Censoring the Censors in the WTO - Southwestern Law School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

$S:\Externship Forms Revised May 2005\EXTERN POLICIES ...$

38 J. Int’l Media & Entertainment Law Vol. 3, No. 1 was convicted and for which he is being punished. After government officials from the U.S., the U.K., the EU, and the U.N. all expressed to the Chinese Government their great disappointment in Liu’s conviction, spokeswoman Jiang Yu of the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated: These accusations are unacceptable. China is a country of rule of law. The fundamental rights of Chinese citizens are guaranteed by the law,” she told a regular news conference. I want to stress that Chinese judicial bodies handle cases independently. Outsiders have no right to interfere. We oppose any external forces using this case to meddle in China’s internal affairs or judicial sovereignty. 117 The use of the phrase “democratic dictatorship and socialist system” in Liu’s written verdict is so all-encompassing as to be almost meaningless. Furthermore, if Liu really were a major criminal, it would be logical for the Chinese Government to advertise his conviction and sentence as well as the content of the subversive Charter 08 petition so as to warn other citizens regarding the dangerous nature of such information and the punishment one can expect to receive for disseminating it. Yet, “Liu’s lawyers have been warned not to discuss . . . [his] case [,]” 118 and “[t]he mainstream media have been forbidden to cover the subject [of the Charter 08 petition] and censors have blocked many related internet sites and articles. Many Chinese are unaware that it exists.” 119 Perhaps Liu’s conviction for “inciting subversion of state power” can only be understood as the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper has suggested—that “the crime of ‘subversion’ in China is simply a ‘vaguely defined charge that CCP leaders often use to imprison political opponents.’ ” 120 Not surprisingly, a great many U.S. artists’ works have been banned in China under such broadly-stated prohibited content laws. In November 2008, for example, a newspaper published by the CCP criticized the latest album produced by the U.S. rock group Guns N’ Roses entitled Chinese Democracy as “a venomous attack on the Chinese nation” 121 117. Blanchard, infra note 120; see also Marta Cooper, China Tells West: In Liu Xiaobo’s Case, Don’t Interfere, shanghaiist.com. Dec. 16, 2009, available at http://virtual review.org/china/zoom/1311800/china-tells-west-in-liu-xiaobos-case-dont-interfere (accessed Dec.29, 2009). 118. Watts, supra note 110. 119. Id. 120. Id.; see also Ben Blanchard, China Warns West From Taking Up Dissident Case, reuters.com, Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.reuters.com/assets/print aid=USTRE5BE12C20091215 (accessed Dec. 29, 2009) (stating that “Chinese courts come under Communist Party control and rarely reject prosecution accusations, especially in politically sensitive cases[ ]”) [hereinafter “Blanchard”]. 121. See, e.g., Katherine Thomson, Chinese Media Blasts Guns N’ Roses Album, huffingtonpost.com, Nov. 24, 2008, available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/24/ chinese-media-blast-guns_n_145948.html (accessed Dec. 28, 2009). 3058-088-3pass-02_Wright-r03.indd 38 6/30/2010 12:01:59 PM
Censoring the Censors in the WTO 39 and then the Government banned the album. 122 However, Guns N’ Roses has a huge fan base in China, as the popularity of its heavy metal protest music “soared in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.” 123 Similarly, the Chinese Government banned U.S. writer Gordon Chang’s 2001 book The Coming Collapse of China 124 because it was critical of China and the CCP. 125 The works of numerous other foreign authors and performers similarly have been banned or severely restricted in China, 126 despite the fact that “China’s appetite for Western pop culture is growing rapidly,” 127 and accordingly the U.S. could very well decide to challenge one or more of these prohibited content laws in the WTO at some point. In any such WTO case, China most likely would point to the fact that the prohibited content law being challenged is supported by the Chinese people as evidenced by the fact that it was enacted by the National People’s Congress. However, this argument may be unpersuasive, given that delegates to the National People’s Congress are required to be members of the CCP, 128 the CCP is the only political party that is permitted exist in China, 129 and the people’s election of delegates to the National People’s Congress could perhaps best be characterized as “indirect.” 130 122. See, e.g., James T. Areddy, Guns N’ Roses’ New Album Is Up Against a Chinese Wall, Wall St. J., Nov. 22, 2008, at A1, also available on wsj.com at http://online.wsj. com/article/SB122728243679848085.html (accessed Dec. 28, 2009) (explaining that an official at the China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corp., part of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, told local record distributors that they shouldn’t bother ordering the album because “[a]nything with ‘democracy’ in the name is ‘not going to work[.’] ”). 123. Id. 124. Gordon G. Change, The Coming Collapse of China (Random House 2001). 125. See, e.g., Alex Frew McMcMillan, Writer Sees China’s ‘Coming Collapse,’ CNN. com, Mar. 29, 2002, available at http://edition.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/03/25/ hk.gordonchang/related (accessed Dec. 13, 2009). 126. See, e.g., David Browne, Rock Tours Target China, Face Government Interference, Rolling Stone, Iss. 1058, Aug. 7, 2009, also available at http://www.rollingstone. com/news/story/21896275/rock_tours_target_china_face_government_interference (accessed Dec. 28, 2009) (discussing the banning or censoring of various foreign singers’ performances and the Chinese Government’s new rule that “[i]f a performer breaks the law, as Björk technically did, . . . promoters will have to give the government half of the box-office receipts”) [hereinafter “Browne”]; Talk: Jung Change: Banned, amnesty.org. uk, Oct. 30, 2007, available at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/evemnts_Details.aspID=531 (accessed Dec. 29, 2009) (stating that Jung Change, author of Wild Swans, and a critically acclaimed biography of Mao Zedong, Mao: The Unknown Story, has sold millions of books around the world by her work is still banned in her native China”). 127. Browne, supra note 126. 128. Const. P.R.C. (amended 1982). 129. Const. P.R.C. pmbl. (amended 1982). 130. Jiang Jinsong, The National People’s Congress of China 559-60 (Foreign Languages Press 2003). 3058-088-3pass-02_Wright-r03.indd 39 6/30/2010 12:01:59 PM
Page 1 and 2: Censoring the Censors in the WTO: R
Page 3 and 4: Censoring the Censors in the WTO 19
Page 21: Censoring the Censors in the WTO 37
Page 73 and 74:
Censoring the Censors in the WTO 89
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
show all

Censoring the Censors in the WTO - Southwestern Law School

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?