China's 'Tibet recipe' in Xinjiang should put India on alert

Chen Quanguo leaves Tibet to apply his recipe in Xinjiang

My article China's 'Tibet recipe' in Xinjiang should put India on alert appeared in Mail Today.

Here is the link...

The stability of the Muslim region is vital for Beijing and its gigantic BRI project. At the end of August 2016, Wu Yingjie takes over as party secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) from Chen Quanguo who is sent to "pacify" the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party has taken this crucial decision during the annual closed-door meeting in the summer resort of Beidahe. Chen replaces Zhang Chunxian as XUAR party secretary.
It is indeed a promotion for Chen, given the fact that Xinjiang's party secretaries often serve in the politburo. Infrastructure His selection is linked to the "Tibet Recipe", the way Chen managed to "pacify" the TAR.
Once in Urumqi, Chen immediately started applying the formula that he used in Tibet to Xinjiang. But what is this recipe?
First, Chen transformed the Roof of the World into a vast Disneyland. In 2006, the arrival of the train on the plateau changed everything for Beijing and unfortunately for the Tibetans.
Wave after wave of Chinese tourists could be poured into Tibet to experience the "Paradise on Earth" with its blue sky, pristine lakes and rivers, its luxuriant forests and deep canyons (the latter in Southern Tibet).
In 2016, 25 million tourists, mainly from the Mainland, are said to have visited the Land of Snows. For this, infrastructure needed to be developed, airports opened, four-way highways constructed, hotels and entertainment parks built; this was done in Tibet on a war-footing.
Wave after wave of Chinese tourists poured into Tibet. In passing, the Tibetan intangible heritage had to be preserved, often with Chinese characteristics. The same formula has now to be replicated in Xinjiang. Second, in order to "stabilise" the plateau, Chen imposed restrictions on the local population like never before.
Similar policies will be used in Xinjiang. Human Rights Watch (HRW), an organisation based in the US, just released a "glossary" of special slogans or "formulations" (tifa) used by the Chinese officials and the media when referring to party policies on the plateau.
HRW explains: “China’s authorities place extraordinary emphasis on the importance of ‘propaganda’ in sustaining their rule. This phenomenon is particularly evident in Tibet, where there has been a long history of human rights violations, extreme hostility towards political rights, and heavy restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and access to information.”
"Poetic" tifas such as Social Management, Comprehensive Rectification, Preventive Control, Eliminate-Unseen-Threats, Nets-in-the-Sky-Traps-on-the-Ground or Copper-Ramparts-Iron Walls, are recurrently used.
The latter one for example, translates into “an impenetrable public security defense network consisting of citizen patrols, border security posts, police checkposts, surveillance systems, internet controls, identity card monitoring, travel restrictions, informant networks, and other mechanisms.”
The implementation of these tifas, which originated during Chen’s tenure in Tibet, is often dreadful... but efficient for Beijing.

Rights 
Chen has taken these tifas with him to Xinjiang and started making good use of them. The "stability" of the Western province is vital for China, as it is the geographical hub for the Belt and Road Initiative: it will connect the New Silk Road (Central Asia) to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Chen now plans to bring millions of tourists to Xinjiang in order to "dilute" the Uyghur characteristics. In a "White Paper on Xinjiang" recently published by Beijing, the Communist Party hides its failure by saying: “Legitimate rights of religious organisations have been effectively safeguarded. Xinjiang has published translations of the religious classics of Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity in multiple languages,” adding 1.76 million copies of the Quran have been printed and distributed. But on the ground the situation is different.
To take just one example, Beijing has decided to collect DNA samples from all Xinjiang’s residents. This week, Xinhua reported China's decision to dispatch 10,000 teachers to the restive XUAR and TAR “to support local education could help solve the educational problems.” Stability Beijing says that the main problem is the lack of eligible bilingual teachers in the regions, but will the teachers from the mainland teach the Turkish language of the Uyghurs or Mandarin? Not difficult to guess. Language, in Tibet or Xinjiang, is an instrument of assimilation.

Infrastructure
Chen is also working hard to improve the infrastructure. Last week, Xinhua announced the construction of 10 new airports to be built in Xinjiang by 2020; further, six older airports will be renovated and expanded. It has implications for India.
One of these airports will be built in Yutian (also known as Keriya), a county of Hotan Prefecture not far from the disputed Aksai Chin. Located south of the Taklimakan desert and north of the Kunlun range, Keriya has always been a major stopover on the ancient Silk Road. In view of the proximity of the Indian border, it makes sense for China to have a new "civil" airport at Keriya, considering that there is no such thing as a "civil" airport in China, especially so close to the Indian border. Keriya airport is designed to annually handle 1,80,000 passengers and 400 tons of cargo; it will have a 3,200-meter runway, a 3,000-square-meter terminal building and cost 104 million US dollars, says Xinhua. There is no doubt that Chen has been mandated to apply the "Tibet Recipe" in Xinjiang.
Will he succeed is another question.
It is however certain that the stability of the Muslim region is vital for the Middle Kingdom and its gigantic BRI "linking" project; India needs to watch and be prepared.

Tibet: Spain passes the reverse gear

Wu Yingjie meets Spanish officials

Madrid has finally understood: China is a Big Country and one can't 'attack' with impunity the Middle Kingdom.
The article from El Pais posted below says that Spain is now ready to reduce  the powers of its judiciary in the field of 'universal justice cases' and this after Beijing warned of 'damaged relations' (if Madrid does not listen).
Last month, the same newspaper had reported: "China has expressed is 'great discontent' about the Spanish High Court’s decision on Tuesday to issue an arrest warrant for former President Jiang Zemin, 87, and other Chinese Communist Party members, over the genocide in Tibet."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei had then urged Spain "to face up to China’s solemn position, change the wrong decision, repair the severe damage, and refrain from sending wrong signals to the Tibetan independence forces and hurting China-Spain relations.”
El Pais explained the context: "The investigation derives from a 2006 lawsuit brought by Tibet human rights organizations and Sherpa Thubten Wangchen, a Spanish national, over a combined series of actions by the Chinese government aimed at 'eliminating the idiosyncrasy and existence of the country of Tibet itself."
For the Spanish laws, the universal jurisdiction principle is however limited to cases in which a Spanish national is affected by crimes outside its borders.
Now the question remains: is the decision of the Spanish government (to change its legislation), related to the visit of Wu Yingjie, the Party's Deputy Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region?
Several times I have mentioned  on this blog the failure of this old Han cadre (39 years in Tibet, though he is only 57 years old) to propagate the massline campaign in Nagchu/Driru.
If Mr. Wu did it, then Beijing should think to give him a foreign assignment instead of let him languish in a remote Tibetan prefecture.

