WEIQUAN ONLINE 2006 . 3, NO RIGHTS FORUM
AN HRIC BACKGROUNDER1 CHINA
This excerpt from a forthcoming HRIC White
explores the development and use of the term weiquan in a vari- 17 Paper on the Internet in China examines how ety of different contexts online, to develop a more comprehen- sive picture of the growing rights defense phenomenon. China’s rights defense movement is adopting increasingly sophisticated communications What is weiquan? ONTLINE technology to educate people on their basic Weiquan can be translated as “rights defense,” or the activity of lawfully defending one’s legal rights. However, HRIC’s prelimi- rights and to rally support for the domestic nary survey of online usage reveals that there is no one defini- rights defense movement and its activists. tion of what this entails.The term can be used in any of the
following ways: AKES THE FR
Since 1994, the Internet in China has grown in coverage, a verb sophistication and accessibility.With more than 111 million “to defend one’s right” weihu quanli users,2 China is now second only to the U.S. in numbers of people connected,3 and it is estimated that 300 million users a professional title will be online in China by 2008.4 Chinese Internet users are “rights defense activist” weiquan doushi RIGHTS DEFENSE T blogging, chatting, creating Web sites and in some cases using “rights defense lawyer” weiquan lüshi the Internet as an advocacy tool for a variety of issues, includ- “rights defense professional services” weiquan fuwu ing exposing corruption, pushing for a clean environment and “rights defense investigator” dajia weiquan protesting land grabs. Despite powerful official censorship and social control efforts, creative use of virtual space is being a noun undertaken in China on a daily basis by a wide range of indi- “rights of a minor” weichengnian weiquan viduals and groups. “labor and employment rights” laodong weiquan Rights defense groups such as the Tiananmen Mothers,who “consumer rights” xiaofei weiquan speak out on behalf of victims of the June 4th crackdown, have been active for a long time in China, but the term “rights In general, the popular understanding of weiquan, which defense” (weiquan) has come into wide circulation only in the also reflects official usage, refers to individuals who actively past couple of years.The official reaction to this trend has engage in defending their legal rights or the rights of others. ranged from expressions of concern for the rural poor and calls for a harmonious society based on the principles of wei- The scope of weiquan activities in China quan, to increasingly severe crackdowns on weiquan activists.The HRIC surveyed more than 70 Chinese-language Web sites with official response has been accompanied by an alarming rise in the term weiquan in either title or content, including those mafia-like violence, with beatings, threats, intimidation and hosted from within China and overseas.The search was done kidnappings directed against activists such as Fu Xiancai, Chen through a proxy link that allowed us to verify whether or not Guangcheng and others, often with the apparent complicity of the sites could be accessed from the mainland, revealing the officials.5 These efforts to silence and intimidate the growing limitations on access to domestic activism sites and weiquan number of rights defenders undermine progress towards a information from overseas due to strong Internet censorship truly “harmonious society,” which must be founded on respect by the Chinese authorities. for rule of law and human rights. Our results reveal the breadth of areas covered by weiquan, In light of the enormous difficulties and challenges facing including civil and political rights, and economic, social and rights activists, the Internet plays an essential role in both facil- cultural rights.Weiquan activists address urban property rights,
itating and shaping weiquan activities.This HRIC backgrounder rural land ownership rights, employment and consumer rights Photo: Associated Press
along with freedoms of religion, expression and association; Legal aid (falü yuanzhu) and rights defense the term is also invoked to defend the rights of social groups Some organizations who are arguably involved in rights such as minorities, religious practitioners or women. defense do not appear in the survey above because they do not The approaches and tactics employed by defenders of these identify themselves as weiquan groups. Legal aid offices, which rights in China occur in a variety of contexts and fora, making provide free legal services to those who are unable to afford use of both official and unofficial channels. legal representation, are a prime example.The legal aid system Official channels include: in China consists of both official and voluntary legal aid pro- • civil dispute mediation by local judicial services (jiceng sifa grams.The China Legal Aid Foundation, a national organiza- tiaojie) tion established in 1997 under the Legal Aid Center of the • reporting to the People’s Congress (renda changweihui tousu) Ministry of Justice, is responsible for a national fund for legal • initiating civil lawsuits (renmin fayuan daguansi) aid, while the volunteer system consists of legal professionals, • reporting to the local procuratorate (xiang jianchayuan fanying journalists and social activists who assist in local legal aid wenti) offices. Less than half of China’s 8,899 full-time legal aid per- • reporting to the local consumer’s association (xiaofeizhe xiehui sonnel are qualified lawyers.6 weiquan) Local government officials determine whether the eco- • petitioning the government (shang fang) nomic situation of the applicant qualifies them for legal aid, In addition to official channels, weiquan activists also resort allowing them significant control over case selection.The gov- to group demonstrations, protests and advocacy through vari- ernment also limited the scope of legal aid services in Article ous media. 10 of the Regulation on Legal Aid enacted in 2003, allowing legal aid offices to assist only in certain civil and criminal cases.7 Weiquan online Some of these civil cases involve rights defense issues such as Internet activism supplements other approaches and maxi- land grabs, labor contracts and the consequences of state- mizes their effectiveness as part of this complex network of owned enterprise reform. rights defense work.The nature of weiquan information available Due to budgetary and staffing restraints, the existing legal online varies according to the differing approaches and the aid infrastructure is unable to cope with the demand for repre- degree of official recognition granted to the body responsible sentation.The Ministry of Justice estimates that less than a for posting it. quarter of the 700,000 cases needing legal aid every year actu- A large number of self-designated weiquanWeb sites are offi- ally receive it, forcing many litigants to drop their complaints cial or quasi-official ones, containing legal resources and or go to private-practice lawyers.8 information related to rights defense prepared by government bodies.The growing awareness of the rights defense phenome- Online approaches and tactics non has also given rise to a cluster of related services.Along Web sites provide an opportunity to advertise professional with law firms, private investigators have recently begun to rights defense services; law firms occasionally announce their offer professional rights defense services specializing in con- acceptance of pro bono rights defense cases online as a means sumer disputes over dishonest business practices. of boosting their public image. Some of the higher-profile Certain Web sites and blogs that provide a forum for indi- individual activists also maintain their own Web sites to draw viduals to discuss their rights-related experiences give further attention to their cases. evidence of rights defense issues outside the official context. For the activists, this poses an obvious security risk. Other groups, including international non-governmental Although webmasters are not required to disclose their iden- organizations (INGOs), domestic civil society organizations tity online, the Chinese government can trace webmasters (CSOs) and academics, also track activists’ cases and share through their IP addresses.Web sites maintained by well- news and resources. known activists such as Li Xinde, Huang Qi and Yang Yinbo are Table 1 illustrates the types of groups posting rights defense closely monitored and shut down whenever the authorities information online, and the nature of the content they supply. determine they have crossed an invisible line of permissible
Table 1: Who is posting what?
WHO Government International Domestic Private WHAT Organs NGOs CSOs Academics Individuals Law Firms Investigators Laws and Regulations X X Resources X X X X X Case studies/reports X X X Personal experience X Professional services X X
Official appropriationof overcome increasingly restrictive surveillanceandcensorship. represent expandingefforts toexploitnew and technology incombination they these fora are stillsubjecttomonitoring, sensitive politicalissuestypically appear inthesespaces.While for eventssion ofscandalsandarrangements organized around Discus- facilitateing services areal-time flow ofinformation. andinstantmessag- chatrooms interactive asblogs, fora such peripherally inconnectionwithcasesonlinesources. cases rarely hosttheirown andare referenced onlyWeb sites, lawyers defense dedicated torights For thisreason, activity. keyword “ forallow the search itsusage incarefully controlled contexts.A way thegovernment inChinahas appropriated theconceptto documents. the titleorcontentofofficialChinese government One exampleofthefluidnature ofthe Web siteclosedby theChinesegovernment for "cleanup andrectification” Allpostsrelating to Taishi village removed September 302005 September 212005 Beijing-baseddigitalbulletin board July–September 2005 Non-compliance withself-censorship: hepostsonanotherone; LiXindetellsReutersthat ifonesiteisclosed, Stillactively blogging, investigatedFebruary 172006 anddisclosedby freelance Shandong, vice-mayor of Jining, ofLiXin, Corruption 2004 April Openlettercirculated onlineand reposted digitalbulletin onvarious boardsinChinaand Blogging indefenseofrights:“ShandongKneelingVice-mayorLiXin” December 2005 protesters Guangdongpolicefire onrural Appealdenied December 102005 December 62005 Shi’s for results sentence in10-year trial prison “illegally providing state secrets overseas” BBS rightsdefense:theGuangdongshooting June 22005 Shidetainedby police 272005 April November 242004 202004 April Traced throughIPaddress:ShiTao Online RightsDefenseCases:RisksandImpact For netizensinterested keeping alower individualprofile, July 10 2004 Number of Internet usersviewing onemillion NumberofInternet reaches thearticle andpictures ofthevice-majorkneelingfor Article forgiveness widely circulated andreposted on July 102004 April–July 2004 weiquan 9 onwww.gov.cn” produces 44,677results in weiquan quan Wang posting an open letter demanding an official inquiry on the rights defense ontherights posting anopenletterdemandingofficialinquiry Web site “ Security Bureau locates theIPaddressSecurity oftheemailaccountat 11:32p.m. “Democracy Forum.”With information suppliedby ChangshaCityNational Yahoo HKLtd., Communist Party (CCP)CentralPropaganda Bureau documenttotheNew York-based Web site agY,Dn ii,LiuXiaobo DingZilin, Wang Yi, Shi Tao ruption whomthey accuseofcor- ChenJinsheng, villagers torecall theelectedvillage committeehead, censors helphimchallenge “sparrow tactics” defender andrights journalist by Peking includingsystemsrun University andGuangdongUniversity of abroad, Technology lgstsrnb ou Sinaandblogcn.com byblog Sohu, sitesrun terminology andconcepts terminology uses hispersonal Yahoo! e-mailaccounttosendnotesinvolving discussionofaChinese 15
RIGHTS DEFENSE TAKES THE FRONTLINE 19 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO. 3, 2006 “a comprehensive and long-lasting system for rights defense tion Center (CNNIC) in 1997 recorded 620,000 users, and in its most activities” (jianli jianquan weiquan changxiao jizhi) recent report recorded 111 million users, 64 million of whom have A long-term system the government proposes to devise for access to broadband connections. CNNIC, “Statistical Report of the monitoring of rights defense Development of Chinese Internet,” October 13, 1997, www.cnnic.net.cn/download/manual/en-reports/1.pdf; “17th Statisti- As these rhetorical examples show,Chinese authorities cal Survey Report on Internet Development in China,” December 31, 2005, http://www.cnnic.net.cn/download/2006/17threport-en.pdf. appear to approve weiquan as a necessary means of resolving 3. Internet World Stats, “Top 20 Countries with the Highest Number of conflicts that arise between different social groups. However, Internet Users,” March 31, 2006, http://www.internetworldstats.com/ recent court sentences pronounced against activist lawyers, top20.htm. journalists and other rights defenders also suggest that official 4. Steven Cherry,“The Net Effect”, IEEE Spectrum, June 1, 2005, http://www. acceptance of the term and its implications is already