CHINA: Dissident writer Chen Daojun detained


21 May 2008

RAN 27/08

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously concerned about the detention and well-being of dissident writer and journalist Chen Daojun, who was detained on 9 May 2008 near the city of Chengdu, Sichuan province. International PEN seeks urgent information about his well-being following the devastating earthquake in the province on 12 May 2008, and sends sincere condolences to the Chinese for the losses suffered as a result of this disaster. PEN is concerned that Chen Daojun was charged with subversion after publishing an article and campaigning on environmental issues. It calls for his immediate and unconditional release if he continues to be held in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory.

According to PEN's information, freelance journalist Chen Daojun was among a number of people detained on 9 May 2008 whilst protesting the building of a chemical plant in the town of Pengzhou, 39 km outside the capital Chengdu. He is reportedly held on subversion charges, apparently for an article published on 5 May 2008 on the overseas Chinese website China E-Weekly about the alleged dangers of the proposed plant. There has been no news of him since the earthquake devastated the region on 12 May 2008.

The following is an excerpt from an American PEN press release issued on 13 May 2008 (http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/2376/prmID/172 ):

‘Chen Daojun, aged 40, is an essayist and former journalist at several provincial newspapers from 1998 to 2002, when he resigned from his post as a Communist Party official. In recent years, he has also published many essays and articles in overseas Chinese media, particularly on the Internet, on sites such as Fire of Liberty, China E-Weekly, Democratic Forum, New Century News and Boxun Newsnet. It is believed that Chen was targeted not only because of his role in the environmental protests but also because of his critical stands on several sensitive issues, including his support of Tibetan rights and his opposition to the politics of the Beijing Olympics.'


Please send appeals:

  • Expressing serious concern for the safety of detained journalist Chen Daojun following the earthquake in Sichuan on 12 May, seeking urgent information about his well-being, and expressing sincere condolences for the losses suffered in this disaster ;
  • Expressing serious concern that he appears to have been charged in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which China is a signatory, and if so calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

WiPC recommends that you copy your appeal to the Chinese embassy in your country asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments.

Government addresses:

His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People's Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China.

Mr. Meng Jianzhu
Minister of the Public Security
East Chang'an Avenue 14
100741 Beijing
P.R. China

Please note that fax numbers are no longer available for the Chinese authorities, so you may wish to ask the diplomatic representative for China in your country to forward your appeals.

Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for China in your country if possible.

**Please contact the PEN WiPC office in London if sending appeals after 20 June 2008**

For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk