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Petitioning (China)
Petitioning ( zh, s=信访, p=xìnfǎng, literally "letters and visits") is the administrative system for hearing complaints and grievances from individuals in the People's Republic of China. It is a common tool for dispute resolution in the country. When the petitioner is unsatisfied about result of Petitioning at lower levels, they have the right to "raise" the case upwards. This approach is known as ''shangfang'', i.e. Up-Petitioning ( zh, s=上访, p=shàngfǎng, t=上訪, literally "upward visits"). Origins In ancient imperial times, petitioners were called "people with grievances" ( zh, t=冤民, p=yuānmín). Petitioners who needed justice would come to the yamen of the county magistrate or high official and beat a drum to voice their grievances. As such, every official court was supposed to be equipped with a drum for this sole purpose. Sometimes petitioners would throw their bodies in front of a sedan chair of the high official. When no one else at the local level was a ...
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People's Republic Of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and Borders of China, borders fourteen countries by land across an area of nearly , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by land area. The country is divided into 33 Province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions: 22 provinces of China, provinces, 5 autonomous regions of China, autonomous regions, 4 direct-administered municipalities of China, municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is List of cities in China by population, its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center. Considered one of six ...
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Yamen
A ''yamen'' (''ya-men''; ; Manchu: ''yamun'') was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China, Korea, and Vietnam. In some places, such as Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong, it was named as ''almshouse''. A ''yamen'' can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of government: the offices of one of the Six Ministries is a ''yamen'', but so is a prefectural magistracy. The term has been widely used in China for centuries, but appeared in English during the Qing dynasty. Overview Within a local ''yamen'', the bureaucrat administered the government business of the town or region. Typical responsibilities of the bureaucrat includes local finance, capital works, judging of civil and criminal cases, and issuing decrees and policies. Typically, the bureaucrat and his immediate family would live in a residence attached to the ''yamen''. This was especially so during the Qing dynasty, when imperial law ...
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County Magistrate
The county magistrate or local magistrate, known by several Chinese names, was the official in charge of the '' xian'' ("county"), the lowest level of central government in Imperial and early Republican China. The magistrate was the official who had face-to-face relations with the people and administered all aspects of government on behalf of the emperor. The emperor appointed magistrates from among those who passed the imperial examinations or had purchased equivalent degrees. Education in the Confucian Classics included no practical training, but indoctrinated the officials with a shared ideology which helped to unify the empire. A magistrate acquired specialized skills only after assuming office. Once in office, the magistrate was caught between the demands of his superiors and the needs and the resistance of his often-unruly constituents. Promotion depended on the magistrate's ability to maintain peace and lawful order as he supervised tax collection, roads, water contro ...
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National Public Complaints And Proposals Administration
The National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration ( zh, 国家信访局) is a deputy-cabinet level Government agency, agency directly under the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. It is the national ombudsman office of the China, People's Republic of China. The office has its roots in the Bureau of Letters and Calls, founded in 1977 under the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party, General Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A State Council equivalent was established in 1980, and both offices were merged in 1986. Further reforms led to the establishment of the National Bureau of Letters and Calls in 2000, which assumed its current name in 2016. The office is responsible for hearing public complaints and proposals against various levels of government agencies nationwide. It is under the leadership of the Society Work Department, Society Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee since March 2023. ...
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That's Beijing
''That's'' is a brand name used by a set of English-language listings magazines in the People's Republic of China. They were owned by Shanghai-based publishing group, Urbanatomy Media; as of May 2020, the publisher was JY International Cultural Communications. The China "That's" brand was started by Mark Kitto in 1998. ''That's'' magazines are now the biggest English magazines in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen. The magazines are ''That's Beijing'', ''That's Shanghai'', ''That's PRD'', ''That's Shenzhen'' and ''That's Guangzhou''. That's Beijing ''That's Beijing'' is a monthly English language magazine, distributed throughout Beijing, with a focus on news, current events, culture, art, music, fashion, nightlife and dining in Beijing. That's Shanghai ''That's Shanghai'' is a monthly English language, English-language Listings magazine, listings and entertainment magazine published in China. As of May 2020, the print magazine had a staff of 30 and a circulation of 62 ...