Rajoy government bids to halt Tibet case against Chinese officials
El Pais
December 17, 2013
Spain plans to reduce judiciary’s powers in universal justice cases after Beijing warned of damaged relations
In an effort to head off a diplomatic crisis, the Popular Party (PP) government is planning to limit the Spanish judiciary's powers to investigate human rights crimes in other countries, Justice Ministry sources said.
Proposed changes to the law that outlines the judiciary's jurisdiction come after the High Court last month issued arrest warrants for five top Chinese officials, including China's former president Jiang Zemin and former prime minister Li Peng, alleging they were responsible for "genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and terrorism" against Tibetans in the 1980s and 1990s. It based its prosecution on the doctrine of universal justice.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is highly concerned about the High Court's arrest warrants and how they could damage Spanish-Chinese relations after Beijing issued a warning to this effect, sources said. Rajoy had planned on visiting China in September but the trip was suddenly called off.
Changes to the Organic Act of the Judicial Power will be presented in January. Specifically, modifications will be made to article 23, which gives Spanish courts jurisdiction to investigate human rights crimes when "the alleged offenders are in Spain or when there are victims that have connections or links that are relative to Spain," and have not been tried in other countries for the same crimes. This same clause was changed in 2009 under pressure from the Israeli government when the High Court tried to indict Israel's former defense minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, for killings that took place in Gaza seven years earlier.
Rajoy fears that China might adopt retaliatory measures against Spain as it did against Norway when dissident Liu Xiaobo was given the Nobel Peace prize.

No reforms in sight in the Middle Kingdom

Beijing-Panchen Lama in Amdo

Many China watchers are disappointed by the first months of Xi Jinping in the hottest seat of the Middle Kingdom.
Though he has been preaching a 'mass line' à la Mao and a new Chinese Dream, there is so far nothing to dream about.
Tibet witnessed the same old 'inspection tours' of the Party bosses. Soon after more repressive measures were put in place, creating more resentment amongst the 'masses'.
It has been the case of Xinjiang, which was 'blessed' by the visits of 4 members of the Politburo in a week time (Yu Zhengsheng, Meng Jianzhu, Zhang Chunxian and General Fan Changlong).
Regarding the latter, I am not convinced that the objective of the visit to the Xinjiang Military District was uniquely to tackle a law and order problem.
As mentioned in my previous posting, General Fan Changlong, the Senior Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission was accompanied by too many generals.
General Liu Yuejun, commander of the Lanzhou Military Region and Wang Jianping, commander of the Peoples' Armed Police may have come to inspect the unrest amongst the Uyghur population, but General Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the PLA was also in attendance. He is also Secretary General of State Defense Mobilization Committee.
General Liu Zheng, deputy director of the General Logistics Department (GLD) of the PLA was also around. The most intriguing guest was General Du Jincai, deputy director of the General Political Department (GPD) of the PLA. He is also a member of the all-powerful Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.  
Has someone in the area (overlooking the LAC in Ladakh) done something wrong? Stealing cameras from the neighbours? We will probably never know.
In the meantime, the 'tours' continue.
Xinhua reported the visit of the Beijing-selected Panchen Lama ...after his return in Beijing, as usual.
Xinhua says: "The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu [Gyaltsen Norbu] paid his third visit to northwest China's Qinghai Province from June 30 to July 9."
Note that Yu Zhengsheng was in the neighbouring Gansu province at the same time (after a weekend in Xinjiang, he spent the next one in 'Tibetan-areas'). They could have bounced in each others.
Xinhua continues: "The Panchen Lama hosted a series of Buddhist rituals and gave blessing to thousands of local devotees during his visit to the province, which has a large number of ethnic Tibetan residents. During the tour, the Panchen Lama visited major Tibetan Buddhist temples in Qinghai and was heartily welcomed."
The photos released by the Chinese agencies do not show large crowds. The trip must have been organized in the most discreet manner, not to attract unwanted incidents. A bit of propaganda was probably Beijing's chief motive.
Gyaltsen Norbu stated that he was glad to see the economic and social development of Qinghai, especially the rehabilitation progress in Yushu where a nasty earthquake provoked a lot of damage in 2010.
The young Lama hoped that all Tibetan Buddhists would cherish the hard-earned peaceful society and work hard to promote social stability and ethnic harmony. The usual stuff.
The fact remains that since his arrival in power, Mr. Xi has not managed to improve the 'human' situation; on the contrary, it has worsen in several places.

Punishment continues of those pressing for promised reforms
July 10, 2013
Maya Wang
Global Post
Sacking high-level officials for corruption, slowing growth rates, seething tensions with Japan, a summit at Sunnylands: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first hundred days in office have not been dull.  But are there any clues as to whether his tenure will be different from his predecessors’?
Before his formal assumption of China’s presidency on March 14, many hoped Xi Jinping and the new leadership would take bold steps to move China forward in areas where there has long been paralysis, especially on human rights and political reforms. Xi’s early speeches reinforced these expectations: he portrayed himself as a reformer, promised a more responsive government, issued orders against lavish displays of wealth by officials, and even launched prosecutions against some cadres for corruption.
Xi’s government hinted at reforms to notorious state systems, including the “hukou” residency registration which discriminates against rural migrants, the petitioning system and the Re-education through Labor system, which arbitrarily detains individuals for up to four years without trial. The downgrading of the power of the internal security chief also raised hopes the ballooning “stability maintenance” machinery that ensured the suppression of dissent might finally be curbed.
It’s probably unrealistic to expect Xi to turn around long-standing Chinese government practices within one hundred days.  But it is not unreasonable to hope that a new leadership serious about fundamental reforms would back off punishing individuals who are pressing the government to fulfill precisely those promises.
Two weeks after Xi, who promised to “unswervingly fight against corruption,” became China’s president, four people were detained on March 31 for unfurling banners in a Beijing public square calling on the government to implement a policy to require officials to publicly disclose their assets.
Since that time the police have detained and arrested 11 more for allegedly participating in the same campaign. In early June—just a few months after the head of China’s Political and Legal Committee promised to “stop using RTL” by year’s end—Beijing filmmaker Du Bin was detained in early June for “creating a disturbance” after he released a documentary on the use of gruesome torture in a RTL facility.
While Xi vowed in March to, “always listen to the voice of the people,” the Chinese government has not relaxed controls over freedom of expression or assembly.
In May, the party-state issued a directive to universities ordering them to steer clear from discussing a list of seven taboo subjects including “universal values,” such as human rights, and another one calling on these institutions to strengthen the “ideological education” of young lecturers, according to media reports. In early June, the government rejected applications to protest the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, and harassed those who dared to make such requests. One Jiangsu activist, Gu Yimin, was arrested later in June for “inciting subversion” after filing such an application.
Even more chilling is the use of extra-legal measures and violence against activists even as President Xi promised to “uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.” In May, a group of lawyers attempted to visit an unlawful “black jail” in Sichuan in May and were beaten by thugs.  The police not only failed to protect them but also briefly detained the lawyers for “obstructing official business.”  In April, when lawyer Cheng Hai enquired at a Dalian court the reasons for it to suddenly delay the trial of his Falun Gong clients, he did not get an answer but was instead beaten by police officers.  The targeting of family members to punish individuals for their activism also run directly counter to the spirit of the rule of law, as in the heavy 11-year prison term handed down in June to Liu Hui, brother-in-law of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, and the ongoing harassment of family members of exiled activist Chen Guangcheng.
It is not too late for Xi’s government to begin making meaningful changes.  But if after another hundred days the list of activists and family members who are being persecuted is growing, Xi’s rhetoric will not be credible.   Chinese people are still waiting for real progress, and a failure to deliver political and social reforms is likely to exacerbate the serious “civil unrest” that Xi has warned about.

