The history of dissent and human rights in the PRC

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Dissidents in China detained and harassed
By Jun Xing, October Review (Hong Kong), 31 October 1995. Examples of dissidents beaing arbitrarily detained and oppressed.
Human Rights in China condemns charges against Wei Jingsheng
Calls for strong response from international community. Press release from Human Rights in China (HRIC), 21 November 1995. This long-time agitator for democracy faces new charges.
The death of Deng Xiaoping and the future for human rights
Amnesty International press release, 19 February 1997. While there was economic and legal progress under Deng, human rights lagged. His death has encouraged repression of dissent.
A Half Million Peasants Plunge Into Rebellion in Four Provinces
By Li Zijing, Hong Kong Cheng Ming, 1 August 1997. Since mid-May in 1997, once again more than 500,000 peasants assembled, staged parades and demonstrations, and filed petitions in over 50 counties in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces. Li Peng put forward five policies and measures to handle the problems, but the result was mass Demonstrations. Peasants accused the authorities of exploiting and fleecing them.
Fidgety over Pockets of Protests
By Pushpa Adhikari, IPS, 25 January 1999. The growing protests by Chinese taking to the streets, protesting corruption to taxation, are the product of societal friction unleashed by the wrenching process of economic reforms. In a nation that frowns on open public dissent, the demonstrations are mostly directed against housing and financial anomalies, and growing unemployment.
Chinese protesters hit the streets demanding government attention
AFP, 11 June 2000. A growing number of Chinese people are taking their grievances onto the streets. The most common type of protesters are unpaid pensioners or workers who have been left without their only source of income when their state-owned companies collapsed, as the country moves towards a market economy. People who lost money from investment schemes or were forced to relocate to make way for construction projects make up other types of demonstrators.