John Kennedy · December, 2010

Latest posts by John Kennedy from December, 2010

China: Press conference held following suspicious death of rural activist

  27 December 2010

It has not been a peaceful week in the news, with a crossbow-shooting bomber-petitioner in Beijing, a city administration official killed with a screwdriver today in Fujian province, and the grisly death of village leader Qian Yunhui in Zhejiang province on Christmas day. [UPDATE: Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth has been...

China: Christmas Day death of a Zhejiang village leader

  26 December 2010

After more than 5 years of leading and serving prison time for protests against fixed elections and illegal land expropriation, the former leader of Zhaiqiao village in Zhejiang province, Qian Yunhui, was killed Saturday morning in an accident which left his head severed from his body. Graphic photos and thousands...

China: Legal action threatened over #netfreedom violation

  23 December 2010

Sina blogger Wu Fei has written a letter to Tencent CEO Ma Huateng threatening legal action over the company's specific practice of filtering from QQ one term protected by the constitution and used across the Chinese Internet, government websites included: “freedom of speech”.

China: Gold farming couple handed down heavy sentence

  22 December 2010

The verdict this month of a fine of USD 450,000 and several years in prison for one couple who ran a gold farm throughout 2007 has left those following the trial shocked, angered and wondering how something so common in China could suddenly be punished so heavily.

China: Messages for Liu Xiaobo as Peace Prize Ceremony approaches

  9 December 2010

Activities are now underway in Oslo, Norway, as the city gears up for Friday's Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony; back in China, where this year's recipient sits in prison, there's virtually nothing to be seen online. Except for a clever endeavor by Amnesty International, however; that and more after the jump.

China: WikiLeaks, North Korea and Internet freedom

  7 December 2010

Diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks raise the possibility, among other things, of reunification on the Korean peninsula. The US government's response to the cables, meanwhile, raises questions over online freedoms; asks one netizen: "if information that threatens America gets blocked, then what about information that threatens China's security? Why shouldn't China block that too?"

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