The Five Guarantees?

Li Liguo, Minister of Civil Affairs

My post The Chinese who matter in Tibetan Affairs has been updated. A few words on Li Liguo, Minister of Civil Affairs has been added.
Li Liguo, who has been posted for 10 years in Tibet (1993-2003) in different capacities,  recently visited Lhasa, Nagchu and Shigatse.
According to a Xinhua article (June 9, 2013), Tibet's per capita investment in civil affairs ranks first in China
The article speaks of the Five Guarantees. It says:

At the same time, the Tibet Autonomous Region proposes that by 2016, 100 percent of support rate will be achieved, which means that all the 'people of five guarantees' (childless and infirm senior citizens who are guaranteed food, clothing, healthcare, housing and funeral expenses) with willingness will have been fed in the support institutions above the county level. [original English not very clear]

The article continues:

Civil affair capital is a special fund used for guaranteeing basic living of people who have difficulties in life in China. It is the key responsibilities of governments at all levels to provide the civil affair capital for relative recipients accurately, timely and fully.

During the eighth TAR Civil Affair Meeting on June 7, 2013, Li Liguo declared in Lhasa:

In successive years, the investment put into Tibet by central government has been increased according to the situation. Since 2008, there are altogether 4.1 billion yuan (about 6700 million US dollars) of special funds invested in Tibet, including disaster relief allowance, social assistance and social compensation. The per capita civil affair capital investment in Tibet ranks China's first.

Lozang Gyaltsen, the Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region 'frankly' commented: 

The civil administration in Tibet is still quite weak and away from the masses' expectation and the aim of building a moderately prosperous society. Therefore, we should take a path with Chinese characteristics and Tibetan national features toward modern civil administration.

The article continued: "The important measures that the government takes for developing civil administration should put more materials, financial resources and energy on the aspects of people's basic living, agricultural and pastoral areas, grass roots, the poverty-stricken population and disadvantaged groups."
Unfortunately, there another side to the coin.
A few days back, I mentioned the 'nets in the sky and traps on the ground'.  
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has come up with another report, 'They Say We Should Be Grateful - Mass Rehousing and Relocation Programs in Tibetan Areas of China'.
After reading the report, one has the feeling that the image of Tibet given by Li Liguo is propaganda. 
The reality seems vastly different. 
The HRW report explains:

Since 2006, the Chinese government has implemented large-scale programs to “rehouse”—through renovation of existing houses or construction of new ones—a majority of the rural population of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) under a policy called “Comfortable Housing.” In parallel, the government has accelerated the relocation and sedentarization of nomadic herders in the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau, mostly in Qinghai province, and laid the ground for similar policies in other parts of the plateau. Both policies are a component of the government’s effort to 'Build a New Socialist Countryside' in Tibetan areas, which the government says is designed to rapidly increase the living standards of rural Tibetans and boost the local economy.

'Housing' is one of five guarantees promised by Li Liguo, but it can't be 'forced' on the Tibetan people. They need to have a choice to refuse the 'welfare' measures from Beijing, especially when it is about their housing and traditional way of life. The report says:

The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodeled by these policies is unprecedented in the post-Mao era. According to official figures, under the Comfortable Housing policy, 2 million people—more than two-thirds of the entire population of the TAR—were moved into new houses or rebuilt their own houses between 2006 and 2012. Twenty percent of those rehoused between 2006 and 2010—about 280,000 people—had to be relocated, some nearby and others at a great distance. The government intends to rehouse 180,000 more by 2015.

Today, the Tibetans (especially the nomads) have to accept the Five Guarantees whether they like it or not.

Tibet: nets in the sky and traps on the ground

Party Chief Chen Quanguo visits
a 'convenience police-post'

It was to happen on a redwood bench at the luxurious desert estate known as Sunnylands in southern California.
President Xi Jinping of China had agreed to meet US President Barack Obama for a ‘relaxed’ week-end but a righteous Obama had planned to blast his Chinese counterpart on a hot topic in Washington, Chinese hackers visiting the Pentagon’s and other US government Internet servers and taking away American military secrets. This was deeply irritating for the Obama Administration and the President had decided to corner Xi on the subject.
In his opening remarks, Xi denied any wrong doing from China’s side and said that the cybersecurity issue needed to be resolved in a ‘pragmatic way’.
He probably had a smile, because the night before the tide had changed.
The Guardian had reported that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US Internet giants. The British newspaper quoted from a top secret document showing that the NSA had been using a previously undisclosed programme called PRISM, allowing US officials to collect personal information including search history, content of emails, file transfers and live chats.
Suddenly, it was the pot calling the kettle black.
Not really. China is still far 'in advance' in surveillance, take the example of Tibet.
The Human Right Watch (HRW) reported in March on a new system had been put in place in Tibet to watch the 'masses'. HRW's report, titled: "China: Alarming New Surveillance, Security in Tibet - Restrictions Tightened on Tibetans Despite Lack of Threat" described a 'grid' system to catch the flies and the tigers (these are not in the HRW report, but Xi Jinping used them while talking about corruption).
Sophie Richardson, China Director of the HRW explained: "Chinese authorities should dismantle this Orwellian ‘grid’ system, which has been imposed while the government continues to avoid addressing popular grievances. Its purpose appears to be surveillance and control, and it encroaches on Tibetans’ rights to freedom of expression, belief, and association."
The human rights organization goes into detail about the infamous 'grid':

Official documents describe the new system, known as 'grid' (Tib.: drwa ba, Ch.: wangge) management, as designed to improve public access to basic services. But the system also significantly increases surveillance and monitoring, particularly of 'special groups' in the region – former prisoners and those who have returned from the exile community in India, among others. Expansion of the grid system, alongside the construction across Tibet of over 600 convenience police-posts' with high-tech equipment to monitor daily life, and increasingly active volunteer security groups known as 'Red Armband Patrols' (Tib.: dpung rtag dmar po) in 2012, means that surveillance is now a pervasive part of life across the region.

Are these 'Red Armband Patrols' not reminiscent of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and its millions of victims.
What greatly surprises me is the return of the Cultural Revolution's methods under Xi Jinping who suffered the most of Mao's follies.
You can read the report on the HRW website.
This was in March.
Since then further 'progresses' have been made in the repressive system.
President Obama may be right when he termed the US surveillance a ‘modest encroachment on privacy’. Indeed, 'modest' compared to the Chinese 'grid' surveillance on the Roof of the World.
Yesterday, Xinhua reported that all Internet, fixed line and mobile phone users "in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region" have provided service operators with their real names, "as required by a 2011 local regulation".
The Chinese official news agency says: "By the end of 2012, 2.76 million fixed line and mobile phone users and 1.47 million web users in Tibet had registered for services under their real identities, according to data from the regional communications administration."
Xinhua defends the drastic measures (which means that thereafter all the Tibetans' phone conversations or email exchanges will be monitored): "The real-name registration is conducive to protecting citizens' personal information and curbing the spread of detrimental information, said Nyima Doje, deputy director of the administration."
The Communist propaganda has started justifying the new move: "Thanks to the rules, I feel less bothered by disturbing messages and calls," said one man called Zhang who lives in the regional capital of Lhasa.
Dai Jianguo, a member of the commission of legal affairs under Tibet People's Congress explained: "The growing popularity of the Internet and mobile phones has brought about social problems, including the rampant circulation of online rumors, pornography and spam messages."
Apparently, the regional legislators passed the regulation on real-name registration, a year before the country's top legislature approved similar rules.
It was in November 2011.
But monitoring Lhasa and the large cities was not enough, sometime in 2011, Beijing decided to also target the countryside.
More than a year ago, I had mentioned the deep cause for resentment of the Tibetan masses against the Communist Party. I then wrote:

Today, the hardcore leftists are still at the helm, trying to impose policies reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.
For example, during the 5th Tibet Work Forum in January 2010 (Tibet Work Forums are large meetings called every 5 or 10 years to discuss the CCP’s Tibet policies. They are attended by all the members of the powerful Politburo's Standing Committee, senior PLA generals, United Front Work Department officials, regional leaders, etc.), it was apparently decided to send 21,000 Han and Tibetan Party officials in teams of four to each of the TAR’s 5,453 administrative villages; they had to remain there for a period of 4 years. Each team member could rotate to a new location after 12 months only; they were assigned to a particular village for at least 25 days in a month.

A new report of the Human Rights Watch give more details about the scheme which has been 'working' for the past 18 months.
The title of HRW report is 'benefiting the masses'.
Like the phone tapping, the 'grid' surveillance, the countryside monitoring will ultimately be for the benefit of the masses, says Beijing.
Once the 5th Tibet Work Forum had decided (in January 2010) the general lines how best to 'benefit the masses' and perhaps more importantly, how to avoid the recurrence of the 2008 unrest, it was the job of the Central Working Coordination Small Group on Tibet or Small Group on Tibet to implement the policies.
Apparently, the secretive Group had a meeting on October 18, 2012 under the Chairmanship of Jia Qinglin, the CPPCC's Chairman. It was attended amongst others by Ma Kai, Meng Jianzhu, Ling Jihua, and Du Qinglin and 'local' officials (like Chen Quanguo) .  At that time, Ma, Meng and Du were the Vice Chairmen of the Small Group.
After the 18th Party Congress' leadership change, all these leaders have secured good jobs. Ma Kai and Meng Jianzhu are part of the Politburo, (Meng will take the mantle of Zhang Yongkang as the boss of the Security apparatus). Du Qinglin shifts from the United Front Work Department to the Party Central Secretariat while Ling Jihua takes Du's seat in the United Front.
It is said that the reconstituted Small Group under the chairmanship of You Zhengsheng had a meeting last month.
Interestingly, as mentioned earlier, the Nagchu incident occurred when Chen Quanguo, the TAR Party Chief was returning from Beijing where he had attended the meeting.
Indeed, Mr. Obama's surveillance is mild compared to Mr. Xi's grids.
But should not the United States give the good example to their Chinese friends?

