Human rights abuse - China against activists/dissidents

[ursi]

Fri, Feb 8, 2008 (2 a.m.)

In a mad rush to spruce up China before the Summer Olympics, officials are hoping a long list of cosmetic fixes will give the world a favorable impression of the young superpower.

Intensely aware of the international scrutiny, Chinese officials have been doing more than making cosmetic fixes. They are trying to cover up the country’s horrific human rights record.

This week the country released Ching Cheong, a Hong Kong-based correspondent for the Straits Times, a Singapore newspaper. Ching was detained in 2005 and spent 16 months waiting before being convicted of espionage, a loosely defined charge in China that authorities use to silence journalists, dissidents and free-speech activists. Said to be in failing health, he was released on what the Chinese government called parole.

Human rights activists were anything but impressed. Ching should have never been detained, much less convicted, and his release was at best a token gesture undercut by the government’s push to silence others before the Olympics. Officials have tightened controls on the Internet and stepped up efforts to sweep dissidents out of the public light.

For example, as Ching was being released, writer and democracy activist Lu Gengsong was being sentenced to four years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” A onetime lecturer at a police training academy, Lu became a freelance journalist and landed in trouble after writing about political corruption in local government in the city of Hangzhou.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/feb/08/human-rights-abuse/

[Virginia Dare]

1. Some human rights groups estimate..

that the Chinese government has been responsible for well over 1 million deaths since the communist regime took over. Yet, they are one of our BFF's and will triumphantly welcome the world to their country to "celebrate" the Olympics this year.

Tell me again why we invaded Iraq?

[DCKit]

2. So DickyGeorge could rack up a comparable score of the dead?

Bet we got them beat at "number of citizens in prison" too, and we're only about 1/3 the size. Political prisoners? Ask Don Siegelman or the guys at GITMO.

edit to add:

I'm no fan of China, but the U.S. is in no position to criticize anyone. Every human rights organization in the world is (rightfully) all over our ass.

[Virginia Dare]

3. We've still got a long way to go...

but yeah, we're catching up...in less time too.:-(