Wall Street Journal - July 13, 2007
Nicholas Zamiska, nicholas.zamiska@wsj.com

HONG KONG -- A Chinese government department said late Thursday that the British editor of a popular newsletter on development and social issues in China was in violation of the country's laws on conducting surveys and confirmed that he was asked to stop publishing.

Nicholas Young, the 52-year-old founding editor of China Development Brief, which publishes around 5,000 printed copies bi-monthly in Chinese as well as a monthly electronic version in English, had said on Wednesday that officials from three government agencies, including the Beijing Statistics Department, had ordered the newsletter to stop work. The government officials also told him that he was "deemed guilty of conducting 'unauthorized surveys' " in violation of a 1983 statistics law, according to Mr. Young.

The Beijing Statistics Department confirmed as much in a faxed statement to The Wall Street Journal sent on July 12.

"All foreign organizations and individuals must apply and get approval if they want to conduct statistics surveys in China," the statement said. "Nick Young acknowledged that he has directly organized statistics surveys in China many times and that his research program doesn't have approval. So the officials immediately requested Nick Young to cease his illegal research activities." (Read the full translated statement.)

Mr. Young said that he was asked to sign a transcript of the interview with the government officials. "I agreed to do so only after, at my request, they inserted the clarification that I had conducted surveys 'in the sense in which they defined the term,'" which Mr. Young said was very expansive, amounting to anything involving a "foreigner talking to any Chinese person could be deemed to be conducting a survey."

The China Development Brief, which runs articles on a broad range of topics ranging from AIDS to poverty to environmental issues, is read by international nongovernmental organizations working in China. Mr. Young has said that he doesn't know what might have prompted the government to act now but that his organization has faced heightened official scrutiny in recent years, and that the newsletter's closure could be part of a broader political clampdown in advance of a congress of China's Communist Party in the autumn. A party congress is held every five years and can include leadership changes and the unveiling of policy initiatives.

--Zhou Yang in Beijing contributed to this article.

070713
WJ070709

Copyright © 2007 - The Wall Street Journal. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the WSJ Permissions Desk.

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Roche and Trimeris, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2007. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2007. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .