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DEMOCRACY
Hong Kong press freedom faced 'darkest days' in past year: group
by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) July 06, 2014


US professor says China denied him entry
Beijing (AFP) July 07, 2014 - China denied entry to a prominent US scholar of Tibetan issues, he said Monday, after he advocated on behalf of a detained Chinese minority academic.

Elliot Sperling, of the University of Indiana, was ordered to return home shortly after arriving at Beijing's international airport this weekend despite having a valid visa for entry, he told AFP.

Several US-based scholars researching Chinese politics and its policies towards ethnic minorities have been barred from entering China in recent years, but they are generally denied visas rather than being turned away.

Sperling said he was not given any explanation for the denial, but suspects that it was linked to his public support for Ilham Tohti, a scholar from China's mostly-Muslim Uighur minority, who was detained in January and charged with "separatism".

Tohti's arrest sparked concern from the US and the EU, as well as condemnation from international rights groups such as UK-based Amnesty International, who called him a "prisoner of conscience".

"The charges are clearly trumped up, he's one of the only Uighur intellectuals who doesn't entertain the idea of independence," Sperling said.

Sperling said he was detained for around an hour before airport staff escorted him directly onto a return flight.

"In reality I had paid for a one hour tour of China, a tour of the airport detention room," he added.

Authorities in Beijing could not be immediately reached for comment.

China's denial of visas to several prominent US-based China scholars has led to concerns that the prospect of being banned from the country could impact scholarship and limit academic freedom.

Most notably, 13 US-based scholars were denied entry to China after contributing chapters to a book published in 2004 about the far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Uighur minority.

The region has been hit by clashes between Uighurs and security forces, as well as several recent attacks on civilians which Beijing blames on separatists from the region.

Hong Kong journalists said Sunday the past year had been the "darkest" for press freedom for decades, with growing political tensions expected to worsen the situation in the future.

Concerns over freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese city have grown this year following several attacks on journalists -- including February's brutal stabbing in broad daylight of a former editor of a liberal newspaper, Kevin Lau.

"The year under review has been the darkest for press freedom for several decades," the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said in a statement accompanying its annual report.

Reporters have faced attacks "both physical and otherwise" as the political environment becomes increasingly heated, with the city deciding on how to choose its next leader in 2017, it said.

Residents will be able to vote for the chief executive in 2017, but China has rejected the idea of giving them a say in who can stand for the post. Many pro-democrats fear Beijing will hand-pick sympathetic candidates.

The report, entitled "Press freedom under siege", said advertising boycotts were launched against liberal news outlets such as the Apple Daily newspaper.

The statement also said Beijing has been "lecturing" media outlets on the need to increase coverage to oppose certain democratic movements and to report on economic developments in the mainland.

"As political tension between Hong Kong and Beijing increases, the HKJA expects further deterioration in press freedom in the years to come," it said.

"Previously when they deal with you it was like boiling a frog with warm water, but no longer. Now they will cook the frog directly in hot water: when they do this they can stomp on press freedoms without restraint," HKJA chairperson Sham Yee-lan told a press conference.

Last Tuesday tens of thousands took to the streets for a pro-democracy march, and more than 500 people who staged an overnight sit-in afterwards were arrested.

Five organisers of the march were also arrested for obstructing police.

Organisers said more than half a million people marched, while monitors put the figure between 140,000 and around 170,000.

Anger in the city has grown following a white paper published by China last month that reaffirms its control over Hong Kong.

The city was handed back to China by Britain on July 1, 1997 under a "one country, two systems" agreement, which allows residents civil liberties not seen on the mainland, including free speech and the right to protest.

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Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com






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Hong Kong (AFP) July 04, 2014
Police on Friday arrested the organisers of Hong Kong's biggest pro-democracy rally since the city was handed back to China, sparking outrage from campaigners who denounced the "political suppression". Five members of the Civil Human Rights Front, including its convener, were arrested three days after the march, which the group said mobilised half a million people to voice anger at Beijing's ... read more


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