HRIC Weekly Brief
October 8, 2024
Top News 头条
October 1 marked the National Day of the People’s Republic of China and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the current regime. Around the world, groups used the anniversary as an opportunity to counter the official National Day narrative and protest China’s human rights record. The Hong Kong Democracy Council and Students for a Free Tibet issued a joint statement, signed by ten international nonprofit allies and 43 human-rights defenders and advocacy organizations, affirming their commitment to stand firm against Chinese transnational repression. Furthermore, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hongkongers held protests in cities across the globe, including Taipei, Istanbul, New Delhi, and more. "While they celebrate this as a national holiday, Uyghurs mark the day as the 75th anniversary of their occupation," explained one protestor in the Hague.
Also: a Chinese blogger’s mission to expose hidden cameras in hotel rooms in Shijiazhuang, and the local police force’s apparent interest in silencing speech that may damage the city’s reputation ahead of the national holiday rather than investigating the issue, has inflamed online distrust towards local authorities generally.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
“Teacher Li” on Twitter/X: Recently, Chinese lawyers have been posting online about an increase in detentions over the past year, leading to overcrowding in detention facilities. Why? Some blame the economic downturn and an increase in criminalization of new activities.
Beijing-backed newspaper seeks to bar jury in libel suit brought by Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai: Ta Kung Pao had published articles claiming that Jimmy Lai planned to illegally abscond from Hong Kong. The newspaper is making a “Reynolds” defense—from a case in which a journalist who, in the public interest, published an allegation that turned out to be untrue—and argued that a jury trial is unsuitable for a “Reynolds” case.
Gov’t argues Hong Kong public housing for ‘traditional families’ as fight for same-sex married couples’ rights reaches top court: An earlier win for same-sex couples in the lower courts may be threatened by the government’s appeal, which argues that Hong Kong’s public housing is intended for only opposite-sex couples.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Xi’an Woman Arrested for Posting Video of Snow: The woman had posted a video claiming that it was snowing in Xi’an, when it was not. She was reportedly arrested for “confusing the public” to “deleterious effect” in order to earn attention online.
Chinese hackers breached US court wiretap systems, WSJ reports: The hackers accessed the networks of U.S. broadband providers, including Verizon, and obtained information from systems the U.S. government uses for court-authorized wiretapping. The extent of the intrusion is unclear: the hackers may have had access for months, and may have been able to access other internet traffic.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
New York woman sentenced in stabbing death of Chinese dissident: After Zhang Xiaoning stabbed lawyer Jim Li, she left a Chinese Communist Party flag on a chair. Now, she has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The 2022 stabbing sent shock waves through New York’s Chinese American community.
季风再来 ：一家独立书店的沉浮 以及公民社会的中国命运 [The Monsoon Returns: The Rise and Fall of an Independent Bookstore and the Fate of Civil Society in China]: The closing of independent bookstores in China, as well as their continued existence overseas, mirrors the plight of Chinese civil society. This piece profiles “Monsoon” Bookstore (now JF Books, located in Washington DC), a long-standing Shanghai institution that was forced to close in 2018.
French museum blasted for using 'Xizang' in Tibet exhibits: The Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris had replaced “Tibet”' with “Xizang,” a term promoted by the Chinese government that Tibetan advocates say erases their linguistic and cultural heritage. The museum plans to undo the change in its exhibits, following protests and petitions by Tibetans.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
A mysterious death, a murky trial and the limits of China’s ‘petitioning’: In April 2022, the Chinese Communist Party and the central government issued regulations they said were designed to make the petitioning system more efficient—but some believe the changes have made China’s petitioning system even less responsive, and petitioners who still went to Beijing have been sentenced to prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
杳无音讯：何方美和她失踪的女儿们 [No news: He Fangmei and her missing daughters]: After He Fangmei’s daughter was injured as a baby, she faced the vicious cycle of petitioning and suppression that characterize the Chinese government's “stability maintenance procedures.” Today, she and her husband are in prison, her son is in foster care, and her daughters are still missing, months after the family’s situation was made public.
Calls grow for parole of ailing dissident property mogul Ren Zhiqiang: Ren Zhiqiang has been serving an 18-year jail term for corruption after he criticized ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping since September 2020, in a move analysts say was about Xi removing any public challenge to his authority.
China's workers complain of being 'beasts of burden': Long hours, bullying, poor wages and scant power to stand up for themselves lead Chinese workers to describe themselves as “beasts of burden.”
Hong Kong man jailed for 16 months over social media post about killing ex-leader Carrie Lam: Pun Tak-shu was found guilty of one count of “incitement to cause grievous bodily harm with intent” over a Facebook post made in February 2020.
Hong Kong man found guilty of breaching social distancing rules during 2020 protest loses appeal: David Li Kwok-wing, now 22 years old, had attended a protest to mourn a protester who died in 2019. At the time, social distancing regulations capped the size of gatherings at two.
Hongkonger abandons appeal against conviction, sentence for insulting China’s national anthem at volleyball game: Chan Pak-yui must now start serving his eight-week sentence immediately. He covered his ears and remained seated when the Chinese national anthem was played at a volleyball match in 2023, while singing a song from the musical Les Miserables that was popular during the pro-democracy protests.
Umbrella Movement was form of anti-colonial resistance: former leader: According to former student leader Alex Chow, the 2014 Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong was about standing up and resisting the city's fate as a democracy-free zone under Chinese rule. Overseas activists are now continuing that work for their comrades in prison.
Related: Interview: Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement was doomed to fail. Another former student leader, Nathan Law, says the movement never stood a chance in the face of the political ambitions of then recently ascended Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Heilongjiang Cadre Expelled from Party for Reading Forbidden Publications: The latest amongst dozens of officials punished for this, Li Bin had been accused of violating political discipline by “reading illegal publications that contain content that undermines the unity of the party” and had also been accused of taking bribes and several other violations, including breaking the party’s frugality code.
Married to the Motherland: Marriage has now become an expression of love for the motherland, as state media is doing its part by exalting marriage and reproduction as patriot acts. At the same time, organizations like the ACWF, set up to advance women’s role in society, now harken back to their roles as mothers and caretakers instead.
Authorities transfer 200 Tibetan monastic students to state schools: In early July, authorities closed down the Buddhist school of Lhamo Kirti Monastery in Dzoge county, affecting nearly 600 students. Chinese authorities on Wednesday transferred the remaining 200 students to state-administered residential schools, against the wishes of the Tibetan community.
Hong Kong plans to install thousands of surveillance cameras. Critics say it’s more proof the city is moving closer to China: The new cameras are aided by powerful facial recognition and artificial intelligence tools.
香港疑首封新聞網站《如水》雜誌 主編：行為極不合理 [The editor-in-chief of Hong Kong news website "Flow" magazine: This behavior is extremely unreasonable]: Last month, the network service provider for “Flow HK” magazine was reportedly ordered to block access to the magazine’s website, on the grounds that it stands accused of "incitement of subversion," "stealing state secrets," and "collusion with foreign forces." While the internet service provider said at the time that it did not take any action, the website has now been at least partially blocked for Hong Kong internet users.
Hong Kong denied entry to about 23,000 people in first 9 months of the year, immigration chief says: Of the approximately 23,000 people denied entry to Hong Kong this year, roughly 85% were denied due to having “suspicious aims” for entering the city, according to the Hong Kong immigration chief.
International Responses 国际反应
US bans new types of goods from China over allegations of forced labor: This marks the first time a China-based steel company or aspartame sweetener business has been targeted by U.S. law enforcement for being involved in the use of forced labor from Xinjiang.