A new documentary following the Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei was met with rapturous applause at its Sundance Film Festival screening on Sunday. more ›

Chen Guangcheng, his wife and five-year-old daughter have been under informal house arrest since February 24th. On June 15th, China Aid received a letter from Chen's wife, Yuan Weijing, revealing what happened after he released a video to China Aid on Feb. 9. He had been beaten unconscious and not allowed to see a doctor. Yuan was also severely wounded. In the video, he said police threatened to beat him up or imprison him again if he spoke up. The letter says that on Feb. 18, a group of 70-80 men including the vice secretary of the Communist Party of Shuanghou Town, Zhang Jian, stormed their house and beaten the two of them for two hours, ransacked their home and restricted them from seeking medical attention. It says that Zhang Jian told them they were following orders from higher-level officials. Reuters said it couldn't verify the truth of the letter, while AFP said that reporters who tried confirming this back in February were roughed up.

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So we know that scientists get paid peanuts in China, but there's hope yet: China Daily ran article about an amended national law which allows scientists to report failures.:

The law, for the first time, allows scientists to report failures during the process of innovation without harming their records in future funding applications. more ›