OCTOBER 2005 CHINA Home Office Science and Research Group COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE 1 OCTOBER 2005 CHINA Country of Origin Reports are produced by the Science & Research Group of the Home Office to provide caseworkers and others involved in processing asylum applications with accurate, balanced and up-to-date information about conditions in asylum seekers’ countries of origin. They contain general background information about the issues most commonly raised in asylum/human rights claims made in the UK. The reports are compiled from material produced by a wide range of recognised external information sources. They are not intended to be a detailed or comprehensive survey, nor do they contain Home Office opinion or policy. 2 Disclaimer: “This country of origin information report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 31 August 2005. Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents.” OCTOBER 2005 CHINA Contents 1. Scope of document 1.1 2. Geography 2.1 Languages 2.5 Mandarin (Putonghua) 2.5 Pinyin translation system 2.6 Naming conventions 2.7 Tibetan names 2.8 Population 2.9 3. Economy 3.1 Shadow Banks 3.2 Poverty 3.4 The Environment 3.9 State owned enterprises (SOEs) 3.11 Unemployment 3.16 Currency 3.18 Corruption 3.20 Guanxi 3.26 Punishment of corrupt officials 3.28 4. History 4.1 1949-1976: The Mao Zedong era 4.1 1978-1989: Deng Xiaoping as paramount 4.3 leader Tiananmen Square protests (1989) 4.4 Post-Tiananmen Square 4.7 Jiang Zemin as core leader 4.9 Hu Jiantao: chairman of the board 4.10 5. State Structures 5.1 The Constitution 5.1 Citizenship and nationality 5.5 The political system 5.10 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 5.11 Elections 5.11 The leadership (fourth generation) 5.15 Judiciary 5.17 Criminal procedure law (1997) 5.27 State Security Law (1993) 5.31 Double jeopardy 5.33 Legal rights/detention 5.36 Petitions 5.41 State compensation law (1995) 5.46 Hitting an official 5.48 Arrest warrants 5.49 Death penalty 5.51 People exempted from the death penalty 5.61 Child executions 5.62 Female executions 5.64 Organ harvesting 5.65 Internal security 5.66 Police and paramilitary bodies 5.67 People’s Armed Police (PAP) 5.69 Police jurisdiction 5.70 Protection of witnesses 5.71 Prisons and prison conditions 5.72 Model prisons 5.75 3 Disclaimer: “This country of origin information report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 31 August 2005. Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents.” OCTOBER 2005 CHINA Treatment of prisoners 5.77 Prisons in Fujian 5.80 Drapchi prison (Tibet) 5.81 Other known prisons in Tibet 5.85 Administrative detention 5.86 Re-education through labour (RTL) 5.86 Other forms of administrative detention 5.93 Military service 5.97 Conscientious objectors and deserters 5.99 Medical services 5.103 Psychiatric treatment 5.110 HIV/AIDS 5.117 Availability of anti-retroviral therapy 5.121 Intravenous drug users (IDUs) 5.127 Discrimination 5.130 People with disabilities 5.138 Educational system 5.140 Higher education 5.144 6. Human rights 6.1 6.A Human rights issues 6.1 Overview 6.1 Police and official accountability 6.11 Freedom of speech and the media 6.18 Journalists 6.33 Intellectuals 6.42 Freedom of religion 6.44 Registration 6.49 Religious groups 6.61 Buddhists 6.61 Taoists 6.62 Christians 6.64 Catholics 6.70 Protestants 6.78 Russian Orthodox Church 6.87 Evangelical Christian groups 6.88 The Shouters (Huhan Pai) or Local Church 6.88 South China Church 6.95 Three Servants Church 6.98 Eastern Lightening/Lightening from the East 6.100 (Dongfang Shandian) Muslims 6.102 Uighur(s) (Uygur, Uyghur) 6.105 Religious freedom in Xinjiang (Sinkiang) 6.108 Uighur terrorist groups 6.114 Other Uighur opposition groups 6.118 Hui (Huihui) 6.122 Han verses Hui violence (November 2004) 6.125 Banned spiritual groups 6.129 Falun Gong 6.133 Origins and support 6.145 Guiding principles 6.151 Exercises/movements 6.154 610/6-10 Office 6.156 Nature of resistance 6.158 Treatment of Falun Gong practitioners’ 6.160 relatives Monitoring of activists abroad 6.166 4 Disclaimer: “This country of origin information report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 31 August 2005. Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents.” OCTOBER 2005 CHINA Other Qigong Groups 6.167 Zhong Gong (China Gong) 6.169 Cibei Gong (Compassion Gong) 6.176 Guo Gong (Nation Gong) 6.178 Xiang Gong (Fragrant Gong) 6.181 Bodhi Gong (Wakefulness/Awakening Gong) 6.183 Freedom of association and assembly 6.178 Civil disturbance 6.188 Anti-Japanese marches (10 April to 4 May 6.193 2005) Employment rights 6.197 Industrial unrest 6.201 Workplace safety 6.203 People trafficking 6.206 Snakeheads (people smugglers) 6.211 Characteristics of snakeheads 6.224 Fact finding mission to Fujian, November 6.227 2003 Freedom of movement 6.235 Household registry (hukou) 6.234 Custody and repatriation/voluntary 6.242 humanitarian aid shelters Identity cards 6.244 Passports 6.247 6.B Human rights – specific groups 6.253 Ethnic groups 6.253 Koreans 6.258 North Korean refugees 6.260 Tibetans 6.268 Human rights in Tibet 6.271 Political prisoners held in Tibet 6.280 Tibetan Buddhism 6.283 Tibetan refugees in India 6.291 Legal status of Tibetans in India 6.293 Tibetan refugees in Nepal 6.296 Legal status of Tibetans in Nepal 6.302 Penalties for retuning Tibetans 6.304 Women 6.306 Marriage 6.312 Divorce 6.317 Children 6.318 Childcare arrangements 6.320 Black children (hei haizi) 6.323 Female infanticide 6.325 Family planning (“one child policy”) 6.332 Population and Family Planning Law (2002) 6.336 Family planning regulations in Fujian 6.350 Family planning regulations in Guangdong 6.354 Family planning regulations in Beijing and 6.356 Shanghai Unmarried mothers 6.360 Homosexuals 6.365 Political activists 6.370 Response to “Nine Commentaries” 6.385 The death of Zhao Ziyang 6.387 Opposition groups 6.391 The China Democracy Party (CDP) 6.392 5 Disclaimer: “This country of origin information report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 31 August 2005. Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents.” OCTOBER 2005 CHINA 6.C Human rights – other issues 6.398 Treatment of asylum seekers/refugees 6.398 Returning to China after having a child 6.408 abroad 1951 Convention 6.414 Membership of international organisations 6.415 Disputed territories 6.416 Taiwan 6.416 Special administrative Regions (SARs) 6.426 Hong Kong (SAR) 6.226 Macao (SAR) 6.440 Annexes Chronology of events – China post-1949 Annex A Chronology of events – Tibet post-1910 Annex B Chronology of events – Xinjiang (Eastern Annex C Turkmenistan) Prominent organisations Annex D Taiwanese general election (11 December Annex E 2004) Hong Kong political organisations Annex F Democratic parties – political organisations Annex G existing prior to the establishment of the PRC (1949) who subordinate themselves to the will of the CCP Dissident groups Annex H Prominent people Annex I The Government Annex J Glossary – Chinese terms Annex K Glossary – English terms Annex L Glossary – Tibetan terms Annex M Guide to Tibetan names Annex N Tibetan festivals Annex O List of source material Annex P Scope of the document 1.1 This Country of Origin Information Report (COI Report) has been produced by Research Development and Statistics (RDS), Home Office, for use by officials involved in the asylum / human rights determination process. The Report provides general background information about the issues most commonly raised in asylum / human rights claims made in the United Kingdom. It includes information available up to 31 August 2005. 1.2 The Report is compiled wholly from material produced by a wide range of recognised external information sources and does not contain any Home Office opinion or policy. All information in the Report is attributed, throughout the text, to the original source material, which is made available to those working in the asylum / human rights determination process. 1.3 The Report aims to provide a brief summary of the source material identified, focusing on the main issues raised in asylum and human rights applications. It is not intended to be a detailed or comprehensive survey. For a more detailed account, the relevant source documents should be examined directly. 6 Disclaimer: “This country of origin information report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 31 August 2005. Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents.” OCTOBER 2005 CHINA 1.4 The structure and format of the COI Report reflects the way it is used by Home Office caseworkers and appeals presenting officers, who require quick electronic access to information on specific issues and use the contents page to go directly to the subject required. Key issues are usually covered in some depth within a dedicated section, but may also be referred to briefly in several other sections. Some repetition is therefore inherent in the structure of the Report. 1.5 The information included in this COI Report is limited to that which can be identified from source documents. While every effort is made to cover all relevant aspects of a particular topic, it is not always possible to obtain the information concerned.