From The New York Times:
Human rights conditions in China deteriorated last year even as China sought to portray itself as an increasingly open, modern society ahead of the 2008 Olympics, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Friday.
The government’s promise to establish an impartial legal system remains unfulfilled, while at least 100 advocates of greater openness, including lawyers, writers, academics and grass-roots organizers, have faced prosecution, house arrest, beatings or other forms of harassment, the group said.
Propaganda officials have also placed restrictions on domestic news media, while investing ever greater resources in censoring online information that the leadership deems harmful to political stability.[Full Text]