02 October 2011 - 23H30??
China activist defies officials in fight to save lake
Chinese environmental activist Wu Lihong gestures toward the algae on the edge of Taihu Lake in Yixing in Jiangsu Province in September 2011. Despite a two-decade battle to clean up the once-scenic Taihu Lake that earned him three years in jail, Wu says the water still "stinks" from pollution.
AFP - Prominent environmental activist Wu Lihong plunges his hands into a thick layer of toxic green scum and brown foam floating on one of China's biggest freshwater lakes.
Despite a two-decade battle to clean up the once-scenic Taihu Lake that earned him three years in jail, Wu says the water still "stinks" from pollution.
"There's no place in China that isn't polluted. There's no place in China that's clean," complains Wu, 43, who calls himself the "Guardian of Lake Tai".
Taihu Lake lies on the border of the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu in one of China's richest regions, once known as the "land of fish and rice," and is still a source of drinking water for the heavily populated area.
But after three decades of explosive economic growth and lax enforcement of environmental protection laws, the lake -- like most waterways in China -- is heavily contaminated with toxic waste from surrounding factories and farms.
Wu, who remembers swimming in Taihu Lake as a boy, started campaigning to clean up the water in the late 1980s.
The former engineering equipment salesman has paid a high price for his environmental crusade, losing his job in 2001 and landing in jail a few years later as his one-man battle embarrassed and angered local officials.
His once-portly frame has thinned somewhat and his black hair is speckled with white, which Wu attributes to his time in prison.
"There are only a few people like me making a fuss. But I'm not afraid," said Wu, who was jailed in 2007 for extortion.
Wu has long proclaimed his innocence and insisted he was set up by the government of his native Yixing city, which was eager to protect the booming local industry from pollution controls.
Shortly after his arrest, a toxic algae bloom in Taihu Lake contaminated water supplies for more than 2.3 million people in Wuxi city, which sits across the lake from Yixing, drawing nationwide attention to the issue.
Many of Wu's supporters said the toxic pollution, which turned large parts of Taihu Lake a murky green, should have led to the activist's release.
Wu was finally freed last year and was immediately ordered by police to stay quiet or "we will make you disappear".
Authorities, anxious about the power of online social networking sites to organise protests, have also blocked Wu from accessing the Internet.
His rural home is constantly monitored by security cameras, he is routinely followed when he goes out and is not allowed to work.
But Wu says he is undeterred, especially after discovering that the water quality of Taihu Lake improved little during his time in jail despite government efforts to crack down on surrounding factories.
In its 2010 annual report on the country's water quality, China's environmental protection ministry gave Taihu Lake its lowest rating.
Under China's water quality classification system that means the lake is "essentially useless" and can't even be used for agriculture or landscaping, according to a World Bank report.
Wu accuses local officials of protecting factory bosses, who evade detection by discharging pollutants at night, trucking waste to other sites or channelling contaminated water into hastily-dug ditches.
"They are too greedy," Wu said of the officials willing to turn a blind eye to the pollution in the pursuit of economic growth and career advancement.
Local authorities however blame chemicals used by farmers for causing most of the toxins in the water, which have killed fish and other marine life.
The government has made efforts to clean up the lake, releasing millions of algae-eating fish into the water and recently ordering the closure of nearby sewerage discharge facilities and garbage dumps from November 1.
It also pays squads of workers as little as 40 yuan (about $6) a day to patrol the shoreline to collect garbage and suck up algae using a device like a giant vacuum cleaner.
But a layer of green and brown sludge still pollutes the surface of the lake and Wu has vowed to keep up the fight.
We live here," he said, explaining his dedication. "We could swim in the water before."
Environmental activist sentenced - Los Angeles Times
A Chinese environmental activist accused of blackmailing polluting businesses was sentenced to three ... A court in the eastern city of Yixing also fined Wu Lihong.
Advertisement
YOU ARE HERE: LAT Home→Collections→Sentencing
2.人權和法律在中國伊麗莎白統治...
www.cfr.org/content/.../ElizabethEconomyTestimony10.7.09.pdf
中國的環境挑戰,多源於非常迅速的和不受約束的...吳立紅任職十六年,以解決太湖的汙染,...
HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW IN CHINA Elizabeth ...
Much of China's environmental challenge stems from the very rapid and unfettered ... Wu Lihong worked for sixteen years to address the pollution in Tai Lake, ...
