And likely very skinny ones at this point, having been locked away from journalists and lawyers and bringers of milk formula [1] for over a month now.
Since AIDS activist-turned house arrested blogger [2] Hu Jia's arrest [3], he's been described as a one-man [4] human rights organization, that bloggers like him are the kind The Party fears most, and that for every Hu Jia silenced, ten more bloggers like him will pop up to take his place; shame [5], say some, and smooth move [6] others. With Hu's wife Zeng Jinyan and their 2-month-old daughter Hu Qianci having been under house arrest for over a month now and in effect having been made state secrets of themselves, even more are saying now is the crucial time [7] to be blogging about them.
[8]
Hu Qianci, China's youngest political prisoner
If the state subversion charge against Hu Jia was supposed to scare the other monkeys at the keyboards, it doesn't seem to have had the desired effect [9]. Yet, director of Sun Yat-sen University's Genders BBS [10] Ai Xiaoming has a long essay floating around in which she assumes, as others have [11], that Hu won't be getting out any time soon, and notes that ten years divided by 1,200 of Hu's supporters means just three days of prison time each.
Others weren't satisfied with just signing the petition [12], though, and put their blogging skills to use. Bloggers from different parts of the country started talking about a milk powder delivery mission, and now the exact location Zeng's home in BOBO Freedom City is neatly marked on Google Maps, with notes of where to watch out for the secret police. If you don't want to risk going in, word is Zeng can be seen clearly in her window from the grassy patch across the road:
View Larger Map [13]
On the information front, while Zeng's old blog [14] has been blocked, there's now a copycat [15] Zeng fansite which hasn't; Hu's blog [16] has been blocked, though now the couple has their own spirit site [17], also blocked. Zeng's new blog [18] has of course been blocked since Hu's arrest, yet somehow keeps updating itself.
And then there's the Free Hu Jia Facebook group [19].
Hu and Zeng found life under house arrest and those enforcing it interesting enough to make a short documentary called “Prisoners in Freedom City” which can not only be viewed on YouTube in seven parts [20] (without Hu and Zeng's permission, as it says), but in one go [21] and even downloadable if you have VeohTV.
Keep a blogger locked up at home long enough with nothing but Chinese state TV and an internet connection to keep them occupied and they're bound to subvert something eventually. What exactly Hu Jia did to warrant the charge, though, isn't exactly known and possibly never will be. What is known is that when he got busted he was in the middle of a Skype conversation, and chances are it was about to become the next of his e-mail podcasts which now too have all been posted online and can be found at the 2008: Year of the Rats blog by Rat Master Flash, who with a name like that should try writing Hu a song and plugging it on MySpace.cn:
Jan. 17: Following sentencing, blind Chen Guangcheng has given power of attorney to his lawers [22]
Jan. 23: Guo Feixiong case returned from Procuratorate to police for further investigation, Guangzhou police hand Guo Feixiong over to Liaoning police to be tried [23]
Jan. 25: Yuan Weijing decides to purchase a digital camcorder and digital camera [24]
Jan. 29: Chinese citizen Hu Jia's letter inviting Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao to personally monitor human rights [25]
Jan. 28: Guo Feixiong, Jiang Wei and “Shenyang Political Earthquake” [26]
Jan. 31: Li Xige: I followed the law and paid my Family Planning fine, but has the government followed the law in upholding the rights and interests of those with AIDS? [27]
Feb. 2: Defence council for Guo Feixiong's case's legal recommendation to the Tian He District Procuratorate in Guangzhou [28]
