My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: The international outcry over China’s human rights abuses was temporarily disrupted this week with news from Beijing that the regime was determined to manage the city’s pollution problems by halting building construction after July for two months. Unfortunately, many…
Showing all posts tagged Olympic Games
Silencing the occupied
While the Chinese people are mainly hostile to the Tibetan cause and nationalism is thriving, some savvy tech-heads are causing chaos: Several websites running pro-Tibet campaigns have been targeted by internet criminals, it has been claimed. Experts at ScanSafe, an internet security firm, said that two popular websites – SaveTibet.org and FreeTibet.org – have been…
The torch, boycotts and Tibet
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: The Beijing Games is shaping up as a public relations disaster for the Chinese Communist Party. Four months from the opening ceremony and global protests against the torch relay are gathering speed. Tibetan activists are successfully highlighting their cause…
The inevitable response
The imprisonment of yet another Chinese dissident yesterday, Hu Jia, proves that the Communist regime has no intention of relaxing its authoritarianism before the August Games. It should therefore expect the global community to act accordingly.
Towards Beijing: March 2008 update
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: Human rights activists have dubbed the Beijing Games the “Genocide Olympics” over concerns of China’s involvement in the Darfur crisis. The situation there is worsening by the day. Human Rights First claims that China is arming the conflict. The…
Net censorship: the basics
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: 1996 was dubbed China’s “Year of the Internet.” Only 150,000 people were connected, roughly one in 10,000. The vast majority of the mainland had never seen a computer and there were 17 people for every available phone line. A…
Don’t speak out of turn
If true, this leak to Reporters Without Borders is a revealing insight into a totalitarian mindset: Reporters Without Borders has obtained a classified memo from Chinese sources that sets out the behaviour that government officials should adopt with foreign journalists before and during the Beijing Olympic Games. It tells them to display openness but also…
Beijing beware
International PEN is a group of global writers dedicated to human rights for other writers less fortunate than us. I am a Sydney member. Its latest campaign is dedicated to highlighting the issues relating to the upcoming Beijing Olympics: The poem ‘June’ by imprisoned Chinese poet and journalist Shi Tao is relaying around the world,…