BEIJING, China – The U.S. State Department removed China from a list of top 10 human rights violators, according to its annual human rights report.  But instead of placing it among the world’s worst offenders, it shifted China’s listing to: “authoritarian countries that are undergoing economic reform and have experienced rapid social change but have not undertaken democratic political reform and continue to deny their citizens basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The delisting of China upsets many rights activists, saying that China’s crackdown on dissent is getting worse as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in August.  In the past week, Chinese police crackdowned monks’ demonstrations in Lhasa, which is the capital of the remote mountainous region of Tibet. Human rights activist Hu Jia, detained after organizing a petition stating that Chinese wanted “human rights, not the Olympics,” was informed that his trial on charges of subverting state power could begin as early as this month.  A prominent human rights lawyer, Teng Biao, was abducted by the Beijing Public Security Bureau and then released two days later.  Migrant construction workers building the “new Beijing” are routinely exploited by being denied proper wages, under dangerous conditions with neither accident insurance nor access to medical and other social services.

State Department officials in Washington avoided questions about why China was dropped from the worst-offenders list, where it has appeared in each of the previous two years.  Jonathan Farrar, acting assistant secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, said that China’s “human rights record remains poor” and that the report gives a “very frank appraisal” on the status of human rights in the country.

For more information, please see:

Christian Science Monitor – China’s human rights rating upgraded by U.S. State Dept. – 13 March 2008

International Herald Tribune – U.S. drops China from list of top 10 violators of rights – 12 March 2008

Washington Post – U.S. Delisting of China Upsets Rights Activists – 13 March 2008

BEIJING, China – The U.S. State Department removed China from a list of top 10 human rights violators, according to its annual human rights report.  But instead of placing it among the world’s worst offenders, it shifted China’s listing to: “authoritarian countries that are undergoing economic reform and have experienced rapid social change but have not undertaken democratic political reform and continue to deny their citizens basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The delisting of China upsets many rights activists, saying that China’s crackdown on dissent is getting worse as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in August.  In the past week, Chinese police crackdowned monks’ demonstrations in Lhasa, which is the capital of the remote mountainous region of Tibet. Human rights activist Hu Jia, detained after organizing a petition stating that Chinese wanted “human rights, not the Olympics,” was informed that his trial on charges of subverting state power could begin as early as this month.  A prominent human rights lawyer, Teng Biao, was abducted by the Beijing Public Security Bureau and then released two days later.  Migrant construction workers building the “new Beijing” are routinely exploited by being denied proper wages, under dangerous conditions with neither accident insurance nor access to medical and other social services.

State Department officials in Washington avoided questions about why China was dropped from the worst-offenders list, where it has appeared in each of the previous two years.  Jonathan Farrar, acting assistant secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, said that China’s “human rights record remains poor” and that the report gives a “very frank appraisal” on the status of human rights in the country.

For more information, please see:

Christian Science Monitor – China’s human rights rating upgraded by U.S. State Dept. – 13 March 2008

International Herald Tribune – U.S. drops China from list of top 10 violators of rights – 12 March 2008

Washington Post – U.S. Delisting of China Upsets Rights Activists – 13 March 2008

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – The Buddhist monks in Tibet held large-scale demonstrations against the Chinese government around a key Tibetan anniversary on Monday, an act that the Chinese government called “an illegal activity that threatened social stability.” In the Lhasa protests, the involvement of monks from Sera and Drepung is particularly provocative.  The monasteries traditionally trained Buddhist scholars who led theocratic Tibet before China supplanted the Dalai Lama and the rest of the theocracy.

Three hundred or more monks from Drepung marched on the streets of the capital.  A smaller group of monks from Sera protested.  Soldiers and police have been deployed around two Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.  According to reports and witnesses, eleven protesters, including the nine monks from Sera monastery were severely beaten then detained by police.

