Shi Tao
Encyclopedia
Shi Tao is a mainland Chinese
journalist
, writer
and poet
, who in 2005 was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years for releasing a document of the Communist Party
to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo!
China provided his personal details to the Chinese government.
province in 1968. He studied at East China Normal University
in Shanghai
. He graduated in July 1991, and was married in 1992.
Shi Tao worked in Fushun Institute of Technology during 1997-99.
On October 18, 2005, the Committee to Protect Journalists
announced that Shi was one of four winners of the 2005 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
. The Committee's website stated that he would be officially presented with the award when he is released from prison.
In March 2006, he was given the Vasyl Stus
Award. On November 28, 2006, he was given the Golden Pen of Freedom Award by the World Association of Newspapers
.
province of China.
On April 20, 2004, the Chinese government released the Number 11 document "A notice concerning the work for maintaining stability" (关于当前稳定工作的通知). In the document, it warned journalists that overseas pro-democracy Chinese dissident
s may come back to mainland China during the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
on June 4, which would affect the politico-social order's stability. It asked all news media to not report anything regarding the so-called "June 4th event", Falun Gong
or people calling for politico-social change. Shi used his private Yahoo! email account and sent a brief of the document to an overseas web site called Asia Democracy Foundation.
When the Chinese government found out, it demanded the sender's personal information from Yahoo!'s Hong Kong
office. Yahoo! turned the information over without asking what it was for. Shortly thereafter, Shi Tao was detained on November 24, 2004. The Chinese authorities confiscated his computer and documents without showing any proper permit or document, and warned his family members not to talk about it with others. He was formally arrested on December 14.
His lawyer, Guo Guoting
(郭国汀), famous for taking human rights cases, stated that the search and seizure and subsequent arrest were illegal. As a result, his license to practice law was suspended for one year by Shanghai's Department of Law. He was later put under house arrest, and one of his co-workers had to take over the case.
On March 11, 2005, Hunan
Changsha Intermediate People's Court
held its first hearing secretly. It lasted for two hours. Shi Tao's mother and brothers came all the way from Ningxia
to Changsha, but they were not permitted to go inside and observe. After the hearing was over, Shi was permitted ten minutes of private time with his family members. Fifteen days later, he was sentenced to prison for ten years, and will lose his political rights for two years on the charge of leaking state secrets.
On June 2, 2005, the Hunan High People's Court
rejected his lawyer's arguments and denied his appeal, keeping the original sentencing. Shi's mother, Gao Qinsheng, alleged "serious procedural defects" in her son's case, but his appeal was rejected without a hearing.
arm provided technical information connecting the message and email account with Shi Tao's computer. Yahoo! was criticized by Reporters Without Borders
for acting as a "police informant". The United States Congress
held a hearing about this and other similar incidents with representatives from Yahoo!, Google
, and MSN
, etc. In August 2007, Congress began an investigation into Yahoo!'s handling of the case, with Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang testifying in a hearing before Congress.
On August 28, 2007, the World Organization for Human Rights USA sued Yahoo! for allegedly providing information (email
and IP address
) to the Chinese government
that caused the arrests of writers and dissidents. The lawsuit
was filed in San Francisco for journalists Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning
.
On November 6, 2007, the U.S. congressional panel criticized Yahoo! for not giving full details to the House Foreign Affairs Committee the previous year, stating it had been "at best inexcusably negligent" and at worst "deceptive". In a February 2006 hearing, Yahoo! swore that they had no information about the nature of the investigation. Some months later, it was found out that the document provided to Yahoo! China on April 22, 2004 by the Beijing State Security Bureau actually stated, “Your office is in possession of the following items relating to a case of suspected illegal provision of state secrets to foreign entities…”
On November 13, 2007, Yahoo settled with Shi for an undisclosed sum. Shi remains in prison.http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jxM79pzLTm4rNPLXXyUk9XVjr6YQD8SSU2S80
Shi is married and has a son born in Fushun, Liaoning.
According to the International Herald Tribune
, while visiting China United States Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice
said on 27 February 2008 that she had raised the issue of a journalist and a writer jailed by China for expressing their views over the Internet during meetings with the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi. The Yahoo chief executive, Jerry Yang, asked Rice in a letter sent during the previous week to help secure the release of the journalist, Shi Tao, and the writer, Wang Xiaoning
, who were imprisoned for sending pro-democracy information using e-mail messages or Yahoo groups.
