It is with great sadness that we report the death on April 6, 2012 of our distinguished colleague and Advisory Committee member Fang Lizhi of the University of Arizona. Dr. Fang was a brilliant astrophysicist and influential proponent of human rights in his native China. His political ideals inspired the pro-democracy student movement in China that eventually resulted in the protests at ... Continue Reading>>
Grant US Asylum to Blind Chinese lawyer, CCS Urges Secretary of State Clinton
Chen Guangcheng, a self-taught Chinese advocate for families forced to undergo sterilization and abortions, was imprisoned for four years and subsequently detained in his house and mistreated without charges for 19 months. After a dramatic escape, Chen Guangcheng sought refuse in the US embassy in Beijing. CCS urges US authorities to grant asylum to Chen and to his family. ... Continue Reading>>
Travel Ban Based on Speech by Another Draws Protest
Chinese authorities prevented Gu Chuan, a blogger and editor, from traveling to the US to accept Columbia University's invitation as a visiting scholar. According to Scholars at Risk, the reason was another Chinese individual's critical remarks while visiting the US. CCS protested this double violation of international protection of travel and speech. ... Continue Reading>>
Award-Winning Chinese-American Engineer Continues to be Detained in China Long After He Was Acquitted of Charges
CCS protests the continued detention of Dr. Zicheng Hu, a Chinese-American engineer who has been unable to leave China since November 2008 when he went on a business trip to China. He served a 17 month prison sentence, was released without charges, but is unable to leave China. CCS urges the government of China to release him immediately. ... Continue Reading>>
Chinese Dissident Released from Prison
Hu Jia, a prominent Chinese dissident whose activism on behalf of the environment and AIDS sufferers landed him in prison for the last three and a half years, was released in the pre-dawn hours Sunday, June 18, and returned to his home in Beijing. CCS has been advocating for his release, supporting his family''s request for medical parole, in view of Hu Jia's serious liver ailment. ... Continue Reading>>
CCS Urges Chinese Authorities to Release Chinese Activists
CCS wrote a letter to Chinese authorities concerning Ding Zilin, her husband Jiang Peikun, as well as for Liu Xia. Associates of Ding Zilin, a former professor of philosophy, a spokesperson for the Tiananmen Mothers and a supporter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, state that they have been unable to contact her or her husband by phone or email since October 8, 2010. ... Continue Reading>>
Chinese Activist Liu Xiaobo is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
"International human rights law and standards are above the nation-state, and the world community has a duty to ensure they are respected," the Chairman of the Nobel Prize committee says in explaining its award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo. Liu, who is serving an 11 year sentence for "subverting state power" after peacefully circulating the "Charter 08" petition to ... Continue Reading>>
Resolution 953 and Uighur rights
Congressman James McGovern of Massachusetts recently introduced Resolution 953, which calls for the US to raise the issue of Uighur rights with Chinese officials, for an independent investigation in the July crackdown on Uighur protesters, as well as for the establishment of a US consulate in Urumqi and the opening of a meaningful dialogue with China’s government. We support all of these goals. ... Continue Reading>>
Imprisoned Chinese activist applies for medical parole
Imprisoned human rights activist Hu Jia, convicted unjustly for peacefully exercizing his rights in accord with Chinese law, has served two years and three months of his sentence. He has been in poor health all of this time, with cirrhosis of the liver--a fatal and incurable disease--and lately his condition has deteriorated. Hu Jia is a strict vegetarian and in urgent need of good nourishment and ... Continue Reading>>
Chinese professor prevented from travelling
Cui Weiping, a professor at the Beijing Film Academcy and prominent academic, planned to lecture at Harvard University and attend a conference sponsored by the Association of Asian Studies but the director of her school told her that she had been forbidden to travel. ... Continue Reading>>