China’s Great Terror

By Jonathan D. Spence on September 21, 2006

Long before August 1966, when immense chanting crowds of young Chinese Red Guards began to mass before Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square, alerting those in the wider world to the onset of the Cultural Revolution, senior figures in the Chinese leadership began to seek their own solutions. On March 18, 1966, General Luo Ruiqing, a veteran revolutionary and then chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, tried to commit suicide by jumping from the top of a three-story building. The attempt failed, though his legs were shattered and he ended up paralyzed, unable to walk.

People’s Republic of China: The Olympics Countdown—Failing to Keep Human Rights Promises

on September 20, 2006

This report summarizes a number of Amnesty International's human rights concerns in China—concerns which the organization is continuing to highlight as key areas for reform in the run-up to the Olympics. They are: the continuing use of the death penalty and abusive forms of administrative detention; the arbitrary detention, imprisonment, torture, and harassment of human rights defenders, including journalists and lawyers; and the censorship of the Internet. Amnesty International considers that positive reforms in all of these areas are essential if China is to live up to its promises to improve human rights.

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Topics: 
Law
Keywords: 
Beijing Olympics
Human Rights
Law
Organization: 
Amnesty International