Chinese authorities failed to respect their promises of reform

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/95199/
CHINA: RACE TO TAKE ACTION FOR FREE EXPRESSION AHEAD OF BEIJING GAMES

One hundred journalists and cyber-dissidents still in jail. Foreign journalists blocked and threatened despite Beijing's repeated promises to give them "complete freedom" ahead of the Olympics - both in Tibet and the earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan. Ongoing censorship online and elsewhere. With just one month left to the Beijing Games, IFEX members are asking that you turn up the heat and speak up for free expression in China. Find out what you can do now to add your voice to the protests.
While Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is continuing to call on world leaders and heads of state to boycott the opening ceremonies - rumour has it that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is reneging on his earlier vow that he'd attend only if the Chinese engaged in real dialogue with the Dalai Lama - they're also organising for the masses. RSF is urging you to turn away from your TV and march outside Chinese embassies on 8 August.
RSF, along with IFEX members the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have already joined the global appeal for the release of the Chinese "POC (Prisoners of Conscience) 8" before lucky 08/08/08 - the day of the opening ceremonies. IFEX members have lobbied for all eight, particularly, Shi Tao and Hu Jia. Get out your pen and address your letter to the Chinese ambassador or consul where you live.

Appreciating that knowing your rights is essential and that access to websites may be censored, Human Rights Watch and CPJ have published a pocket-sized survival guide - ideal for your plane journey. If you don't have enough time to order it, the "Reporters' Guide to Covering the Beijing Olympics" can be downloaded free at: http://china.hrw.org/ and will also soon be available in French, German, Spanish and Japanese. It includes an English/Chinese version of the temporary regulations, which can be shown to officials questioning reporters in the field.
Three International PEN centres - the Independent Chinese PEN Center, PEN American Center and PEN Canada - say free expression in China has deteriorated so substantially over the past year "in full view of the international community" that there are more writers and journalists in Chinese prisons than there were seven months ago. Read "Failing to Deliver: An Olympic-Year Report Card on Free Expression in China", at: http://www.pen.org/chinareport

PEN Petitions Chinese Government to Release Imprisoned Writers
By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 5/1/2008 2:42:00 PM
At a press conference in New York this morning PEN announced its intent to petition the Chinese government to free 39 Chinese writers who have been jailed for exercising their right to speak and write freely. Francine Prose, Salman Rushdie, Edward Albee and Ian McEwan all spoke about the importance of allowing freedom of speech in China as the nation prepares to host the Olympics.
Prose , who is the PEN American Center president, said 3,000 PEN members and supporters have signed the petition, which was delivered to the Chinese Mission to the UN immediately following the conference. “The Chinese government has the power to release [the imprisoned individuals] at a moment’s notice. And it should do so before the Olympic Games open,” she said.

Rushdie, Albee and McEwan reiterated the need for China to protect free speech. Rushdie was particularly passionate, noting that “the greatest victory of censorship is when it goes on so long that the truth begins to seem like bad manners or lies.” He said PEN has a history of helping to free imprisoned writers by shining a spotlight on the oppressive government, and hopes it will succeed in this case.

Following the writers’ remarks, Chinese writer Ma Jian spoke, via a translator, about censorship in China. Noting that he has been the victim of China’s stringent laws—his story collection Stick Out Your Tongue (which FSG published in the U.S.) was banned in China as a “vulgar and obscene book that defames the image of our Tibetan compatriots”—he said, “The power of literature is still stronger than the power of totalitarianism.” Finally, human rights lawyer Li Jianhong, who has represented seven of the writers currently imprisoned in China, talked, also via a translator, about the situation and thanked the U.S. for its support.

PEN American Center Freedom to Write director Larry Siems said PEN is not asking for a boycott of the Olympics. However, he said, “The Chinese government made explicit promises to the world to improve human rights before the Olympics, but if anything this year has seen even greater restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

The press conference coincided with the PEN World Voices Festival, which is running now through May 4.
Source : http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6556808.html?desc=topstory

We Are Ready: Petition to the Chinese Government
On August 8, 2007, China launched a publicity campaign proclaiming “We Are Ready” to host the Olympic Games in August 2008. We, the undersigned members and supporters of PEN American Center, are writing to ask you to show the world that China is in fact ready—not just to stage the Olympics, but to acknowledge, protect, and celebrate the full rights of its citizens.

PEN believes there are currently 44 writers and journalists imprisoned in China for exercising their right to speak and write freely, as guaranteed under Chinese and international law. We are concerned that, despite official pledges to respect essential rights in this Olympic year, Chinese authorities continue to harass and detain writers in violation of their right to freedom of expression.

