HRIC Weekly Brief
July 16, 2024
Top News 头条
In China’s largest food safety scandal in recent years, a truck-tracking app exposed that tankers used to transport fuel were also being used to transport cooking oil, without properly cleaning the tanks in between. Chinese authorities promised to launch a high-level investigation amid public outrage, a reflection of the country’s long-standing struggle to improve food safety measures. The State Council has formed a team made up several government bodies to investigate the matter. However, the authorities are still trying to control the narrative and censor discussion of the topic. China Digital Times editors tracked online censorship and found that specific searches related to the scandal are unavailable, but managed to archive numerous essays and articles that are now censored or deleted. What is perhaps most interesting about this case is that the exposé was done by state-backed newspaper The Beijing Times. Whistleblowing reports like that by state-run media have become a true rarity since Xi Jinping’s rule, as the leadership has emphasized the importance of “positive propaganda” and the need for its media to abide by “correct public opinion guidance.”
In other news, Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Weiping was released after serving a 3.5-year prison sentence for "subversion." He has been relocated to Hainan under a travel ban. Chang was arrested in 2019 after attending a dissident gathering and endured torture during pre-trial detention. His wife, Chen Zijuan, now based in the U.S., hopes Chang can eventually join her. Chang, who is now barred from practicing law, faces significant challenges adapting to life post-imprisonment, a common issue among released Chinese dissidents.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
China plenum to deliver policy agenda hindered by conflicting goals: Despite lofty goals to cut debt and stimulate growth, get consumers to spend more while channeling resources to producers and infrastructure, and increase urbanization while revitalizing rural areas, there are few pathways to go about these reforms.
Related: Chinese police target dissidents, petitioners ahead of plenum: Ahead of the plenum, Chinese authorities intensified crackdowns on dissidents and petitioners with increased police surveillance and harassment, such as detentions and restrictions on movement, aiming to suppress any potential unrest.
Hong Kong seeks to limit gov’t legal roles to locally qualified lawyers: Since 1989, Hong Kong has employed foreign-educated lawyers in their courts to uphold the rule of law, but are now seeking to limit the admission of new lawyers and legal workers to those educated in Hong Kong. Foreign lawyers and legal workers previously admitted will still be allowed to practice.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
China launches online crackdown on video apps and social media platforms over ‘harmful’ content targeting children: China’s “internet watchdog” announced that it will be launching a two-month long campaign, known as “Clear and Bright,” to remove and censor content “deemed vulgar, ostentatious or politically subversive” in order to protect minors on the internet. The government also reduced the amount of time minors can spend playing online games.
China leads the world in adoption of generative AI, survey shows: China leads the world in adopting AI usage. In a survey among 1,600 decision-makers, 83% of Chinese respondents say they use generative AI, above the global average of AI usage of 54%.
TikTok crackdown law: US House seeks to boost DOJ defense: A U.S. House committee voted to release a transcript of a closed-door hearing in March, on the threats posed by TikTok to the U.S. Justice Department in its defense of a law on the divestment of TikTok.
Lawfare Daily: What China Thinks of Military AI with Sam Bresnick: A discussion with Sam Bresnick, research fellow at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, about China’s AI technology and perspective on military AI: in order to catch up, corners have been cut on testing and evaluation.
Cyber accountability in East Asia: human rights are key for cybersecurity: A mindset of rights denial and control informs China’s digital and cyber policies, that has resulted in disinformation, weakening of rights-respecting cyber norms, the violation of transnational protections, and the attacks on minority and opposition populations.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Police hunt mayor accused of being Chinese spy: Alice Guo, mayor of a small town in the Philippines, has gone into hiding after being accused of being a spy for the Chinese government.
Kansas researcher wins reversal of conviction in Trump-era China probe: Tao, alongside several other academics, charged as part of the "China Initiative," a Trump-era policy aiming to combat Chinese espionage and research theft had his case overturned due to lack of sufficient evidence. Tao was accused of concealing his affiliation with Fuzhou University in China, as well as two other Chinese agencies that awarded him funding for his research.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Hong Kong sees a sharp fall in the number of schoolchildren: The mass exodus of middle-class families fleeing a crackdown on political dissent, following the National Security Law, means that the number of 6-year-olds will fall by 31% from 49,600 in 2024 to 34,100 in 2030. Parents are concerned about brainwashing of children in the form of "patriotic" and "national security" classes that are now mandatory from kindergarten to university.