waning. spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/jun05/0605cnet.html. 5. Activist Fu Xiancai was attacked by an unidentified assailant shortly after The future of weiquan in China? being officially questioned over his recent interview in the German media. Detentions and harsh judgments against weiquan activists are See HRIC press release “Three Gorges activist faces paralysis after brutal signs that any tolerance the government may have shown in assault” June 12, 2006, http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/ the past is now shifting back to the overriding Party impera- 29227. On the recent conviction of blind activist lawyer Chen tive: to maintain social stability and control, especially in the Guangcheng and the harassment of his legal team, see HRIC Trends Bul- letin “August 2006: Setback for the rule of law - Lawyers under attack in lead up to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party China”August 28, 2006, http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/ in 2007 and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, the com- 30425. mitment of grassroots weiquan activists to addressing serious 6. Ministry of Justice, the People’s Republic of China, “Survey on Chinese social problems and working for social justice, even at great Legal Aid,” http://www.legalinfo.gov.cn/english/LegalAid/LegalAid1. personal risk, remains undiminished. In the face of censorship htm. and surveillance, detentions, draconian prison sentences and 7. Civil cases are limited to claims for state compensation in accordance the rise in thug violence and intimidation, they continue to with the law; social security payments or minimum living guarantee speak out. payments; pensions for the disabled or bereaved or welfare payments; payments for the support of parents, child support, or alimony; labor remuneration; matters in which they are advocating civil rights and The change from “advocates for justice” interests that arise as a result of actions taken in the interest of justice. to targeted “enemies” in the official Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “Regulations on Legal Aid,” September 9, 2003, http://www.cecc.gov/pages/selectLaws/ perception of weiquan activists will only ResidencySocWelfare/regsLegalAid.php?PHPSESSID=c96b73c631fcf36c undermine the government’s own efforts 90c4ac9d7dcb3073. 8. Ministry of Justice, the People’s Republic of China, “Survey on Chinese to achieve its stated goals of social Legal Aid,” http://www.legalinfo.gov.cn/english/LegalAid/LegalAid1. harmony and equality. htm. 9. Search conducted June 22, 2006. Unfortunately,the change from “advocates for justice” to 10. Wei Wei,VOA.com, “Yahu bei zhizhu Zhongguo zhengfu sousuo Shi Tao targeted “enemies” in the official perception of weiquan activists zuizheng,” (Yahoo named for helping Chinese government collect evi- will only undermine the government’s own efforts to achieve dence against Shi Tao) September 6, 2005, http://www.voanews.com/ its stated goals of social harmony and equality.The crackdown chinese/archive/2005-09/2005-09-06-voa62.cfm. 11. HRIC “Case Highlight: Shi Tao and Yahoo,” on increasing numbers of weiquan activists will also damage http://www.hrichina.org/public/highlight/index.html. China’s progress towards a rule of law in the eyes of its own 12. “Guanyu Guangdong Shanweishi Dongzhou xiean de shengming,” people and the international community.If past and present (Statement on the Dongzhou, Guangdong shootings) http://www. experience is any indication, increased control of the internet gmwq.org/web/news_view.asp?newsid=220. and weiquan activists cannot succeed in silencing and intimidat- 13. “Bandao ‘Xiagui fushizhang’ de Jianghuai yinghan Li Xinde,” (Jianghuai ing China’s courageous citizens. On the contrary,it will only hero Li Xinde brings down ‘Kneeling Mayor’) December 16, 2004, motivate them to find new methods and tools to defend their http://www.yuluncn.com/html/redian/2006-4/23/08_16_56_574. rights and work for a more democratic, open and fair society. html. 14. Reuters, “Sparrow Tactics Challenge Chinese Censors,” February 17, 2006, http://news.com.com/Sparrow+tactics+challenge+Chinese+ NOTES censors/2100-1028_3-6040804.html. 1. Survey research for this backgrounder and preliminary drafting was 15. Committee to Protect Journalists, “In China,A Popular Web Forum is completed by Mily Ming-tzu Kao. Shattered,” October 3, 2005, http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/ 2. The first annual survey report of the China Internet Network Informa- China03oct05na.html .