Intellectual Property Law

The incarcerated mainland Chinese journalist Shi Tao may be rotting in prison thanks to having been ratted on by the US technology giant Yahoo, but his poetry is freely traveling the world through language and the internet thanks to the efforts of an international writers' group.

The  International PEN writers group used the United Nations-designated World Press Freedom Day May 3 to call attention to the plight of Shi Tao, a journalist that Chinese authorities imprisoned for leaking state secrets.

In 2004, Shi Tao sent an e-mail to an overseas Chinese web site that contained a communist party directive regarding local media coverage of the 15th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre. The directive instructed the mainland Chinese media not to report on the return of human rights activists to China to mark the massacre's anniversary. Authorities demanded Shi Tao's account information from Yahoo, and subsequently charged him with leaking state secrets. He received a decade-long jail sentence.

PEN has made him an honorary member of their group, and has asked people to translate and read his poem "June" in their local languages. The poem is roughly 'tracking' the trail of the Olympic Torch, and its progress can be traced on a clickable web map that allows readers to hear the poem recited on their computer in more than 90 languages.

``We chose to do something virtual and non-confrontational which celebrates Chinese literature and spreads Chinese culture through the world,'' Chip Rolley, a Sydney, Australia-based writer and poem translator told the Australian paper the Sydney Morning Herald last month.``Because we're using the tools of the internet, we're also sending a message about freedom of expression.''

The World Association of Newspapers' CEO Timothy Balding used the commemorative day in a separate statement to remind the Chinese government that it's not living up to its promise to allow the press to report on the Olympics freely.

"At least 30 journalists and 50 cyber reporters are currently held in Chinese prisons for reporting facts or peacefully expressing their views," Balding said in a May 3 statement. "It is high time for China to respect its commitments pertaining to freedom of expression and freedom of the press and to guarantee the right of all people to access information."

Cartoon: Michel Cambon
Photo: Shi Tao, courtesy PEN.