China: ‘Benefit the Masses’ Campaign Surveilling Tibetans
Cadre Teams in Villages Collecting Political Information, Monitoring Opinions
June 19, 2013
Human Rights Watch
It’s hard to see the ‘benefit’ to Tibetans of thousands of political education sessions, partisan quasi-police force operations, and scrutiny of their political views. In a region where people are already subjected to extraordinary monitoring, this village-level drive, alongside similar efforts directed at towns and monasteries, effectively means that Tibetans cannot avoid state surveillance.
Sophie Richardson, China director
(New York) – The Chinese government, under the rationale of a campaign to improve rural living standards, has sent more than 20,000 officials and communist party cadres to Tibetan villages to undertake intrusive surveillance of people, carry out widespread political re-education, and establish partisan security units, said Human Rights Watch today. These tactics discriminate against those perceived as potentially disloyal, and restrict their freedom of religion and opinion.
Over 5,000 teams of officials and communist party cadres have been stationed in Tibetan villages under a government campaign called “Solidify the Foundations, Benefit the Masses” (qianji huimin). The campaign, launched by the party leadership in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) on October 10, 2011, is now halfway through its planned three-year duration. It is described in state media reports as improving living conditions and prosperity for people living in rural areas of the TAR, but research by Human Rights Watch shows that the teams are also categorizing Tibetans according to their religious and political thinking, and establishing institutions to monitor their behavior and opinions.
“It’s hard to see the ‘benefit’ to Tibetans of  thousands of political education sessions, partisan quasi-police force operations, and scrutiny of their political views,” said Sophie Richardson, China director. “In a region where people are already subjected to extraordinary monitoring, this village-level drive, alongside similar efforts directed at towns and monasteries, effectively means that Tibetans cannot avoid state surveillance.”
The campaign is one of three major new systems of social organization and control introduced in the TAR since 2011. An urban administrative network that includes significantly increased surveillance and monitoring known as the grid system was introduced in the TAR in 2012, and a new system of information gathering known as the “Six Ones” was introduced to monitor monks and nuns in Tibetan monasteries in November 2011.
The three systems are officially described as measures to promote “stability maintenance,” a drive which was described by the TAR party secretary in March 2013 as “the number one priority exceeding all else” in the TAR. The “Benefit the Masses” campaign aims to achieve “the three non-occurrences,” meaning no protests or expression of dissent.
In Tibetan areas, particularly since a wave of unrest in spring 2008, dissent is viewed by the Chinese authorities as the result of “splittist sabotage by hostile forces and the Dalai Clique.” In a major policy speech on February 14, 2013, Yu Zhengsheng, China’s top official in charge of minority and religious affairs, called for forces supporting the Dalai Lama to be “resolutely ground into dust.” As a result, hundreds of arrests, sentences, and punitive measures have been carried out in Tibetan areas since 2008 involving Tibetans suspected of support for the Dalai Lama.
“Beijing’s obsession with so-called ‘stability maintenance’ is a recipe for abuses,” Richardson said. “It is intended to suppress Tibetan citizens’ basic rights to free expression and to instill fear.”
While facilities have been upgraded by the cadre teams in some villages, “benefiting the masses” is only the last of the five objectives of the drive. The instructions given to the teams state that their first priority is to expand the role and size of the party in Tibetan villages, while the second is to “maintain stability” by “carrying out activities against the Dalai clique.”Implementation of these measures, which are also reported to be taking place in some Tibetan areas outside the TAR, have led to curbs on freedom of expression and religious practice.
For example, according to a villager interviewed by Human Rights Watch, a resident village work cadre team (zhucun gongzuodui) in Taktse (Dazi) county in Lhasa prefecture questioned all the inhabitants of his village, including young children, and classified them into three categories: those who want wealth and support the current system, those who secretly pray to and support the Dalai Lama but do not protest openly, and those who “do not accept re-education and do not have faith in motherland and party.” The classification led to about 135 people from the third category being “taken to the county seat and kept there for 45 days to be given re-education” in March 2013, according to the interviewee, who also claimed that up to 500 villagers from Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture had been detained for re-education during the same period. Another interviewee reported that 73 villagers had been sent from Meldro Gungkar (Mozhugongka) county for re-education at the same time.
An official report on the operations of a cadre team in a village in Chamdo (Changdu), one of the seven prefectures in the TAR, confirmed claims by interviewees that teams are tasked with identifying the social network of each villager. The team was also required to register “key personnel” in the village and maintain “close vigilance over them.” The term “key personnel” typically refers to people considered likely to cause political unrest.
Official documents about the campaign state that its first objective is to build the strength and numbers of the communist party in rural areas of the TAR. Each cadre team has been required to turn each village into “a fortress” in the struggle against separatism by setting up a new party committee in each village and by persuading “those who are good at getting rich” to become party members and village leaders.
The second objective of the drive, according to official reports, has three elements: to increase “social stability maintenance;” to “deepen the struggle” against followers of the Dalai Lama; and to “strengthen the management and education of monks and nuns.” Interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch show that these directives have led to a sharp increase in information gathering by cadre teams about support for the Dalai Lama among rural families, and a setting up of security operations and surveillance mechanisms aimed at eradicating support for the Dalai Lama.
On February 28, 2013, the official in charge of stability maintenance in the TAR, Hao Peng, told paramilitary forces that that they must “thoroughly ensure no shadows, no gaps, no cracks, not giving hostile forces even the slightest opportunity” and must “strengthen surveillance and secret intelligence.”
The campaign is unprecedented in its scope, size, and cost. Some 21,000 cadres – the largest proportion of a provincial-level cadre force to have been sent to the countryside since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, according to an official report – have been stationed in groups of four or more in each of the 5,451 villages in the TAR as part of the three-year drive. The campaign costs 1.48 billion yuan (approximately US$227 million) a year, more than 25% of the regional government’s budget, with an additional 10 billion yuan (approximately US$1.5 billion) allocated for infrastructure construction in the villages.
Cadre teams in the villages are also tasked with “solving difficulties” and promoting economic development, and media reports have described the teams helping villagers with snow clearance, access to water, road building, solar energy supplies, literacy classes, and the purchase of entertainment or communications systems, besides other forms of practical and economic support. Each team has been allocated at least 100,000 yuan (approximately US$16,000) per year to spend on their village.
“If the government and the party are serious about improving everyday life of Tibetans, they must begin with addressing ongoing human rights violations, including restrictions on religious freedom, freedom of expression, and access to information,” said Richardson.  “That’s likely to be a far more successful approach to ‘solidifying foundations.’”
Click here to continue reading the HRW report ...

Stability overrides all

A report on Tibet of the Human Right Watch speaks of 'The Four Stabilities' for Tibet. It is apparently a brainchild of President Hu Jintao. 
In order to 'keep a tight hand on the struggle against separatism', the new motto is 'stability overrides all' (wending yadao yiqie).
It practically means:

• monitoring the overall coverage of internet management in towns and in the rural areas
• strengthening the management of news media
• firmly striking against the criminal activity of creating and spreading rumors by using internet and mobile phone text messaging
• Strict guidelines for foreign visitors.

Already in March, Jia Qinglin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee mentioned stability as the first objective of the Party in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas: "We should consider both internal and external situations and firmly follow the gist of 'making progress while maintaining stability,' striving for a steady economic growth in Tibet and the Tibetan-inhabited areas in the four provinces," Jia said.
He added: "Currently, the clique of the Dalai Lama are trying in vain to continuously create incidents in Tibet and the Tibetan-inhabited areas in the four provinces, ...Authorities should implement the prescribed measures well to resolutely crush the Dalai Lama clique's conspiracy of making Tibetan-inhabited areas unstable, thus making the masses able to live and work there comfortably."

In the meantime new guidelines for foreigners wanting to visit Tibet have been issued:
1) All groups entering Tibet through Nepal can get Tibet travel permits, as long as the groups has 5 or more people
2) Travel to Tibet from mainland China: If a group contains 5 or more people the travel agency can apply for an invitation from the Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa, then send a copy to the group members by email. After receiving the letter then a group visa can be obtained from the Chinese Embassy. In this way a group can enter Tibet through mainland China, but they must enter and exit China together, and all members of the group must be listed on the group visa. Individual travel is prohibited.
A website Explore Tibet recently published this information.
The Tibet Travel Permit or Tibet visa is to be obtained from the Tibet Tourism Bureau; all travelers should deal with local registered agencies in advance to get the permit, as there are several different types of permit depending on where in Tibet the traveler plans to go. 
To apply for the permit, travelers should submit their valid passports and a copy of their China visa to an authorized travel agency. 
For travel to a restricted region such as Mt. Kailash, the permit must be applied for at least 20 days in advance. For travel to open areas like Lhasa and Mt. Everest, the permit should be applied for at least 10 days in advance.
The Chinese leadership seems today to live in fear, inventing everyday new restrictions, which in turn create more resentment amongst the Tibetan populations as well exacerbating the sense of identity of the Tibetans vis-a-vis the Hans. It is a loose-loose solution.
How long can Beijing seal off the Roof of the World from the rest of the planet? 
Historically, this type of restrictions have never lasted very long.

