China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and LaborMarch 11, 2008
(The section for Tibet, the report for Hong Kong, and the report for Macau are appended below.)
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is an authoritarian state in which, as specified in its constitution, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the paramount source of power. Party members hold almost all top government, police, and military positions. Ultimate authority rests with the 25-member political bureau (Politburo) of the CCP and its nine-member standing committee. Hu Jintao holds the three most powerful positions as CCP general secretary, president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission. The party's authority rested primarily on the government's ability to maintain social stability; appeals to nationalism and patriotism; party control of personnel, media, and the security apparatus; and continued improvement in the living standards of most of the country's 1.3 billion citizens. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
The government's human rights record remained poor, and controls were tightened in some areas, such as religious freedom in Tibetan areas and in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR); freedom of speech and the media, including the Internet; and the treatment of petitioners in Beijing. As in previous years, citizens did not have the right to change their government. The government tightened restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, particularly in anticipation of and during sensitive events, including increased efforts to control and censor the Internet. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), both local and international, continued to face intense scrutiny and restrictions. The government continued its severe cultural and religious repression of minorities, with some tightening of control in the XUAR, and an increased level of religious repression in Tibetan areas. The government stepped up efforts to rid Beijing of petitioners seeking redress for various grievances. Other serious human rights abuses included extrajudicial killings, torture and coerced confessions of prisoners, and the use of forced labor, including prison labor. The government continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison journalists, writers, activists, and defense lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under law. The party and state exercised strict political control of courts and judges, conducted closed trials and carried out administrative detention. Executions often took place on the day of conviction or immediately after the denial of an appeal. A lack of due process and restrictions on lawyers further limited progress toward rule of law. Individuals and groups, especially those deemed politically sensitive by the government, continued to face tight restrictions on their freedom to assemble, their freedom to practice religion, and their freedom to travel. The government continued its coercive birth limitation policy, in some cases resulting in forced abortion and sterilization.
The government failed to protect refugees adequately, and the forced repatriation of North Koreans continued to be a grave problem. Serious social conditions that affected human rights included endemic corruption, trafficking in persons, and discrimination against women, minorities, and persons with disabilities. In the XUAR, trials of Uighurs charged with separatism continued.
The government pursued some important criminal and judicial reforms. In January the country's highest court, the Supreme People's Court (SPC), reassumed the death penalty review power from provincial courts in cases handed down for immediate execution, a power that had devolved to provincial high courts in 1980. Also in January the government implemented temporary rules for foreign journalists, which eliminated the requirement for journalists to seek approval from authorities before conducting interviews. The Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) reported that although the regulations improved overall reporting conditions for foreign journalists, problems with enforcement of the regulations remained a challenge, and there were over 180 reports of interference, some of which included plainclothes thugs intimidating or physically assaulting foreign journalists.
中华人民共和国是一个专政（authoritarian也可解释为独裁）国家（在其宪法中特别指出），中国共产党是其权利的主要来源。党员几乎占据了所有政府部门，警察，军队的高级职务。最高权力机构由一个25人的政治局及9名政治局常委组成。胡 集中国共产党总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席三项最高权力职务于一身。党的专政仰赖于政府维持社会稳定的能力、民族及爱国的感召力、党对其党员、媒体、安全部门的控制和持续提高13亿国民中大部分的生活水平。民间的专政主要依靠安全部门的有效控制。
政府的人权纪录依旧保持在一个相当低的水准，在某些领域进一步加强了控制，诸如在西藏和新疆的宗教自由；在媒体包括互联网的言论自由；对待去北京的上访者。一如过去几年，国民仍然没有改选政府的权力。政府加强了对言论以及新闻自由的控制，尤其在敏感事件预期要发生时和发生期间，采取增加控制力度和加强互联网审查的措施。无论是当地的还是国际的非政府组织继续面临详细的审查和极大的限制。政府继续对少数民族的文化和宗教进行压制，包括在新疆的一些严格控制，以及提高在西藏地区宗教压制的级别。政府也加强了驱散由于不同原因赴京上访的民众。其他严重的人权问题还包括，未经审批执行死刑，严刑逼供，使用强迫劳动力包括监狱劳动力。政府继续监视、骚扰、拘留、逮捕、关押记者、作家、激进主义者和辩护律师以及他们的家人，他们中的许多人寻求在法律下行使他们的权力。党和国家在法院实行严格的行政控制，实行闭门审判和行政拘留。死刑经常在判决之日或在驳回上诉之日执行。对于律师针对法律法规进一步的改进，缺少必要的程序和约束。个人和团体，尤其是那些被政府认为政治敏感的，依旧在自由集会，自由进行宗教活动以及自由旅行中受到严格的限制。政府继续执行计划生育政策，在某些情况下导致了强制的堕胎和绝育。
政府未能对难民进行适当的保护，强制遣返朝鲜难民依旧是一个严重的问题。严重的社会问题也影响了人权，包括地方上的贪污及不法行为，歧视妇女、少数民族以及残疾人。在新疆，控告和审讯分离主义者仍在继续。
政府继续对司法系统进行重大的改革。在（2007年）一月，最高人民法院宣布，收回死刑的核准权，自1980年，该权力一直是移交给省高级人民法院的。同样在一月，政府实行了零时性的条例，外国记者在进行采访前，无需经过相关部门的批准。据中国国外记者俱乐部报道，尽管该条例全面改善了外国记者的采访条件，但是对于条例的执行依旧是一个严峻的挑战，已收到超过180起的冲突报告，包括便衣胁迫或袭击外国记者。
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