• Letter from the Editor
• News Update
   

The Rise of Civil Society

• Walking the Tightrope: Civil Society Organizations in China
  Sharon Liang examines the roadblocks and risks faced by China's civil society organizations today.
   
• The Rise of Civil Society in China
  Liu Xiaobo analyses China's new class of "people's heroes" and warns that popular social movements cannot by themselves ameliorate the destabilizing effects of unchecked political suppression and economic disparity.
   
• Funding the Rule of Law and Civil Society
  International NGOs and foundations allocate $100 million each year to rule of law and civil society projects in China. This HRIC Issues Paper reviews publicly available information on these programs, which suggests that policy goals may be hampered by questionable assumptions, limited accountability and acquiescence to official strictures.
   
• China Development Gateway: The Cost of Compromise
  A mainland scholar examines the cultural gaps that cripple the effectiveness of a foreign-funded Internet project.
   
• A Matter of Trust: The Internet and Social Change
  Bobson Wong suggests that reconfiguring "human software" - the attitudes of Internet users and content providers - is as important as developing anti-censorship software in making the Internet a tool for social change.
   
• SARS: Unmasking Censorship in China
  Zhang Erping examines what lessons remain to be learned after the fatal official control of public information during the SARS crisis.
   

AIDS and Article 23

• The Limits of Official Tolerance: The Case of the Aizhi Action Project
  Albert Chen asks whether the Chinese government's softened attitude toward a leading advocacy organization is a superficial adaptation to international pressure rather than a meaningful policy shift.
   
• A Tale of Two Crises: SARS vs AIDS
  Hu Jia, director of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, relates the efforts and frustrations of an NGO struggling against the government bureaucracy.
   
• SARS and Civil Society in Hong Kong
  Christine Loh and Veronica Galbraith examine how the SARS crisis inspired Hong Kong people to unite in opposition to proposed anti-subversion legislation.
   
• China's Special Democratic Zone
  Paul Lin suggests that Hong Kong's effective public action against Article 23 legislation should qualify the Special Administrative Region as a laboratory for China's democratic reform.
   
• Regina Must Think We are Stupid
  Stephen Vines relates just what Hong Kong people were so upset about.
   
• I Sing of a Free Hong Kong
  Smarlo Ma wonders how long Hong Kong can remain a port in the storm for freedom-loving Chinese.
   

Regular Features

• Up Front with Wang Yu
  Wang Yu interviews exiled dissident Li Nianchun about his experience as a key figure in China's political and labor movements.
   
• Book Reviews

  New Focus on an Old Debate
  Li Xiaorong examines three books on Chinese culture and human rights by Marina Svensson and Stephen Angle.

  Review of Social Connections in China
  Anne Thurston reviews a recent book on the importance of personal relationships in Chinese society.

  Just Out - New books in brief.

  
   
• Resource List
  A list of Internet resources relating to civil society in China.
   
• In Custody
  A list of prisoners in custody for journalistic activities.
   
• Prisoner Profile
  Yang Jianli
   
• Action Page
  What you can do about the issues discussed.
   
• HRIC Bulletin & Incorporating Responsibility 2008 Campaign Update