Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

(CNN) -- Fifteen U.S. House members asked President Bush Tuesday not to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing to protest China's human rights records.

The call follows comments from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who earlier said Bush should boycott the August 8 opening ceremony.

President Bush has said he intends to meet China's president during a trip to see the Olympics. Bush didn't elaborate on what issues he might bring up, but his administration has accused China, a major U.S. trade partner, of human rights abuses.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese dissident outspoken on Tibet and other sensitive topics was jailed for three-and-a-half years on Thursday, a conviction likely to become a focus of international rights campaigns ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

A Beijing court found human rights activist Hu Jia, 34, guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" for criticizing the ruling Communist Party. Hu had initially pleaded not guilty.

by AFP | Khaleeij Times Online
July 13, 2007

GENEVA - Two human rights groups on Friday sharply criticised a senior Olympic official who warned social activists not to use the Beijing 2008 Games to highlight their concerns.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) said the remarks by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) chief Beijing organiser, Hein Verbruggen, repudiated the Olympic movement’s own ideal and its Code of Ethics.

BEIJING -- Yahoo Inc., under fire from civil-rights groups for its indirect role in human rights abuses in China, is answering critics by setting up a fund to give victims of government censorship legal and other assistance.

The webco has been charged with complicity in the jailing and torture of Chinese dissidents, and this week was criticized because Yahoo China, in which Yahoo Inc. has a stake, ran a wanted list of rioters involved in violent protests in Lhasa, Tibet.

Chinese writer Ma Jian sums up the importance of the Olympics to the Chinese government.

chinaSMACK is looking for a Writer/Blogger to help find, translate, and share popular and viral Chinese internet news, events, and trends with English-reading audiences.

"We pray that a Chinese Martin Luther King will arise from the church in China," say Christian leaders of the new Human Rights Protection Movement (HRPM).

These lawyers, pastors, journalists, and human rights leaders across China are trying out the strategies of the historic American civil rights movement, using litigation, media publicity, and nonviolent protests.

China is holding elections for people's representatives at the county and township levels. The difference this time is that the usual practice of the communist government recommending candidates has been challenged, and some independent candidates and human rights activists are actively running for elections. However, analysts say these independent candidates, instead of receiving election funds, have been suppressed.

Last Friday was the maiden voyage for China's first regional commercial jet, the ARJ-21. The test pilot was complimentary of the new jet's handling, but then again he probably wanted to keep his job. This humorous report explains that such compliments following a maiden voyage are a common practice in the airplane-making business.