tagged w/ Charter 08
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Signatories to the Charter 08 document have been detained, questioned by the police and put under pressure at work.
The charter calls for a radical overhaul of China's political system by introducing elections, a new constitution and an independent judiciary.
Despite 30 years of economic reforms, China's political system has hardly changed in that time.
And the authorities' reaction to this latest call for reform suggests the country's leaders still have no appetite for political reforms.Signatories to the Charter 08 document have been detained, questioned by the police... more
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China has launched a tough countrywide crackdown on a new network of political activists, writers and lawyers who have supported a bold new manifesto that presses for the end of one-party rule.
The group of 300 or so people had all signed Charter 08, which called for democracy and the rule of law in China and was named after the famous Charter 77 dissident group formed in cold war Czechoslovakia.
Charter 08 has been hailed as the most significant act of public dissent against China's Communist party since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests were brutally crushed in 1989. It was posted online on 10 December, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It condemned recent economic modernisation efforts as having "stripped people of their rights", and called for political reform and a new liberal, democratic constitution.China has launched a tough countrywide crackdown on a new network of political... more
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Mr. Liu, a prominent and highly-regarded intellectual both in and outside of China, was taken away from his home in Beijing by public security officers on the evening of December 8. During the accompanying search of his apartment, which lasted for several hours, police seized his computers, mobile phones, and most of his personal papers.
No official reason has been given for Mr. Liu's arrest. In violation of China's own laws and regulations, the police have failed to inform either his relatives or his lawyer of his whereabouts or the reasons for his detention.
Scholars, writers, lawyers and human rights advocates wrote a letter to the Chinese government calling for Liu's release.Mr. Liu, a prominent and highly-regarded intellectual both in and outside of China,... more
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A number of organizations in Hong Kong went to the Chinese Communist Partys Liaison Office on Sunday. The reason to protest against the arrest of a Beijing scholar and others who signed onto a charter calling for political change in the Mainland.A number of organizations in Hong Kong went to the Chinese Communist Partys Liaison... more
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Amnesty International today expressed fears that authorities are pursuing a serious prosecution against the literary critic and activist Liu Xiaobo, a signatory of the Charter 08 campaign for political and rights reform. Liu Xiaobo is a well-known scholar who was arbitrarily detained twice previously for his writings and his support of the democracy movement in 1989 and spent several years in detention
Liu Xiaobo was seized from his home in Beijing on 8 December, two days before the planned Charter 08 launch which was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December. After more than 14 days of detention without approval of arrest, it now appears certain that he is considered a 'major suspect', according to Article 69 of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law. Amnesty International is urging the Chinese authorities to release him immediately.Amnesty International today expressed fears that authorities are pursuing a serious... more
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The European Union expressed serious concern on Tuesday about the arrest of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and other rights activists.
Liu, a former literature professor who was jailed for his involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy protests, was detained by police last week over the "Charter '08" manifesto.
Liu helped organise hundreds of signatories to the declaration demanding dramatic democratic reforms to the one-Party state.The European Union expressed serious concern on Tuesday about the arrest of Chinese... more
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"The Chinese document calls not for ameliorative reform of the current political system but for an end to some of its essential features, including one-party rule, and their replacement with a system based on human rights and democracy. The prominent citizens who have signed the document are from both outside and inside the government, and include not only well-known dissidents and intellectuals, but also middle-level officials and rural leaders. They chose December 10, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as the day on which to express their political ideas and to outline their vision of a constitutional, democratic China. They want Charter 08 to serve as a blueprint for fundamental political change in China in the years to come. "
Read the full document here"The Chinese document calls not for ameliorative reform of the current political... more
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Chinese intellectuals have challenged the country's Communist leaders to end one-party rule with the launch of Charter 08, a throw-back to the Charter 77 declaration of Soviet-era Czechoslovakian dissidents.Chinese intellectuals have challenged the country's Communist leaders to end... more
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300 Chinese activists sign public call for rights
By HENRY SANDERSON – 1 hour ago
BEIJING (AP) — Hundreds of Chinese activists issued an unusually open call Tuesday for greater freedoms and an end to China's one-party rule, and advocates said police detained two of the signatories before the statement was even issued.
The online statement — called the '08 Charter and signed by a group of more than 300 lawyers, writers, scholars and artists — represents a new public call for change in a country where criticizing the ruling Communist Party often brings swift punishment.
The statement proposed 19 measures to improve rights in China, including promoting an independent legal system, calling for freedom of association, and ending the monopoly of one-party rule. It was issued to coincide with Wednesday's 60th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that inspired many later human rights treaties.
China signed the U.N. treaty but has not ratified it, meaning it is not bound by it.
"This charter promotes the same ideas and values that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts, such as freedom of the press, freedom of association, independent justice, freedom of religion and environmental protection," said lawyer Mo Shaoping, who signed the statement.
"It has nothing that goes against China's constitution," he said.
However, one activist, Zhang Zhuhua, said police showed up at his house Monday night and detained him for questioning, holding him for 12 hours before releasing him Tuesday morning.
"They said I was involved in drafting the '08 Charter and warned me not to do it anymore. They searched my home and took my computer, books and bank cards," Zhang said.
Also detained Monday was Liu Xiaobo, an outspoken writer and political critic who had previously been jailed for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Zhang said.
Liu, 53, is a former Beijing Normal University professor who spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square, which ended when the government called in the military — killing hundreds, perhaps thousands.
It was unclear Tuesday if Liu had also been released. His cell phone was turned off, and his home number rang busy.
Chinese police did not respond to questions on the detentions made by phone and fax.
Nicholas Bequelin of New York-based Human Rights Watch said the '08 Charter was significant because it brings many diverse, prominent figures in China under a common agenda to promote human rights.
He said the charter gives concrete proposals and focuses on the legal protection of human rights rather than blaming the Communist Party. Still, he expected police to investigate those who signed it.300 Chinese activists sign public call for rights
By HENRY SANDERSON – 1 hour... more
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The curmudgeonly Poyuan Wei thinks the only thing wrong with the Chinese Government is that they are not tough enough on dissidents.The curmudgeonly Poyuan Wei thinks the only thing wrong with the Chinese Government is... more
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