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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Beijing Spring Turns to Winter
China Toughens Strance on Human Rights

(Last Updated on June 4, 1999)

  • China Vote Undermines Commission
    (Geneva, April 23) Human Rights Watch called today's vote on China at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights "deeply disappointing" and said it reflected badly on the Commission's own commitment to freedom of expression. By a vote of 22 to 17 with 14 abstentions, the Commission supported a motion, introduced by the Chinese delegation, to shelve a resolution critical of China's human rights record without formal debate. The resolution had been sponsored by the U.S. and Poland.

  • China: Commission Should Uphold Free Debate
    (Geneva, April 21, 1999) China must not be allowed to use procedural rules to cut off debate on its human rights performance, Human Rights Watch said today. In a statement delivered today at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva, Joanna Weschler, U.N. representative for Human Rights Watch, urged the Commission to act to prevent governments from abusing its procedures.

  • Man Who Exposed Chinese "Blacklist" Ill In Prison
    (April 20, 1999) -- Human rights groups are calling for the immediate release of Chen Meng, thirty-seven, a musician imprisoned for leaking a Chinese government document. The document in question was a list of Chinese citizens with valid passports who were barred from leaving or returning to China because of their political activities. After serving four years of a twelve-year prison term, Chen is reported to be seriously ill with a liver disease. He is currently detained in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, and Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China want him freed.

  • China Warned Against Intimidating Critic
    April 14, 1999: Human Rights Watch today denounced attempts by the Chinese government to silence Bao Tong, a former Communist Party official who has criticized the Chinese leadership.

  • China Needs To Protect Human Rights Abroad As Well As At Home
    April 5, 1999: Human Rights Watch said today that Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Washington should be an occasion for urging China to promote human rights abroad as well as for protesting China's human rights record at home.

  • Human Rights Chronology
    A chronological listing of events and incidents relating to human rights in China, Hong Kong and Tibet

    March - April 1999
    January - February 1999
    November - December 1998

  • China: Time to go back to Geneva
    January 21, 1999: Human Rights Watch today urged the international community to back a resolution condemning China's human rights practices at the next session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, from March 22-April 30, 1999. The drafting and lobbying for a resolution should begin immediately.

  • Computer Industry Must Speak Out On Chinese Internet Case
    January 20, 1999: Human Rights Watch is urging major Internet service providers such as Microsoft, America On-Line, and AT&T to publicly condemn the two-year jail sentence handed down earlier today to Lin Hai, a computer company owner in Shanghai.

  • Statement on Human Rights in China before the House Committee on International Relations
    by Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington Director, Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, January 20, 1999

  • No Justice in China
    December 21, 1998: Human Rights Watch today condemned the harsh sentences given Chinese dissidents Xu Wenli and Wang Youcai after summary trials.

  • Chinese Government Must Release Pro-Democracy Activists
    December 18, 1998: Human Rights Watch today strongly condemned the Chinese government's treatment of three pro-democracy activists, Xu Wenli in Beijing, Wang Youcai in Hangzhou, and Qin Yongmin in Wuhan.

  • Letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
    December 9, 1998

  • Wang Youcai's Trial Imminent (December 9 Update)

  • Chinese Government Must Free Pro-Democracy Advocates
    (December 2, 1998)-- Human Rights Watch today called for the immediate release of Chinese pro-democracy advocates detained Monday and urged a strong and immediate response by the international community. At least five dissidents involved in trying to organize the Chinese Democracy Party were taken into custody. Two were released, but veteran dissidents Xu Wenli, Qin Yongmin, and Wang Youcai remain in detention and face possible subversion charges.

  • No Breakthrough Yet on Human Rights in China
    (New York, September 16, 1998) — Human Rights Watch said today that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, had raised all the right issues in her visit to China, but said it was premature to characterize the visit as a breakthrough.

    US-China Summit Must Produce Results on Human Rights

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