Amnesty International Australia

China in the headlines – 17 July 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

• China's leaders say they will never discuss the future of Tibet with the Dalai Lama.
  
  
• Chinese authorities are not exaggerating the terrorism threat to justify a security crackdown, say the Olympics' organisers.
  
  
• Just weeks out from the opening ceremony, Beijing resident Yu Pingju is being forced from her home as part of efforts to beautify the city for the Olympics.
  
  Plus …

Toymakers and their Chinese employees are sweating

As the Olympics loom, another major toymaker has been accused of sweatshop conditions in a Shenzhen factory. A number of large toy brands in Australia did not respond to a joint survey of sourcing policies by Choice and Amnesty International, so we cannot know how prevalent the problem is.

China in the headlines – 16 July 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

• Amnesty International urges President George Bush to speak out on human rights when he attends the opening of the Olympics.
  
  
• A Chinese journalist talks about the Olympics, Tibet and cross-cultural understanding.
  
  
• Recently Chinese authorities have issued rules for foreigners, for Olympics spectators, for Beijing residents – here's a run-down.
  
  Plus …

Weekly report: The Beijing countdown continues

It is time for Western human rights activists to pressure China in new ways, writes Antony Loewenstein

Never a right time to protest

Remember the Black Power protest of the 1968 Olympic Games? Check out this clip showing just one occasion where human rights and the Olympics met – it's from the team behind Salute, a new movie out later this month.

China kills seven Uighur men

China executed two ethnic Uighur men last week and imprisoned another 15 for alleged terrorist links. Just one day prior to the executions, Chinese police shot and killed five men during a raid in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, bringing the Uighur death total for last week to seven.

Beijing bound.. .Visa, ticket, Tibet info pack…

The Australian Tibet Council has launched an information pack for those headed to Beijing.

Pressing China through human aerial art

Amnesty International supporters around the world have used human aerial art to call on Chinese authorities to ensure the Beijing Olympics have a positive human rights legacy.

China in the headlines – 15 July 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

• A look at Internet censorship – push-up protests, the fifty-cent party and astroturf – in the wake of the recent riots in Weng'an.
  
  
• Some journalists fear they may have to scale back Olympic reporting plans because of China's massive security drive.
  
  
• Video footage of the Olympic torch relay in the Chinese city of Changchun earlier this week.
  
  Plus …

Shootings and executions in the Xinjiang region

News of Olympic sabotage plots, swift executions and lethal raids have been spilling out of China's troubled Xinjiang region.

China in the headlines – 14 July 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

• With only a few weeks until the opening of the Games, China's promise of media freedom is sounding distinctly Orwellian, writes the Sydney Morning Herald Mary-Anne Toy.
  
  
• As the Olympic torch heads to the eastern province of Shandong, dozens of police surround the family home of jailed rights activist Chen Guangcheng.
  
  
• China's online censors are now trying to manipulate opinion on Twitter.
  
  

Plus …

Forced out in the Beijing ‘clean-up’

As the Olympics move closer Chinese authorities continue their clamp down on anything they think could tarnish Beijing's image.

China in the headlines – 11 July 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

• Chinese police say in the first six months of the year, they detained 82 people from ethnic minority region of Xinjiang, who they allege were plotting to sabotage the Olympics.
  
  
• Taiwan rejects China's attempts to change the name under which it compete at the Olympics, to one suggesting the island is part of China.
  
  
• The Olympic torch makes its way through Inner Mongolia.

Plus …

Democracy activist’s moving prison

Chen Ziming, a leading Chinese dissident and democracy advocate, has spent most of the last two decades either in prison or under surveillance.

On the campaign trail with a Chinese dissident

Australia’s SBS Dateline program has an interview with well-known exiled Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng. Check it out and add your comments.

China in the headlines – 10 July 2008

WARNING THIS FOOTAGE CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

• Kevan Gosper, Australia's International Olympic Committee member, asks China to loosen up its visa process to allow non-accredited journalists into China for the Games.
  
  
• The BBC looks at whether governments that initially demanded visible improvements to civil liberties in China are now turning a blind eye.
  
  
• Video footage of villagers being beaten up, after allegedly refusing to leave their homes to make way for a construction project, is spreading through Chinese cyberspace (WARNING this footage contains disturbing images).
  
  Plus …

Survey ranks China at bottom of human rights

Australians are more concerned with the performance, price and energy use of the products they buy than ethical implications, according to a new survey.

China in the headlines – 9 July 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

• The Huffington Post lists 10 things worth knowing about the Chinese Internet.
  
  
• China's propaganda machine seeks to control public opinion at all costs, and the media is its tool.
  
  
• The final countdown to the start of the Beijing Olympics has begun, with the Games now less than a month away.

Plus …

Do athlete’s have the freedom to speak out?

Strict and confusing guidelines by the Australian Olympic Committee are curtailing athlete's freedom of speech when competing at the Beijing Olympics. The Australian Paralympic Committee is yet to release their official guidelines with only 8 weeks left until competition starts!

Weekly report: Rise of human rights consciousness

We don't need American, mainstream journalists telling us that something is wrong in China, writes Antony Loewenstein