable questions about power and corruption. Prior to the two announcements, Reuters spoke to Human Rights Watch's Nicholas Bequelin, who said of the ongoing proceedings: "It's theatre. The judiciary grinds into action only when the outcome has been determined. There is no indication we will see a genuine trial because Bo knows too much." © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: 18th party congress, Bo Xilai, legal system, trials Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Photo: Birds, by Gonzalo RA Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:58 AM PDT Birds © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Sensitive Words: Wen Jiabao’s Family Wealth Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:33 AM PDT As of October 26, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the "search for user" function): "Grandpa Wen" is now blocked from Sina Weibo search results. Wealth of Wen Jiabao's Family Exposed: The English and Chinese New York Times websites were blocked within hours of publishing an exposé on the vast, hidden personal wealth of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's relatives. Bloomberg suffered the same fate in June for its investigation into the assets of Xi Jinping's family. The Times' report arrives just two weeks before Wen, Hu Jintao and others hand over power to the next decade of leaders during the 18th Party Congress. - New York Times (纽约时报) - Twist Times (扭腰时报): "Twist" (扭腰 niǔyāo, as in the dance) sounds similar to New York (纽约 Niǔyuē). - NY - New York Times - New York SB (纽约SB): SB is the pinyin abbreviation for "Times" (时报 shíbào). - 2.7 billion (27亿): The minimum amount of controlled assets (in U.S. dollars) held by Wen's relatives, according the the New York Times. - Wen + assets (温+财产) - Wen + wealth (温+财富) - Wen + prime minister (温+总理) - Wen + family (温+家族) - Wen treasure (温宝) - Wen clan (温氏) - Wen Party (温党) - Wen Emperor (温帝) - movie star (影帝) - Yang Zhiyun (杨志云): Wen's mother - Duan Weihong (段伟红): Founder of Taihong, the company which served as the vehicle for Wen's relatives' shares in Ping An Insurance. - Daimengde (戴梦得): Wen's wife Zhang Beili's jewelry company. - Wen + diamond queen (温+钻石女王): Zhang has earned the nickname "diamond queen" for her role in the industry. - Lady Wen (温夫人) - Wen Yunsong (温云松): Re-tested. Wen's only son. - Crown Prince Wen (温太子) - Young Master Wen (温少爷) - Zheng Jianyuan (郑建源): Wen Yunsong's alias according to online rumor. - China Satellite Communications Corporation (中国卫通): Wen Yunsong is currently chairman. - New Horizon Capital (新天域资本公司): Wen Yunsong is one of the founders. - Excellence Science and Technology (创优科技): Company founded by Wen Yunsong. - Zhang Beili (张培莉): Re-tested. - Wen Jiahong (温家宏): Re-tested. - Grandpa Wen (温爷爷): Re-tested. One of Wen's nicknames, earned for his public appearances with ordinary people. - Prime Minister Wen (温相): Re-tested. Note: All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results. CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search.  CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese's latest sensitive words post. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: censorship, Internet censorship, new york times, sensitive words, weibo, Wen Jiabao Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Inside China’s “Sunshine Detention Centre” Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:32 AM PDT The Guardian's Tania Branigan visited a model pre-trial detention centre in Beijing, where birthday noodles and counselling take the place of torture and fatal "hide and seek accidents". Her report describes the apparent conditions in the facility, and discusses how representative of reality this carefully presented showcase might be. Allowing reporters to visit Beijing No 1 and 2 detention centres was a surprising move by public security officials, who usually avoid foreign media. But it was only a tiny glimpse of the highest quality facilities in the country. Nicholas Bequelin, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said there was no doubt the facilities were the country's best, but added: "It does tell you something: it means this is what the government sees it should be doing … I don't think China is building model detention centres just to fool the international community." […] But John Kamm of Dui Hua, which advocates for political and religious prisoners and monitors developments in the criminal justice system, pointed out that not everyone was held in a detention centre: those put under residential surveillance were held in "guest houses" run by the Public Security Bureau. Last year, several of those held under such conditions during a crackdown on activists and lawyers, subsequently described being tortured. In August, lawyer Zhang Yansheng recounted his own visit to a client in a Guangdong detention centre, and complained that conditions inside prevented him from offering effective legal counsel. In addition to residential surveillance, black jails and house arrests, there is also the notorious shuanggui system reserved for Party members, in which Bo Xilai now appears to be held and retired Hunan official Wang Zhongping died under disputed circumstances late last month. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: criminal rights, detention, human rights watch, torture Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

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