Feb. 4: Dr. Gao Yaojie illegally detained by Henan government, prevented from traveling to US to accept award [29]
Feb. 7: Li Xige：Where are you, Dr. Gao? [30]
Feb. 12: Dr. Gao Yaojie illegally detained for 12th day, Chinese government responding to inquiries from international society with lies [31]
Feb. 15: Dr. Gao Yaojie forced to write letter of entrustment [32]
Feb. 17: Chinese government obstructs Dr. Gao Yaojie from traveling to America to accept award [33]
Feb. 22: Dr. Gao Yaojie arrives safely in Beijing [34]
Feb. 25: Chen Guangcheng transferred by police, detention center refuses to tell where to [35]
Feb. 26: Chen Guangcheng was arrested on Feb. 9, taken to carry out sentence in Lihang labor reform camp, Linyi City [36]
Feb. 26: The judgement in Chen Guangcheng case [37]
Feb. 27: Linyi prison in Shandong continues for no reason to block Chen Guangcheng's family from visiting him [38]
March 1: Under Yuan Weijing's persistence, Shandong police today no long blocked family from visiting Guangcheng [39]
March 22: Lawyer Li Jinsong will meet Chen Guangcheng at Linyi prison, Yuan Weijing remains under house arrest [40]
April 4: Chen Guangcheng's wife, son and relatives once again deprived visitation rights [41]
April 5: Commemorating Mr. Zhao Ziyang for Qingming Festival, crippled Tiananmen survivor Qi Zhiyong is arrested by police [42]
April 5: He Tian: Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhiyong holds memorial service for Zhao Ziyang over Qingming Festival [43]
April 7: Gao Zhisheng's lawyer breaks through information clampdown, speaks out for first time on the family's plight [44]
April 11: Beijing Nailhouse—Brothers Ye Guozhu and Ye Guoqiang [45]
April 12: Response: Sun Ailing, transfusion infectee, returned home yesterday from Henan Province #6 Hospital to Gongyi City [46]
April 19: Yuan Weijing and Chen Guangfu both successfully visit Chen Guangcheng [47]
April 19: The blind man with faith in rule of law [48]
April 28: 4·27 Freedom Day [49]
May 15: Prosecution procedures to begin shortly today in Guo Feixiong case [50]
May 15: On his birthday, Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhiyong once again placed under illegal detention by state security police(SSP) [51]
May 15: Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhihong's letter of thanks [52]
May 21: Seeing wife out to buy food, met with violent beating and verbal abuse from undercover police from Beijing SSP squad [53]
May 28: Yuan Weijing's 6 months of home stakeout are up, police continue to restrict her freedom of person [54]
May 28: Under Yuan Weijing's stern negotiations, police have been forced to formally release her from “home stakeout” [55]
June 2: Gao Zhisheng's lawyer once again beaten by Beijing SSP upon leaving prison [56]
June 4: He Tian's Tiananmen Retrospection part 2 [57]
June 8: Chen Guangcheng makes his first phone call since beginning his sentence (6/8/07) [58]
June 8: Focus on Guo Feixiong's case for the month of June [59]
June 9: Tian He District Court in Guangzhou suggest possible delayed trial in Guo Feixiong case [60]
June 11: Chen Guangcheng under arrest for one year today, Yuan Weijing once again cut off from all communication [61]
June 15: Wife of June 4th victim writing on the 18th year since [62]
June 17: Activist writer Xiao Qiao arrested by police in Shanghai [63]
June 19: SSP arrest rights activist Liu Anjun, stealthily violate Olympic Games freedom to interview [64]
June 19: Liu Anjun's cardiac disease recurs, family go to police station to deliver medication [65]
June 21: Photos of petitioner rights activist Liu Anjun [66]
June 23: Lawyer Tang Jingling receives summons, Liu Anjun removed from observation [67]
June 25: Lawyer Li Jinsong arrives at Linyi prison, to meet Chen Guangcheng in afternoon [68]
June 25: Linyi prison officials refust to let lawyer Li Jinsong see Chen Guangcheng [69]
