March 5th marks the beginning of the 12th National People’s Congress, where Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is expected to assume full power as President and head of the Central Military Commission. Ahead of the congress, influential activists and scholars …
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March 1, 2013
in Asia, China, Democracy Assistance, Dissidents, Human rights, National Endowment for Democracy, News, NGOs and Civil Society
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Human Rights Challenges in China
February 5, 2013
in Asia, Civil Society, Democracy Assistance, Human rights, Islamist groups, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs and Civil Society, Pakistan, Women
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‘Miraculous’ Malala launches Vital Voices girls’ fund in video statement
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating the education of girls, has made her first video statement since she was nearly killed.
In the brief statement (above), she attributed her survival …
February 4, 2013
in Asia, Burma, Civil Society, Corruption, Democracy Assistance, Democratic transitions, Freedom of expression, Human rights, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs and Civil Society
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Ethnic conflicts one of three threats to the ‘Burmese Spring’
Burma’s government today held talks with senior commanders of the rebel Kachin Independence Army in an effort to end a violent ethnic conflict that threatens to undermine the country’s reform process.
“The KIA is fighting for autonomy for Kachin state …
February 4, 2013
in Asia, Authoritarianism, China, Corruption, Dictatorships, Dissidents, Freedom of expression, Human rights
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China’s dissident writers – ‘plucking feathers from a frog’?
“I think Kafka could not have written anything more absurd and unbelievable than this,” said Liu Xia (right), the wife of the jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo….
….when she described [
China’s largest private sector employer is planning to hold “genuinely representative” trade union elections in an attempt to address growing worker discontent and prevent further outbreaks of unofficial labor militancy. If the polls go ahead as planned …
February 4, 2013
in Asia, business, China, Democracy Assistance, Dictatorships, freedom of association, Human rights, Labor/labor unions, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs and Civil Society
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Free union elections for Foxconn workers – precedent or PR?
January 31, 2013
in Asia, Bloggers, Democracy Assistance, Dictatorships, Dissidents, freedom of association, Freedom of expression, Human rights, Middle East and North Africa, Vietnam
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Vietnam ‘escalating crackdown on critics’
Vietnam’s Communist authorities are “is systematically suppressing freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecuting those who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic alternatives to one-party rule,” according to Human Rights Watch’s World Report …
January 30, 2013
in Asia, Democracy Assistance, Dictatorships, Dissidents, Human rights, Liberation Technology, Media, National Endowment for Democracy, North Korea
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Google exposes N Korea’s hidden gulag
“North Korea may be the world’s most shrouded country, but on Tuesday Google Maps lifted the veil just a little, uploading a map of the police state complete with street names in the capital,” The New York Times reports…
January 29, 2013
in Asia, Authoritarianism, China, Civil Society, Dictatorships, Governance, Guest Post, NGOs and Civil Society, Rule of Law
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Boost civil society to engage China in global governance
Compared with the other emerging powers in the so-called BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), China has under-participated in global governance. The low supply of China’s contributions results from the limited interest of the Chinese authorities and limited capacity …
January 28, 2013
in Asia, Civil Society, Corruption, Democracy Assistance, Democratic transitions, Governance, Islamist groups, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs and Civil Society, Pakistan, Rule of Law
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Pakistan’s uphill battle for democracy
Last week’s mass protests in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, led by cleric-politician Tahir-ul-Qadri, were disciplined, well-organized and strategic, yet they failed because they “hit a brick wall made of Pakistan’s mainstream, democratic parties,” says a leading commentator.
“These parties, including …
Will Beijing veto Korean unification?
The rising probability of a democratic transition in China may in turn facilitate change in North Korea and reunification of the Korean peninsula, says a prominent analyst.
Drawing on the recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee research report on Chinese-North Korean …