Chinese Net protestors arrested

[marc]

======================
Chinese Net protestors arrested
======================
Chinese authorities have detained a number of Internet dissidents as the
15-year anniversary of a massacre of pro-democracy activists looms.

The latest such arrestee, Liu Xiabo, had written a number of articles,
including an essay that condemned the Chinese government for using
subversion laws to prosecute and silence its online critics. He had also
launched a campaign to free cyberdissident Du Daobin, who himself had
been forced to plead guilty to subversion charges in a trial that was
savaged by various groups, including Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF-a
GILC member). Liu has since been placed under house arrest. Liu's
detention comes just after two other Internet activists, Yang Jianli and
Liu Shui, were convicted and sentenced by Chinese criminal courts on
charges that are being widely perceived as politically motivated. Many
of these individuals had participated in the pro-democracy protests at
Beijing's Tienanmen Square that the government brutally suppressed on 4
June 1989.

In addition to this wave of arrests, Chinese censors are also stepping
up restrictions on various forms of Internet activity. For example,
government agents have closed down over 8600 cybercafes over the past
three months, claiming that they provide "unhealthy information
online"-a term that apparently covers political commentary and material
critical of the country's rulers. Additionally, according to the
state-run Xinhua news agency, a government committee will be formed to
stop the flow of imported computer games that contain messages that are
deemed taboo by Chinese authorities, such as discussion of Taiwanese and
Tibetan sovereignty or the Falun Gong spiritual movement. The Chinese
government has already banned Hearts of Iron, a computer game made in
Sweden that, among other things, portrayed Tibet as an independent
nation.

For more on the Liu Xiabo case, visit the RSF website under
http://rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=10466

Further details regarding the Du Daobin case are posted at
http://rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=10432

See "China silences Tiananmen critics," BBC News Online, 3 June 2004 at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3772629.stm

Read "Net activist's trial unfair: watchdog," South China Morning Post,
24 May 2004 at
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=11470

For more about the Yang Jianli and Liu Shui cases, click
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10388

See "China jails journalist for posting articles on Net," South China
Morning Post, 12 May 2004 at
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=11098

Read "China censors online video games," BBC News Online, 1 June 2004 at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3766023.stm

See "China bans game for 'distorting history,'" Agence France Presse, 31
May 2004 at
http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/31/1085855471013.html

Read Chow Chung-yan, "Special censors to root out 'unhealthy' internet
games," South China Morning Post, 25 May 2004 at
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=11474

See also Jonathan Watts, "Nanny knows best," Guardian Unlimited (UK), 14
May 2004 at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1216808,00.h
tml