June 26: Lawyer Li Jinsong has decided he must see Chen Guangcheng this trip [70]
June 26: Lawyer Li Jinsong enters prison grounds and will see Chen Guangcheng [71]
June 27: Christian Xu Yonghai has been illegally detained by Beijing police [72]
June 27: Lawyer Li Jinsong will meet with Chen Guangcheng to verify Guangcheng has been hurt [73]
June 28: Guo Feixiong case to be further delayed, possibly until end of July [74]
July 1: To prevent Gao Zhisheng from traveling to US to accept award, police again have taken him away [75]
July 5: Chen Guangcheng's wife Yuan Weijing is at my home [76]
July 6: Yuan Weijing to meet American embassy human righst officials, I was kept from going [77]
July 9: Guo Feixiong's case opens today in court [78]
July 10: Court in Tian He, Guangzhou holds hearing shamelessly manipulated by Politics and Law Committee [79]
July 10: Professor Jiang Yanyong is struggling for the right to leave the country [80]
July 12: British diplomatic officials were successful in seeing Yuan Weijing, mother and daughter [81]
July 18: Chen Guangcheng's family visit successful, but held under prison's heavy surveillance [82]
July 20: Defence from Guo Feixiong's first hearing [83]
July 25: Lawyer Zheng Enchong applies to be present at Zhou Zhengyi's trial, is placed under house arrest [84]
July 29: Lawyer Zheng Enchong sees freedom of faith violated, launches hunger strike and silent sit-in protest aimed at SSP [85]
July 30: Rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng once again besieged by police [86]
July 31: Friends from afar—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (1) [87]
Aug. 1: Beijing police seek to detain christian Xu Yonghai [88]
Aug. 2: Fighting the tide and the future of the system—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (2) [89]
Aug. 3: Democracy and peace are the the bridge across both sides of the strait—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (3) [90]
Aug. 3: The voice of the plebes is more than a river—visiting lawyer Gao Zhisheng (4) [91]
Aug. 5: Christian Xu Yonghai welcomes illegal arrest with a fast and prayer [92]
Aug. 5: Zheng Enchong barred from going to church, first aid applied [93]
Aug. 8: Xu Yonghai detained by police, held at at police station for reasons related to Olympic celebration [94]
Aug. 9: A June 4th cripple's first day in the countdown to the Olympic games [95]
Aug. 13: Li Xige's open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao [96]
Aug. 14: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing's open letter to Hu Jintao [97]
Aug. 17: Yuan Weijing breaks out from house arrest for first time [98]
Aug. 20: Yuan Weijing has decided to travel to the Philippines to accept award on behalf of husband Chen Guangcheng [99]
Aug. 22: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing has sent Hu Jintao an open letter through the mail [100]
Aug. 24: The PSB's SSP are making plans to obstruct Yuan Weijing [101]
Aug. 24: Yuan Weijing and 2-year-old daughter Chen Kesi have been intercepted by SSP for third time [102]
Aug. 27: Update on Yuan Weijing's situation [103]
Aug. 28: Please honor your promise to the world and the country—An open letter to the Seventeenth Party Congress Regarding the Zhejiang PSB's criminal detention of Lu Gengsong [104]
Aug. 28: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing continues enquiries, complaints see some headway [105]
Sept. 3: Magsaysay award issued in absensce, Yuan Weijing violently kidnapped for second time this week [106]
Sept. 5: Lawyers obstructed from seeing Yang Chunlin, Heilongjiang authorities up to their old tricks [107]
Sept. 8: Qi Zhihong: Petitioner Village to be demolished [108]
Sept. 11: The truth about China before the Olympics [109]
Sept. 13: Prior to the Seventeenth National Party Congress, China's politics and law system creating an atmosphere of widespread terror [110]
Sept. 20: Qi Zhihong: Petition Village is full of destitution, and the capital has become the tiger's mouth [111]