, Jiang Lijun
, and Wang Xiaoning
are also political prisoners in the People's Republic of China, in cases where information has been provided by Yahoo!.
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, who in 2005 was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years for releasing a document of the Communist Party
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
China provided his personal details to the Chinese government.
Brief history
Shi Tao was born in Yanchi County (盐池县), Wuzhong, NingxiaNingxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
province in 1968. He studied at East China Normal University
East China Normal University
East China Normal University , was founded in October 1951 in western Shanghai, on the campus of Great China University. It is the first Normal University founded after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.-History:...
in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. He graduated in July 1991, and was married in 1992.
Shi Tao worked in Fushun Institute of Technology during 1997-99.
On October 18, 2005, the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
announced that Shi was one of four winners of the 2005 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honour journalists around the world who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks, threats or imprisonment. Created in 1991, the awards are administered by the Committee to Protect Journalists....
. The Committee's website stated that he would be officially presented with the award when he is released from prison.
In March 2006, he was given the Vasyl Stus
Vasyl Stus
Vasyl Semenovych Stus was a Ukrainian poet and publicist, one of the most active members of Ukrainian dissident movement. For his political convictions, his works were banned by the Soviet regime and he spent 23 years in detention...
Award. On November 28, 2006, he was given the Golden Pen of Freedom Award by the World Association of Newspapers
World Association of Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries...
.
Arrest and imprisonment
In 2004 at the age of 37, Shi Tao was working for the Contemporary Business News in the HunanHunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
province of China.
On April 20, 2004, the Chinese government released the Number 11 document "A notice concerning the work for maintaining stability" (关于当前稳定工作的通知). In the document, it warned journalists that overseas pro-democracy Chinese dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
s may come back to mainland China during the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
on June 4, which would affect the politico-social order's stability. It asked all news media to not report anything regarding the so-called "June 4th event", Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
or people calling for politico-social change. Shi used his private Yahoo! email account and sent a brief of the document to an overseas web site called Asia Democracy Foundation.
When the Chinese government found out, it demanded the sender's personal information from Yahoo!'s Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
office. Yahoo! turned the information over without asking what it was for. Shortly thereafter, Shi Tao was detained on November 24, 2004. The Chinese authorities confiscated his computer and documents without showing any proper permit or document, and warned his family members not to talk about it with others. He was formally arrested on December 14.
His lawyer, Guo Guoting
Guo Guoting
Guo Guoting , is a former Chinese lawyer, and chief partner of the Shanghai Tian Yi Law Firm. He was one of few lawyers who would defend dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners. He represented the imprisoned lawyer Zheng Enchong and journalist Shi Tao. Because of these activities, the Shanghai...
(郭国汀), famous for taking human rights cases, stated that the search and seizure and subsequent arrest were illegal. As a result, his license to practice law was suspended for one year by Shanghai's Department of Law. He was later put under house arrest, and one of his co-workers had to take over the case.
On March 11, 2005, Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
Changsha Intermediate People's Court
Intermediate people's court
An intermediate people's court is the second lowest local people's court in the People's Republic of China. According to the Organic Law of the People's Courts of the People's Republic of China, the intermediate people's courts handle relevant important local cases in the first instance and hear...
held its first hearing secretly. It lasted for two hours. Shi Tao's mother and brothers came all the way from Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
to Changsha, but they were not permitted to go inside and observe. After the hearing was over, Shi was permitted ten minutes of private time with his family members. Fifteen days later, he was sentenced to prison for ten years, and will lose his political rights for two years on the charge of leaking state secrets.
On June 2, 2005, the Hunan High People's Court
High people's court
A High people's court or Higher people's court is the highest local court in the People's Republic of China and reports to the people's congresses at provincial level....
rejected his lawyer's arguments and denied his appeal, keeping the original sentencing. Shi's mother, Gao Qinsheng, alleged "serious procedural defects" in her son's case, but his appeal was rejected without a hearing.
Reactions
The incident sparked a controversy about the business practices of Yahoo!, whose Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
arm provided technical information connecting the message and email account with Shi Tao's computer. Yahoo! was criticized by Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
for acting as a "police informant". The United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
held a hearing about this and other similar incidents with representatives from Yahoo!, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, and MSN
MSN
MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
, etc. In August 2007, Congress began an investigation into Yahoo!'s handling of the case, with Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang testifying in a hearing before Congress.
