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Following his detention on October 4, 2009, Uyghur journalist Gheyret Niyaz has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for "endangering state security." These charges stem from the interview Niyaz gave to foreign reporters regarding the riots that occurred in East Turkestan (aka Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region) on July 5, 2009. During the interview, Niyaz criticized the unequal distribution of wealth in East Turkestan and accused authorities of heavy-handedness in their campaign to fight Uyghur “separatism.” Before his detention, Niyaz had worked at the Xinjiang Economic Daily and had previously been a director of the Xinjiang Legal Daily. He has been given 15 days to appeal his case. He is being denied the right to choose an attorney for himself and will instead be provided one by the state.

Many believe that Niyaz’s punishment was far to harsh for his crime, especially since many who know him all express that he is in fact very pro-Communist party. In his court statement, as reported by his wife Risalet, Niyaz expressed his confusion and disappointment that the government would treat him this way when he was just doing his duty “as a citizen and as a journalist” by making facts about the riot privy to the outside world. Many, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, are calling for Niyaz’s immediate release including Ilham Tohti, who had founded the website Uighurbiz.cn which Niyaz helped to edit. Tohti himself was detained in July 2009 following the riots on the charge that his website had advocated for the unrest but he was later released on August 2, 2009. Niyaz’s arrest and subsequent harsh treatment is viewed as another example of suppression being brought against the Uyghurs by the Chinese government. Following the riots, the Chinese government also blocked many internet communications including a 6 month blackout and brought even more heightened security following the anniversary of the riots.

Below is the translation of an article written by the prominent author and dissident Yu Jie on July 7th, 2010. Yu Jie was recently interrogated by government officials. This long, but interesting article details the conversation that took place between Mr. Yu and his interrogator. The original Chinese article can be viewed here.

Censorship Everywhere in China-My Second Interrogation by the Chinese Police
-Yu Jie

“The real symbol of China’s openness should be: when asked at a press conference what his favorite book is, Premier Wen Jiabao would show China’s Best Actor Wen Jiabao, a book by Yu Jie, to the audience and say, ‘This book, certainly this one. It is my best reference.”-from Twitter username: “Playboy”

July 5 2010, Officer Li called me at 10 am, notifying me that the officers from the municipal State Security Bureau wanted to talk to me at the police station in my neighborhood at 3 pm that day. I refused, because I was busy finalizing my new book China’s Best Actor Wen Jiabao, which is to be published in half a month. The state security officers get paid for their time “talking to” people like me, since it is part of their job. But I cannot waste my time, and it is certainly my civil right to refuse their demands. (Read more after the jump)

In this episode of "Harry's Lunchbox," a recurring feature in which Laogai survivor Harry Wu talks about life in the Laogai and under communism, Harry reveals how he clandestinely captured and cooked frogs in order to survive.

On the heels of the release of a White Paper outlining the internet rights of Chinese citizens - zealously titled "Guaranteeing Citizens Freedom of Speech on the Internet"  - the Chinese government is instituting strict regulations that extend its internet surveillance controls. 

Across China, regulations now mandate that Internet cafes require smart ID cards for internet access and install surveillance cameras accessible by provincial government authorities monitoring their customers.  Businesses that do not comply with these terms are threatened with fines and other punishments. 

In the past year the Chinese government has gone to some lengths to limit public opinion of dissent online by limiting Internet access via Internet cafes.  But as always, behind such censorship initiatives - ostensibly intended to protect children from pornography and guide them in "wholesome and correct" Internet usage - lurks the specter of a more disturbing, Orwellian exercise of control over Chinese netizens seeking public forums. 

So take a seat in an Internet cafe in Sichuan.  After we check to make sure your face matches your ID card, don't forget to swipe it so we have record of your patronage.  Don't mind the cameras, please, just go about your business, accessing the free and open internet safely.  Keep in mind that you may be traced and punished for letting loose opinions which include any of the following: "divulging state secrets," "subverting state power," "jeopardizing national unification," "damaging state honor and interests," "jeopardizing ethnic unity" or "state religious policy," (Read more after the jump!)