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Sri Lanka: 10,000 Tamils protest outside UN
By: The Inquirer, February 5, 2009
More than 10,000 Tamils demonstrated Wednesday in front of the UN's European headquarters urging the world body to secure a ceasefire between the Sri Lanka government and Tamil Tigers rebels. Organizer Thileegan Gunasingam said the demonstrators were also seeking UN help in allowing food and medicines into north-east Sri Lanka where government forces are trying to wipe out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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After six years, diplomatic lifeline allows Chinese dissident to reunite with family
By: Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail, February 5, 2009
It was in early 2006 when Jiang Weiping last heard some good news. A heralded Chinese journalist, Mr. Jiang had been jailed years earlier for writing about corruption in Chinese government. His family fled to Canada a couple of years later. Facing international pressure, China released Mr. Jiang in 2006. However, authorities barred him from political activity and denied him travel documents. He has been in limbo since.
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Chinese learn limits of online freedom
By: Andrew Jacobs, IHT, February 5, 2009
It was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek alternative to the stultifying variety show China Central Television beams into hundreds of millions of living rooms on the eve of each Lunar New Year holiday. But the program, called the Shanzhai, or "knockoff," Spring Festival Gala, was not to be.
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China censors news of shoe-throwing attack on Wen Jiabao
By: Richard Spencer, Telegraph, February 3, 2009
The foreign ministry in Beijing issued a statement calling the behaviour of the man who threw a trainer at Wen Jiabao during a speech "despicable" and saying it expressed its "strong displeasure". But the statement did not describe exactly what happened and the incident has not been described in television, newspaper or online reports.
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China rights lawyer missing
By: AP, February 2, 2009
An outspoken Chinese human rights lawyer went missing two weeks ago, several international rights groups said Tuesday, expressing fears for his safety. Gao Zhisheng, who has described being tortured in the past, disappeared Jan. 19 and is believed to be detained by security officials at an unknown location, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China wrote in a joint letter urging his release.
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China calls for "absolute obedience" from military
By: Reuters, February 2, 2009
China, wary of growing unrest and facing "multiple security threats," called for unity in its armed forces on Sunday and absolute obedience to the Communist Party. The call came at a Central Military Commission meeting presided over by president and commission chairman Hu Jintao just weeks after the Communist-ruled country warned of the risk of separatist groups at home.
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The upside of China's economic crisis
By: The New Republic, February 2, 2009
The global economic downturn is hurting ordinary Chinese people: Factories are closing, construction is grinding down, and school teachers, office workers, and even police are beginning to protest that they are not being paid. As during earlier crises in the People's Republic (including the Mao years), the weakest people in society are the most vulnerable. Human Rights Watch has issued a report warning that "the economic crisis could well spark a 'race to the bottom' in rights protections."
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India: Blogger silenced
By: Global Voices, February 1, 2009
Chyetanya Kunte is an Indian blogger living in the Netherlands. On 27th of November, 2008 during the terror attacks in Mumbai he wrote a blog post (now available through Google cache) criticizing Indian private television channel New Delhi Television (NDTV) and particularly their group editor Barkha Dutt's coverage of the incident.
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Cambodia: Internet censorship targets artists
By: Global Voices, February 1, 2009
As the number of Internet users has been growing rapidly in Southeast Asia in recent years, online censorship has proliferated, from China to Cambodia, as if it runs through the Mekong river. Although Cambodia has the lowest Internet penetration rate (70,000 users as of 2007), artists, however, are more recognized not through offline exhibitions, but their presence on the world wide web. This increasing use of blog to reach out larger audiences attracts more than attention and support.
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