Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China ...

<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010the content on Hu’s website was indeed “illegal,” to properly notify Hu, or to allow himto make corrections to the website. 61Another successful lawsuit was filed by Shandong blogger Duan Lei ( ). Duan wastaken into custody on February 25 after he wrote a blog post accusing a local PartySecretary of corruption, sexual transgression, and other vices. After spending five monthsin detention on suspicion of having committed “libel,” Duan was released by theauthorities, the charges against him were dropped, and the local PSB and judicial officialsgave him a formal apology. Duan then filed an administrative litigation lawsuit seekingcompensation for the 150 days he wrongfully spent in detention; he emerged victoriousand was awarded 16, 798 RMB (approximately 2,460 USD). 62磊 段Freedom of expression advocates also uses creativity and humor to highlight theabsurdity of official censorship. The “Song of the Grass-mud Horse,” 63 which pairs aninnocent and popular melody with lyrics full of made-up words that closely resembleChinese obscenities, became an instant hit among netizens in late January. The songpoked fun at the government’s latest drive to eliminate “vulgar” online content. 64On July 22, two bloggers, “Anti” ( ) and “Beifeng” ( ), posted messages onTwitter addressing detained netizen Guo Baofeng ( , aka Amoiist). The messages,which read, “Guo Baofeng, Your Mother Is Calling You Home for Dinner,” borrowed aninternet meme then popular with Chinese netizens. 65 The two bloggers then asked otherson Twitter to follow suit and show their support for Guo. Some took the action one stepfurther, sending anonymous postcards with the same phrase to the detention center whereGuo was being held. Guo was released on July 31, nine days after the start of the onlinecampaign. While there is no evidence that the campaign led directly to Guo’s release, itwas undoubtedly successful in drawing attention to his case. The initiative inspired manyothers, who launched similar postcard campaigns demanding the release of prominentdetained activists such as Xu Zhiyong and Liu Xiaobo.锋 宝 郭 风 北 替 安3. Other forms of expressionIn addition to using the internet, Chinese activists experimented with a variety ofplatforms to express dissent and to protest in 2009. Following the detention of Gongmengdirector Xu Zhiyong on July 29, Zhang Yang ( a Shenzhen businessman, designedand sold badges on the online shopping site Taobao featuring an image of Xu. In August,Zhang’s taobao.com account was closed by the website for selling “illegal products.” 66张),Wearing t-shirts in support of a cause was another method favored by activists, and onewhich frequently attracted the attention of police. In June, Beijing police confiscated abatch of t-shirts in support of Deng Yujiao (see her story on p.12) designed by artistactivistAi Weiwei (扬and threatened to arrest those involved with making theshirts. 67 On July 19, nine Guangzhou dissidents and activists wore t-shirts on a hike upBaiyun Mountain with statements such “one-party dictatorship is a disaster” and “whenthe officials are not chosen by the people, they do not serve the people.” 68 They were艾18), 未 未