HRIC Weekly Brief
January 2, 2024
Top News 头条
The last week of 2023 brought protests and social discontent across China. On the 27th and 28th, thousands gathered in Henan to protest the death and possible gruesome murder of a 14-year-old student, as well as the government’s apparent complicity in helping the school cover it up. Large protests are rare in China, but some cases tap into existing social/political grievances—grievances that many hold, but would be afraid to express openly—to become a "spark” for civil disobedience. The demonstrations drew crowds of over ten thousand, becoming the largest Chinese protest of 2023. The authorities quickly cracked down, with police and blockades shutting down the whole city.
Meanwhile, in Sichuan, doctors perched on windowsills to protest unpaid wages, in the latest of a series of protests over wage arrears. Reportedly, wage issues and rising discontent are impacting a wide range of industries, including local government positions. Meanwhile, unemployment is sky high, and migrant workers say that the past year has brought an unprecedented drought of jobs across sectors.
Special Feature—Shengchun Sophie Luo: A Woman with Voice and Attitude
HRIC has released the second part of our feature on human rights activist Luo Shengchun. On April 17, 2013, Ding Jiaxi was arrested for the first time due to his involvement in the New Citizens Movement. In 2014, when Luo accepted the 28th Outstanding Democratic Activist Award by the China Democracy Education Foundation on behalf of Ding, she said “Ever since Jiaxi was arrested, it feels as if I have opened my eyes for the first time to see China.”
In the second part of Luo’s narrative, we delve into her life between 2000 and 2015. After hitting internal emotional rock bottom with Ding, she faced the challenges of his first arrest linked to the New Citizens Movement. Persecution from the government towards Ding prompted Luo’s decision to leave China with her two daughters, embarking on a quest for justice for Ding in the United States.
Missed last week? Read the first part here.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
China’s emergency law amendment may curb media reporting on disasters and accidents: New draft amendments to China’s Emergency Law include stricter regulations on reporting around disasters and other emergency events.
中國國安部保密清單更細化 涵蓋手機電腦網絡 [China's Ministry of State Security releases more detailed confidentiality guidelines covering mobile phones and computer networks]: China's Ministry of State Security says every citizen has the obligation to keep state secrets. Last week, the Ministry released a "Daily Confidentiality Precautions List" that provides security rules for citizens across a broad range of topics, including documents, computers, personal mobile phone wireless network cards, mice and keyboards, and other equipment.
How China Games the Universal Periodic Review System: New research shows how China strategically approaches the UN’s human rights review system to only accept recommendations that are vague or coming from states that themselves neglect human rights, in order to claim progress or compliance without actually taking steps to improve its human rights record.
Related: Hong Kong tells UN that National Security Law has caused ‘major turn from chaos to governance’.
NPC Calendar: January 2024: Seven new draft amendments are open for public comment before January 25, and five laws have taken effect as of January 1st, including the repressive Patriotic Education Law.
Related: British private schools in China under threat as new ‘patriotic’ law comes in.
Taiwan considers joining international criminal court to deter potential China invasion: The Taiwanese government is considering attempting to join the International Criminal Court, which would put mechanisms in place for investigating Xi Jinping in the event of Chinese aggression against Taiwan. It is unclear whether the ICC could reject Taiwan, but legal scholars say it would be “extremely risky” to do so.
律政司網頁列國安法煽動罪「釋義」 附106案摘要「推國安教育」["Interpretation" of sedition crimes under various national security laws posted on the website of the Department of Justice. Attached is the summary of 106 cases "Promoting National Security Education"]: Hong Kong’s Department of Justice has published annotations on the crime of “sedition” under the National Security Law, providing a glimpse into the government’s understanding of how the law should be applied. The website reportedly went down quickly after publication, but has been re-published following unspecified amendments to the content.
Hong Kong's pro-democracy Civic Party disbands after China cracks down on dissent: Once Hong Kong's second largest pro-democracy political party, the Hong Kong Civic Party shut down after intense repression under the National Security Law left members jailed and unseated. The party voted to disband in May.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
HRIC on Twitter/X: Four years ago, Dr. Li Wenliang and other whistleblowers were silenced for sharing vital information about the COVID-19 pandemic, which eventually led to millions of deaths. In a video translated by Twitter/X user “@bys8r7kv57,” a Chinese news anchor on January 2, 2024 told citizens to “help to build a harmonious and clear cyberspace” and mentioned that anyone spreading rumors about “pneumonia” had been dealt with according to law.