In order to fulfill the promises China made in securing the Olympic Games, and to ensure that the rights of our colleagues are fully protected in your country, we therefore urge you to:

• facilitate the immediate and unconditional release of all writers and journalists currently imprisoned and end the practice of detaining, harassing, and censoring writers and journalists in China

• abide by China’s pledge that “there will be no restrictions on media reporting and movement of journalists up to and including the Olympic Games;” and

• end Internet censorship and reform laws that are used to imprison writers and journalists and suppress the free exchange of information and ideas on the Internet.
http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/1545

PEN Hits China On Free Expression Restrictions
"Media freedom organization PEN is giving China a failing grade on free expression one month before the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Conditions for both international and Chinese journalists have deteriorated between December 2007 and June 2008, according to a report released Tuesday by PEN Canada, the PEN American Centre, and the Independent Chinese PEN Centre."

"There were very specific promises that were made by the Chinese government when they were awarded the Olympics in 2001," Marion Botsford Fraser, a representative of PEN Canada, told CBC News in an interview.

"They made very clear promises to improve human rights for their own citizens and also not to limit media coverage in the time leading up to the games and during the games."
But in the months leading up to the Olympics, which begin Aug. 8, China has cracked down heavily on free expression over the internet, she said.
More than 40 journalists and writers were in jail in December 2007 and 44 are in jail today, according to the report. PEN is following the cases of an additional eight journalists, Botsford Fraser said.
"Unfortunately, it was never the intention of the Chinese government to protect or relieve the situation for its own journalists during the Olympic period," she said.
Following people around
"There is an enormous amount of harassment and tracking people and following people around," she added. "There was a case a week ago where a couple of Chinese journalists and human rights lawyers were supposed to be meeting with U.S. Congressmen and they were detained on the way to the meeting."
Foreign journalists also are not experiencing the opening up that China promised, despite a move to allow freer movement of journalists as China recovered from the Shandong earthquake.

"A window opened very briefly right after the earthquake when the story was about the tragedy of the earthquake and the enormous efficiency of the Chinese government in getting in there and actually doing something to help people," Botsford Fraser said.
"But when journalists wanted to write about the role of corruption in the collapse of buildings, China withdrew those privileges."
China's promises to allow media to report freely throughout China have also been undermined by its attempts to manage international coverage from Tibet, the PEN report found.
The report calls on the Chinese government to:
Release all writers and journalists currently imprisoned.
Stop detaining, harassing, and censoring writers and journalists.
End internet censorship.
Reform laws that are being used to suppress freedom of expression.
Abide by its pledge that "there will be no restrictions on media reporting and movement of journalists up to and including the Olympic Games."
PEN is also urging foreign governments to put pressure on the Chinese government over freedom of expression and detention of journalists during the Olympic games.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2008/07/08/china-pen.html?ref=rss
http://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/200807a.htm#fs8
9 July 2008 - Wednesday
PEN report on free expression in China
PEN have issued their report Failing to Deliver: An Olympic-Year Report Card on Free Expression in China (and a press release to go with it, China Fails to Deliver: An Olympic-Year Report Card on Free Expression from PEN ). No surprise: they don't think the Chinese have lived up to their promises.
The American president recently announced that -- and explained why he will be attending the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing, and presumably this report won't change his mind -- but maybe the widely-touted-as-book-loving first lady will now find some excuse to stay clear.

PEN American Center, PEN Canada, and the Independent Chinese PEN Center are among the 145 worldwide centers of International PEN, an organization that works to promote friendship and intellectual cooperation among writers everywhere, to fight for freedom of expression, and represent the conscience of world literature.
http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/2591/prmID/172

Chinese authorities failed to respect their promises of reform
Source: http://worldpressfreedomday.org/
Dear Reader,
Despite promises of reform made ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities have not only failed to respect them, but they have intensified their crackdown on journalists and others who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression.
Chinese journalists continue to face censorship and repression and authoritarian laws, including subversion, disseminating state secrets and spying, are used by the government to control and restrict newsgathering and information and to jail journalists.
Furthermore, both Chinese-language media based abroad and foreign media have been routinely blocked or jammed in China.

Foreign journalists now reporting from China in the run up to the Olympics are regularly harassed and even expelled, as was the case during the March 2008 events in Tibet. This violates the Organising Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games pledge that foreign media would have "complete freedom to report when they come to China".
At least 30 journalists and 50 cyber reporters are currently held in Chinese prisons for reporting facts or peacefully expressing their views.
It is high time for China to respect its commitments pertaining to freedom of expression and freedom of the press and to guarantee the right of all people to access information.
This is the clear message we need to impress on the Chinese authorities and other Olympics' stakeholders on World Press Freedom Day.
Timothy Balding
Chief Executive Officer
World Association of Newspapers
A number of individuals and organisations have made this year's campaign possible. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Agence France-Presse, Russian Guild of Press Publishers, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, Yu Zhang, Michel Cambon, JiCé, Sanjeev Saikia, Keshav Hazra, Tom Callaghan and Dominic Lambert.

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