I forget to mention that 'Truth' has vanished from the Chinese internet. Bloggers recently discovered that the word had been blocked on the country's leading social media website.
Online messages began circulating claiming that the Chinese characters for 'Truth' could not be searched for on micro-blog Sina Weibo, used by 300 million users. 
If you type 'Truth', you get the following message: "According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results for 'Truth' cannot be displayed."
In India, we still believe that 'Truth will prevail'.

China: Attempts to Seal Off Tibet from Outside Information
Escalating Restrictions on Media and Travel in Tibetan Areas
July 13, 2012
(New York) – Restrictions on news, media, and communications in Tibet have been stepped up by Chinese authorities in the lead-up to the 18th Party Congress, due to take place in late 2012.
The measures appear to be an effort to cut off Tibetans in China from news not subjected to the government’s domestic monopoly on information.
They are presented officially as an attempt to prevent the views of the exiled Dalai Lama and his followers from reaching Tibetans inside China, particularly those living in rural areas.
The new restrictions, described in the official Renmin Wang media outlet on May 31, 2012, as key to maintaining stability and national security, aim to “ensure the absolute security of Tibet’s ideological and cultural realm,” according to Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Party Secretary Chen Quanguo in a June 27 interview. The measures involve significantly increased controls, particularly in the TAR, on internet use, text messages, phone ownership, music publishing, and photocopying, as well as intensified government propaganda through new TV channels, village education sessions, film showings, distribution of books, and the provision of satellite television receivers with fixed reception to government channels. As a result, Tibetans have virtually no access to independent news, are being subject to intensifying political education and propaganda in villages, schools, and monasteries, and face increasing limitations on travel into the TAR from other provinces.
“Under the guise of combating ‘separatism’ the Chinese government is blatantly violating Tibetans’ rights to the freedom of expression, religion, culture, and movement,” said Sophie Richardson, China director. “The authorities have a responsibility to uphold public order, but that cannot be used as a blanket justification for the kinds of measures to limit communications that the Chinese authorities are imposing in Tibet.”
According to a Xizang Ribao Online article on November 18, 2011, the measures follow an instruction by Party Secretary Chen to “promote full coverage by radio, television, publications, and networks to…enable the voice of the Party and government to cover the whole of this vast territory” of the TAR and to exert strict control over the media “to effectively purify the public opinion environment … and strike hard at separatist elements entering Tibet to carry out reactionary propaganda.”
In June 2012, Chen urged officials to “make sure that the Central Party’s voices and images can be heard across 120 thousand square kilometers,” and that “no voices and images of enemy forces and Dalai clique can be heard and seen.”
The scope of the new restrictions reflect a sharp change in official views about Tibetan unrest, which officials previously stated was caused by “a small number” or “a handful” of Tibetans, mostly monks and nuns plus a few urban laypeople, who were considered to have been influenced by the Dalai Lama or by exile groups. But following protests across the Tibetan plateau in 2008, leaders there have now acknowledged, at least in the domestic press, that the influence of the Dalai Lama is widespread among Tibetans, including in rural areas, where some 85 percent of Tibetans live.
These new measures are part of a Tibet-specific policy called “the Four Stabilities” that was announced by China’s leader Hu Jintao in an internal speech in early March 2012. They are being carried out in the name of the slogan “stability overrides all” (wending yadao yiqie) in order to “keep a tight hand on the struggle against separatism.” The goals include achieving “the overall coverage of internet management in towns and in the rural areas” (Xizang Ribao, March 19, 2012) and “strengthening the management of new media” (Xizang Ribao, March 18, 2012). On May 30, 2012, Hao Peng, a deputy party secretary of the TAR, told officials that, because of “the Dalai clique’s sabotage activity,” they must “strengthen the work of guiding the media,” “strengthen the supervision and management of new media such as the Internet,” and “firmly strike against the criminal activity of creating and spreading rumors by using internet and mobile phone text messaging” (Xizang Ribao, May 31, 2012).
Controls on travel from inland provinces into the TAR have also been tightened significantly since March 2012, with new limitations on travel into the TAR by monks, nuns, and lay Tibetans from outside the TAR. Additional restrictions on travel by foreigners to the TAR were introduced in May 2012 and again in early June.
These restrictions on movement into the TAR by Tibetans from outside the region appear to be designed to prevent protests taking place in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, particularly following the almost 40 self-immolations that have occurred in the Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces since March 2011. These protests appear to have been in response to increasing limits on basic freedoms, increasingly punitive security measures, and other concerns.
Since two Tibetans from Sichuan and Gansu set themselves on fire in Lhasa on May 27, 2012, Tibetans from those provinces or from Qinghai who do not have permanent residence in Lhasa, including many with valid business permits and valid temporary registration permits, are reported to have been forced to leave the TAR.
In 2009, United Nations High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay urged that Chinese authorities “reflect on the underlying causes” of disturbances in the TAR and surrounding areas, “which include discrimination and the failure to protect minority rights.”
“The Chinese government refuses to even acknowledge the serious grievances of Tibetans,” said Richardson. “Trying to seal the region off will only lead to further frustration and greater international concern.”

Read more at: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/13/china-attempts-seal-tibet-outside-information

Human Rights Preachers

When one reads this press release from the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, one understands that the present leadership in China is as ruthless, brutal, (though better organized) than the Ben Alis, Gaddafis or Gbagbos.
Further, the Chinese State is extremely good at propaganda. 
A few days ago, Beijing asked “the US to Stop Being a Self-styled 'Human Rights Preacher'. 
It is always a good tactical move to try to defame the opponent on one’s weakness.
After the release by the US State Department's 2010 Annual Human Rights Report on April 8, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Hong Lei declared: “The U.S. should reflect more on its own human rights issues, stop acting like a ‘Human Rights Preacher,’ and stop using its Human Rights Report to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries.” 
Hong also praised the Chinese government’s protection of human rights.
The Chinese publication Huanqiu published a response to the Western countries' criticism of China's arrest of artist Ai Weiwei.
According to the author: "the Western media is using their own logic to interpret the facts and try to influence China. ...It is precisely the West's approach that breaches the basic spirit of the law in a serious confrontation, and that tries to portray Ai Weiwei a legally ‘sacred and inviolable’ democracy fighter.”
The recent happenings in the Arab world make China even more nervous. 
The Huanqiu article says: “Since the ‘Middle East revolution,’ the US and European countries haven't been able to put a brake on pointing fingers and interfering in other countries’ internal affairs. The interference in Ai Weiwei’s case is a total negation of China’s law. It is no different from a group of Westerners assembling to burn down China’s Supreme Court building.”
And the author continues: “Chinese law is the skeleton of this country; the Western attempt to influence the trial of Ai Weiwei is like installing a remote control for the skeleton. With the control in their hands, they are making China a large and obedient puppet.”
It is difficult to force China to be an obedient puppet; the Middle Kingdom is too big for that. 
It remains that Beijing is nervous.
It is ironical that next month (on May 23), China will celebrates the 60th anniversary of the ‘Liberation’ of Tibet. 
In 1951, the Tibetans were forced to sign the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. 
But ‘liberation from what’, as once Nehru asked the Indian Parliament.


