IBTimes (中文网综合报道), January 29, 2013
The Beijing University Civil Society Research Center, Sun Culture Foundation, and the Zhejiang Dunhe Charity Foundation jointly released their list of the top ten civil society-related events in 2012. Included are:
1. The Shifang, Qingdong, and Zhenhai Incidents, in which the new media helped the masses to fight for their environmental protection demands.
2. Tang Hui’s re-education through labor sentence is repealed, and it is announced that the re-education through labor system will be abolished in the near future.
3/A. Zhan Haite bravely pursues educational equality, after her lack of a Shanghai residence registration prevents her from taking the gaokao college entrance examination.
3/B. 5 homeless children are poisoned to death after seeking warmth in a garbage dumpster in Guizhou.
5. The biaoshu and fangshu cases lead to an internet movement against corruption in government.
6. The Weibo user identification system leads to a discussion about the balance between internet safety and freedom of speech.
7. With the implementation of the direct registration policy for NGOs in a number of places, a substantive move is made toward freedom of association.
8. The Henan “Reusing of burial spaces” movement draws attention to the issue of respect for the dead.
9. Xi Jinping’s commemorative speech about the 1982 Constitution praises the foundation of the constitution, but urges further reform.
10. A seven-month pregnant woman in Shaanxi is forced to have an abortion, and public discourse calls to respect the right to life.
