16 Feb 2012 | Asia and Pacific, Index Index, minipost
Journalists from French broadcaster France 24 and the Netherlands Press Association were attacked yesterday in Panhe, Zhejiang province, while investigating land grab protests in the area. France 24’s Baptiste Fallevoz and his Chinese fixer, Jack Zhang, said they were followed in their car and later surrounded by 20-30 thugs who pulled Zhang from the vehicle and smashed his camera before continuing to try to attack him. Remko Tanis of the Netherlands Press Association was also beaten up by attackers who confiscated his notebook, materials about the land disputes given to him by Panhe locals, and his camera memory card.
16 Feb 2012 | Asia and Pacific, Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost
The Chinese government plans to continue censoring social networking sites, the the Communist Party and State Council has said regarding China’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) on Cultural Reform and Development. The outline said the Chinese government will increase regulation of domestic social networks such as RenRen and microblogging platforms, as well as cracking down on online distribution of pornography. There will also be an increased focus on protecting private information online and improving the country’s system to assess online security, according to the outline.
14 Feb 2012 | Asia and Pacific, Index Index, minipost
Veteran Chinese dissident Zhu Yufu has been sentenced to seven years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” after he shared his poem “It’s time” over Skype. The court in Hangzhou, eastern China, sentenced Zhu following a trial hearing on 31 January. During the hearing, prosecutors cited the poem and messages the activist had sent online. In the poem, Yufu called on Chinese citizens to defend their freedoms. The court verdict said the crime deserved “severe” punishment.
1 Feb 2012 | Asia and Pacific, Index Index, minipost
Several Tibetan-language blogs hosted in China are reported to have gone offline today, amid a period of severe unrest. AmdoTibet’s blog section has been temporarily shut down, a message on the site reads, “due to some of the blog users not publishing in accordance with the goal of this site.” Tense events of recent weeks have included a stream of self-immolations in Tibet protesting against Chinese rule, and more recently, deadly clashes between officials and demonstrators.