Chinese armed police cordon Ngaba Kirti Monastery, 2500 monks face food shortage
TCHRD Press Release
11 April 2011,
Dharamsala
Since the self-immolation of Phuntsok on 16 March 2011 at Ngaba County, Sichuan, coinciding with third anniversary of the 2008 uprising in Tibet and to protest against continued repression by Chinese authorities in Tibet, the situation has aggravated at Ngaba Kirti Monastery – the monastery to which Phuntsok was affiliated.  According to latest confirmed information, Chinese security forces have cordoned the monastery and additional contingents of armed security forces (estimated to be around 800) have been brought in on 9 April 2011 to reinforce security clampdown in Ngaba County. The movement of the monks is totally restricted with no one being allowed to go in or come out of the monastery. Gaps in boundary barb wire in north of the monastery have been closed with concrete walls.  Since the cordon, monks are facing shortage of food and depend on voluntary food offerings by locals through the monastery administration. Authorities have prohibited the faithful local Tibetans from offering food to monks. Reports from ground indicate that if the situation remains same, over 2500 monks in the monastery will face starvation which will most probably lead to a mass revolt. In such an event security forces will unleash its deadly assault leading to extrajudicial killings as it happened three years ago on 16 March 2008 in Ngaba County. The lamas and monastery officials have been able to
maintain peace so far by advising the monks to remain calm despite the ongoing repression.
In the aftermath of Phuntsok’s protest and subsequent show of solidarity by monks of Kirti Monastery, the authorities have taken drastic measures to bring the monks under control. According to latest information, since the begining of April 2011, security forces who were earlier surrounding the monastery have entered into the campus. They have stopped elderly monks from even walking the outer circumambulation path (Kora), and made observation posts (with binoculars) on stepped platforms of stupas in the monastery. The guards keep round the clock vigilance of activities in the monastery. Over 33 people have been arrested out of which 22 people (8 monks and 16 lay people) continue to be under detention.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) appeals to the international community and the United Nations mandates on human rights to urgently issue their intervention in order to stop the ongoing security clamp down and arbitrary arrests and detentions of Tibetans and the overall deplorable human rights situation in Ngaba County. The Centre urges the authorities to immediately stop the gross human rights violation of denying food to monks of Kirti Monastery and to ease restrictions on movement.
Factsheet about the situation in Kirti Monastery and Ngaba County (documented till 11 April 2011)

•    Three monks from the Kirti Monastery, Dhonyoe Dorjee, Tenzin Jamko and an unidentified monk have been arrested on 8 April 2011.
•    On 8 April, around 30 people staged a protest in front of the Public Security Bureau Office at Warma Township in Dzamthang County. One Tibetan (a young man from Gyalrong County married into a family in Dzamthang County) was critically injured in the police offensive and later died in a hospital. Around a thousand Tibetan staged protest over the death.
•    Two monks, Lobsang Ngodup, 32, and Lobsang Choephel, 24, were detained around 30 March and continue to be under detention. Reasons and whereabouts remain unknown.
•    The Tibetans in neighbouring Namda Township in Dzamtang County in Ngaba staged a protest on 23 March to show solidarity with the Tibetans in Ngaba County. The authorities responded by sending large number of troops to block movement in Dzamthang and Ngaba Counties.  At least four Tibetans, Wolkho, Dorjee, A-Dor and Woeser Dorjee, were arrested and continue to be under detention.
•    Lobsang Tsepak, 27 years old, was detained in the night by police in Beijing on 25 March. He is a student at the Central Nationalities University. He was earlier affiliated to Kirti Monastery, the same monastery to which Phuntsok belonged.
•    On 22 March, Lobsang Kelsang (19 yrs), monk of Kirti Monastery and brother of Phuntsok, Lobsang Tsondue, maternal uncle of Phuntsok and Samdup, monk of Kirti Monastery, were arrested. Lobsang Kelsang and Lobsang Tsondue have now been released.
•    Around 20 March, Lobsang Tenzin was arrested and continue to be under detention.
•    Around 20 March, the authorities called a public meeting in upper Thawa and Gabma Villages of Ngaba County, imposing fines of 30 Yuan on absentees.  Lately the Village Committees in Ngaba County have been calling public meetings “to praise and be grateful” to the Communist Party. Moreover, the officials have been visiting each and every household in Ngaba County enquiring about monks in the family and to learn their opinion on the self-immolation of Phuntsok.
•    Beginning from 20 March, the authorities have intensively conducted the so-called “Love your country, love your religion” political campaign in the monastery for five days. Upon conclusion of the campaign, the officials have formed sub groups to visit each and every room in the monastery to “solicit feedback” and “gather opinion”.
•    Since 19 March, regular religious programs in the monastery have been suspended by the authorities and armed soldiers with police dogs prowl around the monastery by night. The monks are prohibited from staying late at night from studying their scriptures. Monks found outside their room are beaten by the officials.
•    The students of Ngaba Prefecture’s Upper Middle School located in Barkham County began a hunger strike on 17 March to show solidarity with Phuntsok and as a protest against the authorities’ inhuman treatment to him and the pursuant Tibetan protest. The strike is known to have lasted until 23 March, thereafter information could not  be ascertained.
•    Phuntsok, a native of Meruma Township, Ngaba County, was arrested on 16 March and continue to remain under detention.

Background
A young Tibetan monk, Phuntsok, self-immolated in Ngaba County, Sichuan, on 16 March 2011 and died in a hospital early next morning. His act was timed to coincide with the third anniversary of spring 2008 uprising in Tibet to protest against the Chinese rule in Tibet. 
When Phuntsok was on fire the police doused the flame and began beating him severely. Local Tibetan bystanders rushed to the scene to protect the monk and took him to his monastery – Kirti Monastery.  When he was later taken to a hospital, the authorities demanded police clearance for treatment. The monk succumbed to burn injuries the next day around 3 am (local time) on 17 March.
Around a thousand Tibetans gathered in the market and staged a protest against police and the authorities. The People’s Armed Police and officers from other security agencies brutally broke the peaceful rally. Several Tibetans were detained from the crowd.

