michael.lrf's blog

Women's Rights Without Frontiers reports:

A new video featuring One Child Policy activist Chen Guangcheng was leaked to the China Aid Association Wednesday.  It has just been reported that this morning, Chen and his wife, Yuan Weijing, were “beaten senseless” in retaliation for the release of the video.

Blind activist Chen exposed the systematic use of forced abortion in implementing China’s One Child Policy.  His work has not gone unnoticed by the world.  Time Magazine named him in its list of “2006’s Top 100 People Who Shape Our World,” in the category of “Heroes and Pioneers.”  In 2007 he was awarded the Magsaysay award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.

The Chinese Communist Party, however, took a different view.  For standing up for the rights of Chinese women, Chen was handed a four year, three month jail sentence, was tortured and denied medical treatment, and is now languishing under house arrest.  No one had heard from him since September until yesterday, when he released this video.  

To read more and sign a petition to free Chen from house arrest, visit Women's Rights Without Frontiers.

LRF is currently attending the Taiwan International Book Exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Center to launch our newest publication, Strive for Freedom-Selected Writings of Liu Xiaobo. This book is a collection of essays that Liu submitted to LRF's China Observer (观察) website between 2002 and 2008. For more on the book exhibition and LRF's participation, please see our press release and this article from Focus Taiwan.

For those who couldn't make it to the book exhibition, we wanted to share these photos with you:

LRF's booth at the exhibition.  (More photos after the jump!)

Last night, Canada's CBC aired an expose on Chinese Laogai forced labor product imports to the Canadian construction company Inland Screw Piling.  The segment featured Laogai Research Foundation's (LRF) latest report "Building on the Backs of Prisoners: Examining the Imports of a Canadian Construction Company," being released today.

"Building on the Backs of Prisoners" highlights the trade of over US$300,000 worth of goods between Inland Screw Piling in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and a Laogai forced labor prison camp in Henan Province, China. LRF also uncovered the sales contract between Inland Screw Piling and the Laogai enterprise signed by Inland Screw Piling President and Sales Manager, Harry Knelson.

Additionally, LRF, under the guise of a made-up business, acquired a sales contract to import over US$140,000 of goods to the U.S. from the same Chinese Laogai forced labor prison enterprise.

As these two instances demonstrate, it is not only possible for Chinese forced labor prison products to be imported to North America, but it is in fact quite easy to import Laogai products. The import of Laogai products occurs in violation of Chinese export regulations, Canadian import regulations, and U.S. tariff law.

Laogai survivor and LRF executive director Harry Wu said of the situation, "This case is merely an example of the continuous stream of Laogai products into North America. We cannot forget that the prisoners making these products are forced to do so and that many of them are just like Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo:  political prisoners."

Wu continued, "When President Obama and Hu Jintao sit down next week to talk economic policy and human rights, Obama would be remiss not to condemn China's export of Laogai products to the United States."  Furthermore, "The importation of Laogai products to the U.S. undermines our economy and our position as a world leader in human rights."

Food safety activist Zhao Lianhai (赵连海) was supposedly released yesterday, revealing the news through a blog post and apologizing for his negative remarks about the government.

"I support and thank the government and I feel deeply sorry for the remarks I made against the government in the past."

According to the Australian, "neither Mr. Zhao nor his wife could be reached to confirm the contents [of the blog post]."

Zhao Lianhai's son was a victim of 2008's melamine-tainted milk scandal in China that sickened nearly 300,000 children. In response, Zhao organized the "Milk Powder Group" and launched the website Jieshi Baobao (结石宝宝; babies with kidney stones), "in order to facilitate communications among fellow parents and seek compensation from the Chinese Dairy Association and the manufacturers of the tainted milk powder."

Zhao was detained for his activism in November 2009 and tried in March 2010. In November 2010, Zhao was sentenced to a two-and-a-half year prison term for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." After hearing the sentence, Zhao said "I will not accept this ruling - I would rather die in prison. I will go on an indefinite hunger strike."

For more, see the Wall Street Journal's China blog and the Australian.

Laogai Research Foundation (LRF) executive director Harry Wu and LRF Washington, DC director Nicole Kempton participated in this year's Independent Media in Exile Conference organized by the World Press Freedom Committee.  Wu spoke during the conference's opening reception (see his speech reprinted below) and Kempton presented Friday on LRF's Laogai Archives, a growing online collection of documents, photographs, and videos which uncover currently censored information by the Chinese government. The Laogai Archives also includes LRF's prison database, an extensive listing of the prisons and reeducation through labor camps that makeup China's Laogai.

Read more about the conference and Harry Wu's speech from the World Press Committee's "Interesting Times":

Harry Wu knows all about the consequences of defying a dictatorial regime. After he had the temerity to criticize the Communist Party, he was sent to the Laogai, the Chinese gulag, for 19 horrendous years.

His jailers were able to break many things, but never his will to survive and prevail. He eventually was forced into exiled in 1985 and arrived in the United States "with 45 dollars in my pocket," he says.

He quickly started working on showing the world the horrors of the Laogai. But not until the age of the Internet did he really become a true thorn on the side of the Beijing bosses.

He founded the Laogai Research Foundation, perhaps the world's most comprehensive archive of original documents from the darkest years of the Chinese gulag.  (More after the jump)

...said the Chinese government as Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was named the winner of the internationally esteemed Nobel Peace Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."  As a long time democracy and human rights activist, Liu Xiaobo has been targeted by the Chinese government for his writings and for his role in the Tiananmen Square protests. Most notably, Liu was detained in December 2008 and disappeared for co-authoring "Charter 08," a manifesto calling for political reform and democratization in China. In June 2009, Liu was formally arrested for "agitation activities, such as spreading rumors and defaming the government, aimed at subversion of the State and overthrowing the socialism system."

Liu Xiaobo is currently being held in a prison in northern China where his wife Liu Xia hopes to travel to in order to share the good news about the award. "I'm totally shocked and feel so happy," said Liu Xia, although "she regretted her husband couldn't share the moment with her." He will be "surprised and humbled," she said. "It's an affirmation of what he has fought for." (Read more after the jump)

LRF's European office has been busy making the rounds of the European Parliament to rally debate on the importation of products from China's Laogai.  In a significant development, the Parliament will debate all aspects of importing Laogai goods to the EU on September 23.  To see the press release from our European office click the image at right or the links below.

LRF Europe Laogai Imports Debate Press Release - English

LRF Europe Laogai Imports Debate Press Release - German

After two years at our 1109 M Street NW location in Washington, DC, our burgeoning operations are decidedly out of space.  Our Laogai Musuem has outgrown the first floor of our building, our summer interns were practically crawling over each other in the upstairs loft, and our Laogai Archives are literally spilling off the shelves.

As such, the Laogai Museum and the Laogai Research Foundation will be moving to 2000 S Street NW in Washington, DC's Dupont Circle neighborhood (yes, this is the DC Real World house).  To prepare for some big changes, the Laogai Museum will close this October while we move our offices and construct the new museum.  Visit the Laogai Museum Blog: "Breaking Ground" to learn more about the plans for the museum, track our progress, and learn about ways you can contribute - we couldn't do any of this without all of generous supporters!

In this episode of "Harry's Lunchbox," a recurring feature in which Laogai survivor Harry Wu talks about life in the Laogai and under communism, Harry describes being forced to criticize a fellow prisoner - an experience he will never forget. 

Below is the translation of an article written by the prominent author and dissident Yu Jie on July 7th, 2010. Yu Jie was recently interrogated by government officials. This long, but interesting article details the conversation that took place between Mr. Yu and his interrogator. The original Chinese article can be viewed here.

Censorship Everywhere in China-My Second Interrogation by the Chinese Police
-Yu Jie

“The real symbol of China’s openness should be: when asked at a press conference what his favorite book is, Premier Wen Jiabao would show China’s Best Actor Wen Jiabao, a book by Yu Jie, to the audience and say, ‘This book, certainly this one. It is my best reference.”-from Twitter username: “Playboy”

July 5 2010, Officer Li called me at 10 am, notifying me that the officers from the municipal State Security Bureau wanted to talk to me at the police station in my neighborhood at 3 pm that day. I refused, because I was busy finalizing my new book China’s Best Actor Wen Jiabao, which is to be published in half a month. The state security officers get paid for their time “talking to” people like me, since it is part of their job. But I cannot waste my time, and it is certainly my civil right to refuse their demands. (Read more after the jump)