Freedom of Expression

Three Documents Related to the Case of Buddhist Leader Wu Zeheng

[Wu Zeheng] After proposing, in 1998 and 1999, government reforms, including greater government transparency, establishing non-Party oversight bodies, and ending corruption, Wu Zeheng, a Guangdong-based Buddhist leader, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on the charges of "illegal business" and "...

September 22, 2011

Document

Democratic And Political Reform

Wu Zeheng

Lü Gengsong’s Trial Verdict

[Lü Gengsong] Zhejiang rights defender Lu Gengsong was arrested on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” on August 24, 2007, for publishing articles critical of the government. The court convicted and sentenced him to four years in prison and one year of deprivation of political rights...

February 5, 2008

Document

Freedom of Expression

A Thank-you Note to the World Voices Festival of International Literature and Mr. Rushdie

Because Salman Rushdie wrote The Satanic Verses , Iran's Ayatolla Khomeini tried to kill him by putting a $5,000,000 reward on his head. This was in the 1980s, when I was still a young poet, and it was the first time I had heard his name. I was deeply shocked. Even though I cannot cross the ocean...

April 25, 2011

Open Letter

Freedom of Expression

Liao Yiwu

Jasmine Revolution Rally on Beijing’s Wangfujing Street

In one of the first Jasmine Revolution rallies in China, people came out to "stroll, surround, and watch." A large number of uniform and plainclothes police was present. Organizers have called for rallies every Sunday , with the next one scheduled for 2:00 p.m., February 27.

February 20, 2011

Photograph

Freedom of Expression

Letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama, I am a Chinese intellectual, a mother who lost her beloved son in the June Fourth Massacre in Beijing 20 years ago. First, I would like to congratulate you on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize this year, and I look forward to your outstanding contributions to maintaining world...

November 3, 2009

Public Appeal

Freedom of Expression

Liu Xiaobo

“To My German Readers”

Letter by Liao Yiwu March 2010 Translation by HRIC. I regret to say that I have exhausted all my efforts. I remain unable to reach Germany and unable to make it to my reading arranged by the Cologne literature festival [lit.Cologne]. I am physically and mentally exhausted, but I still want to say...

April 9, 2010

China Rights Forum

Freedom of Expression

Statement of Shared Responsibility

Translation by HRIC. On December 10, 2009, the day the Beijing Municipal Intermediate People’s Procuratorate indicted Liu Xiaobo, 165 signers of Charter 08 issued an online statement claiming shared responsibility with Liu Xiaobo for any punishment imposed. Other signers of Charter 08 actively...

April 9, 2010

China Rights Forum

Rights Defense

Liu Xiaobo

Václav Havel on Liu Xiaobo, “Charter 08”, and the Struggle for Democratic Reform

HRIC Interview On January 19, 2010, Václav Havel—playwright and former dissident who became the last president of Czechoslovakia and later the first president of the Czech Republic—spoke with HRIC executive director Sharon Hom about Liu Xiaobo, Charter 08 , and the difficult process of democratic...

April 9, 2010

China Rights Forum