“The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) launched a three-day sit-in at Jinan Road near the Legislative Yuan in downtown Taipei Monday to voice opposition to closer ties with China as its top negotiator arrived in Taiwan earlier that day.

DPP members and supporters began to gather at the venue hours before the activity formally kicked off at 7 p.m. They tied yellow ribbons reading “Taiwan Is My Country” on trees that line the street at the site. Some of them tied the ribbons on their heads or necks.

Some people carried the Republic of China national flags to satirize the Kuomintang government’s reluctance to fly the national flags at venues where China’s top point man on Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, will stay or stop over during his five-day visit.

Previously, ROC flags were seldom seen at rallies organized by the pro-Taiwan independence DPP…”

SHANGHAI, Oct. 23 — The European Parliament on Thursday awarded its top human rights prize to jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia despite warnings from China that its relations with the 27-nation bloc would be seriously damaged if it did so.

In selecting Hu to receive the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European lawmakers said they are “sending out a signal of clear support to all those who support human rights in China.” Hu has advocated for the rights of Chinese citizens with HIV/AIDS and chronicled the arrest, detention and abuse of other activists.

The award honors Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet physicist and Nobel Peace Prize winner who was a leader in the country’s pro-democracy opposition party.

“Hu Jia is one of the real defenders of human rights in the People’s Republic of China,” European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said in announcing the award…

Simon Elegant marks the six month anniversary of dissident Hu Jia’s imprisonment, drawing the ire of China’s “angry youth” :

It is exactly six months ago today that dissident Hu Jia was sentenced to three years in jail. His case has received much internaional attention and there is even speculation that he could be in line to get a Nobel Peace Prize, as Austin wrote earlier here.

Sadly the reality is that even if he gets the prize, which will be announced in a week, it will make about as much difference to his situation as giving it to jailed Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi did: none whatsoever. Still, it’s worth reminding ourselves of the details of his case and treatment by the authorities, which are particularly egregious and symbolic of the way that Beijing deals with even the mildest of dissent. I reproduce the first few grafs of a news release by Human Rights watch on the subject …

An original account by Steve Cotner, reconstructed from eyewitness testimony.

“The policeman asks questions for a long time about her intentions, about the nature of her organization, until the British woman asks, smiling, ‘Can you loosen the chair?’

Watching the young man as he translates, the policeman says hao and goes through the door in the wall.”

“‘Cui Jian has always been right,’ say his fans. Businesswomen wearing pearl necklaces, just the same as taxi drivers with Buddha figurines and bare chests, plus umpteen more, surprisingly, could all be Cui Jian’s children.”

As the greatest symbol of the “nothing” generation, Cui Jian still bottles a rebellious spirit for his fans, even if it sells next to cans and drafts these days.

The life of Bao Tong, a dissident and friend of the ‘89 students, still on the outs with China:
“Bao Tong, a former member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, fell out of favor and wound up in prison. Now he lives under house arrest in Beijing, watched by the government because he continues to push for more democratic freedom.
Nowadays, it isn’t easy to visit the old man who, less than 20 years ago, was one of China’s most influential politicians. His former friends and colleagues now try to prevent him from meeting foreigners. They also try to keep him from talking to Chinese journalists and historians. Not even his friend, philosopher Liu Xiaobo, is permitted to see Bao Tong, who is considered a threat…”

American pro-Tibet activists have been deported:

“BEIJING (AFP) - China has deported eight Americans who were detained in Beijing last week after a wave of pro-Tibet protests coinciding with the Olympics, the US embassy here said Monday.

Two other detained foreigners, a Briton and a Tibetan-German, were also reported to have been put on planes out of China, although there was no immediate official confirmation that this had happened.

‘Chinese authorities informed us last night that the eight individuals, detained August 20 and 21 respectively, were deported by Chinese authorities,’ a US embassy spokeswoman told AFP…”

Will at Imagethief looks into the official transcripts of Wednesday’s IOC/BOCOG press conference:

“‘Chinese culture always emphasizes the concept of harmony.’ In principle perhaps. In practice, I can safely say after four years here, less so. Still, track record to date: Zero protests approved. Very harmonious. You have to give Wang props for having the data points to support his thesis. You also have to admire the bureaucracy’s perfect ability “resolve” these cases. How they might be resolved Imagethief will leave to his readers to imagine. …
There is nothing inherently wrong with providing a transcript to journalists who have often anyway recorded the interview themselves. In fact, when dealing with foreign spokespeople and interpreters, a translated Chinese transcript can be a big help to journalists trying to find relevant material. The problem is that such transcripts are often “cleaned up” prior to distribution…”

The IOC is voicing strong criticism of China’s zero tolerance approach to protests:

“Olympic officials have for the first time openly criticised their Beijing hosts for China’s intolerance of public protests, questioning their desire to allow citizens the right to raise grievances during the games.

The International Olympic Committee is also understood to believe that lower-than-expected attendances at games venues is the result of Beijing’s poor distribution of tickets for the general public, including a failure to reallocate unwanted tickets.

The two criticisms represent the first splits to emerge between the IOC and the Beijing organising committee (Bocog). Until now, the partners have presented a united front at joint press conferences.”

China has not approved a single one of 77 protest requests for its three designated venues, and has even detained some applicants immediately:

“BEIJING — Chinese authorities have not approved any of the 77 applications they received from people who wanted to hold protests during the Beijing Olympics, state media reported Monday.

The official Xinhua News Agency said all the applications were withdrawn, suspended or rejected. Rights groups and relatives have said some applicants were immediately taken away by security agents after applying to hold a rally, prompting critics to accuse officials of using the plan as a trap to draw potential protesters to their attention…”