The human-rights situation in China in the past year has worsened, proving that the Chinese government is the most laggard administration in the world when it comes to taking care of its people's basic needs, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy said yesterday.
The foundation examined China's human-rights situation during the period from July last year to June for its report, focusing on five aspects -- social, political, judicial, economical, and educational and cultural human rights.
Lin Wen-cheng (林文程), the foundation's vice president, said that its report tallied with the Annual Report on 2005 by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the Country Report on Human Rights Practices -- China by the US State Department.
"The main reason of the regression lies in the brutal nature of the Chinese government and its strong desire to permanently retain power," Lin said, adding that "the government also has a careless attitude toward the lives of its people."
With regard to social rights in China, director of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP)Department of Chinese Affairs, Tung Li-Wen (董立文), said the most striking phenomenon over the past year has been the controversies over land compensation.
"As of last year, it was estimated that 70 million Chinese farmers were forced to abandon their land as part of the government's efforts to advance industrialization. Most people were not given proper compensation or help to resettle," Tung said.
Tung said 6,027 people had died in mine accidents during the period studied, accounting for 80 percent of the world's total mining fatalities, while a total of 137, 000 people died at work last year.
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"Of all the countries in the world, China implements the death penalty the most frequently. While the exact number of executions is kept secret, it has been estimated that the death penalty was carried out at least 3,400 times last year, or 90 percent of the world's total," Liao said.
Tsai Chang-yen (蔡昌言), an assistant professor at National Chung Cheng University, said three book-banning orders announced last year demonstrated the repressiveness of China's cultural human rights.
"Access to diverse sources of information has not kept pace with its economic development. The Chinese government has sealed off information unfavorable to its rule," Tsai said.
The Chinese people are not allowed to access to the Web sites that reference democracy, Tibet, Taiwan independence, Falun Gong or the Tienanmen Massacre, Tsai said, noting that about 20,000 Web sites are blocked by the Chinese government.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy is partially funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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