Chinese authorities detain environmental activist中國當局拘留環保活動家
24/04/2007。美國廣播公司... ABC新聞在線 By 斯蒂芬McDonell
One of China's most prominent environmental activists, Wu Lihong, is being held by police.中國最傑出的環保活動家之一,吳立紅,警方正在舉行。
The salesman-turned-activist came to prominence for his efforts to save a giant freshwater lake and naming Chinese companies that were allegedly polluting it.推銷員出身的活動家來突出他的努力挽救一個巨大的淡水湖泊和命名的中國公司,據稱,汙染它。
His supporters say he upset local government officials who saw his activities as threatening the taxes of major companies.他的支持者說,他心煩當地政府官員,誰看到他的活動,如威脅到各大企業的稅收。
He is now accused of extortion and blackmail after plain-clothes police raided his house.他現在被莫須有指控敲詐勒索罪後,便衣民警突擊搜查他的房子。
Mr Wu's family claim he is being framed.吳先生的家庭聲稱他被誣陷。
Though the Chinese government has vowed to take strong steps to crack down on environmental destruction, regional governments are thought to have corrupt relationships with manufacturing companies.雖然中國政府已經發誓要采取強有力的措施,嚴厲打擊破壞環境,地方政府認
為有腐敗的關係,與製造企業。
Activists say they routinely use police to squash dissent.活動人士說,他們經常使用警察壁球異議。
? 2012 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ?2012澳大利亞廣播公司Copyright information: 版權信息: http://abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm Privacy information: Chinese authorities detain environmental activist. 24/04/2007. ABC ...
One of China's most prominent environmental activists, Wu Lihong, is being held by police. The salesman-turned-activist came to prominence for his efforts to ...
荊溪江南人 發表評論於
Tough Times For China's Dissidents對於中國的持不同政見者的艱難時期
西蒙優雅 六月26,2007 | + 時代周刊
馬克·羅爾斯頓/法新社/ Getty
Wu Lihong at work吳立紅在工作
According to conventional wisdom, the approach of the Olympics was supposed to have been a time when conditions got easier for dissidents/activists in China as Beijing tried to show its best face to the world.根據傳統智慧,奧運會的臨近,本來一直是一個時間,當條件得到了在中國的持不同政見者/活動家更容易,因為北京試圖向世界顯示其最好的一麵。 But as Amnesty reports ( the link but forget it if you are in China), the opposite seems to be the case.但大赦國際的報告( 這裏的鏈接,但忘記它,如果你是在中國),相反,似乎是這樣的。 The amnesty report, which argued that jailing and harassment of activists has actually increased in the last year came out in April.大赦的報告,該報告認為,監禁和騷擾活動家實際上已經在去年增加了四月。 Recent days seem to have confirmed that it is a tough time to be a dissident in China.最近幾天,似乎已經證實這是一個艱難的時間是在中國的持不同政見者。
First there's the case raised some weeks ago by the redoubtable Southern Metroplis Daily ( in translation) of Wu Lihong, the imprisoned environmental activist.首先,有這樣的話,提出可怕的南方都市報日報(幾個星期前, 這裏的翻譯),吳立紅被囚禁的環保活動家。 For well over a decade, Wu has campaigned tirelessly, some might say obsessively, to publicize the pollution of Lake Hu in central China, mentioned in my previous case.十多年來,吳立紅不知疲倦地在競選,有些人可能會說癡迷,宣傳在中國中部地區的汙染,太湖,在我以前的案例中提到的。 At what should be his moment of vindication, Wu is languishing in jail, accused of attempting to extort money from local officials.什麽應該是他平反的時刻,吳在監獄裏受苦,被控企圖敲詐當地官員的錢。 We've had Wu visit our Beijing office a number of times and can say that we're quite familiar with him and his cause.我們已經吳立紅訪問我們的北京辦事處的次數,可以說,我們與他和他的事業非常熟悉。 The likelihood that he would sacrifice nearly 15 years of dogged work and much anguishfor a few thousand renminbi is laughable.幾千元人民幣的可能性,他會犧牲近15年的工作和多anguishfor的頑強是可笑的。 Or it would be if her weren't in jail.或者是,如果他在監獄。
Then there's the case of Chen Guangcheng, the blind lawyer about whom TIME has written often, most recently on this .再有就是最近,時間經常寫關於他的盲人律師陳光誠, 博客 。 He was beaten in prison, allegedly for refusing to have his head shaved, and went on hunger strike for three days.他在獄中被毆打,據稱拒絕他的頭剃光,絕食三天。 The information about Chen's beating was original passed on by his wife, who went to visit him in jail and found him in a sorry state.有關陳的跳動是通過他的妻子,去看望他在??監獄裏,他發現了對不起國家對原有的信息。 She spoke to another dissident, Hu Jia, who has been under house arrest in Beijing since late May.她說話的另一個持不同政見者,已被軟禁在北京被捕,5月下旬以來,胡佳。 Hu told one of my colleagues that the inmates who beat him up told Chen: “The Party will give me credit for beating you up.” Chen was been on hunger strike for 76 hours.胡佳說,我的一個同事,犯人痛打他告訴陳:“黨給我打你的信用”陳絕食76小時。 “I was on hunger strike myself so I know what it feels like. “我是自己絕食,所以我知道這是什麽感覺。 Chen refused food as well as water so in no time he would have been dehydrated and陳拒絕食物以及水,所以在任何時候,他會一直脫水 suffering.”痛苦。“
