HRIC Weekly Brief
January 9, 2024
Top News 头条
This week, Taiwan’s upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections—held this Saturday on January 13th—are top of mind. Beijing denies interfering with the elections, but in addition to weeks of clear attempts to sway voters through paid-for vacations and direct phone calls, it has also ramped up vaguely threatening military maneuvers, including sending balloons into Taiwan’s airspace. Taiwan says that it has evidence of interference that it will publish following the elections. Meanwhile, thousands of overseas Taiwanese voters are returning to participate in what is expected to be a tense showdown between a pro-independence candidate and another that prefers patience with Beijing.
Special Feature - Shengchun Sophie Luo: A Woman with Voice and Attitude
HRIC has released the third part of our feature on human rights activist Luo Shengchun.
In fall 2017, Ding Jiaxi came to the United States and reunited with his wife Luo Shengchun and their daughters. Despite protests from his family and friends, he returned to China after two months to continue his advocacy for human rights and democracy. On December 26, 2019, Ding Jiaxi was arrested for the second time.
In the third part of Luo’s narrative, we explore her life during the period of Ding’s second arrest. She wanted Jiaxi to come home, and this put her in a more confrontational position against the Chinese Communist Party.
Just catching up? Read Part 1 and Part 2.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
China's Patriotic Education Law Further Cracks Down on Religious Freedom: Since the law went into effect, implementation efforts have seriously affected churches and other religious groups. Some local governments have fully banned anyone under 18 from attending religious services.
Will Hong Kong’s National Security Law safeguard or harm its citizens?: Hong Kong plans to introduce its own National Security Law in addition to the existing law imposed by Beijing. The law would expand the government’s ability to prosecute perceived dissent, with religious groups likely the most under threat.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
WeChat, Taobao, and Meituan were found to be accessing users’ photos and locations in ways that users deem ‘excessively intrusive.’: Users of Apple’s iOS 15 Record App Activity feature say that some Chinese apps were regularly scanning his photos, checking location, and even turning on the camera while not in use.
Thermo Fisher halts forensic tech sales in Tibet: The U.S. based firm has announced that it will stop selling forensic technology to China that could be used in aiding the repression of the region.
Online Influencers Promote Han "Colonization" in Xinjiang: A new investigation highlights hundreds of influencers who promote the CCP’s “settler” strategy of wiping out Xinjiang’s ethnic minority cultures.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
China starts detaining petitioners ahead of regional congresses: In China, petitioners are frequently arbitrarily detained and beaten for attempting to bring complaints. In the lead-up to yearly congresses, petitioners become a primary target of “stability maintenance” operations. “If you have ever petitioned [the government], they won't let you board a bus,” says one Tianjin resident.
維權人士倪玉蘭再遭逼遷 黃琦母親病重有家難回 [Human rights activist Ni Yulan was forced to move again. Huang Qi’s mother is seriously ill and cannot return home]: For human rights defenders in China, repression never stops at a jail sentence. Beijing-based activist Ni Yulan says she has been forcibly evicted more than 20 times, while dissident Huang Qi’s mother, over 90 years old and suffering from terminal cancer, has been unable to speak to her son since 2021 and is “not allowed” to return to her hometown.
Jimmy Lai lawyers file UN appeal saying there is evidence witness was tortured: Jimmy Lai’s lawyers say there is “credible evidence” that pro-democracy activist Andy Li was tortured and coerced into confessing to “conspiring with foreign forces” with Lai.
Related: Overseas figures reject prosecution accusations in Hong Kong trial of Jimmy Lai.
Man arrested over wearing shirt with protest slogan at Hong Kong airport pleads guilty to sedition: The man was arrested wearing a shirt that read “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times,” a slogan the authorities have deemed seditious.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Wuhan residents can't view documentary about COVID-19 lockdown trauma: Producer of documentary Wang Dan said he started to coordinate the project a year ago to remind people of that traumatic part of China's recent history. However, Wuhan residents can only use illegal circumvention software to "climb the Great Firewall" to see it.
China targets friendly media, diplomats to ‘tell story of Xinjiang’: China’s heavily curated media visits are a successful strategy to obfuscate human rights abuses in Xinjiang. According to researcher Henryk Szadziewski, the “purpose is to contradict the criticism of the human rights record by getting others to amplify your narrative which garners more credibility.”
779 journalists were jailed in 2023, 547 will spend New Year’s Eve in prison: In a recent report, RSF found that China remains the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with 121 currently in detention. That number includes 12 in Hong Kong and 42 in Xinjiang.
網絡觀察：香港漫畫店下架BL漫畫，網民批保守 [Hong Kong comics store removed BL comics from shelves, netizens criticize them for being conservative]: After LGBT+ comics were removed from some Hong Kong shops at the direction of the authorities, some worry that Hong Kong is adopting the mainland’s “Operation Qingming,” that has seen a ban on LGBTQIA+ content in books, films, and TV programs in recent years.
International Responses 国际反应
What Does it Mean to Understand China?: Now in its 10th year, the “Understanding China” conference is no longer a gathering of political luminaries interested in seriously discussing China’s global role and implications, it has become the CCP’s external propaganda tool where the only understanding of China is to accept China on the Party’s terms.