HRIC Attends Frontlines of Freedom Conference at Johns Hopkins
On November 1st, Human Rights in China attended the 2023 Frontlines of Freedom Conference, hosted by the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI) at Johns Hopkins University. This year's conference centered on addressing and combating transnational repression targeting communities and organizers from China and other unfree countries. Distinguished leaders, experts, scholars, and activists at the forefront of addressing this global challenge were featured.
HRIC Executive Director Zhou Fengsuo spoke on a keynote panel about Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-backed interference in American society. Fellow panelists included Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America; Audrye Wong, a Jeane Kirkpatrick fellow of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI); and Sunny Cheung, Hong Kong activist and legislator-in-exile, now the editor of Flow HK Media. Zhou shared personal and professional insights into dealing with such challenges, including his own experience being censored by Zoom at the direction of the CCP, while also discussing legislative and civil society efforts to combat transnational repression. Zhou's remarks delved into the threats and obstacles facing Chinese pro-democracy organizers, highlighted general trends impacting other targeted communities, and included discussion of intensified and retaliatory repression efforts by the CCP post-White Paper Movement. The panelists emphasized the need for secure and anonymous communication tools for activists targeted by the CCP and other authoritarian governments.
HRIC Outreach Coordinator Rory O’Connor moderated a panel on transnational repression at the campus level, alongside Pema Doma of Students for a Free Tibet, Sarah McLaughlin of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and Elisabeth Braw of AEI.
The panel focused on the lack of protections and support from central university administrations over the advice of faculty, students, and repressed communities themselves. The panel included discussion of measures to address CCP-backed repression efforts at the campus level, such as through implementation of the 12 Point Code of Conduct to Protect Academic Freedom created by Human Rights Watch.
The conference, sponsored by organizations including Freedom House, AEI, PEN America, the World Liberty Congress, the George W. Bush Institute, and FIRE, provided a platform for open discussion and concrete action among activists, scholars, and experts at the forefront of efforts to address transnational repression, and concluded with a dialogue on practical measures and legislation. HRIC expresses its gratitude to RDI and all other participating organizations for organizing this impactful meeting.
