HRIC Weekly Brief
Top News 头条
Chinese human rights lawyers are once again the target of repression from the authorities. Well-known human rights lawyers Wang Yu, Qiu Bin, and Jiang Tianyong were detained on October 23 and are now being held in poor conditions. Wang Yu was reportedly treated roughly and left with torn clothing and a sprained arm, and she is now on hunger strike in protest. Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, activist Xu Yan, have been officially sentenced to three years and one year and nine months in prison, respectively, for “inciting subversion of state power.”
In other news, Article 23, Hong Kong’s homegrown national security law, has mandated that defendants in national security cases cannot summon witnesses to testify virtually. This rule targets Chow Hang-tung, who had requested overseas witnesses to testify virtually in her national security trial, including HRIC Executive Director Zhou Fengsuo. In Hong Kong, the prosecution or defense can typically apply for a witness to give evidence via live broadcast, but a recent amendment to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance means that the court cannot allow this if the trial concerns national security. On X, Zhou Fengsuo stated: “I am honored to be named as a witness by Chow Hang-Tung to her case, I am willing to go to Hong Kong to testify for her and Hong Kong Alliance in person, now that Hong Kong Court has denied her request for us to testify remotely.”
Finally, a large Chinese online community on Reddit was permanently banned without a clear reason, drawing suspicion of Chinese government influence. Tencent, a Chinese company that cooperates with China’s censorship regime, is Reddit’s second largest shareholder.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
China Issues New Export Control Regulations: What Businesses Need to Know?: New regulations that consolidate China’s existing export control rules are starting on December 1, 2024, aiming to enhance national security.
NPCSC Session Watch: Fiscal Stimulus(?), People’s Congress Reforms, Energy, Arbitration, Maritime Law & Sci-Tech Popularization: The 14th NPC Standing Committee will convene for its twelfth session from November 4 to 8. The session should have been held in late October but was postponed for reasons unknown.
Moving Data, Moving Target: For China’s overhauled cross-border data regime transfer, some elements of the new regime leaves uncertainties despite the relief for some companies and organizations from burdensome filing and review requirements.
Chinese authorities ignoring Chinese law again: According to George Washington University law professor Donald Clarke, the recent deportation of a German resident of China (and Volkswagen executive) for allegedly consuming drugs while in Thailand runs counter to the text of the Security Administration Punishment Law, the regulation applied in this case.
Related: China has deported a VW executive for allegedly using drugs while in Thailand. Chinese authorities have warned that use of drugs overseas is equivalent to using it at home and subject to the same penalties: drug use is an administrative offense punishable by a 10- to 15-day detention and a fine of up to 2,000 yuan.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Chinese hackers breach parts of US telecom system, target Trump, Harris campaigns: People familiar with the investigation said that the hackers specifically looked to access data from phones used by Trump and his running mate, as well as people affiliated with the campaign of Vice President Harris.
Related: Chinese hackers collected audio from Trump campaign adviser’s calls – report. Chinese state-affiliated hackers reportedly intercepted audio and texts from an unnamed adviser, through infiltration of Verizon phone systems.
Microsoft Report Highlights Influence Efforts From China and Others Ahead of U.S. Election: According to a recent report by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, Chinese influence operations have gone beyond mere presidential elections, playing up divisive narratives to undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system.
Restrictions on Hong Kong civil servants’ access to WhatsApp, WeChat on work computers to take effect this month: The requirement had been laid out in the Government Information and Technology Security Policy and Guidelines in April, before three separate government departments allegedly saw data security incidents the following month.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
How a Chinese high-school student left home for a new life in Italy: 16-year-old Tang is an example of the phenomenon known as the "run" movement, a wave of migration out of China which took off during the grueling lockdowns, mass incarceration in quarantine camps and compulsory testing under China’s zero-COVID policy.
Uyghur activist accuses Labour of failing to stand up to China: Human rights activist Rahima Mahmut, who has lived in exile in the UK since 2000, said: “I am very, very disappointed, the community is very disappointed.”
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Chinese dissident Xu Zhiyong on hunger strike over prison treatment: There are concerns of the health of Xu, who is currently serving a 14-year jail term for “subversion of state power.”
