A Chinese journalist imprisoned for two years for posting politically sensitive essays on the Internet said yesterday he had been released.
Li Yuanlong (
Li said he was released on Friday upon completion of his prison term and insisted on his innocence.
"I have never done anything against my conscience, nor anything illegal ... I am innocent," he said.
CRITICISM
Li, a reporter with the Bijie Daily newspaper in Guizhou Province, was picked up by state security agents at his office on Sept. 9, 2005.
He said he was indicted for criticism of the Chinese government evident in several of his articles, including one entitled "On Becoming an American in Spirit."
"I believe this day will not be far off; that socialism under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party will crumble," he wrote.
The piece held the communist regime responsible for the death of tens of millions of people under its "Fascist rule" since it took power in 1949.
STATUS REVOKED
He said his reporter status had been revoked and that he was barred from working at any state entities -- including the state media -- for at least two years.
Despite China's pledge to ease control over the media ahead of next year's Olympic Games, human and media rights groups say its leaders continue to tighten their crackdown on dissent amid increasing social unrest.
Paris-based campaign group Reporters Without Borders said at least 35 journalists as well as 51 cyber-dissidents were currently detained in China.
The watchdog ranks China 163rd out of 167 countries on its global press freedom index.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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