Hu, an AIDS activist, has been under house arrest since May 18 when he attempted to go to the airport for a planned trip to Hong Kong.自5月18日,當他試圖去計劃前往香港機場,胡佳,艾滋病活動家,一直被軟禁。 “They took me in and questioned me about everything i said. “他們把我和我詢問我說的一切。 They said I was a disturbance to the social stability.他們說我是一個社會穩定的幹擾。 I don't see why some remarks could be hazardous to the social stability.我不明白為什麽一些言論可能危害社會穩定。 I think it is ridiculous.” Hu was planning to go to Europe early June, “but the government was worried that I might join the commemoration of the June the 4th.” He's not sure why he is still being held, tho it may have something to do with the film he and his wife, Zeng Jinyan (a Time 100 World's Most Influential People selectee this year) made that chronicled their lives under surveillance by the police.我認為它是荒謬的。胡佳是計劃到歐洲早期的六月,“但政府的擔心,我可能會參加紀念在六月四號。”他是不能確定為什麽他是仍然正在舉行,芹苴,可能有做電影,他和他的妻子曾金燕(一個時間100世界上最??具影響力人物征召員今年),記載了他們的生活,由警察監視之下。
荊溪江南人 發表評論於
美國:優先在中國對話的權利
'Whole of Government' Approach Requires All Agencies to Raise Rights政府全體要求所有機構,以提高權利
2011年5月6日,
China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the 2010 US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue in Beijing.中國國務院副總理王岐山和美國財長蓋特納在2010年中美戰略經濟對話在北京。
?2010路透社
The Chinese government takes careful note of which US officials and agencies do and don't talk about human rights, so showing commitment requires across-the-board coordination.中國政府需要仔細地注意到,美國官員和機構做不談論人權,因此呈現出的承諾,需要跨板協調。 If the people who deal with China on trade, financial, and defense matters raise concerns, the Chinese government will sit up and take notice.如果貿易,金融和國防事務上與中國打交道的人引起關注,中國政府將坐起來,並采取通知。
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch索菲·理查森,觀察亞洲宣傳主任在人權
(New York) - The United States should demonstrate its concern over the Chinese government's crackdown on dissent by raising human rights at all segments of next week's US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Human Rights Watch said today. (紐約) - 美國應表現出對中國政府鎮壓異議的關注,在下周舉行的中美戰略與經濟對話的所有環節,提高人權,人權觀察今天說。
The Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S+ED), which involves more than a dozen government agencies from each government and is hosted in the US by the Departments of Commerce and State, will convene in Washington on May 9-10, 2011.戰略與經濟對話(海關),其中包括十幾家政府機構和各政府是在美國商務部和國家部門主辦,將於2011年05月9-10日在華盛頓召開。
Since the uprisings began in the Middle East in late 2010, and Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the US in January 2011, the Chinese government has cracked down on dissent in an effort to crush any domestic move towards a "Jasmine Revolution."在2010年年底以來在中東起義開始,中國國家主席胡錦濤的國事訪問,美國在2011年1月,中國政府已破獲的努力粉碎任何對國內移動異議“茉莉花革命。” Since early February, Human Rights Watch has documented the enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention of dozens of lawyers, bloggers, and activists.自2月初以來,人權觀察,記錄,強迫失蹤和任意拘留數十名律師,博客和活動家。 The US has characterized these developments in China as "serious backsliding."美國特點在中國的發展“嚴重的倒退。” Last week, US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner described Chinese government responses to queries at the US-China Human Rights Dialogue on individual cases as providing "no sense of comfort."上周,美國助理國務卿民主,人權和勞工邁克爾·波斯納介紹中國政府的反應,作為提供在美國 - 中國人權對話就個別個案的查詢“不舒適感。”
"The Chinese government takes careful note of which US officials and agencies do and don't talk about human rights, so showing commitment requires across-the-board coordination," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “中國政府需要仔細地注意到,美國官員和機構做不談論人權,因此呈現出的承諾,需要跨板協調,說:”索菲·理查森,人權觀察亞洲宣傳主任。 "If the people who deal with China on trade, financial, and defense matters raise concerns, the Chinese government will sit up and take notice." “如果貿易,金融和國防事務上與中國打交道的人引起關注,中國政府將坐起來,並采取通知。”
