. China News .




SINO DAILY
US envoy cautious over hopes for China reforms
by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 5, 2013


10 Chinese jailed for detaining petitioners: media
Beijing (AFP) Feb 5, 2013 - Ten people who detained citizens trying to lodge complaints against Chinese authorities have been sent to prison, state media said Tuesday, in a rare gesture towards upholding petitioners' rights.

Under China's ancient petitioning system, individuals can ask Beijing to investigate disputes such as land grabs and unpaid wages, but local governments regularly hire "interceptors" to physically prevent complaints being filed.

Bureaucrats face threats to their careers if too many complaints are made from their areas, and petitioners are regularly detained in secret facilities known as "black jails" to stop them doing so.

The defendants, all from Henan, held the petitioners -- from the same central province -- for up to six days in the capital in April last year before themselves being arrested, state-run news agency Xinhua said.

Wang Gaowei and nine accomplices "infringed the personal rights of the 11 petitioners, which constituted the crime of false imprisonment", it cited the court as saying. They were jailed for between six months and two years.

It was not yet clear whether the case represented a significant step towards guaranteeing petitioners' rights, said Hong Kong-based human rights researcher Joshua Rosenzweig.

"It remains to be seen whether this is the first in a series of cases like this, in which case we will look back at this as a significant step," he said.

"There are not only 10 people involved in the interception of petitioners."

Immense pressure on local politicians to "maintain stability" -- the official euphemism used to describe clamping down on dissent -- means that incentives to suppress petitioners remain.

"There is a climate in which the priority has been placed on maintaining stability at the local level... which is part of the reason why (local officials) are so anxious to take petitioners out of Beijing," Rosenzweig said.

The Beijing Youth Daily, which reported the case last year, cited petitioners as saying their interceptors had beaten them and wore badges identifying them with the Henan government.

Despite years of calls for China to shut down its "black jails", including from the country's media, rights groups continue to report frequent cases of petitioners being illegally detained and physically assaulted.

The US ambassador to China expressed caution Tuesday over hopes for reform under Beijing's new leadership and said the mainland should turn to Hong Kong for inspiration.

Gary Locke told an economic conference in Hong Kong that the US-China relationship remains "fundamentally very, very strong" but said the world's second-largest economy could only benefit from further liberalisation.

"Hong Kong is an excellent example of what can be done and how important it is to lead in the economic realm with the principles of openness, freedom and transparency," he told the conference, organised by US bank Goldman Sachs.

"It is also an example that China can learn from and in doing so, optimise China's own progress and development," he said.

Locke, a former US commerce secretary and the first Chinese American to hold the post, remained cautious when asked about the prospects of reform under China's newly elected Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who is set to take over as president in March.

"I believe everyone inside and outside of China is very hopeful but time will only tell, so we're going to have to wait for several months or even a year to really see what the priorities are (for the new leadership)," he said.

Xi was seen to be signalling a push for economic reforms when he chose to visit the southern boomtown of Shenzhen in his first official trip as the ruling party leader in December, where he vowed to continue "reform and opening".

But Locke said that many industries had expressed concerns over restrictions on investment in China, which they felt were "very troublesome".

Foreign direct investment in China declined for the first time in three years in 2012, official data showed, and some US businesses have linked it to investment barriers.

Ownership restrictions are imposed in a large number of sectors, although Beijing has moved to ease these limitations.

Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, maintains a semi-autonomous status with its own legal and financial system, as well as a separate currency and free economy.

"I think we really need to try to push for even further opening because it's in the economic self-interest of the Chinese people and the Chinese government," Locke said.

A third-generation Chinese American whose grandfather emigrated to the US, Locke created a buzz in Beijing when he took the US envoy role in 2011 and was nicknamed "the backpacker" for his frugal travelling habits.

He arrived in Beijing carrying his own luggage and in a regular car, with little of the ceremony that usually surrounds Chinese dignitaries abroad.

.


Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

Get Our Free Newsletters
Space - Defense - Environment - Energy - Solar - Nuclear

...





SINO DAILY
China police chief accused of having 192 houses
Beijing (AFP) Feb 5, 2013
A Chinese police chief is alleged to have had at least 192 houses and a fake identity card, state media said Tuesday, the latest in a number of similar cases that have sparked outrage online. Zhao Haibin, a senior police official in Lufeng in the southern province of Guangdong, was reported by a businessman to have accumulated the properties under his name and his company's, the Guangzhou Da ... read more


SINO DAILY
Kerry to meet Canadian FM in first bilateral talks

Trade secrets theft linked to ex-employees: study

Chinese make record foreign investments in 2012: PwC

Google wins Australian sponsored links case

SINO DAILY
How plant communities endure stress

Chocolate not yet China's cup of tea

Minnesota cancels moose season

How plants sense gravity - a new look at the roles of genetics and the cytoskeleton

SINO DAILY
Ghana extradites ex-military chief to I. Coast: security

Sudan president in Eritrea after Asmara mutiny: reports

Central African rebels warn president over peace deal

DR Congo peace deal signing cancelled: UN

SINO DAILY
Japan's Suzuki sees April-December net profit rise 19%

Japan's Mazda swings back to profit

China auto sales hit record in January: industry group

GM says China monthly sales set record in January

SINO DAILY
World's First AP1000 Containment Vessel Top Head Ready

Westinghouse Commits To Czech Steel For AP1000 Plants At Temelin

Centrica makes U-turn on British nuclear plant plan

Fukushima operator TEPCO projects $1.29 bn year net loss

SINO DAILY
EU considers cybercrime reporting plan

Hacker 'botnet' hijacked online searches: Microsoft

US lawmakers propose password privacy bill

US Energy Department was hacking victim

SINO DAILY
Japan PM says China dialogue window must stay open

Two Russian fighters breach Japanese airspace

White House demands quick Senate action on Hagel

US spy chief warns cuts will hurt morale

SINO DAILY
Mainstream Renewable Power Starts Building Wind Farm in Chile

Hgcapital And Blue Energy Agree UK Wind Farm Investment Deal

Sabotage may have felled U.K. wind turbine

Japan plans world's largest wind farm




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement