Social Cause 01 (Jul 08 - Jul 15)

[winston]

'Forced abortion' picture causes uproar in China

Graphic images posted online showing the bloody corpse of a baby whose mother was allegedly forced to terminate her pregnancy at seven months have caused an uproar in China.

Rights groups say authorities in north China's Shaanxi province forced Feng Jianmei to abort her pregnancy on June 2 because she was unable to pay a 40,000 yuan ($6,270) fine for exceeding China's "one-child" population control policy.

Authorities in Zhenping county, where the abortion took place, said that Feng had agreed to the procedure, but a relative told AFP that she and her husband had opposed the abortion.

The relative, who asked not to be named, also confirmed the authenticity of a photograph posted online of Feng on a hospital bed next to the blood-smeared body of her baby.

Outraged Chinese web users expressed doubt that Feng had agreed to the abortion, and even state-run media outlets condemned the procedure.

"Who would ever drop a bleeding baby beside its mother?" posted one Chinese web user on Internet news portal Netease.com.

"This is what they say the Japanese devils and Nazis did. But it's happening in reality and it is by no means the only case... They (the officials) should be executed."

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[iam802]

World Day Against Child Labour...

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012 ... or/100317/

[winston]

Shaanxi owns up to grisly abortion
Friday, June 15, 2012

Authorities confirmed yesterday that a woman was forced to abort seven months into her pregnancy, several days after her plight came to light when images of her baby's corpse were posted online.

Rights groups have blamed authorities in northern Shaanxi province for forcing Feng Jianmei to abort her pregnancy because she failed to pay a hefty fine for exceeding China's strict "one- child" population control policy.

The Shaanxi provincial government said that a preliminary probe confirmed it is "basically true" that the incident happened.

Investigators have recommended that action be taken against the perpetrators.

"This is a serious violation of the National Population and Family Planning Commission's policies, jeopardizes the population control work, and has caused uneasiness in society," the provincial government said on its website.

The government did not pinpoint exactly who the perpetrators were, but vowed to avoid a repeat of such a case, which it said was against regulations in effect since 2001 banning late-term abortions.

Mainland web users have reacted in anger to the abortion, with one comparing it to acts perpetrated by "Japanese devils and Nazis," after photos online showed Feng lying on a hospital bed next to the blood-smeared body of her baby.

Blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who recently left China for the United States, was once jailed after angering local officials for bringing to light hundreds of forced abortions.

Abortions peaked in 1983 with a total of 14.37 million terminations. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 20615&fc=8

[winston]

Clap ! Clap !

C.Y. Leung in silent tributeto Tiananmen dissident

Incoming chief executive Leung Chun-ying yesterday observed a minute's silence to mourn Tiananmen dissident Li Wangyang.


Source: SCMP

[winston]

Li Wangyang: Hong Kong asks who killed Tiananmen activist By Juliana Liu

Mr Li's supporters believe he may have been murdered

HK official questions Li's death


Blind and deaf after two decades of imprisonment as a Tiananmen Square activist, Li Wangyang was a defiant symbol of the unrealised promises of democracy in China.

His suspicious death on 6 June, just days after he vowed to press ahead the fight for universal suffrage, has caused an uproar in Hong Kong, where public opinion has forced the Chinese government to promise to re-open a criminal investigation into his final moments.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18478631

[winston]

Hong Kong Newspaper Charged With Downplaying Dissident's Death

The controversy involving The South China Morning Post has focused attention on perceived attempts by Beijing to rein in moves toward democracy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/busin ... .html?_r=1

[winston]

Beijing fury at prize for dissident

Beijing yesterday condemned a German foundation for giving leading dissident Liao Yiwu a prestigious literary award, saying the author fabricated stories and was convicted of crimes.

Liao, who spent four years in jail after writing Massacre, a poem about the bloody crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, was awarded the annual German Book Trade Peace Prize last week.

"Liao Yiwu was once convicted of illegal activity," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said when asked about the prize.

"After going abroad, Liao Yiwu continued to fabricate stories to receive sympathy and support. We hope relevant institutions and personnel in Germany can view China's development in an objective and fair light."

Liao has been in Germany since 2010 after successfully defying a travel ban by first walking out of China to Vietnam.

He is also the author of The Corpse Walker, which portrays the lives of working- class Chinese including a grave robber and a delusional peasant who believes he is an emperor. His works are banned in China.

The prize includes a payment of 25,000 euros (HK$242,000).

Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 20626&fc=2

[winston]

This is why you need Free Press, Free Speech and Freedom of Assembly...

Chinese Officials Punished Over Forced Abortion of 7-Month Fetus

A western Chinese city fired the local family planning bureau chief and punished other officials, after a woman was forced to abort her seven-month-old fetus.

The officials in the Zhenping region of Ankang city violated China’s family planning laws in the case of Feng Jianmei, 23, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Feng’s family has also been offered compensation, it said.

Feng’s case sparked public outrage after photos appeared online showing her lying next to the aborted fetus. She was forced to have the abortion after she couldn’t pay a 40,000 yuan ($6,200) fine to have a second baby under the country’s one- child policy.

“Some staff of the township government used crude means to violate her intentions,” Xinhua said, adding that there was “no legal basis” to demand the 40,000 yuan payment.

Feng said in an interview yesterday that she was not being allowed to leave a hospital where she’s recovering and feels “under a lot of pressure,” the New York Times reported today.

The newspaper quoted her sister-in-law as saying Feng’s husband was beaten last week when he tried to see a human rights lawyer in Beijing.

Source: Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-2 ... fetus.html

[winston]

Hong Kong reporter upsets Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit with Tiananmen question

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong reporter briefly threw Chinese President Hu Jintao’s tightly scripted visit to the semiautonomous city off course Saturday, by asking about the 1989 military crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square.

The reporter for the Apple Daily newspaper said he was detained for about 15 minutes after the incident by three to four security officers, who told him he was too noisy and had broken rules. Other reporters also shouted questions to Hu, but they weren’t detained.

Hu was touring a new cruise ship terminal when the reporter shouted out a question to him from behind a security cordon.

“President Hu, have you heard that Hong Kong people hope to reverse the verdict of June 4?” the reporter, Hon Yiu-ting, asked. “Have you heard?”

Many in Hong Kong have long called for Beijing to overturn its condemnation of the weeks-long 1989 pro-democracy protests that the military crushed on the night of June 3-4, killing hundreds, possibly thousands.

On mainland China, dissidents, intellectuals, relatives of the victims and even ordinary citizens also have called for a reassessment of the incident, though their voices are usually muffed because of government censorship.

Hu did not respond to the reporter’s question and it’s not clear whether he even heard it. The encounter was shown on local television.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asi ... story.html

[winston]

Useless, unproductive and dangerous activity ...

‘Black Widow’ Hot Dog Champ Eats Age in Dogs

World champion hot dog eater Sonya Thomas crushed her previous record Wednesday in the annual showdown, wolfing down 45 dogs and buns in 10 minutes, to the cheers of an entranced crowd....

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281