News: Another Activist Detained in China

Zhong Guo

I have been thinking of how people say, "China is changing slowly, it’s the right way." But how to they justify putting someone who puts their thoughts out in jail, or artists who do performance art that may question the mores and boundaries of society in detention centers (while I am sure also means "prison.")

CHINA

Cyber-dissident who defended workers’
rights is detained during EU visit

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the arrest of
cyber-dissident Shi Xiaoyu because of his online reporting on
workers’ protests in the southwestern industrial city of Chongqing.
Shi has been held by the Chongqing authorities since 20 October.

"Shi’s detention is unacceptable as all he did on the Internet was
to defend workers’ rights enshrined in the Chinese constitution,"
the press freedom organisation said. "It is shocking to learn of the
arrest of yet another cyber-dissident while a European Union
delegation is in China to discuss human rights."

Reporters Without Borders added: "The Chinese authorities must
immediately release Shi and the approximately 60 other
cyber-dissidents currently in prison."

Shi was arrested when members of the Chongqing public security
department travelled all the way to his home in Shaoxing, in the
eastern province of Zhejiang, and escorted him back to Chongqinq. They
took his laptop and personal notes. It is still not known where
exactly he is being held in Chongqinq.

In late September, Shi tried to help Chongqing steelworkers who have
been protesting against corrupt practices by some of their bosses. The
police used violence to disperse meetings in mid-October. Reports on
the Internet say two workers were killed and many were injured and
that many arrests were made in these police crackdowns. The Chongqing
propaganda department has imposed a news blackout.

Now aged 50, Shi was previously imprisoned in 1976 for criticising
certain Maoist policies and received a death sentence that was never
executed. He resumed his studies after being released in 1979 and
began working for small companies in Shaoxing in 2001. At the same
time, he posted information about workers’ rights online.<!–
D(["mb","
\r\n
\r\nThe police warned him of the risks he was running at the start of\r\nOctober. The organisation Chinese Rights Defenders said he then wrote\r\non the Internet that he intended to put an end to his\r\nactivism.

\r\n


\r\n

—————————————-

\r\n


\r\n

CHINE
\r\n

\r\n

Alors qu\’une délégation de\r\nl\’Union européenne est en Chine, un cyberdissident est arrêté\r\npour avoir défendu les droits des ouvriers
\r\n
\r\n
\r\nShi Xiaoyu
est détenu depuis le 20 octobre 2005 à Chongqing\r\npour avoir notamment mis en ligne des informations sur la répression\r\ncontre des travailleurs de cette grande ville industrielle du\r\nsud-ouest de la Chine.
\r\n
\r\n«La détention de Shi Xiaoyu, dont les prises de position sur\r\nInternet ne font que défendre certains droits accordés aux\r\ntravailleurs par la Constitution chinoise, est inacceptable. Alors\r\nqu\’une délégation de l\’Union européenne est actuellement en\r\nChine pour discuter de la situation des droits de l\’homme, il est\r\nchoquant d\’apprendre l\’arrestation d\’un nouveau cyberdissident.\r\nLes autorités chinoises doivent immédiatement libérer Shi Xiaoyu\r\net la soixantaine d\’autres cyberdissidents emprisonnés », a\r\ndéclaré Reporters sans frontières.
\r\n
\r\nLe 20 octobre 2005, des membres du département de la sécurité\r\npublique de Chongqing se sont rendu à Shaoxing (province de\r\nZhejiang, Est) pour interpeller Shi Xiaoyu à son domicile et\r\nl\’escorter jusqu\’à Chongqinq. Les policiers ont également saisi\r\nson ordinateur portable et des écrits personnels. Son lieu de\r\ndétention demeure inconnu à ce jour.
\r\n
\r\nDepuis fin septembre 2005, Shi Xiaoyu tente d\’aider des ouvriers de\r\nla sidérurgie de Chongqing qui luttent contre la corruption de\r\ncertains dirigeants. La police a violemment réprimé, mi-octobre,\r\nles divers rassemblements. Selon certaines informations publiées sur\r\nInternet, ces actions policières auraient causé la mort de deux\r\ntravailleurs et de nombreux autres auraient été blessés et\r\narrêtés. Le département de la propagande de Chongqing a imposé\r\nun black-out de l\’information sur ces événements.”,1]
);
//–>

The police warned him of the risks he was running at the start of
October. The organisation Chinese Rights Defenders said he then wrote
on the Internet that he intended to put an end to his
activism.

Published by Yan Sham-Shackleton

Yan Sham-Shackleton is a Hong Kong writer who lives in Los Angeles. This is her old blog Glutter written mostly in Hong Kong from 2003 to 2007. Although it was a personal blog, Yan focused a lot on free speech issues and democratic movement in Hong Kong. She moved to the US in 2007.

3 thoughts on “News: Another Activist Detained in China

  1. It’s getting so it’s hard to keep up.
    Have You been updating that list of jailed cyber-dissidents? It would be cool to get an update. Thanks in Advance.
    -davem

    Like

  2. If he was warned, you wonder if his intention was to push the system until he was arrested, the guy’s had a death sentence passed already.

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  3. You get an update by coming to the blog? I haven’t even really had time to deal with all my emails (as you know.)
    Rob, I saw the show. Thank you for the heads up. I hope to have time to write about it.
    yan

    Like

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