Repression in Tibet, Human Rights Watch Report Takes The Lid Off

My article Repression in Tibet, Human Rights Watch Report Takes The Lid Off appeared in today's edition of The Statesman. Click to read.

Good News from China?

Xu has been released on bail. That is good news, though it is not very clear what 'bail' means in China. Will he be able to continue to do his work on human rights? Doubtful.

Wall Street Journal
August 24, 2009

What Bail Means for Xu Zhiyong Pioneering Chinese legal activist Xu Zhiyong was released from custody Sunday morning on what’s known in Chinese as “qubao houshen” (取保候审). In English, the term is most commonly translated as “bail,” though it carries some specific connotations in the context of Chinese criminal procedure.
Qubao houshen literally means “obtain a guarantor while pending trial.” It is variously described as non-custodial detention and as a form of probation, since conditions may be imposed on the movements and activities of the suspect, who can subsequently be jailed for violating the conditions.
Unlike in the United States, where bail is routinely granted in cases where the suspect doesn’t pose a major flight risk or a danger to society, qubao houshen is rarely granted to Chinese suspects, who are generally held in custody until trial.
China’s legal activists have long called for authorities to increase the availability of bail to suspects in criminal cases, especially when relatively minor crimes are involved. The fact that bail is granted only in extraordinary cases in China has led many to proclaim Mr. Xu’s release as a sort of victory, even if only temporary.
As Mr. Xu himself noted, police are still investigating his tax evasion case and he may still be subject to prosecution. Joshua Rosenzweig, a senior researcher with the U.S.-based human rights group Duihua Foundation, notes that the charges against Mr. Xu (tax evasion) may have factored into the consideration of his eligibility for bail.
“The decision to release a suspect on bail most likely has to go through a process of vetting at higher levels,” he says. “It is easier to release someone on bail for tax evasion than if the charge was subversion or inciting subversion.” However, in certain respects, Mr. Xu’s release puts police in a better position to continue investigating him.
Under qubao houshen, police can monitor his activities for a full year, investigating not only the tax charges for which Mr. was arrested, but any other leads that could be used to make a case against him. Had Mr. Xu been kept in custody, the police investigation would have typically had a much shorter period of a few months in which to conclude their investigation.
“The release takes some pressure off of the police while allowing them to continue the investigation,” says Mr. Rosenzweig. And of course, it is not uncommon in China for activists to be detained, released, then detained again and subject to more serious political charges such as attempted subversion.
Recent examples of such repeat-detainees include Liu Xiaobo, Hu Jia and Guo Quan.

Xu Zhiyong's Assistant Disappears

I had reported the arrest of Xu Zhiyong, the Chinese Human Rights lawyer. His organisation had prepared a report on the 2008 unrest in Tibet. Now it is the turn of Zhuang Lu, his secretary to disappear. The leadership in the Forbidden City is becoming more and more intolerant. How can China expect to be considered as a Great Power by the rest of the world?

Assistant to pioneering Chinese rights lawyer 'disappears'
Guardian
Saturday, August 22, 2009
By Tania Branigan in Beijing

Office worker for Xu Zhiyong, who himself faces trial for tax evasion, has not been seen for three weeks

Xu Zhiyong is a co-founder of Gongmeng, a legal group which has dealt with some high-profile human rights cases. No one in China has heard of Zhuang Lu, which is hardly surprising. Plainly dressed and introverted, the 27-year-old office assistant completed her mundane daily tasks – booking tickets, paying bills – with minimum fuss. Then, three weeks ago, she disappeared.
Family and colleagues believe she is being held in a detention house in Beijing. Like her boss Xu Zhiyong, a prominent human rights lawyer who has fought a string of high-profile cases, she was taken from her home at dawn on 29 July by security officials. But unlike Xu's detention, which has made headlines internationally, her disappearance has gone unnoticed outside her immediate circle.
"Information about her has always been out. But because the main focus has been on Xu, not many people have noticed her case," said their colleague Yang Huawei.
Xu – who was formally arrested for tax evasion this week – is well known for his tenacious pursuit of sensitive cases such as deaths in custody. Shortly before his disappearance he was featured in Chinese Esquire. He co-founded the legal organisation Gongmeng, also known as the Open Constitution Initiative, which has helped the families of children made ill by tainted baby milk powder and issued a report criticising the handling of demonstrations in Tibetan areas.
In comparison, Zhuang's work at Gongmeng was essential but inconspicuous - the administrative grind without which no organisation can run. She is "thin and small, plainly-dressed, introverted, not talkative," wrote Teng Biao, another of the founders.
But though she appeared vulnerable to Teng, "one thing proved that she was not weak and maybe that is the most shining thing she did [at] Gongmeng," he added.
"In 2008, when summer was replacing spring, she was invited by police for a cup of tea. The national security people asked her to report on our work to them and told her that she would benefit. But Zhuang Lu refused. She told us about it. She had the courage and [they] must have been very angry and we are not sure whether today's 'serious result' has anything to do with them or not."
In his blog posting – since erased by censors – he described how she wept when officials came to shut the Gongmeng legal centre in mid-July.
"Such a gentle and honest girl was kidnapped by Big Brother without any legal justification," he added.
Xu's case comes amid a crackdown on activist lawyers. Zhuang's shows how others can be drawn into such investigations.
"I guess it is possible that they took her in the hope of getting some testimony from her against Xu," Teng told the Guardian.
Nicholas Bequelin, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, describes that as "standard operating procedure".
"It is also, of course, a way of putting pressure on Xu, because he is responsible not only for himself. Police like to make threats about consequences for relatives and people around [detainees] and he doesn't have family," Bequelin added.
"This is scaring people who work for NGOs. They are thinking it's not only the boss who can be taken away; officials can also go for the 'small' people."
Zhuang and Xu were due to meet the tax bureau on the day they disappeared. Gongmeng's problems began when authorities slapped a 1.2m yuan (£100,000) fine for unpaid taxes on it last month. Its founders say it paid slightly late but in full and points out that the penalty is five times larger than the tax bill. Staff who tried to pay off some of the fine after Xu's detention were told they could not do so because he had not signed papers to appoint them as legal representatives.
Xu has now been formally arrested, allowing him access to lawyers, but Zhuang is still in limbo. Staff at the detention centre where she is thought to be held told the Guardian they were too busy to speak when asked about her case.
Zhuang's father, who rushed to the capital when he heard of her detention, has returned home to southern China without authorising lawyers to act for her. Now, like her colleagues, he waits anxiously for her return.