Hong Kong activist Tam Tak-chi advances appeal bid against sedition conviction: Tam, the first person to stand trial under the sedition law since the 1997 Handover, was convicted on 11 charges, including seven counts of “uttering seditious words.” He has already been detained for four years and counting.
Hong Kong Baptist University students’ union begins process of disbanding: It has become the latest student group to do so after the unions at Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, after Hong Kong Baptist University did not offer the union a booth to recruit new members during the freshmen registration day last year.
Hong Kong independent publisher explores ‘everyday’ solidarity with LGBTQ community: Members of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ community had become less active in Hong Kong in recent years, citing the “shrinking space for expression” for sexual minorities.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
When Worlds Collide: Chinese state media created the first AI-generated sci-fi short-video series on Douyin, called “Sanxingdui: Future Apocalypse,” which exploded with 20 million views. The AI series was created to modernize media, but it was also conceptualized in line with Xi Jinping’s vision for propaganda to reach viewers everywhere.
25 Years On, Falun Gong Still Firmly in Beijing’s Repressive Sights: Despite the time that has passed, the violent persecutions against Falun Gong practitioners remain today. Ironically, the Party’s persistent efforts to persecute the group after so long is it admitting that its effort to wipe out Falun Gong has categorically failed.
China ramps up military education for younger ages to sow ‘seeds’ of patriotism: Pilot programs for primary and secondary school students aim to improve their military awareness and skills while enhancing their “patriotism” towards China.
China Pulls Plug on 'Wild Child' Movie: Authorities likely halted the movie because it did not align with the Communist Party's agenda of promoting positive and uplifting content. The film highlights the struggles of street children and their attempts to survive, which may have been seen as portraying a negative image of life in China
Hong Kong should prepare ‘civil force’ to counter Western criticism over human rights, lawmakers say: Chief Secretary Eric Chan had responded to Hong Kong’s Universal Periodic Review, wherein 14 out of 24 recommendations by member states were rejected, among them suggestions to “repeal vague national security, counter-espionage, counterterrorism, and sedition laws, including the National Security Law.” Chan alleged that rejected recommendations were based on “false information.”
International Responses 国际反应
‘People’s court’ issues arrest warrant for Xi Jinping: The Court of the Citizens of the World, dedicated to universal human rights, issued the arrest warrant on July 12 after four days of hearings, which included expert witness testimonies and victim accounts, which found Xi guilty of crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Pursuing Visa Restrictions to Address Repression of Religious and Ethnic Groups in the People’s Republic of China: The United States has moved to impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials due to continuing human rights violations against minority groups in Xinjiang and Tibet.
US lawmakers rally for Lai's release amid Hong Kong repression: Representative Jamie Raskin, ranking member on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, will advocate for Jimmy Lai through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s Defending Freedoms Project, a coalition of rights groups, urging Hong Kong authorities to release Lai.
Germany to remove 2 Chinese firms' components from 5G networks: German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Germany aims to have Huawei and ZTE components removed by the end of 2026, after which any such components would be banned, and their “critical management systems” in 5G access and transport networks are also mandated to be substituted by the end of 2029.
Current Events 热点新闻
Flood Relief Donations Plummet Due to Erosion of Public Trust in Local Governments and Charities: Numerous and repeated scandals in the charity sector, such as reports of fraudulent fundraising or donations not reaching the intended recipients and poorly executed, some merely performative, have made many Chinese citizens profoundly wary of donating money for disaster and flood relief.
Facing China, Philippines and Japan forge defense alliance: Japan and the Philippines have signed a defense pact allowing troop deployment in each other's countries, enhancing security ties in response to China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. A Japanese military presence in the Philippines could help counter Beijing's influence in the South China Sea, where confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships have been escalating.