On August 28, 2007, the World Organization for Human Rights USA sued Yahoo! for allegedly providing information (email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
) to the Chinese government
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
that caused the arrests of writers and dissidents. The lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
was filed in San Francisco for journalists Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning is a Chinese dissident from Shenyang who was arrested by authorities of the People's Republic of China for publishing controversial material online using his Yahoo! email account....
.
On November 6, 2007, the U.S. congressional panel criticized Yahoo! for not giving full details to the House Foreign Affairs Committee the previous year, stating it had been "at best inexcusably negligent" and at worst "deceptive". In a February 2006 hearing, Yahoo! swore that they had no information about the nature of the investigation. Some months later, it was found out that the document provided to Yahoo! China on April 22, 2004 by the Beijing State Security Bureau actually stated, “Your office is in possession of the following items relating to a case of suspected illegal provision of state secrets to foreign entities…”
On November 13, 2007, Yahoo settled with Shi for an undisclosed sum. Shi remains in prison.http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jxM79pzLTm4rNPLXXyUk9XVjr6YQD8SSU2S80
Shi is married and has a son born in Fushun, Liaoning.
According to the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, while visiting China United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
said on 27 February 2008 that she had raised the issue of a journalist and a writer jailed by China for expressing their views over the Internet during meetings with the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi. The Yahoo chief executive, Jerry Yang, asked Rice in a letter sent during the previous week to help secure the release of the journalist, Shi Tao, and the writer, Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning is a Chinese dissident from Shenyang who was arrested by authorities of the People's Republic of China for publishing controversial material online using his Yahoo! email account....
, who were imprisoned for sending pro-democracy information using e-mail messages or Yahoo groups.
Other cases
Li ZhiLi Zhi (dissident)
Li Zhi was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in December 2003 in the People's Republic of China for trying to join the Democracy Party of China, which is a banned organization in communist China, and for criticizing corruption...
, Jiang Lijun
Jiang Lijun
Jiang Lijun is a Chinese freelance writer. He has been detained by the Chinese government since November 2002 for posting articles on the Internet which the government considered subversive...
, and Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning is a Chinese dissident from Shenyang who was arrested by authorities of the People's Republic of China for publishing controversial material online using his Yahoo! email account....
are also political prisoners in the People's Republic of China, in cases where information has been provided by Yahoo!.
See also
- Blocking of Wikipedia in mainland ChinaBlocking of Wikipedia in mainland ChinaOn several occasions, the government and Internet service providers of the People's Republic of China have blocked access to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia due to strict censorship laws enacted by the PRC. The blocks function in a similar way to a content filter...
- Chinese WikipediaChinese WikipediaChinese Wikipedia is the Chinese language edition of Wikipedia, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. Started in October 2002, Chinese Wikipedia had over 270,000 articles as of September 2009 and 383,391 articles as of November 7, 2011...
- DissidentDissidentA dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
- Golden Shield ProjectGolden Shield ProjectThe Golden Shield Project , colloquially referred to as the Great Firewall of China is a censorship and surveillance project operated by the Ministry of Public Security division of the government of the People's Republic of China...
- Human rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of China are a matter of dispute between the Chinese government, other countries, international NGOs, and dissidents inside the country. Organizations such as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese...
- Internet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
- Internet in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet in the People's Republic of ChinaThe first connection of the mainland of the People's Republic of China with the Internet was established on between ICA Beijing and Karlsruhe University in Germany, under the leadership of Prof. Werner Zorn and Prof. Wang Yunfeng. Since then the Internet in China has grown to host the largest base...
- Jerry Yang
- List of Chinese dissidents
- List of notable websites blocked in the People's Republic of China
- List of words censored by search engines in the People's Republic of China
- Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of ChinaMinistry of Public Security of the People's Republic of ChinaThe Ministry of Public Security , is the principal police and security authority of the mainland of the People's Republic of China and the government agency that exercises oversight over and is ultimately responsible for day-to-day law enforcement...
- Political dissidents
News reports
- Undermining freedom of expression in China: The role of Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google - report by Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
- Shi Tao - action by Amnesty International UK (closed)
- Yahoo 'helped jail China writer' BBC News
- Information supplied by Yahoo! helped journalist Shi Tao get 10 years in prison Reporters Without Borders press release on Shi Tao
- The Case of Shi Tao (师涛) summary of Shi Tao's situation by blogger
- Shi Tao's poem "六月" (June) - The PEN Poem Relay "Carrying the Torch for Freedom of Expression in China"
- Shi Tao's poem "六月" (Liuyue) - Original poem in 繁體字/拼音 & different translations