A number of US officials have characterized their approach to promoting human rights in China as a "whole of government" strategy.一些美國官員的特點他們的做法,以促進中國人權“整個政府”作為一項戰略。 This approach recognizes that many US interests are fundamentally premised on the establishment of an independent judicial system, the free flow of information, and tolerance of criticism of government policies and practices in China.這種方法承認,許多美國的利益,從根本上建立獨立的司法製度,資訊自由流通,並在中國政府的政策和做法的批評的寬容為前提。
Human Rights Watch urges that this approach be employed in the S+ED by tasking the following agencies with raising relevant human rights issues with their Chinese counterparts, such as:人權觀察敦促受雇於+ ED,這種做法,任務與提高有關人權的問題與他們的中國同行,如下列機構:
The Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative should express concerns about the lack of progress in legal reforms, many of which are linked to World Trade Organization commitments designed to create a more predictable business environment; about ongoing efforts by the Chinese government to surveil and censor the Internet, which poses a threat to the freedom of expression; and about the dangerously ambiguous Law on Guarding State Secrets, which has been used against Chinese government critics and members of the international business community;署應商務部和美國貿易代表辦公室表示關注缺乏法律改革的進展情況,其中有許多是與世界貿易組織的承諾,旨在創建一個更可預測的商業環境,由中國政府的不斷努力進行監督和審查互聯網,這構成了威脅言論自由;和危險的模棱兩可的“保守國家秘密,一直反對中國政府的批評和國際商界的成員;
The Department of Health and Human Services, and particularly its Food and Drug Administration, should express concerns about the corrosive influence of Chinese state censorship and the Chinese government's persecution of whistleblowers, which prevents timely reporting on food and product safety and public health;衛生和人類服務部,特別是食品和藥物管理局,表達對中國國家審查和中國政府的迫害舉報人,防止食品和產品安全和公眾健康的及時報告的腐蝕性影響的擔憂;
The Department of Education should express concern about the systemic discrimination against the children of Chinese migrant workers that limits access to education, and the effects that this will have on China's development, particularly as it moves out of low-skills production in future years and requires a more skilled labor force;教育部門應表示關注,對中國農民工的子女限製接受教育的機會係統性歧視,和的影響,這將有中國的發展,特別是因為它轉動低,技能生產在今後幾年和要求更熟練的勞動力;
The Department of Energy should not only raise the case of Xue Feng, an American geologist serving an eight year sentence on state secrets charges for his participation in the sale of a database regarding China's petroleum agency, it should also urge the US-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum to adopt international standards and safeguards on human rights and transparency in their exploration, extraction, and infrastructure projects;能源部應該不隻是提高薛馮,1美國地質學家服務1八個一年刑期的國家秘密,他參加有關中國的石油機構的數據庫銷售費用的情況下,它也應該呼籲的美 - 中國石油和天然氣工業論壇采用國際標準和保障人權,並在他們的勘探,開采和基礎設施項目的透明度;
The Environmental Protection Agency should ask for greater transparency regarding environmental crises in China and for the Chinese government to cease its persecution of environmental activists such as Wu Lihong, who after being tortured during his three-year incarceration has virtually ceased his advocacy work, and Karma Samdrup, a Tibetan environmental philanthropist now serving a 15-year sentence on trumped up charges;環保局應要求中國政府關於在中國的環境危機的更大透明度和停止其如環保人士吳立紅,誰在他3年監禁後,被折磨他的宣傳工作實際上已經停止迫害,噶瑪桑珠,一個藏族的環境慈善家,現在捏造的收費服務15年徒刑;
The Department of Defense should raise not only concerns about the use of military forces in domestic Chinese policing operations but also the Chinese government's unwillingness to address the root causes of unrest in Tibet and Xinjiang, which fundamentally compromise the country's stability; and國防部應提高關於使用軍隊在中國國內治安行動不僅關注,而且還導致中國政府不願從根本上解決西藏和新疆的動亂,這從根本上危及國家的穩定;
The Department of Justice should raise its concerns about disappeared, detained, and disbarred Chinese human rights lawyers and what such tactics mean for Chinese officials' claims to abide by the rule of law.司法部應提高其關注即將消失,拘留,取消律師資格的中國人權律師,這樣的戰術對中國官員聲稱遵守法治意味著什麽。
"Secretary Clinton has said that every day is human rights day at the State Department, so there's no reason the Strategic and Economic Dialogue can't also be a human rights dialogue," said Richardson. “克林頓國務卿說,每一天都是在國務院的人權一天,所以沒有理由的戰略與經濟對話,也不能成為人權對話,”理查森說。 "Secretaries Locke and Geithner, as well as other US representatives, must do their part." “秘書洛克和蓋特納,以及其他美國的代表,必須盡自己的一部分。”