When will the Chinese government respect human rights?

I am appalled to come across this news story which absolutely floored me. AFP writes, ‘China has jailed 42 people for their roles in this year’s unrest in Tibet, with more than 100 others still on trial who may face the death penalty’. If the Chinese state went ahead with the decision to execute these peaceful protestors, then it will have been guilty of execution for a people’s desire for self- autonomy.

We have been constantly told that with the Olympics coming, the Chinese Communist Party will start to show signs or at least, have taken steps to brush up its human rights records. We are constantly told that having the Olympics in Beijing is a good idea for the authoritarian market capitalist state will be forced to brush up its human rights violations.

Why Anwar Ibrahim should speak up for decriminalisation

The charges against Anwar Ibrahim in Malaysia for sodomy charges must appear to more progressive and liberal readers as a joke (and at the expense of the Malaysian government).

Anwar’s wife, Azizah Ismail, has retorted that these charges are attempts at “political murder”. The Opposition politician has also sought refuge in the Turkish embassy and accused the Malaysian government of trying to put him back into jail, based on similar charges in 1998.

Singtel’s - Optus’ marketing ploy exposed (and a brief history of Singapore Government’s Corporations’ negative influence in the region)

According to Your Day, which is a University of New South Wales (UNSW) campus leaflet, they have discovered that SingTel Optus has been caught ’selling students on the UNSW campus its worst mobile broadband plan’.

The newsletter claimed that as Optus was selling students two year plans of $24.99 per month, non-student callers to Optus sales were offered a deal with more than twice the included downloads for the same price. Optus even sent out a brochure before O Week (which is short for Orientation Week) offering the better plan. Having been discovered, the company is now offering to make amends by ‘working with students on a case by case basis’ if they call the organisation at 1800 780 239 (Your Day 2008).