Update: the Associated Press has spoken via Skype to a close friend of Chen, Zeng Jinyan, who claims that Chinese officials forced the activist to choose between going into exile alone or staying in China with his family. More details as we get...
Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has reportedly fled to Beijing after a year and a half under house arrest. Chen is one of China's best-known human rights activist, famous for his campaign against forced abortions. The blind lawyer spent four...
Like the rest of the world, China’s gone Titanic crazy again. The 3D version of James Cameron’s Titanic hit cinemas here today but Chinese theatre-goers excited about the chance to see Kate Winslet’s nude scene in glorious 3D will be disappointed....
It has emerged that the Chinese government has closed 16 websites and detained six people for “fabricating or disseminating online rumours” in recent weeks. On 19 March, rumours began spreading on Chinese microblogs that claimed "military vehicles"...
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao marked the end of this year's National People’s Congress with a press conference in which he urged China to press ahead with political reform to avoid "historical tragedy" like the Cultural Revolution. Ahead of the event...
Woeser, a Tibetan writer who has authored online articles and non-fiction books about her birthplace, has been prevented from attending a ceremony in which the Dutch Ambassador in China was to present her with an award from the Prince Claus Fund....
A veteran Chinese pro-democracy campaigner based in Wuhan has been warned by state security police not to proceed with plans for a website aimed to promote "peaceful" reform. Qin Yongmin, who was freed from prison in November 2010 after serving a...
Zhu Yufu, a poet and activist, was last week charged with crimes relating to subversion for writing and publishing a poem online. The poem, It’s Time, has been translated by A.E. Clark: It's time, people of China! It's time. The Square belongs to...
The defection of Chinese writer and dissident Yu Jie last week revealed shocking allegations of torture and beatings more usually associated with rogue American troops in Iraq. Yu, a close friend of imprisoned Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo, is most...
As the number of Confucius Institutes continues to increase, there have been renewed concerns about how these organisations restrict free expression, particularly from among the international community. The centres, which are dedicated to Chinese...