Monday, December 31, 2007

Wang Juntao Links Hu Jia Case with Beijing Olympics

According to Epoch Times, Wang Juntao (王军涛), a prominent figure during the 1989 movement, thinks the recent arrest of Hu Jia is directly linked to the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. During an interview with the paper, Wang points out that the 2008 Olympics has in fact become a focal point for human rights in China. Therefore, the Chinese government wishes to control the dissidents and eliminate challenging voices before the Olympics.

Wang calls on the international society to pay close attention to the case and provide enough pressure to force the government to release Hu Jia.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Hu Jia Is Arrested

The outspoken AIDS and Human Rights activists Hu Jia (胡佳) had been arrested a couple of days ago. It is not immediately known what had triggered this action, although his activities on the internet has always put himself in such a danger.

His wife Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕) and their daughter of only several months old are under virtual house arrest.

Below is the form letter issued to Zeng Jinyan, by the Beijing Public Security Bureau, informing her of her husband's arrest. It simply said that "According to Article 61 of the Criminal Prosecution Law of the People's Republic of China, our Bureau has arrested Hu Jia on December 27, 2007 for suspicion of the crime of instigating overthrowing the government."

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas Riot at Nankai University

Internet reports that a riot broke out on Christmas Eve at Nankai University (南开大学), a major university in the city of Tianjin (天津). The riot was triggered by a traffic accident in which a car sideswiped a student riding a bike. Apparently the arrogance of the driver and police angered onlooking students, who gathered around and demanded for justice.

It escalated into students, numbered close to a thousand, trashing the car. At least one policeman was also beaten by the students. The riot lasted from 8:30pm to 1am, after a vice president of the school making several promises to the angry crowd. The promises include not to punish the rioting students and make improvements in traffic safety on campus.

As usual, any such news of student agitations are strictly forbidden in the mainstream media in China.

Monday, December 24, 2007

A Timeline for the 1989 Student Movement

To kick off this new blog, I created a timeline for the 1989 student movement at xtimeline: