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Pioneering Chinese Lawyer Group Faces Closure
These are difficult times for Chinese lawyers. Several lawyers who handle difficult human rights causes have been unable to renew their licenses. Now the Beijing-based Open Constitution Initiative, a legal think tank that is involved in several sensitive cases, is under threat of closure due to $208,000 in tax penalties that landed this week, the Chinese Law Prof Blog and Danwei are reporting. We've interviewed Xu Zhiyong, the rights lawyer who heads the group, a few times in recent years, most recently this spring for a story about an OCI report into the causes of the riots in Tibet last year. When I interviewed Xu about the Tibet report, I asked how his organization could write about such a sensitive subject. He replied succinctly that he didn't think it was a sensitive subject. Later I wondered whether he truly thought it wasn't a touchy subject, or he wanted to treat Open Constitution's work as routine in hopes that the government would also accept it as routine.
Xu acknowledges that there may be minor errors in OCI's accounting, but won't be drawn out on what other factors could be at work. The Chinese Law Prof's blog, which is run by George Washington University Law School professor Donald C. Clarke, states that "one can reasonably suspect that more is going on here that just tax problems." In other words, OCI is being punished for its work. But given the variety of projects the group is involved in--representing victims of China's tainted milk powder scandal, pushing for open records, involvement in the Deng Yujiao case, the Tibet report--it's hard to say if it was one case or the combination of many that led to its current dilemma.
In a statement Xu says:
The $208,000 penalty might mean nothing to many companies. But for us, it is cruel and evil. It's not just a punishment against us, it is punishing the children poisoned by milk powder, the kids of migrant workers, the property owners bullied by developers, and those petitioners who tirelessly demand justice... it is a punishment against thousands of the disadvantaged who are the most needy for help. This punishment is utterly devoid of conscience.
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1
The government must support its business, especially major business. Having lawyers helping victims sue these business is, of course, a no-no. Especially when these companies are run by friends and family of the leadership. The government must do all it can to force these lawyers to quit their evil law suits. All government departments must unite to fight these evil people who tried and fail to gain compensation for these so called victims. Tax and PSB are just the beginning. All other means of control will be exercised if these lawyers are not stopped harassing the friends and families of Chinese leadership.
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2
And John Smith has nothing else to do but support the Beijing Government. Of course he is not concerned about all the wars that his lily white friends create in the name of human rights. "Human rights" is the the new name for oil, oil, oil.
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An article dedicated to China's RULE of law:
The shameless, hidden facts of the Deng Yonggu case
http://tinyurl.com/cpdl8c
(English translation) -
4
1.I have no sympathy for liars (oops, lawyers) anywhere.
2.“Minor errors in OCI's accounting…”? Yeah, sure, it must be minor if they say so.
3.It is really despicable to try to use children to shield their shady practices.
4.Did I say I have no sympathy for liars (oops, lawyers) anywhere?-
4.1
hehehehhehehe...
The first time I had to deal with a lawer was more than 10 years back when I was in the US. After a girl subleased my apartment, I moved to a new place. Then a week later the mamagement from the old apartment found me and told me that I had to continue paying the rent. I was startled. he told me, the girl who sublease my apartment did not have money to live in that apartment, because her farther did not like the place. I said, she signed the contract already!
The manager said, "well, she said that she was not 18 years old yet. and her farther is a lawer".
I called the girl, the girl replied only one sentence:"do whatever you want to do, my farther is a lawer"...
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5
Lawers, sorry, I do not like them. Honkong 世纪贼王 陈百强 was captured and excuted by whom? Let me remind you, this devil was captured and persecuted by the legal system of mainland China. Thanks to the lawers in Hongkong who enable this evil criminal walked street and run underground socienty for so many years. The western legal system is for the rich not for the poor.
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6
Thanks to the lawyers in Hong Kong, the government doesn't summarily execute its people arbitrarily like in CCP China. Thanks to the lawyers and the rule of law, Western countries escaped poverty 100 years ago; while China still has a billion people starving in the countryside. Thanks to the lawyers and logical reasoning, the Romans and Greeks had a decent system of government that laid the foundations of modern civilization while China still continues to act barbariously and discourages tolerant discourse.
Of course, the other reason could be that there are non-Chinese people living in Hong Kong and therefore the government must protect their rights - universal rights unavailable to CCP cronies who don't believe in human rights at all.
For those who think the law is only about litigation then I'd be amused to see you publicly waive your personal liberty and property rights.
bylooker, your case only demonstrates one of two possibilities: (1) you are too dumb and ignorant to understand the effect of minors entering into contracts and the method of enforcement (2) you are too dumb and ignorant to find your own lawyer given your deficient knowledge in common legal sense. In China, the girl would have replied: do whatever you want, my father is a thug/CCP official and will throw you in laogai.
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6.1
China has one billion people starving? wow, that information must be from one of your liar(lawyer) friend? Or maybe you heard in one of your KKK orgy?
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7
"Thanks to the lawyers and the rule of law, Western countries escaped poverty 100 years ago"...
The west countries did not "escape" property by "lawers or rule or law but by exploiting Asia and Africa, and to some extend, Americas with technology developed during the industrial revolution. Engineers and scientists and army and minitary servicemen probably should be "thanked" instead of lawers.
People in the west who know a littlbe bit history know that.
I know I am dumb and ignorant, but I have a good heart for my country and people. I am not like those smart people with a dark heart and evil mind.
I don't lie with a straight face, saying things like "1 billion Chinese in the countryside are starving" and "Thanks to the lawyers and the rule of law, Western countries escaped poverty 100 years ago"...
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8
chinabriefing,
plus, you probably have not travelled the "west" enough. go to southern Europe, southern Italy and Portugal, downtown Atlanta, New Orleans, West Virginia, and etc. They have not "escape"d property yet, probably they don't have enough number of lawers... -
9
bylooker,
I'm sure your Great Premier Wen Jiabo would be pleased to hear you say he is smart but has a dark heart and evil mind. Maybe you should ask him why he keeps on reminding the world that China is merely a third world developing country and that it is so backward it must exploit innocent people in Sudan and Burma in order to keep the country afloat. But if exploitation was the only ingredient for success, then Shanghai would be Hong Kong now, but it isn't. Every single public official in Shanghai is corrupt, and must be corrupt to survive, and if you live in China, this would be common sense.
It's funny how fenqing like you keep on saying how much you love your country when you don't even live in China, pay taxes or contribute in any way. I'm pretty sure - a ultra-nationalistic conservative you are - you haven't ever given a single cent to charity in your life. I'm also sure you rejoice every time a disaster happens in the West. So please, spare us all that holier-than-thou attitude you aren't worthy of. If you haven't noticed, this is why the West discriminates Chinese people - not because China is weak or because they're intrinsically racist but because Chinese people act in a pathetic, hypocritical and freakishly barbaric manner. You don't love your country so please stop tarnishing patriotism in China - a quality I associate with people like Sun Yat-sen and Lu Xun. People who actually make sacrifices for their country.
The whole argument, essentially, is psychological, with you and those who argue on the same lines. You all share a common quality - an ignorance of history, philosophy, even current affairs and most of all, judgment. You also have a deep insecurity of the world and those elites, like lawyers, who you think are conspiring to destroy you. Even money has failed to quash that deep-rooted insecurity. I'm pretty sure you enjoy reading stuff like Jinyong and other Wugong novels - but let me tell you now - that stuff is worse than Disney. You don't overwhelm people with your Taichiquan and then say you're acting in justice in the real world. You don't join Ghengis Khan's army and slaughter cities and say you geniunely love your country and humanity. Wake up. Why don't you try having a serious conversation with academics in China today and see if they have as extreme views as yours. Why don't you try reading neutral, albeit nationalist papers, like Mingpao - founded in fact by Jinyong. You might get a sense of reality which has eluded you thus far.
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10
This is a person who thinks Chinese are "yellow peril". It does not worth it to argue with him. There is nothing else but hatred against Chinese people and China in his mind.
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11
(1) Chinese are not the only ones who are yellow skinned.
(2) Assuming I am a racist, why don't you try to address the arguments of a racist? Unless those racist arguments are right, they should be easy to overcome.
(3) Wen Jiabao hates Chinese people and China too because he called it a third world developing country.
(4) Does Li Peng hate the Chinese people? He was and still is very willing to massacre them. Yet he loves power and his party.
(5) Mao wanted to send 30 million Chinese women to Nixon as a gift. He also was willing to sacrifice 300 million Chinese people in a nuclear war. Does he hate Chinese people and China?
(6) Do the business elites in China hate the Chinese people? They make fun of the 900 million peasants all the time. They call them "rubbish and trash". The public officials send thugs to beat these same peasants. Do they hate China?
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12
chinabriefing,
When an educated person argues, he/she presents facts not allegations. If someone can only assult and insult people with allegations during argument, he/she is a suspect of suffering schizophrenia.
Innocent unless proven guilty is one of the most important democracy principles. I wonder how you can forget that when you make so many allegations toward me and toward others, like Mr. Wen.The fact that China is a developing 3rd world countries does not equal to the statement "1 billion Chinese in the countryside are starving". in addition, you said again, "They make fun of the 900 million peasants all the time". How many peasants are in China? can you get the number straight before you say anything???? 1 billion out of 900 million are starving? WOW...
There is an index developed by UN development program called, Human development index, which measures countries' economical and social development.
check countries by countries, for exaple, China,
http://hdrstats.undp.org/2008/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_CHN.html
China's social development is way ahead of its economy. Education and life expetancy at birty are all in a higher rank than GDP per capital.
I never say that there are no problems in China. But most Chinese are happy with the development. Therefore, you are only crying here in vain wanting/hoping/creating a collapse of the Chinese system.
