DIAL OGUE
DUI HUA
The quarterly newsletter of Dui Hua, a nonprofit humanitarian organization advancing clemency
and better treatment for at-risk detainees through well-informed, respectful dialogue with China
Issue 52 • Summer 2013
Advancing rights through dialogue
US-China Rights Dialogue: An Exercise in Insanity?
The US Department of State, led by Acting
Assistant Secretary Uzra Zeya, participated
in the 18th round of the US-China Human
Rights Dialogue in Kunming, the capital of
Yunnan Province, on July 30–31, 2013. In
addition to officials from the department’s
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights
and Labor, the American team included
representatives from the National Security
Council, the Department of Justice, and
the Environmental Protection Agency. The
Chinese side was led by Director General Li
Junhua, and included representatives from
China’s judicial agencies and those managing
ethnic affairs and the environment. The
Participants visit a mosque during the 18th US-China Human Rights
Americans met with senior provincial
Dialogue. Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC
officials and visited Yunnan No. 3 Women’s
Prison and a mosque where members of the Hui The July dialogue was the first since the reelection
minority worship. Following the talks, the American of President Barack Obama and the ascension to
team flew to Beijing where they met with Assistant Communist Party secretary and state president of Xi
Jinping. It followed the Sunnylands summit between
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu.
the two presidents in June and the Strategic &
On August 2, Acting Assistant Secretary Zeya gave Economic Dialogue held in Washington in July. At
a press briefing at which she asserted that human both events American officials tried to convince Xi to
rights conditions in China were deteriorating. China’s rule with a lighter hand. Their efforts, and those by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) countered with American team in Kunming, appear to have had little
familiar rhetoric: “China’s human rights situation is impact. Days after the dialogue ended, Chinese police
in the best period in history and China is a country took several people into custody for their involvement
ruled by law.” Aside from announcing that their Legal in the loosely organized “New Citizens’ Movement,”
Experts Dialogue will take place in November, the known best for its anti-corruption activism. Among
only other agreement reached by the two sides was the detained were journalist Chen Min (陈敏)—
to hold another round of the bilateral human rights formerly of Southern Weekly, he uses the pen name
Xiao Shu (笑蜀); veteran activist and Charter ’08
dialogue in 2014.
in this issue
Cover Story
US-China Rights Dialogue: An Excercise in
Insanity?
The Cult of Buddha
P. 5
P. 9
Prisoner Update
P. 11
Dui Hua News
signer Yang Lin (杨林), arrested on
charges of inciting subversion; and
Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄), detained
for “gathering a crowd to disrupt
social order.”
Laundry List of Issues
Last year, China’s
foreign affairs
ministry decided
to no longer
accept prisoner
lists or respond
to those already
accepted.
The acting assistant secretary described China’s
alleged persecution of the family members of
dissidents as a “worrying trend.” She mentioned the
families of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) and human rights activist Chen
Guangcheng (陈光诚), among others.
The Chinese side took issue with American policies
towards minorities, immigrants, and prisoners. With
news dominated by revelations of email surveillance
brought about by National Security Agency
contractor Edward Snowden, the Chinese could not
help but point the finger at the United States as an
abuser of privacy rights. Once again, neither side
discussed capital punishment, not surprising since
both countries continue to execute those convicted
of capital crimes.
China’s opening of a women’s prison to the
Americans reflects the country’s interest in the
rights of incarcerated women. Their interest was not
reciprocated by the Americans, who were critical of the
happy scenes (of gardens and prisoner performances)
laid on by their hosts. Although China is studying the
United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women
Dialogue
Struggle over Lists
A feature of China’s human
rights dialogues with foreign
countries
has
been
the
presentation, by the foreign
counterpart, of a list of “cases
of concern.” China’s MFA has,
in recent years, resisted accepting
lists. In July 2012, a decision
was made that the ministry’s
International Department, which
has responsibility for managing
the dialogues for the Chinese
government, would no longer
accept prisoner lists and would not give responses to
lists already accepted.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC
The US side raised a by now familiar
list of issues including the treatment
of
political dissidents, human
rights lawyers, and practitioners of
unauthorized religious groups. It
focused on the situations in Tibet—
where more than 120 self-immolations
have taken place over the last four
years—and Xinjiang—where a large
percentage of endangering state
security trials take place. It also urged
resumption of the dialogue between
China and representatives of the
Dalai Lama.
Prisoners and Non-Custodial
Measures for Women Offenders
(the Bangkok Rules), the United
States, whose treatment of
women prisoners is arguably
worse than that of China, has
evinced little interest in the rules.
According to a source in the MFA, geographic
departments in the ministry would consider accepting
short lists from their foreign counterparts on the
occasion of state visits. The International Department
would continue replying to appeals from the United
Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights and its Special Procedures Division.
Diplomats based in Beijing who represent countries
with human rights dialogues or consultations confirm
that, since last summer, their Chinese counterparts
have rebuffed efforts to hand over lists. In fact, the
Americans’ first effort to submit this year’s list was
turned down. At the dialogue in Kunming, Director
General Li declared that the Chinese side would
accept the list but made clear that this would be the
last time it would do so. Acting Assistant Secretary
Zeya replied that, as far as the United States is
concerned, it will continue to hand over such lists in
the future. In line with the new policy, the American
side received no written information in response to
lists submitted since 2011.
2
During the dialogue the American team raised more
than 30 cases of those it alleged suffered from
persecution for their political and religious beliefs.
At her press briefing, Zeya listed eight names (see
“Selected Individuals,” p.4). The Chinese side
provided some information on these cases, but,
according to Zeya, the information “fell short of our
expectations.” For its part, China’s MFA “urg[ed] the
U.S. side to respect China’s judicial sovereignty and
stop bothering China on some isolated cases.”
American complaints were a taste of what the MFA
can expect at the upcoming Universal Periodic Review
(UPR) of China’s human rights record, which will
take place in Geneva on October 22. Washington will
send a strong team to the event, most likely headed
by Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights
and Labor Tom Malinowski, who is expected to be
confirmed by the Senate in September. Malinowski
is a veteran human rights activist, unlike Zeya,
whose strength lies in the administration of the state
department’s bureaucracy.
Characterizing the discussions as “cloaked in secrecy,”
Wolf derided the approach taken by the Department
of State as one which “time and again, failed to
produce meaningful results.”
Chinese citizens used Weibo to post their own pointed
comments. Leftists spoke of foreign interference
with derision. Painting a bleak picture, one user
scoffed, “the party is a mother; are you gonna tell
me that when a mother beats her child, the neighbors
should get involved?” Most of the views expressed,
however, showed frustration not with the US, but
with the results of the dialogue. One asked: “If this
is the best of times, what would things look like in
bad times?”
An Exercise in Insanity?
Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the
same thing over and over again and expecting different
results. The United States and China have held 18
rounds of a human rights dialogue that stretches back
more than 20 years. Though some specific complaints
China has not announced its team for the UPR. One have changed, the fundamentals have remained the
possibility for the official to lead the team is Senior same. Both sides of the dialogue decry human rights
Vice Minister Li Baodong, who has served as China’s violations in the other country. Neither side credits the
ambassador to the United Nations
other with improvements in the area
in New York and Geneva and was
of civil and political rights. On the
previously director general of the
contrary, year after year, the United
Chinese
MFA’s International Department.
States claims that China’s human
Li recently took charge of
rights situation has deteriorated. If
information
multilateral issues, a portfolio
that is in fact the case, why does the
on cases “fell
that covers China’s human
United States agree, year after year,
rights diplomacy.
to continue the dialogue?
short of our
Critical Chorus
There are many American critics
of the US-China human rights
dialogue among members of
Congress and, more broadly, the
human rights community. One
of the fiercest critics has been
influential Republican lawmaker
Frank Wolf, who issued a statement
on the opening day of the dialogue
slamming what he saw as meager
results from the annual exercise.
expectations.”
—Acting Assistant Secretary
of State Uzra Zeya
3
Li Fangping, one of China’s bestknown human rights lawyers
and himself a target of police
harassment, bluntly acknowledges
that the dialogue “achieves little in
the short term.” But, with respect
to results, the Sino-US dialogue
was never billed as means to
score short-term improvements.
Moreover, in Li’s view, “from a
macro and long-term assessment,
there are great benefits [to the
dialogue]. It helps make human
Summer 2013
rights public and mainstream, and more people can
be aware of the issues through digital media.” Rights
consciousness is certainly on the rise in China, and
humankind’s penchant for short-term gratification
notwithstanding, it’s surely not insane to spend time
helping awareness bloom. ■
Selected Individuals Named at the 18th US-China Dialogue
among the 30+ people the Americans said were persecuted for their political and religious beliefs.
Name
Circumstance
Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan filmmaker, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment
for inciting splittism in 2009, and has been unable to obtain medical parole despite
Dhondup Wangchen
suffering from hepatitis B. Before his arrest, Wangchen produced a film in which he
(当知项欠)
interviewed Tibetans about their lives under Chinese rule and their views on the then
upcoming 2008 Olympics.
Gao Zhisheng
(高智晟)
A lawyer who took on controversial cases and publicly called for an end to the
persecution of Falun Gong, Gao is serving a three-year prison sentence in Xinjiang for
inciting subversion. His sentence was originally suspended, but the suspension was
revoked days before its expiry.
Hada
(哈达)
Mongolian rights activist, writer and former bookstore owner, Hada has been under
house arrest since he completed a 15-year prison sentence in December 2010.
Charged with espionage and splittism for organizing peaceful protests, he reportedly
suffers from depression.
Hairat Niyaz
(海来提尼亚孜)
As a Communist Party member, former journalist, and AIDS activist who advocated for
dialogue between Uyghur and Han Chinese, Niyaz is serving a 15-year sentence for the
crime of splittism in response to remarks he made to Hong Kong media regarding the
Urumqi Riots, which erupted on July 5, 2009.
Liu Xia
(刘霞)
Liu is a painter, poet, and photographer who has been under house arrest since her
husband, Liu Xiaobo, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.
Liu Xiaobo
(刘晓波)
As a professor at Beijing Normal University, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison
for inciting subversion for his contributions to the political manifesto Charter 08,
which called for the end of China’s one-party rule. In 2010, less than a year after
his conviction, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1989, Liu left a post at Columbia
University to join the pro-democracy movement in Beijing.
Ni Yulan
(倪玉兰)
A former lawyer and housing activist, Ni has been arrested and detained several
times since 2002. She is currently serving a 32-month prison sentence for “fraud” and
“causing a serious disturbance” for protesting the demolition of her home.
Xu Zhiyong
(许志永)
A lawyer and civil society activist, Xu was detained on July 16, 2013. He is a chief
proponent of the New Citizens' Movement and co-founder of the Open Constitution
Initiative, a legal aid and research organization that was shut down by Chinese
authorities in 2009.
Dialogue
4
The “Cult” of Buddha
“Do not listen, do not read, do not believe, do not disseminate” is a widely circulated anti-cult slogan.
China’s central government began labeling and banning religious groups as “cults” (邪教) in 1995—
four years before the proscription of Falun Gong.
In 2000, the Ministry of Public Security issued a
notice describing 14 groups identified as cults by
central authorities. A decade later, 22 “cults” had been
identified, according to an article on the China AntiCult Association website. Among them were qigongbased Falun Gong, the largest and most vocal group; 18
Protestant sects; and three variants of Buddhism: True
Buddha School, Guanyin Famen, and Yuandun Famen.
Buddhism has a long history in China and has been
able to attract new adherents with healthy, and
increasingly trendy, practices like vegetarianism and
meditation. An estimated 185 million Chinese identify
as Buddhists, according to the Chinese Spiritual Life
Survey conducted in 2007. Their activities are overseen
by the Buddhist Association of China (BAC) and the
State Administration for Religious Affairs. Both bodies
promote the love of religion and the state.
Article 36 of China’s constitution
grants “freedom of religious
belief ” so long as “religious bodies
and religious affairs are not subject
to any foreign domination.” Unlike
Christian groups persecuted prior
to the reform and opening of the
1980s, Buddhist organizations
were never targeted as part of an
anti-imperial struggle, since most
Buddhist groups were founded
by mainland or overseas-born
Chinese. Nevertheless, foreign
infiltration and so-called anti-China
remarks are cited as reasons for the
proscription of Buddhist groups
along with apocalypticism.
have been charged with disturbing social order,
fraud, illegal business activity, or crimes under
Article 300: “organizing or using a cult to undermine
implementation of the law.” Punishment for these
offenses results in confiscations, fines, detention,
reeducation through labor, or imprisonment.
True Buddha School 灵仙真佛宗
True Buddha School (TBS) is a modern Vajrayana
Buddhist sect founded in Seattle in 1979 by Taiwanese
American Lu Sheng-yen (卢胜彦), known by his
disciples as “Living Buddha.” The majority of TBS
followers are in Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia.
The group claims to have 5 million followers, according
to the Encyclopedia of Taiwan.
Introduced to mainland China in 1988, TBS
emphasizes the need to diligently
cultivate spiritual advancement
and teaches disciples to transform
So-called antidifficulty into positivity through
China remarks
enlightenment. The Ministry of
Public Security reported that the
are cited as
group disseminated a large amount
of publications and propaganda
reasons for the
and had branches in Shanghai,
proscription
Guangzhou, and Kunming with
followers across 13 provinces
of Buddhist
and municipalities.
groups.
Those who engage in Buddhist
worship without permission from
BAC or local religious bureaus
5
TBS was banned in 1995 due in
part to critical statements Lu made
about the government’s decision
to violently suppress student
protesters in Tiananmen Square in
1989. Chinese authorities labeled Lu
as “hostile to the socialist system,”
saying he had given “multiple public
speeches attacking the party and
Summer 2013
known to her followers as the Supreme Master Ching
Hai. Introduced to mainland China around 1992,
GYFM gained about 500,000 followers, including
party members and senior cadres, across more than
20 provinces, according to the Information Centre for
Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong. GYFM
is likely the largest of the three Buddhist groups that
are outlawed in China.
GYFM is registered with the Taiwanese Ministry
of the Interior and is known internationally as the
Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association,
according to the Encyclopedia of Taiwan. The group
is estimated to have more than 2 million disciples
worldwide, with about 300,000 in Taiwan.
True Buddha School founder Lu Sheng-yen is called an "open
enemy of the socialist system" in anti-cult propaganda.
Photo credit: Ushkdan
government,” organized ten thousand people in Hong
Kong to join a memorial puja (worship service) for
June 4 protesters, and “used newspapers and radio to
broadcast the memorial all over the world.”
TBS activities have been driven underground in China,
but are not necessarily dormant. Government records
document instances of “legal education,” confiscation
of religious materials, and the demolition of a temple
between 1996 and 2005. As recently as 2011, a local
government in Sichuan listed TBS alongside Falun
Gong and Guanyin Famen as inspection targets.
Guanyin Famen 观音法门
Guanyin Famen (GYFM) was established in 1988
by Vietnamese-born Chinese Shi Qinghai (释清海),
Dialogue
Core to the practice is daily meditation and a vegan
lifestyle defined by “five no’s”—no killing, no lying,
no stealing, no lewdness, and no drinking. According
to the China Anti-Cult Association, GYFM believes
that two thirds of the world’s population must
become vegetarian to prevent the catastrophic effects
of climate change. Running vegan chain restaurants
and meditation centers around the world, its business
activity is characterized by the Chinese government as
foreign infiltration and swindling. GYFM was accused
of visiting China frequently “under the cover of
traveling, visiting, investing, and opening up factories
for the purpose of recruiting and founding secret
meeting places” and “intending to amass vast fortunes
by opening vegetarian chain restaurants.” Shi has been
described by the China Anti-Cult Association as anticommunist for remarks made in the early 1990s about
communism’s inevitable demise in China, Vietnam, and
the Eastern Bloc. But others affiliated with the group
have reportedly been persecuted not for their political
beliefs, but their business practices and association
with foreigners.
Dui Hua’s Political Prisoner Database (PPDB) has
information on over two dozen GYFM members,
most of whom were detained between 1996 and 2005.
Thirteen leading members were given prison sentences
of one-and-a-half to eight years’ imprisonment under
Article 300. A widely publicized case occurred in
April 2001, when the Yanta District People’s Court in
Xi’an sentenced Liu Shiyao (刘世尧), Zhang Huadong
(张华东), Cheng Wei (程炜), Ma Yi (马懿), Ge Lin
6
able to rescue disciples from an impending apocalypse.
The founder Xu Chengjiang (许成江) was originally
a follower of GYFM. Combining doctrines from
different Buddhist scriptures, he established YDFM
in 1998. The group was banned a year later, and
according to legal documents, Xu was detained seven
times between 1998 and 2002 for illegal proselytizing.
In December 2000, Xu named his son, Xu Longjing
(许珑璟), as his successor and continued to organize
large-scale
pujas.
In the early 2000s,
YDFM
had
more
Running vegan chain restaurants and
than 10,000 members
across 20 provinces,
meditation centers was characterized
municipalities,
and
by the Chinese government as foreign
autonomous regions.
(葛麟), and Hua Sihong (华四红) to three to eight years’
imprisonment. They were accused of using propaganda
and practice sessions to “cheat” disciples out of a total
of 320,000 yuan. The individuals reportedly received
instructions and religious texts from a foreign GYFM
agent and distributed the texts to a number of higher
education institutes. They also allegedly planned to join
an international retreat in Thailand.
Although the number
of publicized cases
has decreased sharply
in recent years, local
government
records
continue to provide
evidence of repression.
On March 21, 2009,
Urumqi
police
confiscated a total of
86,800 leaflets and
detained four suspects.
In 2011 authorities
prevented a total of 242
members from exiting
Jilin Province to attend
a puja in Taiwan.
infiltration and swindling.
Shortly
before
YDFM was banned
in December 1999,
the Mudanjiang Public
Security Bureau in
Heilongjiang Province
shut down three home
gatherings organized for
a total of 80 members.
Detention center police
officer
Ma
Jinglan
The
most
recent
(马景兰) and retired
conviction
reported
cadres Liu Chunyang
in
Chinese
media
(刘春阳) and Zhang
was in
2012. In
Yan (张彦) were accused
March, Jilin’s Tiedong
of spreading doomsday
District
People’s
A chain restaurant affiliated with Guanyin Famen.
rumors. To shelter
Court sentenced two
Photo credit: Suprememastertv.com
disciples from what she
defendants to seven
considered impending
years’ imprisonment for
organizing or using a cult to undermine implementation disaster, Ma raised funds to purchase five blocks of
of the law. Both were accused of using donations of buildings, to rent additional venues for members, and
10,000 yuan to purchase and distribute leaflets and to stockpile 20,000 kg of food and soybean oil. Other
2,600 copies of a book on vegetarianism and climate disciples who joined the gatherings claimed that they
change. Two additional defendants, a couple who only did so in an effort to improve their health, and
organized a video screening at their home, were given local police claimed that these individuals agreed to
voluntarily destroy YDFM publications and terminate
suspended sentences.
practice sessions after the group was banned.
Yuandun Famen 圆顿法门
In 2003, Xu Chengjiang and his son became the only
Like the Christian sect Almighty God, homegrown members known to be imprisoned. The former was
Buddhist group Yuandun Famen (YDFM) claims to be sentenced to life imprisonment on three charges:
7
Summer 2013
article “China and New Religious
organizing or using a cult to
Movements,” Chinese leaders
undermine implementation of the
As religious groups
were initially tolerant to some
law, fraud, and rape. Xu Longjing
gained popularity,
of these groups as the focus on
received a 13-year sentence for
economic development precluded
organizing a cult and fraud. Since
Chinese leaders
their ability to “keep track of
information on YDFM is limited
worried that spiritual
everyone’s private business.”
to government sources, it is
Nevertheless, as religious groups
unclear whether the charges were
protest might shift into
gained popularity and mobilizing
justified. The court verdict alleged
mass
revolt
potential, Chinese leaders were
that the Xus amassed a vast fortune
also aware that a spiritual protest
from the sales of cassettes, books,
might shift into mass revolt if
and CDs and “swindled” a total
religion remained outside state control.
of 5.9 million donations from disciples throughout
China. The group’s influence declined rapidly after
While China’s anti-cult propaganda often labels “cults”
the trial, but there is evidence that run-ins with police
as “anti-science, anti-humanity, and anti-society,”
continued. In Xinjiang, the Bortala Public Security
the harmful nature of its banned Buddhist “cults” is
Bureau confiscated a large amount of propaganda
not universally recognized. As new Buddhist groups
and audio materials in 2005, and six members were
whose doctrines differ from dominant streams, TBS
detained in a separate case in 2006.
and GYFM have drawn some criticisms outside China.
Several Taiwanese and Malaysian Buddhist groups have
Mobilizing Force
openly questioned Lu Sheng-yen’s Tibetan lineage and
legitimacy as “Living Buddha.” In 2002, Lu was sued
After the gradual lifting of religious suppression
for sexually abusing a former TBS member, but the
following the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976,
charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Chinese people turned to religion to fill the spiritual
Some Buddhist groups and western news media
vacuum that came with the massive socio-economic
criticized Shi Qinghai for her luxurious lifestyle and
transformations of reform and opening. Some religious
selling expensive artwork to her followers. But despite
scholars coined the term “new religious movements”
these controversies, China is the only nation to have
to describe new sects that have emerged since the
banned these groups. ■
1980s. As religion scholar Dr. Scott Lowe opined in his
Like the Christian sect Almighty God (pictured above), Yuandun Famen says it can rescue disciples from an impending
apocalypse. Photo credit: Gscn.com.cn
Dialogue
8
Prisoner Update
In June and July, Chinese government sources updated Dui Hua on the status of eight people
incarcerated in Guangdong Province. Three were reported to have received sentence reductions.
Beijiang Prison in Guangdong Province, 2004. Photo credit: Zhdwz.com.cn
Religious Pamphleteers
Liang Jiantian (梁鉴天) received a 15-month
sentence reduction on May 3, 2013, according to
government sources. As co-owner of a Guangzhou
publishing house, Liang was accused of printing
4.5 million Falun Gong publications. (Falun Gong
was a widely popular qigong-based practice before
it was banned as a “cult” in 1999.) Convicted of
“illegal business activity” and “producing obscene
material,” Liang was sentenced to life imprisonment.
His sentence has since been commuted and, after
four sentence reductions totaling 44 months, Liang
is scheduled for release from Panyu Prison on
May 17, 2023.
9
Lai Yiwa (赖亦瓦) may have his sentence reduced
in the second half of 2014 or first half of 2015.
In the first official response Dui Hua has received
regarding Lai, government sources said he is
currently scheduled for release from Beijiang Prison
on December 15, 2019. Sentenced to seven years’
imprisonment in April 2013, Lai allegedly printed
1,600 copies of Almighty God (also known as Real
God or Eastern Lightning) publications in his home
and distributed them to others. In December 2012,
members of the Protestant sect that was banned as a
“cult” in 1995 held public gatherings across China to
warn of impending apocalypse. Local police came out
in force and, according a Xinhua report, 1,300 people
were detained nationwide. Qinghai and Guizhou
accounted for 800 of the detentions that spanned 16
provinces. Lai is the only individual known to have
been convicted in Guangdong in connection with
the gatherings.
Summer 2013
Food Safety Activist
Guo Li (郭利) is still awaiting his first sentence reduction. Continuing
to push back dates of possible clemency, government sources said he
may have his sentence commuted sometime before his sentence expires
on July 22, 2014. Guo was convicted of extortion and sentenced to five
years’ imprisonment in 2010. Police took him into custody after he sought
medical compensation from Shien Group, a milk producer involved in the
melamine poisoning scandal that caused thousands of Chinese infants,
including Guo’s daughter, to develop kidney stones.
Photo credit: RFA, Guo Li's family
Alleged Spies
Chen Yulin (陈瑜琳) received a sentence reduction of 19 months on
March 29, 2013, according to government sources. Chen was one of three
British citizens and former Xinhua News Agency employees sentenced
to life imprisonment for providing state secrets about the Hong Kong
handover to the British in the 1990s. This is the fourth of Chen’s sentence
reductions, which total 60 months, since 2007. Chen is currently scheduled
for release on December 26, 2021, but government sources said that
he may receive another sentence reduction in late 2014 or the first half
of 2015.
Photo credit: Crossed-flag-pins.com
Wei Pingyuan (魏平原), another Briton sentenced to life in prison in
relation to the handover, may receive an additional sentence reduction in
late 2013 or early 2014. Wei has received four sentence reductions totaling 58 months. His sentence is currently
set to expire in October 2022. The Chinese government does not recognize either Chen Yulin’s or Wei Pingyuan’s
British citizenship.
Taiwanese resident Lin Jieshan (林介山) has received four sentence reductions totaling 47 months. In the
first official response Dui Hua has received regarding Lin’s case, government sources said he is scheduled for
release from Panyu Prison on January 13, 2015. Lin was one of 24 Taiwanese residents detained in the mainland
in December 2003. At the time, the central government had instituted a nationwide crackdown on espionage
in response to comments Chen Shui-bian made about missile defense deployments during his presidential reelection campaign. Several people detained around the same time in Taiwanese espionage cases, including Tong
Taiping (童太平) and Fu Hongzhang (傅宏章), have been released following multiple sentence reductions.
