Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN30757 Country: China Date: 13 October 2006

Keywords: China – Henan Province – Protests

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions

Please supply information on street protests and/or protest groups in Henan Province in 2003 and early 2004.

RESPONSE

Please supply information on street protests and/or protest groups in Henan Province in 2003 and early 2004.

Reports indicate that there have been numerous protests of various kinds in Henan province over the past few years, over a range of issues such as factory closures, land resumption, AIDS treatment and the SARS virus. The reports below are divided into two sections. The first contains a selection of reports of protests that took place in 2003 and early 2004; one of these reports mentions the blocking of a railway line by demonstrators. The other section includes as background material a few reports on protests before 2003 and later in 2004; and on general government crackdowns in the province.

2003 to early 2004

Below is a representative selection of reports on protests in Henan during the period specified. The list is in no way exhaustive: as has been mentioned in previous Research Requests such as CHN30753 there are many thousands of protests around China every year, and most of these are not reported.

A March 2004 Human Rights Watch report states that in December 2003:

…a train killed four protesters in Henan province who blocked the train tracks protesting the demolition of their homes. According to media reports, police were attempting to move about 1,000 demonstrators when they were hit by the train (Human Rights Watch 2004, Demolished: Forced evictions and the tenants’ rights movement in China, March, Vol.16, No.4(C) – Attachment 1).

A November 2003 South China Morning Post report states that more than 600 workers at a crane manufacturing company in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, had been protesting for two weeks after their state-owned enterprise was “given away” by the local government to a member of the National People’s Congress. The workers fears that 3000 jobs would be lost, and were demanding better compensation for laid off workers (Zheng Xiaohui, 2003, ‘Workers protest after firm is “sold for zero”’, South China Morning Post, 12 November – Attachment 2).

An August 2003 report states that in June, peasants infected with the HIV virus in Henan attacked official buildings in protest at not being allowed to buy promised AIDS medication. Local authorities then “cracked down harshly” on their village (‘Police and Chinese villagers come to blows in violent clash’ 2003, Agence France Presse, 9 August – Attachment 3).

An October 2003 Amnesty International report provides further details on AIDS-related protests in Henan. Illegal blood banks in several Henan villages during the 1980s and 1990s had left an estimated hundreds of thousands of people in Henan infected with HIV/AIDS, and there had been several ongoing human rights issues related to this. The June protest is mentioned:

In June 2003 several people were arrested in connection with protests and disturbances relating to lack of access to medical care in Xiongqiao village, Shangai county, Henan province, where over one third of villagers are HIV-positive. Five were reportedly detained after they visited the provincial capital Zhengzhou with around 100 other villagers to protest about the lack of adequate health care in Xiongqiao. The authorities apparently agreed to meet with them, but the villagers were not satisfied with their response and prevented officials from leaving the room. Reports from some sources suggest that they may have threatened to infect officials with their blood. The five were then detained by the police, who reportedly beat them. Two were later released and one claimed that the detainees were beaten to make them confess to crimes of “robbery” and “attacking government offices”. The current whereabouts and legal status of the three who are believed to remain in detention are unclear.

Thirteen others were detained during a violent midnight raid on the village on 22 June 2003 by police wielding metal rods and electro-shock batons. At least 12 people were reportedly injured and several needed hospital treatment. The background to this raid remains unclear. Some sources suggest that it was provoked by further disturbances following the arrests of the five protestors, while others indicate that it was part of a wider operation aimed at cracking down on various criminal activities in the area.36 Several of those detained in the raid were reported to be HIV- positive. According to reports, some have since been released while others – reportedly around seven people - were charged, although the nature of the charges remains unclear.37

Amnesty International is unable to verify details of the incidents or whether or not those detained were involved in criminal activities…(Amnesty International 2003, People’s Republic of China: Continuing abuses under a new leadership – summary of human rights concerns, October, ASA 17/035/2003 – Attachment 4).

A March 2003 report states that 300 residents of Linzhou, a city in Henan, attacked a disease control office and a hospital in protest, after hearing that SARS patients were to be housed nearby. Six leaders of the attack were sentenced to prison for periods of up to 3 1/2 years (‘Chinese Court Sentences Six Over SARS Protest’ 2003, Dow Jones International News, 27 May – Attachment 5).

A 2004 Radio Free Asia report on protests in China during 2003 states that in Henan, over a million people took part in some kind of protest during that year:

More than 10 million people took to China’s streets during the course of 2003 as part of a mounting wave of popular protests which is sweeping the country, RFA’s Mandarin service reports.

Just before the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), in March, the Chinese Communist Party published the official count of demonstrations in 2003.

According to the statistics, reported in Hong Kong’s Dong Xiang magazine, more than 2.3 million people took part in petitions, marches, and sit-ins in urban areas in 2003, with the number of demonstrations totaling 12,370.

In rural areas, 8,124,260 people participated in 8,763 demonstrations. Provinces with assemblies larger than 1 million participants included Henan, Liaoning, Hubei, and Hunan. Provinces with assemblies larger than half a million participants included Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, and Heilongjiang, the magazine said (‘China Says More Than 10 Million Protested In 2003’ 2004, Radio Free Asia, 19 April http://www.rfa.org/front/article.html?service=eng&encoding=10&id=133784 – Accessed 31 May 2004 – Attachment 6).

Other relevant information

A few selected reports from the last few years provide some extra background information on protests which fall outside the time frame specified; and on actions by Chinese authorities against protestors of different kinds in Henan.