China deletes leaked stats showing plunging birth rate for 2023: Chinese censors targeted an article that claimed statistics show China’s population falling by 3.1 million amid a 1.68 million drop in birth rate.
Netherlands blocks ASML exports to China in partial license revocation: A Dutch company that manufactures semiconductor chip-making machines says the Netherlands has revoked an export license for certain machines headed to the Chinese market.
An uncensored history of modern China: A new archive seeks to make widely available historical materials that would otherwise be censored.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
On His 68th Birthday, HRIC Honors Liu Xiaobo: Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize winner who dedicated his life for China’s democracy, freedom and human rights, was born on December 28, 1955. In honor of Liu Xiaobo’s birthday, HRIC held commemorative actions in Times Square and Central Park, Manhattan.
HRIC Executive Director Fengsuo Zhou Visits Staten Island High School: HRIC Executive Director Zhou Fengsuo recently gave a presentation at a high school AP class on Staten Island as part of a speaker series on international politics, where he spoke about the movement for human rights and democracy in China. “None of the students had ever heard of Liu Xiaobo, even though he was the most important figure in China’s movement for democracy and a Nobel Peace Laureate.”
赤潮暗涌：来自北京的跨国镇压 [The Red Tide: Transnational Repression from Beijing]: Interviews with targets of transnational repression highlight some of the tactics used by Chinese security forces to target dissidents abroad. HRIC Executive Director Zhou Fengsuo mentions one case in which a Telegram group led to mass arrests.
Where did Taiwan’s fake presidential election poll come from?: Asia Fact Check Lab’s investigation found that a viral presidential election poll that showed the pro-China candidate pulling into the lead used questionable methods and was done by a company linked to “two cases of Chinese Communist Party media influence campaigns in 2019.”
Related: Xi: China Will ‘Surely Be Reunified’ With Taiwan.
Tony Chung: Hong Kong orders activist back to prison after breaching supervision order and fleeing to UK for asylum: Tony Chung, 22-year-old Hong Kong activist who was recently released from prison on National Security charges, has fled to the UK to seek asylum, breaching his supervision order. He says the authorities used financial pressure to try to force him to provide information.
Related: Hong Kong exiled activist says he was paid by authorities to be informant.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Uyghur father jailed for 20 years for sending son abroad and for visiting Turkey: Police in Xinjiang confirmed that a Uyghur man was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018 for sending his child to study abroad, a sentence length influenced by his visit to Turkey, which the Chinese authorities have deemed a “sensitive country.”
葉鍾家屬稱目睹遺體 福州公民關注事件恐遭刑拘 [Ye Zhong’s family said they saw his body. Fuzhou citizens who concerned about the incident fear they may be detained]: The wife of petitioner Ye Zhong, who reportedly died in police custody several months ago, reported that she has seen her husband’s body. The authorities have yet to officially confirm Ye’s death; however, the dissident who received the call from Ye’s wife has been detained as part of the authorities’ efforts to cover up the incident.
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to national security, sedition charges: On January 2, the fourth day of his trial, Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing “seditious” materials.
Veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu denied bail for a third time over plan to protest ‘unfair’ District Council race: Veteran Hong Kong activist Koo Sze-yiu has been denied bail for a third time over his plan to protest ‘unfair’ District Council elections. Koo was arrested on December 8 and has been on remand since then. His hearing will resume January 10.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
‘He disappeared for a year’: The survivors of China’s prison camps in Xinjiang – in pictures: Evidence of forced labor and intense surveillance has been coming out of Xinjiang for years. Here, the stories bear a human face, as the Guardian profiles several refugees who survived the camps and were able to escape.
Academic paper based on Uyghur genetic data retracted over ethical concerns: A study from 2019 used blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghurs and Kazakhs in Xinjiang to evaluate DNA sequencing tools to assist the police in the region. The journal that published the piece retracted it after an investigation found that the samples were not collected ethically, in addition to concerns over its use to enable the mass surveillance of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
Related: At least 20% of NHS suppliers at ‘high risk’ of modern slavery use, review says.