Wang Ruiquan (王瑞泉), one of only five individuals known to have been convicted of Taiwanese espionage after
Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008, may have his life sentence commuted to a fixed-term of 18–19 years’ imprisonment
in the second half of 2013. Currently in Beijiang Prison, Wang allegedly photographed secret documents including
those discussing preparations by the People’s Liberation Army to curb Taiwanese independence. ■
Dialogue
10
Dui Hua News
Advocacy and Outreach
Executive Director John Kamm went on the road
in May and June to continue advocacy and outreach
efforts. In the lead-up to the Sunnylands Summit, he
traveled to Washington, DC, to brief governmental
bodies, advocacy groups, and think tanks on USChina relations with a focus on the meeting between
President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping.
the charges were dropped in 2010, Hu was prohibited
from leaving the country for another three years. He
told Dui Hua that raising the profile of his case in
the media and with the US and Chinese governments
improved his treatment during detention.
This summer, Kamm sat on two distinct panels. At
the University of Notre Dame’s China Forum, he
addressed country experts from academia, the press,
and other fields. At the 1990 Institute in San Mateo,
he spoke to local high school teachers interested in
adding China content to their curriculums.
Following the conclusion of the summit, Kamm
traveled to Beijing and Hong Kong. In Beijing, he
met with representatives from China’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
He also met with ambassadors and senior diplomats
from the EU mission and the embassies of Denmark, Staff Updates
Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
During his trip, Kamm continued to secure support After serving two and a half years as Manager and
for Dui Hua’s international symposium on women in Senior Manager of Development & Programs,
prison. He met with symposium partners at Renmin Daisy Yau is leaving Dui Hua in September. Yau was
University in Beijing and the University of Hong instrumental in the successful implementation of Dui
Kong, which will host the
Hua’s 2012 juvenile
February event. Thus far,
justice exchange and
Dui Hua has confirmed
the launch of Dui
Hu Zhicheng told Dui Hua that raising
presenters representing the
Hua’s new logo and
the profile of his case improved his
United Nations and nearly
expanded
mission
treatment during detention.
a dozen countries including
in 2011. She intends
China, Argentina, Norway,
to return to legal
and
the
Philippines.
practice. We wish her
Fundraising efforts are
the best of luck with
underway and we welcome
her new endeavors!
your support!
With Yau’s departure,
In July, American citizen
former Publications
Hu Zhicheng (胡志成)
& Communications
visited Dui Hua’s San
Officer Megan Ko
Francisco office with his
has been promoted
family to express their
to
Programs
&
gratitude for assisting with
Publications Manager
his case. Hu was detained
and Research Officer
in China over a commercial
Luke Wong has been
Photo
credit:
AP
dispute in 2008. Although
promoted to Research
11
Summer 2013
Manager. In the coming months, Ko’s principal focus
will be the women in prison symposium. She is assisted
by Rene Kamm, who joined Dui Hua’s San Francisco
office as Programs & Publications Associate in July.
As part of the reorganization, Irene Kamm is now
Senior Manager of Finance & Development, and
Kevin Li, Dui Hua’s longest-serving employee,
has been promoted to Senior Manager of
Operations & Technology.
The Economist: Dui Hua Estimates the “Best”
Dui Hua’s decade-long tally of executions in China was
called the “best figures available” in the August 3rd
edition of The Economist. The article, entitled “Strike
Less Hard,” uses the data to examine the drastic decline
in the number of executions in China, which Dui Hua
estimates fell from 12,000 per year in 2002 to 3,000
per year in 2012—the country is still believed to be the
world’s largest executioner. Although the Communist
Party guards execution statistics as a state secret, Dui
Hua’s estimates have become widely accepted. The
Economist quotes Executive Director John Kamm
as calling the decline “the most significant positive
development in the human rights situation in China in
recent decades.” ■
Estimated No. of Executions in China
Year
Executions
2002
12,000
2003
10,000
2004
10,000
2005
8,000
2006
7,000
2007
6,500
2008
5,000
2009
5,000
2010
5,000
2011
4,000
2012
3,000
Women are the fastest-growing segment of the world’s
prison population.
Nearly half of all incarcerated women are in the US and China, but they continue to be
marginalized in systems built for and run by men.
Support the rights of women in prison. Support the symposium.
duihua.org/support
© 2013 The Dui Hua Foundation
www.duihua.org | [email protected]
Tianfu Morning Paper
Dui Hua is organizing an international symposium on the Bangkok Rules in Hong Kong in
February 2014 to promote United Nations standards created to guarantee the rights of
women in conflict with the law.
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