One of the main men behind China’s Great Firewall recently got a taste of his own medicine. Fang Binxing, credited with building a system which is used to block websites in China, shut down his microblog earlier this week after Chinese netizens,...
CATEGORY: China
The curious case of Hada
His 15-year jail term for spying and separatist activities is finally over, but Chinese dissident Hada, (who is ethnically Mongolian) is missing, along with his wife and son. The 55-year-old writer was scheduled to be released last Friday, while...
China’s Pre-Nobel Preparations
With less than a day to go before the Nobel Committee awards Chinese imprisoned dissident (or convicted criminal if you are the Beijing government) Liu Xiaobo this year’s peace prize, China has been stumbling over itself to create diversions, block...
Dissident artist calls for openness over Shanghai fire victims
Outspoken dissident artist Ai Weiwei has launched an online campaign asking the Chinese government to publicly release the names of the victims of a fire that destroyed a Shanghai tower block on November 15. His Google Docs “Citizens...
Uncertainty surrounds release of jailed baby milk activist
On 24 November the South China Morning Post reported that the milk scandal activist, Zhao Lianhai, may be released just weeks after he began his two-and-a-half-year prison sentence. It appears a back-room deal has resulted in Zhao's application for...
China blogging conference cancelled
Organisers of an annual blogging conference, CNBloggercon, to be held last weekend in Shanghai were told to cancel the event because it was too “sensitive.” Convener and citizen journalist, Zhou Shuguang, told Agence France-Presse that the venue...
Chinese activist sentenced to year in labour camp for Twitter joke
Wangyi09’s twitter feed stops abruptly at 7:45AM on October 28. According to human rights groups, the Chinese rights activist, whose real name is Cheng Jianping, was detained later that day for a satirical tweet she had posted on October 17 which...

The man who dares not say the L Word
David Cameron has extolled the virtues of human rights and democracy during his trade mission to Beijing but why won't he raise the case of imprisoned writer Liu Xiaobo? Dinah Goodman reports David Cameron’s first stop on his first visit to Beijing...
China releases dissident artist Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei, China’s best-known dissident artist, is called God Ai by his supporters. Ai helped design the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics and more recently his Sunflower Seeds installation created a splash at the Tate Modern; but Ai...

Liu Xiaobo win prompts Chinese media blackout
One of China's best-known dissidents Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday night. Liu is currently serving an 11 year prison sentence for “inciting subversion of state power” after the former litarture professor circulated Charter 08, a...