HRIC Weekly Brief
January 7, 2025
Top News 头条
On January 6, a violent mass protest erupted in Pucheng, Shaanxi Province, following the mysterious death of 17-year-old Dang Changxin. This is the first large-scale protest in China of 2025. Videos circulating online show heavily armed police using batons, kicking protesters, and deploying tear gas to disperse the crowds. The unrest, sparked by public outrage over the handling of Dang’s death and alleged attempts at a cover-up by local authorities, has escalated into one of the most visible challenges to public order in recent months. The Public Security Bureau has been deployed to maintain control as tensions continue to rise.
On December 28, 2024, bereaved families of the Tiananmen Square Massacre victims gathered in Beijing for the first time since COVID-19. In their statement, translated into English by HRIC, the Tiananmen Mothers write: “Until the authorities acknowledge the Tiananmen Massacre, apologize to the victims’ families, and confront this atrocity with honesty, we will continue to fight for dignity, justice, and the rights which should be afforded to every human.”
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Keeping an Eye on the Watch Dog (2): Changes to the Supervision Law: The 2018 Supervision Law, which had tremendous impact on then-ongoing criminal justice reforms, has now been amended for the first time since then, and is set to take effect on June 1, 2025.
Related: Supervision Law 2024 Revisions- Comparison of new vs. old. China Law Translate’s English translation lays out the 2024 law’s new amendments.
Year in Review: The NPC and the Observer in 2024: The National People’s Congress turned 70 in 2024. Last year, the top Chinese legislative highlights are the retirement-age legislation and debt-swap plan.
HRIC on Twitter/X: January 1 marked the implementation of the “Interim Measures for the Implementation of a Flexible Retirement System,” which will gradually raise the statutory retirement age over 15 years.
China's Xi: Corruption 'biggest threat' to ruling Communist Party: The CCP has resolved to tackle a long-running problem that seems to now be entrenched in the Party.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
艾未未、AirDrop和三封邮件：一个同性恋政治犯的成长史 [Ai Weiwei, AirDrop, and Three Emails: The Growth of a Gay Political Prisoner]: In this moving account, an IT specialist turned activist tells his story in his own words: detained for sharing Peng Lifa’s words via AirDrop on the Beijing subway and targeted for his sexuality, he was finally forced to flee China.
2024’s Most Notable Censored Articles and Essays (Part 1): China Digital Times published a month-by-month summary of the most-censored topics on the Chinese internet in 2024, along with examples of particularly notable or influential censored essays and articles.
Related: 2024’s Most Notable Censored Articles and Essays (Part 2).
Chinese government hackers targeted US Treasury office that administers sanctions: New details have emerged to reveal that the hackers compromised the United States’ Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Office of Financial Research, and the office of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Related: US sanctions Beijing-based cyber group for its alleged role in hacking incidents: The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Integrity Technology Group, Inc. for hacking incidents attributed to Flax Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored campaign that targets U.S. critical infrastructure.
USALI This Week in Asian Law: December 29 - January 4: A draft regulation for the cross-border flow of personal information, which will govern transfers of personal information data collected from within China to overseas destinations, is now open for public comment.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Chinese Muslims, After Finding a Refuge in Queens, Now Fear Trump: Thousands of China’s Hui Muslims have fled persecution back home, many of them following a dangerous route through central America to the Southern border of the United States. One single mother chose to leave after she was held for over twenty days in a mental institution for making two small donations to Quran prayer groups. But now, many fear that a crackdown on asylum seekers would sent them back into the CCP’s waiting arms.
Tibetans demand apology from the British Museum for use of ‘Xizang’: Activists say that using the term “Xizang,” formally adopted by China in 2023 in its official documents to refer to Tibet, plays into authorities’ attempts to undermine Tibet’s historical and cultural identity.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
‘I was very lucky’: activist and blogger Lu Yuyu on escaping China: Lu is part of the relatively new cohort of Chinese activists who use social media to document and publicize unrest in China. He had been jailed previously for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
HRIC on Twitter/X: Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng’s appeal was rejected on January 6. His original conviction of three years for supposedly “inciting subversion of state power” still stands.
HRIC on Twitter/X: Filmmaker Chen Pinlin, who recorded and produced a documentary on the White Paper Movement on Urumqi Middle Road in Shanghai, was tried in court on January 6 for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble."
Case of man accused of sedition under Hong Kong’s Article 23 security law adjourned to await landmark appeal: Chow Kim-ho has been accused of publishing “seditious” posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
Police, environmental hygiene officers deployed to independent Hong Kong bookfair found no violations, gov’t says: According to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, its joint operation with police to combat shopfront extensions had uncovered no violations. However, it did not explain why some visitors to the book fair had been searched as well.
Hong Kong student pleads not guilty to insulting China’s anthem during World Cup qualifier: Lau Pun-hei, 19, allegedly turned his back to the field and did not stand for the entirety of China’s national anthem during a game in Hong Kong last June.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
The Many Faces of the People's Daily: The People’s Daily is one of the most prolific state media of the Chinese Communist Party, which maintains ultimate control over its sprawling empire of media and content.
China places new restrictions on Tibetan students during winter school break: Private Tibetan-language lessons are now banned, and in some areas, minors are forbidden from wearing religious symbols or participating in religious activities.
Taiwan: China ups efforts to undermine democracy with disinformation: “The National Security Bureau said the number of pieces of false or biased information distributed by China increased 60% last year, to 2.16 million from 1.33 million in 2023.”
International Responses 国际反应
Joint statement from former and current Canadian parliamentarians on the arrest warrants and bounties by Hong Kong government on Canadian citizens: The statement maintains: “We condemn the arrest warrants and bounties issued by the Hong Kong government for Canadian citizens Joseph Tay and Victor Ho… Transnational repression has no place in Canada.”
US adds Tencent, CATL to list of Chinese firms allegedly aiding Beijing's military: While the designation does not involve immediate bans, it can be a blow to the reputations of affected companies and could also add pressure on the U.S. Treasury Department to sanction them.
Uyghur group welcomes key laws passed in US defense bill: The latest 2025 National Defense Authorization Act passed on December 18, 2024, also includes a bill restricting the U.S. military from using federal funds to “buy any solar energy products made in the Uyghur Region or any other place in China.”
New ETA requirement for travelers from Hong Kong to the UK starting Jan 8: Hong Kongers traveling to the United Kingdom from January 8, 2025, will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) unless they have a visa that allows them to reside, work, or study there.
Current Events 热点新闻
Dozens killed as 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Tibet: As of January 7, 126 people have been reported killed, and 188 injured.
What to know about the HMPV outbreak in China: Although human metapneumovirus, a disease closely related to RSV, has likely been around for centuries, a surge of cases in northern China has raised concerns internationally. However, many health experts say there is a low likelihood of a serious health emergency.