World Report 2011 - Human Rights Watch

ASIAChinaImprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo’s selection as the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winnerin October was a defining moment for China’s human rights movement. It alsofocused global attention on the extent of human rights violations in China, andon its unreformed, authoritarian political system as it emerges as a world power.The Chinese government tried to censor news about the prize domestically,immediately placing Liu’s wife Liu Xia under house arrest and clamping down onrights activists and Liu’s supporters. It then attempted to portray the prize as partof a conspiracy by Western countries, insisting that Chinese citizens do not valuecivil and political freedoms.That argument was significantly challenged by a public letter that circulated thenext week: written by retired Chinese Communist Party (CPC) elders, it called forpolitical reforms to defend the right to free expression and a free press as guaranteedby the constitution. The letter cited the domestic censorship of commentsthat Premier Wen Jiabao made in New York in October, in which he acknowledgedthat “the people’s wishes for, and needs for, democracy and freedom are irresistible.”In an unprecedented move, several newspapers printed Wen’s commentsthe next day, openly challenging censorship orders.The Nobel Prize and the letter highlighted the growing importance of debate withinmainstream society, the party, and the government about the role of “universalvalues.” These ideas were also advocated by Charter 08, the landmark documentthat called for a gradual overhaul of China’s political system. Liu’s participation indrafting the charter prompted his December 2008 arrest and his 11-year prisonsentence one year later.Freedom of ExpressionThe government continued to restrict the rights and freedoms of journalists, bloggersand an estimated 384 million internet users, in violation of domestic legalguarantees of freedom of press and expression. The government requires statemedia and internet search firms to censor references to issues ranging from theJune 1989 Tiananmen massacres to details of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.303