I said many times, I am a coward. I hate the competitions in China and cannot survive there. I have been enjoying my life too much.-
12.1
Innocent unless proven guilty is one of the most important democracy principles.
You're absolutely right. That's why China is not a democratic country. The golden RULE of Chinese law stipulates that an accused is presumed guilty until proven innocent.
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13
"When Deng Xiaoping led China on the path to reform 30 years ago..."
---On the contrary, Deng is a butcher and reform-killer. Within CCP's leadership there was a reform-faction who were much more open-minded and abler than Deng, such as Liu Shaoqi(刘少奇), Hu Yaobang(胡耀邦) and Zhao Ziyang(赵紫阳). Deng has been titled such reputation only due to his real political power.
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14
“Violence has not stopped Li and his fellow human-rights lawyers from doing their jobs, but bureaucracy might…”
---Either violence or bureaucracy can stop them, definitely! Now the type of these “human-rights lawyers”, Gao Zhishen, had once again been disappeared for a long time after ceaselessly mobdom-style torture and excruciation. Though they are kicking against the pricks, they are the only hope of China.
“Dark Night, Dark Hood and Kidnapping by Dark Mafia”:
http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/PressReleases/2009.02.08_Gao_Zhisheng_account_ENG.pdf -
15
check the development of China in the past 30 years through the Human development index.
http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/16.html
not any other country, except Oman which started from 0.487, by oil dollars, achieved such a great leap from 0.53 to 0.777.
Please compare the great democracy India with China and see all the baby malnutrition numbers, infant mortality rates.
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15.1
But according to the latest Index of Economic Freedom, China ranks 132 among 179 countries surveyed and is classified as a "mostly unfree" economy.
China is described as "an authoritarian state that has liberalized its economy markedly since the early 1980s. However, the ruling Communist Party maintains tight control of political expression, speech, assembly, and religion. China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Since then, the economy has grown rapidly, and China's industrial and manufacturing sector is now second only to that of the United States. Corruption and a weak rule of law remain serious problems. The government is struggling to manage social unrest, environmental degradation, and the world's largest-ever migration from rural to urban areas."
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“Since then, China has made dramatic headway in developing a legal system…”
--- Austin Ramzy: After doing nothing during your Urumchi journey, your flattering disgusted me once again.
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"Predawn Witness" (《黎明前的见证》作者:滕彪)
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Law, to the CCP, is just a joke.
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"An Open Letter to US Congress" (高智晟致美国国会议员的公开信)
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20
"Open Letter to CCP's leader HU, From Guo Feixiong's Wife"(郭飞雄妻子张青致国家主席胡锦涛的公开信):
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21
"Beijing Lawyer Li Fangping Kidnaped and beated" (北京律师李和平遭绑架殴打):
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22
"Is China a Country Under the Law, or an Underworld " (中国到底是“法治社会”还是“黑治社会”?)
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22.1
conscienceinchina,
Please see the WP's article on North Korea. A gulag country: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/19/AR2009071902178.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
Compare goverance in provinces like liaoning, heilongjiang, jinlin. Any local resident will tell you that the government is no different from the mafia. The fact that the CCP supports the NK regime is also indicative of this attitude.
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22.2
Chinabrief:
Thanks for the detailed story that reveals what I want to know but still makes me creepy. Sometimes I think, how should the world save such darkest hell? why don't the US bomb the ruffian Kim Jong-Il to death after destroying Taliban and Saddam Hussein? how come human conscience can abide such tragedy?
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23
海外舆论谴责上海公安对郑恩宠施暴:
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zheng-06192009092221.html
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24
bylooker should understand what irony means.
溫家寶説,中歐關係的發展體現了最大的發展中國家與最大的發達國家集團之間的互利合作
溫家寶說,在應對金融危機當中,發展中國家遇到的困難最大,也最容易被忽視。
http://www.stnn.cc:82/china/200903/t20090313_995967.html; http://big5.china.com.cn/2009lianghui/2009-03/13/content_17438334.htm
九億農民得實惠——我國全面深化鄉鎮機構改革. 新華社北京4月13日電: http://big5.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-04/13/content_1284580.htm
It looks like bylooker is the one suffering from schizophrenia. If you lived in China, you would know the CCP doesn't recognize separation of powers or the independency of the judiciary. There is no rule of law and definitely no innocent until proven guilty nonsense.
And if you actually tried to 上山下鄉 instead of acting a coward, you would know that social development figures are highly skewered by the inequality of wealth distribution that distorts GDP per capita and which figures in infrastructural numbers into social development expenditures.
Talk to the peasants and see if they get pissed off at you for suggesting they're happy. They can't even afford meat.
Moreover, I didn't even raise the India question. This isn't even about your new-found obsession with democracy. As John Smith says, China can't have democracy.
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25
chinabriefing is still living at Mazedong Time, quit ancient time guy. why your mind is just so narrow, i understand you got mind, bot no cell.
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