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30
April 2008
PEN writer
and Chinese
citizen, Yu
Zhang, denied
entry to Hong
Kong for World
Press Freedom
Day conference
London, Toronto,
New York,
Stockholm: April
30, 2008！Members
of International
PEN protest in
the strongest
possible terms
the refusal
yesterday of
Hong Kong
officials to
allow
distinguished
Chinese
journalist Dr.
Yu Zhang,
Secretary-General
of the
Independent
Chinese PEN
Center, into
Hong Kong, where
he was invited
to chair a
session at a
World Press
Freedom Day
Conference.
Yu Zhang was
held for ten
hours without
explanation at
Hong Kong
Airport when he
arrived from
Sweden via
London and then
was forced to
take a flight to
London and then
Sweden later the
same day,
according to
Hong Kong
Journalists
Association
official Mak
Yin-ting.
"They used
various
uncivilized
means, including
cheating
(because they
never intended
to let me in)
and threatening
physical abuse,
to force me to
leave the soil
of my own
country
immediately,
regardless of my
request for time
with my lawyer
to challenge
their decision
in Hong Kong,"
said Yu Zhang,
who returned
home at noon
today. "This is
an obvious
indication that
the negative
impact of the
Beijing Olympics
on Chinese
citizens¨ rights
is increasing as
the Games draw
near, expanding
beyond mainland
China at least
to Hong Kong.￣
Yu Zhang has
twice in the
past year been
prevented from
entering
Beijing,
verbally accused
of "endangering
the national
security." But
this is the
first time he
has been
prevented from
entering Hong
Kong.
The four-day One
Dream: Freedom
of Expression
meeting is being
held to
＾reaffirm the
freedoms that
already exist in
Hong Kong and
raise the
question of why
[such a meeting]
cannot take
place in Beijing
nor anywhere
else in the
country！although
freedom of
expression is a
universal civil
right guaranteed
in China¨s
Constitution and
in the
international
covenants to
which China
claims
adherence,￣ said
the conference¨s
statement of
intent. May 3 is
World Press
Freedom Day; the
meeting,
attended by
international
freedom of
expression
organizations,
aims to send a
clear message to
the Chinese
government: Make
the Freedom of
Expression Dream
a Reality in
China.
＾The ironies in
this situation
are painful,￣
said Isobel
Harry, executive
director of PEN
Canada. ＾Holding
this conference
in Hong Kong was
to demonstrate
that the Chinese
people are
ready, not only
for the
Olympics, but
for freedom of
expression. But
the Chinese
government is
not only not
ready, it is
becoming
increasingly
repressive.￣
Since December
2007, the
Independent
Chinese PEN
Center has
worked with PEN
Canada and PEN
American Center
on a Countdown
to the Olympics
campaign
highlighting the
cases of writers
imprisoned in
China for
expressing their
opinions on
human rights
issues in China.
The number of
imprisoned
writers has been
as high as 42,
and currently
sits at 39; the
most recent
sentence was
handed down to
freelance
journalist and
blogger, Hu Jia
a leading human
rights,
environmental,
and AIDS
activist.
＾If this is the
situation in
Hong Kong, 100
days before the
Olympics and
just before
World Press
Freedom Day,
what¨s next?￣
asked Larry
Siems, Director
of Freedom to
Write and
International
Programs at PEN
American Center,
＾We urge the
Chinese
government to
reverse this
trend and honor
the promises
made in bidding
for the Olympic
Games to improve
human rights for
its citizens and
permit freedom
of the press.￣
Dr. Yu Zhang is
a Chinese
citizen, a
research
scientist with
permanent
residence in
Sweden. After
the 1989 Beijing
Massacre he
helped to found
a human rights
association of
Chinese
students. In
1990, he founded
Nordic Chinese,
as its publisher
and editing
director, and
later as chief
editor until it
ceased
publication in
1997. In 1999,
he joined Tong
Xun, an
Oslo-based
Chinese magazine
as editor. In
2002 he joined
the Independent
Chinese PEN
Center (ICPC),
where he is
currently its
Secretary-General
and Coordinator
of its Writers
in Prison
Committee.
PEN American
Center, PEN
Canada, and the
Independent
Chinese PEN
Center are among
the 145
worldwide
centers of
International
PEN, an
organization
that works to
promote
friendship and
intellectual
co-operation
among writers
everywhere, to
fight for
freedom of
expression, and
represent the
conscience of
world
literature. For
more information
on the
coalition¨s
China campaign,
please visit
www.pen.org/china2008,
www.pencanada.ca,
and
www.chinesepen.org.
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