Time to tear down the wall
24 April 2008, 03:55PM
This opinion piece, from our national director Claire Mallinson, was published in The Canberra Times on 24 April 2008:
A group of Amnesty supporters exercised their fundamental human right of expression and assembly in Canberra last week as part of peaceful protests along the Beijing Olympic torch relay route.
We stood beside people celebrating the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, many of them proud members of the Chinese community who oppose the protesters. The right to express this opposition would not be available if they were in China. Journalists would not be allowed to report objectively on any attempted dissent.
China has a tight grip on the domestic and foreign media. The regime regularly sends journalists, bloggers and other citizens to jail for simple communication. In a more serious incident, journalist Lan Chengzhang was beaten to death in Shanxi province in January 2007, after investigating an illegal coal mine there. Eight staff members of a Beijing newspaper which covered the same story were sacked.
In November 2007, state media reported that China was "cautiously but resolutely on the road to media freedom".
In January 2007, new temporary media regulations were introduced which promised "complete media freedom" in the run-up to the Olympic Games. They expire on October 17, one month after the Paralympics end in Beijing.
In reality, these regulations have done little to relax surveillance and control of both the media and the internet. In fact, the stranglehold has increased. The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China reported 180 incidents in 2007 in which journalists were obstructed in doing their job, assaulted or arbitrarily detained. Chinese nationals working as assistants, translators and in other capacities with foreign journalists are subjected to surveillance and pressure from the authorities.
China has broad definitions of information that could threaten "national security" or undermine its "social stability". In June last year, three editors from the Chengdu Evening News newspaper were sacked for publishing an advertisement paying tribute to the families of victims killed in the Tiananmen Square demonstration in 1989. It was reported a young employee at the newspaper approved the advertisement because she was unaware of the 1989 crackdown.
Last July, an online campaign by residents peacefully protesting against a toxic chemical plant near Xiamen prompted authorities to force internet users to register under their real names. Earlier this year human rights activist Hu Jia was sentenced to three years in prison for "inciting subversion" an accusation which continues to be used regularly to silence and imprison peaceful activists in China.
More recently, China imposed a near total media blackout on the protests around Tibet, denying foreign journalists access to areas like Lhasa, and silencing peaceful human rights activists. Even media reports of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's recent speech at Beijing University were censored. They excluded significant comments he made about the human rights situation in Tibet, which attracted international media attention.
All forms of media are restricted in China, not just the press. The internet has proved to be the new frontier in human rights. Chat rooms are monitored, blogs deleted, search results re-routed and websites like CNN are blocked. Between 30,000 and 50,000 cyber police monitor the internet in China, with the aid of foreign-owned technology. Users accessing the internet in cafes are required to hand over their full name and identification card before using a computer. All video material on the web such as that on YouTube must be approved by a government regulatory body.
Earlier this year Beijing-based groups working on HIV/AIDS became the latest targets in the crackdown. Reports suggest that information controls are also being extended to cover SMS text messaging in Beijing.
Amnesty International continues to call upon China to apply new media laws equally to domestic and foreign journalists. The authorities should cease the unwarranted censorship of broadcast, print and online media in China and take urgent measures to prevent the arbitrary detention, harassment and unfair dismissal of journalists.
It is also crucial that the international community, including the International Olympic Committee, sponsors and world leaders who will attend the Games take a stronger stance with the Chinese authorities to bring an end to human rights abuses.
Now we are providing Australians with a chance to have their say about censorship in China as Amnesty International's huge yellow "walls" representing the Chinese internet censorship regime known as the Golden Shield or the Great Firewall of China make their way across the country.
People will be able to tear down the wall of censorship brick by brick and send a message to internet companies complicit in human rights violations.
More than 20,000 accredited media personnel are expected to attend the Olympic Games. It is an unprecedented opportunity to highlight human rights abuses in China, and take steps towards creating a more transparent society. The torch relay is a part of this process, and it provides for concerned Australians to peacefully express their opinion. To not support this right only serves to perpetuate the conspiracy of silence which pervades in China.
Claire Mallinson, is the national director of Amnesty International Australia
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Comments
Comments are submitted by members of the public and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Amnesty International Australia. If you find a comment objectionable please contact the web editor.
maryellen flynn
2 May 2008, 11:18PM
no body has the right to supress a persons individual right to speak their mind about issues which affect their country. Tibet has been persecuted for fsr too long now.
kristen chisholm
2 May 2008, 10:15PM
China has a long and distinguished history. Her poets and inventors are world renowned. As the Beijing games approach the world looks to China to see if her wisdom and intelligence will be on display as far as human rights are concerned
Gianni
1 May 2008, 11:14AM
Yes Australia killed many Aboriginal people. I as a citizen of my country must talk responsibility for the really bad things we did to our people. I have tried to make a small change by teaching young aboriginal people literacy skills. Also this country voted to change our government last year. We wanted a government that would make changes and not to allow them to die of disease or to take more of their land.
This does not mean other people cannot criticise what we see as the problem in Tibet. Of course China has brought roads and facilities to Tibet but many Tibetans have suffered and died.
Does your media (controlled by the state party) tell the truth? My cousin and sister in law have both stayed for over a year in China. My brother lives in HK and tells me of the new laws on government policy that the Chinese government wants to introduce. These 3 relatives love China & we can learn from China.
My wife went to Tibet (2 yrs ago). She saw the problems. Have you been to Tibet?
Mao
30 April 2008, 03:29PM
How about Australian give the land back to Aboriginal people? Why did they killed all of them? Why dont Australian give the land back to them?
What do you know about China? Have you ever been to China? What if the media isnt telling the truth? Free Tibet? i dont think many of those people even been to Tibet.
Gianni
24 April 2008, 05:54PM
I am teaching international students (U/G level) from both mainland China & HK. Following the torch relay today I asked for their comments – the HK student had left to migrate here in ‘98 and expressed his strong concern for the lack of political maturity of China despite recent economic growth and that he felt if anything there was a move away from openness & rights. The Beijing student was defensive and angry. He felt we in the west had no understanding of the real history of China. When I suggested that history was the determined by those in power he walked out of the room. So much for dialogue!
Roy Richardson
24 April 2008, 01:08PM
Freedom of expression is a basic human right, it is extremely disappointing that a great nation like China will not allow this and is still living in the dark ages.
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