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Carl Minzner
Carl Minzner is an American legal scholar currently serving as Professor of Law at Fordham Law School and a senior fellow in China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His research focuses on politics, rule of law, and governance in China. Education Minzner holds a BA in international relations from Stanford University (1994) and a joint MA/JD from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and Columbia Law School (2000). Career From 2003 to 2006, Minzner was a senior counsel at the Congressional Executive Commission on China. He subsequently served as an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2006 to 2007 and was appointed a senior fellow in China studies in September 2021. Publications Books * ''End of an Era: How China’s Authoritarian Revival Is Undermining Its Rise'' (Oxford University Press, 2018) Articles * Xi Jinping Can't Handle an Aging China, ''Foreign Affairs'', May 2, 2023 * China's Doomed Fig ...
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Black Jails
Black jails () are a network of extralegal detention centers established by government security forces and private security companies across the People's Republic of China. They are used mainly to detain, without trial, petitioners (上访者, ''shangfangzhe''), who travel to seek redress for grievances unresolved at the local level. The right to petition was available in ancient China, and was later revived by the communists, with important differences. Black jails have no official or legal status, differentiating them from detention centers, the criminal arrest process, or formal sentencing to jail or prison. They are in wide use in Beijing, in particular, and serve as holding locations for the many petitioners who travel to the central Office of Letters and Calls to petition. The jails were introduced to replace the Custody and Repatriation system after it was abolished in 2003 following the notorious Sun Zhigang incident. The existence of such jails is acknowledged by at l ...
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Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of providing accurate and uncensored reporting to countries in Asia that have poor media environments and limited protections for speech and press freedom. RFA operates as a non-profit corporation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., with news bureaus and journalists in Asia, Europe, and Australia. RFA was established by the US International Broadcasting Act of 1994 with the stated aim of "promoting democratic values and human rights", and countering the narratives and monopoly on information distribution of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as providing media reports about the North Korean government. It has historically been funded and supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (formerly Broadcasting Board of Governors), an indep ...
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Memorial To The Throne
A memorial to the throne () was an Official communications of the Chinese Empire, official communication to the emperor of China. They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. Submission of a memorial was a right theoretically available to everyone from the Taizi, crown prince to a common farmer, but the court secretaries would read them aloud to the emperor and exercised considerable control over what was considered worthy of his time. They were used in imperial China as a means of regulating corrupt local officials who might otherwise have escaped oversight.Brook33 Han dynasty Under the Han dynasty, generally, the reception of memorials was the responsibility of the Government of the Han dynasty#Imperial Counselor, Imperial Secretary tasked with overseeing provincial administration. He was generally required to present any formal memorials, but could reject them for improper formatting.Wang (19 ...
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Clameur De Haro
The () is an ancient legal injunction of restraint employed by a person who believes they are being wronged by another at that moment. It survives as a fully enforceable law to this day in the legal systems of Jersey and Guernsey, and is used, albeit infrequently, for matters affecting land. History The ' was used by landowner Asselin FitzArthur to object to the burial of William the Conqueror. According to Asselin, the church where the king was to be buried was built on land unlawfully seized from his family. Procedure The procedure is performed on one's knees before at least two witnesses, in the presence of the wrong-doer, and in the location of the offence. The ' with his hand in the air must call out — Following this, the ' must recite the Lord's Prayer in French. On hearing this, the alleged wrong-doer must cease his challenged activities until the matter is adjudicated in court. Failure to stop will lead to the imposition of a fine, regardless of which party ...
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Ombudsman
An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a significant degree of independence). Ombudsmen also aim to identify systemic issues leading to poor service or breaches of people's rights. At the national level, most ombudsmen have a wide mandate to deal with the entire public sector, and sometimes also elements of the private sector (for example, contracted service providers). In some cases, there is a more restricted mandate to a certain sector of society. More recent developments have included the creation of specialized children's ombudsmen. In some countries, an inspector general, citizen advocate or other official may have duties similar to those of a national ombudsman and may also be appointed by a legislature. Below the national level, an ombudsman may be appointed by a state, lo ...
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Weiquan Movement
The Weiquan movement is a non-centralized group of lawyers, legal experts, and intellectuals in the People's Republic of China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism. The movement, which began in the early 2000s, has organized demonstrations, sought reform via the legal system and media, defended victims of human rights abuses, and written appeal letters, despite opposition from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Among the issues adopted by Weiquan lawyers are property and housing rights, protection for AIDS victims, environmental damage, religious freedom, freedom of speech and the press, and defending the rights of other lawyers facing disbarment or imprisonment. Individuals involved in the Weiquan movement have met with occasionally harsh reprisals from Chinese government officials, including disbarment, detention, harassment, and, in extreme instances, torture. Authorities have also responded to the movement w ...
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