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The Worst of the Worst 2011 - China

Population: 1,338,100,000
Capital: Beijing

Political Rights: 7
Civil Liberties: 6
Status: Not Free

2010 Key Developments: While China's activist community was encouraged by the decision to grant the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to jailed democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responded with a crackdown on Liu's associates and widespread censorship of the news. The repression reflected a broader trend toward a strengthened state security apparatus. In 2010, internet censorship and forced evictions increased; judicial procedures in commercial cases showed signs of political intervention; leading human rights lawyers were harassed, disbarred, and "disappeared"; and new regulations made it more difficult for civil society groups to obtain funding from overseas donors. Nevertheless, many citizens continued to defy government hostility and asserted their rights to free expression and association.

Political Rights: China is not an electoral democracy. The CCP has a monopoly on political power; its nine- member Politburo Standing Committee sets government policy. A 3,000-member National People's Congress is, in principle, China's parliament, but it remains subordinate to the party and meets for just two weeks a year. The only competitive elections are for village committees and urban residency councils, but these are often closely controlled by local party branches, whose role includes vetting candidates. Opposition groups are suppressed, and activists publicly calling for reform of the one-party political system risk arrest and imprisonment. In addition to Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence for drafting and circulating the prodemocracy manifesto Charter 08, tens of thousands of others are thought to be held in prisons and extrajudicial forms of detention for their political or religious views. Despite thousands of prosecutions launched each year and new regulations on open government, corruption remains endemic, particularly at the local level.

Civil Liberties: Freedom of the press remains severely restricted, particularly on topics deemed sensitive by the CCP. Journalists who do not adhere to party directives are harassed, fired, or jailed. In 2010, physical violence against journalists increased, culminating with the December killing of a reporter in Xinjiang who had written about the demolition of a factory to make way for housing for government officials. While China is home to the largest number of internet users globally, the government maintains an elaborate apparatus for censoring and monitoring internet use, frequently blocking websites and deleting content it deems politically threatening. In 2010, conditions for ethnic and religious minorities remained harsh, and in some cases worsened. Ethnic Uighur webmasters and journalists were sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials, including two who received sentences of life imprisonment; the persecution of unauthorized Christian groups intensified toward year's end; and the Falun Gong spiritual group was a key target of crackdowns ahead of the Shanghai World Expo as well as a reinvigorated three-year forced conversion program. Freedoms of assembly and association are severely curtailed. Nongovernmental organizations are required to register and follow strict regulations, including vague prohibitions on advocating non-CCP rule, "damaging national unity," or "upsetting ethnic harmony." The only legal labor union is government controlled. Collective bargaining is legal but does not occur in practice, and independent labor leaders are harassed. Nevertheless, a series of workers' strikes at foreign-owned factories in 2010 yielded increased wages. The CCP controls the judiciary and directs verdicts and sentences, particularly in politically sensitive cases. Torture remains widespread, with coerced confessions routinely admitted as evidence. Serious violations of women's rights continue, including domestic violence, human trafficking, and the use of coercive methods to enforce the one-child policy.

Topics: Freedom of expression,