CHINA COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service 12 October 2012 CHINA 12 OCTOBER 2012 Contents Preface REPORTS ON CHINA PUBLISHED OR ACCESSED BETWEEN 24 SEPTEMBER 10 OCTOBER 2012 Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 1.01 Map ........................................................................................................................ 1.05 Infrastructure ........................................................................................................ 1.06 Languages ........................................................................................................... 1.07 Population ............................................................................................................. 1.08 Naming conventions ........................................................................................... 1.10 Public holidays ................................................................................................... 1.12 2. ECONOMY ................................................................................................................ 2.01 Poverty .................................................................................................................. 2.03 Currency ................................................................................................................ 2.05 3. HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 3.01 The People’s Republic of China .......................................................................... 3.01 The Cultural Revolution ....................................................................................... 3.05 1978-1989: China under Deng Xiaoping ............................................................. 3.06 The 1989 Student Movement and Tiananmen Square protest .......................... 3.08 2000 onwards: A new generation of leaders ...................................................... 3.09 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ........................................................................................... 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION .......................................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ................................................................................................... 6.01 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ........................................................................ 6.07 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 7.01 8. SECURITY FORCES .................................................................................................... 8.01 Police ..................................................................................................................... 8.05 People‟s Armed Police (PAP) ............................................................................. 8.05 Chengguan Urban Management Law Enforcement ........................................... 8.08 Armed forces ........................................................................................................ 8.09 Human rights violations by security forces ....................................................... 8.10 Arbitrary arrest and detention ............................................................................. 8.10 Torture ................................................................................................................ 8.16 Extrajudicial killings ............................................................................................ 8.28 Petitioning ............................................................................................................. 8.30 Black jails ........................................................................................................... 8.33 Avenues of complaint .......................................................................................... 8.42 9. MILITARY SERVICE .................................................................................................... 9.01 Postponement and exemption ............................................................................ 9.04 Desertion ............................................................................................................... 9.06 10. JUDICIARY ................................................................................................................ 10.01 Organisation ......................................................................................................... 10.01 Independence ....................................................................................................... 10.03 Fair trial ................................................................................................................. 10.06 ii The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 10 October 2012. 12 OCTOBER 2012 CHINA Restrictions on lawyers ....................................................................................... 10.13 Criminal Procedure Law ...................................................................................... 10.16 State Security Law ................................................................................................ 10.19 Double jeopardy ................................................................................................... 10.21 11. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS .................................................................. 11.01 Arrest warrants ..................................................................................................... 11.07 12. PRISON CONDITIONS ................................................................................................. 12.01 Administrative detention/labour camps ............................................................. 12.08 Punishment of minor offences and Re-Education through Labour (RTL) ........... 12.08 Other forms of administrative detention .............................................................. 12.16 13. DEATH PENALTY ....................................................................................................... 13.01 Suspended death sentences ............................................................................... 13.07 Number of executions .......................................................................................... 13.09 14. POLITICAL AFFILIATION ............................................................................................. 14.01 Freedom of political expression .......................................................................... 14.01 Freedom of association and assembly ............................................................... 14.03 Civil disturbances ............................................................................................... 14.08 Jasmin Revolution .......................................................................................... 14.19 Opposition groups and political activists .......................................................... 14.25 China Democracy Party (CDP) .......................................................................... 14.31 UK Branch of the China Democracy Party ......................................................... 14.34 Tiananmen Square activists ............................................................................... 14.35 15. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA ............................................................................... 15.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 15.01 Newspapers, radio, internet and television ........................................................ 15.11 Internet users/bloggers ........................................................................................ 15.15 Journalists ............................................................................................................ 15.22 16. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS .................................... 16.01 17. CORRUPTION ............................................................................................................ 17.01 Breaches of Party discipline ............................................................................... 17.08 Organised crime ................................................................................................... 17.15 18. FREEDOM OF RELIGION .............................................................................................. 18.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 18.01 Registration ........................................................................................................ 18.15 Demographics .................................................................................................... 18.19 Religious groups .................................................................................................. 18.21 Buddhists ........................................................................................................... 18.21 Taoists ...............................................................................................................