A 2003 South China Morning Post report states that in 2002:

…600 workers at a state-owned cotton textile mill in Xinxiang, Henan province, conducted strikes and protests for six months against the takeover of their factory by a private entrepreneur who obtained nearly 100 million yuan worth of assets at a steep discount (‘Mainland tries to rein in blatant asset stripping’ 2003, South China Morning Post, 29 December – Attachment 7).

A 2006 Canadian Research Directorate on protests around China quotes a Human rights Watch report that states that in 2004, a number of advocates for farmers’ rights were detained by police including Li Guozhu, who “was detained by police after he went to investigate reported clashes in Henan Province” (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2006, CHN101063.EX – China: Civil unrest involving farmers, workers, homeowners and tenants, particularly in rural areas of Guangdong; conditions causing the unrest; government response; reports of arrests, beatings and detention (2004 - 2006), 24 April http://www.irb- cisr.gc.ca/en/research/ndp/ref/?action=view&doc=chn101063ex – Accessed 13 July 2006 – Attachment 8).

The October 2005 UK Home Office report on China contains some information on Henan, including the following two items: …5.68 As reported by the BBC on 18 August 2005, “China is setting up special police units in 36 cities to put down riots and counter what the authorities call the threat of terrorism. Chinese state media said one of the first such forces, comprising 500 officers, had just been set up in Zhengzhou in central Henan province.” [9v]

…6.125 As reported by the BBC on 1 November 2004, “Martial law has been imposed in parts of the Chinese province of Henan after ethnic clashes in which at least seven people were killed.” The report continued, “Residents are quoted as saying that houses were set alight, and people were fighting using farm tools.” [9bk] (UK Home Office 2005, Country of Origin Information Report: China, October – Attachment 9).

A 2005 Human Rights Watch report contains a section entitled ‘Detention and harassment of Henan AIDS activists” which is attached. It states:

Henan officials continue to detain those who publicly criticize provincial efforts, or who attempt to disseminate information about the AIDS situation, either through the media or during official visits by high-ranking Chinese and international delegations.50 Some authorities have explained their actions by saying that AIDS activism, and even orphanages established for children affected by AIDS, make local officials look bad by drawing attention to the epidemic and discouraging external investment. (Human Rights Watch 2005, Restrictions on AIDS Activists in China, June Vol. 17, No. 5(C), p.18 – Attachment 10).

The 2006 report on China by the US Congressional-Executive Commission On China contains several references to Henan which are extracted below:

…The Chinese government continues to repress Chinese Protestants who worship in house churches. From May 2005 to May 2006, the government detained nearly 2,000 house church members, according to one U.S. NGO. Almost 50 percent of the reported detentions of Protestant house church members and leaders took place in Henan province, where the house church movement is particularly strong (p.9)…

…In September 2004, a court in Xinxiang county, Henan province sentenced Wang Lelan, a farmer who had purchased two printing presses, to five years’ imprisonment and an 8,000 yuan (US$1,000) fine for publishing ‘‘illegal books’’ such as ‘‘China’s Top Level’’ and ‘‘Confidential Exclusive News’’ (p.29)…

…Officials in Henan province launched a crackdown on political publications and Falun Gong materials to ‘‘ensure the health and stability of the publications market’’ during the plenary sessions (p.37)…

…The Henan Provincial Justice Bureau has issued an opinion that forbids lawyers from using the news media and engaging in various other activities when handling ‘‘major, sensitive, mass’’ cases.33 The opinion says that lawyers in Henan province cannot ‘‘use the media to stir things up or create a negative impact on domestic or international public opinion.’’ It prohibits lawyers and law firms from publishing commentary to affect the outcome of a case or the mood of the public, and warns them not to establish contact with foreign organizations or news media in violation of disciplinary rules (p.136)…(Congressional-Executive Commission On China 2006, Annual Report 2006, 20 September – Attachment 11).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Search Engines Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/ Databases: FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIMA Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. Human Rights Watch 2004, Demolished: Forced evictions and the tenants’ rights movement in China, March, Vol.16, No.4(C)

2. Zheng Xiaohui, 2003, ‘Workers protest after firm is “sold for zero”’, South China Morning Post, 12 November (FACTIVA).

3. ‘Police and Chinese villagers come to blows in violent clash’ 2003, Agence France Presse, 9 August (FACTIVA)

4. Amnesty International 2003, People’s Republic of China: Continuing abuses under a new leadership – summary of human rights concerns, October, ASA 17/035/2003

5. ‘Chinese Court Sentences Six Over SARS Protest’ 2003, Dow Jones International News, 27 May (FACTIVA)

6. ‘China Says More Than 10 Million Protested In 2003’ 2004, Radio Free Asia, 19 April http://www.rfa.org/front/article.html?service=eng&encoding=10&id=133784 – Accessed 31 May 2004

7. ‘Mainland tries to rein in blatant asset stripping’ 2003, South China Morning Post, 29 December (FACTIVA)

8. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2006, CHN101063.EX – China: Civil unrest involving farmers, workers, homeowners and tenants, particularly in rural areas of Guangdong; conditions causing the unrest; government response; reports of arrests, beatings and detention (2004 - 2006), 24 April http://www.irb- cisr.gc.ca/en/research/ndp/ref/?action=view&doc=chn101063ex – Accessed 13 July 2006

9. UK Home Office 2005, Country of Origin Information Report: China, October

10. Human Rights Watch 2005, Restrictions on AIDS Activists in China, June Vol. 17, No. 5(C)

11. Congressional-Executive Commission On China 2006, Annual Report 2006, 20 September