Related: Activists fasting to support jailed dissident Xu Zhiyong’s hunger strike. U.S.-based democracy activists and supporters have joined a relay fast alongside Xu’s hunger strike, calling for an end to the prison surveillance and communication ban Xu is facing.
步步受限：80岁记者高瑜遭遇全方位人权侵犯 [Restricted at every step: 80-year-old journalist Gao Yu faces all-round human rights violations]: For more than two months and continuing, independent journalist Gao Yu has had all modes of communication, including broadband Internet, landline telephone and mobile communication, forcibly cut off, causing her to completely lose contact with the outside world.
Chinese police detain cosplayers as many defy Halloween ban: Despite bans on costumes, makeup, and Halloween decorations, many costumed revelers still took to the streets in Shanghai. However, hundreds of police were also on patrol, detaining those in costume and breaking up gatherings.
Condemned Uyghur official dies in prison in China’s Xinjiang region: Shirzat Bawudun, former deputy secretary of the ruling CCP’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, had died in prison four years after being sentenced to death for “separatism” and “terrorism.”
Tibetan monks’ phones seized after accusations of sharing news about school closures: Under Chinese government rules, ethnic Tibetans are banned from contacting or sharing news with people outside the region.
8 social workers suspended over protest-related convictions by Hong Kong’s restructured licensing body: Hong Kong’s new social work licensing body suspended 11 social workers of their qualifications, including eight with convictions related to the protests in 2019, many of whom had their licenses renewed by the previous board, which would have been aware of their convictions.
Man with autism seeks to overturn conviction for desecrating Chinese and Hong Kong flags: Hong Kong amended the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance in September 2021 that outlaws the desecration of the Chinese national flag and national emblem, including on the internet.
Denial of early release from prison ‘unfair,’ Hong Kong man argues in first legal challenge of new security law: Ma Chun-man, the first person denied early release from prison under Hong Kong’s new security law, Article 23 has argued that the treatment was unfair as he was not properly informed about the decision by Hong Kong’s corrections authorities.
Related: Hong Kong’s national security committee weighed in on refusal of prisoner’s early release under new law, court hears. The court earlier heard that the prisons commissioner was not satisfied that Ma’s early release would not compromise national security, a new rule mandated under Article 23, and decided not to refer him to a statutory board to consider his early discharge.
Sentencing hearing for 45 activists set for November 19: High Court Judge Andrew Chan has tentatively scheduled a sentencing hearing for November 19, for the 45 pro-democracy scholars, lawmakers, and activists, most of whom have been in custody since February 2021.
Ex-editor of Hong Kong media outlet Stand News Patrick Lam seeks to overturn sedition conviction: Lam had been sentenced last month alongside former chief editor Chung Pui-kuen at Wan Chai’s District Court after the pair were found guilty in August of “conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications.”
Hongkonger loses appeal bid against conviction, 6-year jail term for trying to take officer’s gun during 2019 protest: Woo Tsz-kin’s leave to appeal application was turned down by three judges from the Court of Appeal, on the basis that there was no evidence to support the appellant’s arguments because he did not testify during the trial.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Reading Red on Cross-Strait Relations: China rolls out propaganda campaigns through a combination of party-state linked activities and state-backed media publicity, often built on totally concocted events, and even spurious or unavailable content.
Local Officials Call Women to Ask: “Are You Pregnant?”: Some even report officials demanding they stop raising pets and focus on child-rearing instead. Chinese women, in response, have said that economic support, not harassment, would be a better incentive to start families.
Hong Kong gov’t to train community care teams to promote awareness of national security, official says: According to authorities, tutors should aim to promote national security awareness to around 30 residents in their district per year, through organizing various activities or by handing out publicity materials.
International Responses 国际反应
15 countries call on China to release Uyghur and Tibetan prisoners: The statement, co-signed by Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States, was delivered in a speech to the U.N. Humans Rights Committee by Australia.
UK delays foreign lobbying clampdown as it works out China policy: After years in the making, plans to implement the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, introduced in legislation last year as part of efforts to shield British politics from malign foreign actors has now been delayed until next year.