A screenshot of Amnesty International's new Chinese-language blog.

Amnesty International launches Chinese-language website

Published: 3:40pm, 17 Jun 2013

International human rights advocacy group Amnesty International has launched a Chinese-language website as part of its efforts to reach out to a Chinese-speaking audience, even though the site remains inaccessible to most on the mainland.

"This is a benchmark in the organisation's ongoing efforts to engage Chinese-speaking human rights activists and supporters around the world," Amnesty's East Asia head Roseann Rife said.

"The importance of distributing more human rights information in the Chinese language reflects China's growing influence throughout the world," she said.

The new website will feature translations in simplified Chinese of Amnesty's reports and annual documents, and a Chinese-language blog.

Amnesty started working on a Chinese-language website in 2008, according to the first post on its Chinese blog published on Monday. The post features a video interview with exiled dissident Chen Guangcheng,

Since at least the early days of the Cultural Revolution, the group has been documenting human rights violations in China. It also issues annual reports on the state of human rights in the country. Amnesty last week reported on the detention of New York Times photographer and filmmaker Du Bin in Beijing.

Banned on the mainland, the advocacy group has an office in Hong Kong.

The blog, like all other sites run by the London-based advocacy group, is blocked in mainland China.

Post