Sept. 25: Beijing SSP have threatened to send rights activists to mental institution for duration of 17th National Party Congress [112]
Sept. 25: Lawyer Gao Zhisheng is being illegally constrained by SSP secret police [113]
Sept. 25: Li Xige placed under house arrest, mooncakes sent are being intercepted [114]
Sept. 27: Human rights officials from American consulate in Shanghai meet with Lu Gengsong's family [115]
Sept. 28: Yang Chunlin case transferred to Procuratorate, police revoke bail prior to trial [116]
Sept. 30: Zhejiang writer Lu Gengsong formally arrested [117]
Sept. 30: Beijing police arrest rights activist Ye Mingjun, Ye Guoqiang's whereabouts unknown [118]
Oct. 1: Just who was it that kidnapped and beat up lawyer Li Heping? [119]
Oct. 3: Notice regarding mailbox robbery and e-mail impersonation [120]
Oct. 4: National Day and 17th National Party Congress approach, police continue to violate citizens’ rights [121]
Oct. 6: Olympics prisoner Yang Chunlin being mistreated in Heitong Detention Center in Heilongjiang province [122]
Oct. 10: Searching for missing Yao Lifa [123]
Oct. 10: Please assist in the search for Yao Lifa and others [124]
Oct. 10: Yang Chunli's case has been transferred to the Procuratorate, meeting with lawyer continues to be postponed [125]
Oct. 11: Lu Gengong's wife's open letter to Mr. Hu Jintao [126]
Oct. 12: Hua Huiqi loses consciousness following beating, police in [127]Chongwen and Fengtai [127]clash [127]
Oct. 12: Yao Yao: Call for mainland friends to assist in search for missing Yao Lifa [128]
Oct. 14: Injured christian Hua Huiqi's first phone call since recovering senses [129]
Oct. 16: Recommendation to China's Communist Party to apply for several Guiness World Records [130]
Oct. 16: Christian Hua Huiqi at 2pm on Oct. 16 to be forced out of hospital [131]
Oct. 16: Police in Chongwen impersonate medical staff, lock Hua Huiqi in his hospital room [132]
Oct. 17: Suggestions to PRC Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Liu Jianchao [133]
Oct. 23: Chen Guangcheng's wife Zhang Qing barred from visiting husband [134]
Oct. 24: A letter of thanks for the Dalai Lama given to German PM Ms. Merkel [135]
Oct. 24: PSB strengthen case against Olympics prisoners Ye Guoqiang and Ye Mingjun [136]
Oct. 25: Lawyer meets with Olympics prisoner Yang Chunli, police bar him from speaking of mistreatment [137]
Oct. 25: Re: “SSP” [138]
Oct. 29: Hubei police now searching through Yao Lifa's home [139]
Oct. 29: Yao Lifa has been freed! [140]
Oct. 30: Olympics prisoner Ye Mingjun has been released on bail and returned home to await trial [141]
Nov. 3: Protest PSB and SSP preventing citizens from seeing deceased Bao Zunxin off [142]
Nov. 3: Beijing SSP kidnap people commemorating Bao Zunxin [143]
Nov. 4: Following 37 hours arrest for commemorating Bao Zunxin, Qi Zhihong returns home [144]
Nov. 7: Chen Guangcheng's wife's letter to the All China Women's Federation calling for help [145]
Nov. 9: Tiananmen cripple Qi Zhihong has once again been illegally prevented from leaving the country [146]
Nov. 20: Police in Shangqiu, Henan province arrest peacefully petitioning blood transfusion AIDS victims [147]
Nov. 21: Yuan Weijing once again obstructed during visit to husband Chen Guangcheng [148]
Nov. 21: Henan blood transfusion AIDS victims leave for Beijing to petition at Health Bureau [149]
Nov. 22: National Petition Office simply hands Henan blood transfusion AIDS victims over to thugs [150]
Nov. 22: Chen Guangcheng's 4-year-old son cut off from seeing his mother for two months [151]
Nov. 22: Portrait of Chen Guangcheng with wife and son [152]
Nov. 23: Henan provincial governor Li Chengyu's gets involved in Ningling AIDS crisis [153]
Nov. 23: Chen Guangcheng's wife Yuan Weijing letter to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao calling for help [154]
Nov. 25: Beijing SSP once again illegally detain citizens for commemorating Mr. Bao Zunxin [155]
Nov. 28: We are all Minjian [156]
Nov. 29: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing's second open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao [157]
Nov. 29: Repost: Urgent notice of situation of “Minjian” magazine editor Zhai Minglei [158]
Nov. 29: PM Wen Jiabao to visit Henan AIDS village tomorrow [159]
Nov. 30: Rights activist Zhang Wenhe illegally forced into police mental institution [160]
Nov. 30: Lu Gengsong case transferred to Hangzhou Procuratorate on Nov. 28 [161]
Nov. 30: Wenlou AIDS village, Shangcai County, Henan resident Ma Shenyi and others have been placed under house arrest by government [162]
Nov. 30: Chinese PM Wen Jiabao visits AIDS village in Henan, villagers express disappointment [163]
Dec. 1: Feng Zhenghu: Recount from outside the court following the Zhou Zhengyi verdict [164]
Dec. 3: Landless Fujin farmers divide up land today, call for widespread attention [165]
Dec. 3: Cellphone video outside the court following a verdict in the Zhou Zhengyi case [166]
Dec. 5: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing goes on hunger strike protest with open letter recounting injustice faced by imprisoned husband (1) [167]
Dec. 7: Lawyer Mo Shaoping will meet with imprisoned writer Lu Gengsong [168]
Dec. 7: Lu Gengsong: “Jailsong” [169]
Dec. 7: Yang Chunlin case once again handed over to Procuratorate [170]
Dec. 11: World Human Rights Day, Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing sends open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao (3) [171]
Dec. 11: Peng Dingding: News from the Petition Office [172]
Dec. 11: Henan government forging official letters, illegally held Li Xige from taking part in AIDS training [173]
Dec. 12: Shanghai evictee rights activist Gong Haoming released on bail awaiting trail and returns home [174]
Dec. 12: Ningling Deputy County Chief Li Ping refuses to recognize responsibility for Li Xige incident [175]
Dec. 12: Qi Zhihong: Human Rights Day in the snow [176]
Dec. 12: Text of Li Xige's planned speech at upcoming All China Women's Federation training session [177]
Dec. 12: Zhang Qing has first meeting with Guo Feixiong in detention center [178]
Dec. 12: Rights representative of landless farmers in Fujin, Heilongjiang Yu Changwu has been arrested [179]
Dec. 13: Li Xige's husband Sun Jianfeng is being held at All China Women's Federation training sit [180]
Dec. 13: Lawyers rush to training site to protect Li Xige's husband Sun Jianfeng's rights [181]
Dec. 14: Fujin displaced farmers’ rights upholder representative Yu Changwu was been criminally detained [182]
Dec. 19: Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing sees off open letter to national chairman Hu Jintao with a hunger strike protest (4) [183]
Dec. 19: Reposted: An article from Mr. Feng Zhenghu [184]
Dec. 19: Independent Chinese Pen's Li Jianhong has been illegally detained by Shanghai SSP [185]
Dec. 21: Calls to rescue lawyer Gao Zhisheng (English) [186]
Dec. 21: Fine enforcement notice from Guo Feixiong case [187]
Dec. 22: Lawyer Gao Zhisheng on probation, a year later [188]
Dec. 22: Contact lost with house arrested Xiao Qiao, Beijing once again carries out group house arrest [189]
Dec. 22: Winter Solstice: SSP strengthen their use of illegal detainment [190]
Dec. 23: Qi Zhihong: One large coat [191]
Dec. 23: A common story at Petition Village: A self-employed retired soldier shot and crippled for life, indifferent local government treats their duties like a soccer game [192]
Dec. 23: Independent Chinese Pen's Li Jianhong has regained her freedom [193]
Dec. 24: Shanghai residents efforts to uphold their rights [194]
Dec. 25: Zhang Qing deduces that Guo Feixiong has gone on hunger strike, prepares to visit this week [195]
Dec. 27: Guangzhou courts freeze and strip Guo Feixiong's wife Zhang Qing's bank account clean of all assets [196]