During the second day of protests, the monks, estimated at 500 to 600, demand the release of fellow Sera monks who were detained for protesting a day earlier. They shouted slogans, “We want freedom!” “Free our people!” “We want an independent Tibet!” and “Free our people or we won’t go back!” as they walked.  Armed Chinese police fired tear-gas to try to disperse the crowd, a source told Reuters.  “There were probably a couple of thousand armed police, PSB personnel, wearing different uniforms. Police fired tear-gas into the crowd,” one witness told RFA’s Tibetan service. PSB denotes the China’s Public Security Bureau.

Monks in two more monasteries in Qinghai province—Lutsang monastery in Mangra county, and Ditsa monastery in Bayan county—also held small protests Monday but were not intervened with or detained by police, according to U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang confirmed that protests had taken place, but said the situation had “stabilized.”  He said the demonstration is a political scheme by the Dalai group, attempting to separate China and try to make some unrest in the normal harmonious, peaceful life of Tibetan people.  Qin also said China’s determination to “safeguard national unification” is firm, so further protests “will not take place.”

For more information, please see:

AP – Military, Police at Tibetan Monasteries – 13 March 2008

BBC – China admits Tibet monk protests – 13 March 2008

Radio Free Asia – Chinese Police Fire Tear-Gas at Protesting Tibetan Monks – 12 March 2008

Reuters – Tibetan protests ripple across mountain region – 13 March 2008

BEIJING, China – The most populated country in the world, China, said it would keep its controversial family-planning policies for at least another decade.  The announcement refutes speculation that officials were contemplating adjustments to compensate for mounting demographic pressures.  Zhang Weiqing, minister of China’s State Population and Family Planning Commission, told China’s state-run China Daily newspaper that abandoning the policies at this point would cause “serious problems,” put a strain on economic development, and cause more problems than it would solve.

One-Child policy, one of the world’s strictest population control policies, launched during the late 1970s, has prevented an additional 400 million births.  Most urban couples are limited to a single child, while farmers are often allowed to have two.  Critics say the policy has led to numerous abuses, including forced abortions and sterilizations, which continue in some areas.

Giving a rapidly aging society in China, demographers commented that a lower birthrate may actually lead to social difficulties because there will be fewer young working adults to pay taxes and look after the elderly.  Already, factories have reported shortages of young workers in recent years. At the same time, the one-child policy is considered a contributing factor to a gender imbalance that has raised concerns that there may be too few females in the future.

For more information, please see:

CNN – China to keep one-child policy – 10 March 2008

New York Times – China Sticking With One-Child Policy – 11 March 2008

Wall Street Journal – China to Retain Its One-Child Policy – 11 March 2008

BEIJING, China – The U.S. State Department removed China from a list of top 10 human rights violators, according to its annual human rights report.  But instead of placing it among the world’s worst offenders, it shifted China’s listing to: “authoritarian countries that are undergoing economic reform and have experienced rapid social change but have not undertaken democratic political reform and continue to deny their citizens basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The delisting of China upsets many rights activists, saying that China’s crackdown on dissent is getting worse as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in August.  In the past week, Chinese police crackdowned monks’ demonstrations in Lhasa, which is the capital of the remote mountainous region of Tibet. Human rights activist Hu Jia, detained after organizing a petition stating that Chinese wanted “human rights, not the Olympics,” was informed that his trial on charges of subverting state power could begin as early as this month.  A prominent human rights lawyer, Teng Biao, was abducted by the Beijing Public Security Bureau and then released two days later.  Migrant construction workers building the “new Beijing” are routinely exploited by being denied proper wages, under dangerous conditions with neither accident insurance nor access to medical and other social services.

State Department officials in Washington avoided questions about why China was dropped from the worst-offenders list, where it has appeared in each of the previous two years.  Jonathan Farrar, acting assistant secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, said that China’s “human rights record remains poor” and that the report gives a “very frank appraisal” on the status of human rights in the country.

For more information, please see:

Christian Science Monitor – China’s human rights rating upgraded by U.S. State Dept. – 13 March 2008

International Herald Tribune – U.S. drops China from list of top 10 violators of rights – 12 March 2008

Washington Post – U.S. Delisting of China Upsets Rights Activists – 13 March 2008