HRIC Weekly Brief
August 13, 2024
Top News 头条
On Monday, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal unanimously upheld the convictions of seven of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, including Jimmy Lai, over their roles in an unauthorized assembly during the 2019 Anti-ELAB protests. For organizing and taking part in an unauthorized assembly, Lai and three former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, and Cyd Ho, were jailed between eight and 18 months, receiving reduced sentences of 3 to 6 months after their conviction for organizing was quashed. Lai, who has also been charged under the National Security Law, is already serving a prison term of five years and nine months for fraud. Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, and Albert Ho were given suspended sentences. The defense cited two U.K. Supreme Court decisions which argued that the lower courts had failed to verify whether the convictions would be a proportionate restriction of their fundamental rights, but the court had rejected the bid on the basis that the decisions would not apply in Hong Kong. Chris Patten, former governor of Hong Kong, decried the decision as “unjust.”
In other news: last Saturday, an almost-hundred strong crowd, including HRIC Executive Director Fengsuo Zhou, stood in front of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco to protest against the arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of prolific Chinese human rights defenders such as Gao Zhisheng, Peng Lifa, and Fang Yirong. HRIC strongly urges and calls on the Chinese authorities to release the courageous Chinese human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared!
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Love the army, defend the motherland: how China is pushing military education on children: Patriotic “national defense education” for children as young as six is likely to become even more widespread in China, as a “National Defense Education Bill” is expected to pass mandatory requirements for military training for children under fifteen.
A Chinese Woman Sued to Freeze Her Eggs. She Lost.: Last week, a Beijing court ruled to uphold the existing rule that only married women may freeze their eggs, further doubling down on China’s restrictive approach to reproductive healthcare.
Hongkonger charged with sedition seeks to challenge if new security law places excessive limits on freedom of speech: While Au Kin-wai intends to enter a guilty plea, he would be challenging the constitutionality of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also known as Article 23 on the grounds that the law was incompatible with freedom of expression guaranteed under Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Critics of China's Proposed National Internet ID System Hit With Online Bans, Censorship, Harassment: Adding on to criticism of the system, critics have suggested that the proposal raises more data privacy and security concerns than it solves, and that it may not even be legal, much less constitutional.
Major Chinese hacking group ‘active to this day’ despite US efforts to stop them: According to cybersecurity experts, China-affiliated hacking group Volt Typhoon is still active and has been continuing its attacks at “about the same volume” as before, despite the United States’ attempts to shut them down.
Stolen Bodies, Censored Headlines: Shanxi Aorui’s Human Bone Scandal: A high profile scandal over a Chinese company’s illegal purchasing of bodies from hospitals, funeral homes, and crematoriums to make bone implants has been swiftly censored by the authorities. “Do they think the public is stupid?” asked one netizen.
China cracks down on ‘fan culture’ during the Olympics, arresting a woman for social media posts: The woman was detained for allegedly slandering others on social media. Chinese authorities consider this an example of harmful negativity from online fan clubs during the Olympics, and are trying to crack down on it.
China's AI Hype Gets a Reality Check: Chinese state media are now careful not to overstate the abilities and potential of Chinese AI, a sharp contrast to how state media and tech companies have been turning a blind eye to the teething problems with AI technology implementation.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
First Known Survivor of China’s Forced Organ Harvesting Speaks Out: Cheng Pei Ming, a practitioner of Falun Gong who was tortured repeatedly at the hands of the Chinese authorities in the early 2000s and who escaped to the United States via Thailand, describes his experience as a forced organ harvesting survivor.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Chinese dissidents face renewed government imprisonment threats: Prominent human rights lawyer Lu Siwei and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan are facing threats of jail sentences and arrests again, respectively, as part of a broader, renewed campaign by Chinese authorities to intensify crackdowns on human rights defenders.
After a population exodus, Hong Kong looks to mainland China for new residents: Many from the Mainland have moved to Hong Kong in recent years attracted to the incentives, following an exodus of Hong Kongers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the enactment of the National Security Law after the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
Elderly busker jailed for second time over performing protest anthem ‘Glory to Hong Kong’: Li Jiexin was again sentenced to jail over unlicensed performances, both involving the protest song popularized at the height of the 2019 protests in Hong Kong.
Hongkonger charged under new security law over ‘seditious’ T-shirt, mask says he intends to plead guilty: Chu Kai-pong faces one count of “doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention,” under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also known as Article 23.
Hong Kong student jailed for 8 weeks over unlawful shopping mall demo in 2020: Isaac Lee had taken part in a “sing with you” demonstration, where participants would sing songs together in malls or other venues in a show of solidarity with pro-democracy protesters, when he was 18.
CPJ calls for support for Hong Kong journalists amid growing pressure, trial delays: The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hong Kong authorities and news organizations to protect the rights of journalists to report freely and defend their profession amidst growing pressure of a crackdown on independent media in Hong Kong.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
China lists Taiwanese independence supporters it wants people to denounce: Beijing has launched a new website and tip line to encourage people to report the crimes of ten “diehard separatists,” all of them current and former Taiwanese officials, including the current Vice President, Hsiao Bi-khim.
China's state media denounce 'Smashing Eggs' game craze as 'decadent': While a poker-like card game "Smashing Eggs" has risen in popularity amongst the masses, the Chinese authorities are cracking down on it for fear of its “addictive nature.”
Hong Kong’s new national security gallery tells different story about unrest than Western media, foreign visitors say: The National Security Exhibition Gallery, which opened on Wednesday as a permanent exhibition at the Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui, described the 2019 protests as a “colour revolution.”
International Responses 国际反应
UN Expert Letter to China: A group of UN Special Rapporteurs have issued a letter to the Chinese government, expressing their strong concerns regarding the “alleged arbitrary and prolonged incommunicado detention, conviction and sentencing of woman human rights defender Xu Qin.”
US bans imports from five more Chinese companies over Uyghur forced labor: The companies include Hong Kong-based Rare Earth Magnesium Technology Group Holdings and its parent, Century Sunshine Group Holdings, and Zijin Mining Group subsidiary Xinjiang Habahe Ashele Copper Co., which have been added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.
Current Events 热点新闻
China’s Real Economic Crisis: China refuses to give on its failing model despite a significant drop in its GDP, reduced consumer confidence, increasing clashes with the West, and a collapse in property prices that has caused some of the largest Chinese companies to default.
Related: China’s manufacturers are going broke. The lack of demand and the slowing economy is leading to overcapacity amongst China’s manufacturers, which is in turn causing these companies to go bankrupt one by one.