HRIC Weekly Brief
August 20, 2024
Top News 头条
On Tuesday, Hong Kong hosted the annual Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China, organized by a body under the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. The conference has historically aimed to promote the unification of China and Taiwan, and this year’s conference had Hong Kong’s One Country, Two Systems political framework highlighted as a key to “China’s reunification.” In the meantime, many Taiwanese living in China have chosen to leave after new policies targeting “secessionists” led them to fear for their safety. “Even before this new law China was already encouraging people to report on others,” said one Taiwanese businesswoman. In diaspora, a Taiwanese play, written by Swiss and Taiwanese creators and produced in Switzerland, has also been targeted by pro-China forces: ahead of the last tour, Chinese authorities had called the Swiss foreign ministry and other municipal officials to express concern about the play being staged.
In solemn news, Human Rights in China honors the memory of Alvin Cheung, who sadly passed away last month. Mr. Cheung was a Hong Kong scholar of law and authoritarianism whose brave and unrelenting critique of the Chinese government and support of freedom in Hong Kong will be forever remembered by his friends, colleagues, and admirers. We offer our deepest condolences to his family.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Custody ruling in same-sex case hailed as LGBTQ+ milestone in China: For the first time, a court in China recognized that a child can have two legal mothers. The ruling is hailed as a milestone by LGBTQ+ rights campaigners, but other complications in the case highlight other difficulties faced by Chinese courts in handling LGBTQ+ family arrangements.
In Rare Move, Chinese Legislature Shelves Two Bills: The draft Compulsory Civil Enforcement Law and a draft decision authorizing to the State Council to pilot certain reforms of rural residential land have been shelved indefinitely under a more flexible termination rule introduced in 2023.
China’s IP Protection Development: A Comprehensive Overview: Despite significant legal advancements in Intellectual Property (IP), violations of IP rights remain a major concern with allegations of IP theft and the prevalence of counterfeit goods still being reported, with many counterfeit items seized globally tracing back to China.
Head of int’l legal group hits out at Hong Kong rule of law amid top court judge’s withdrawal from advisory panel: Helena Kennedy, Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, says Hong Kong law has been “weaponised” against the city’s democracy movement, and British lawyers and judges should not sit on cases in Hong Kong.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
China fires lawyer who blew whistle on illegal sale of dead bodies: The Beijing Bureau of Judicial Affairs removed whistleblower Yi Shenghua from his position as director of a law firm he founded due to his role in going public with the scandal. Yi’s posts about the body-snatching case were also removed from the social media platform Weibo, along with much of the content and comment on the case, as Chinese censors try to minimize public discussion of the scandal.
Related: Ongoing Deletion of Investigative Reports on Corpse Trafficking Scandal. Online censorship of the corpse-trafficking scandal has been intense, with numerous hashtags and articles removed. Further, it is notable that many of the censored articles were from major state-affiliated news outlets.
US Firms Warn Against ‘Unprecedented’ Hong Kong Cyber Rules: International businesses expressed concerns over Hong Kong’s proposed cybersecurity rules, specifically “investigative powers that would let authorities connect their equipment to critical computer systems owned by private firms, and install programs on them.”
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Activists vow to fight China's bid for new 'super embassy' in London: China’s application to redevelop a huge complex of heritage buildings just three miles from Westminster is again giving rise to fears of growing Chinese influence at Westminster, following attacks and harassment on British soil by agents and supporters of the Chinese state.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Jailed Chinese activist faces another birthday alone in a cell, his wife says: Ding Jiaxi spent his 57th birthday alone in a Chinese prison cell, without being allowed any contact with his family. It was Ding’s fifth year in these conditions, and his wife, Sophie Luo, says she is not convinced that Ding is healthy or safe from torture while in detention.
‘Severely demoralised’: Hong Kong NGOs for sexual minorities suffer gov’t funding cuts and pressure over public events: For Hong Kong’s LGBT+ community, holding public events is increasingly problematic, government funding has been cut, and applying for overseas support is risky under the national security law.
Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper urges columnists to be ‘prudent’ and ‘law-abiding,’ or else ‘crisis may come’: The message had come days after security chief Chris Tang made reference to overseas columnists whom he said had “deliberately misinterpreted government policies or official speeches and misled readers.”
Hong Kong activist gets three days in jail in prison complaint form case: Imprisoned activist Owen Chow has been sentenced to three days, and his solicitor fined, for removing a complaint form to the Hong Kong ombudsman from the prison during a legal visit rather than going through the formal procedures. Chow had sought to protest the Correctional Services Department’s decision to deny him two books on Chinese Buddhism which had been delivered by family.
Hongkonger granted bail pending appeal against 8-week jail term for insulting Chinese anthem at volleyball match: Chan Pak-yui was sentenced to eight weeks and immediately released on bail pending his appeal. Chan reportedly covered his ears and remained seated when the March of the Volunteers was played before a FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League match.
Hong Kong press freedom sinks to record low: Journalist survey: The 2024 Press Freedom Index, published by the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, is at an all-time low, citing fears of sweeping national security legislation.
Hong Kong denies journalist Haze Fan a visa following detention in China, Bloomberg tells staff: Bloomberg says their journalist Haze Fan has been refused a visa to work at their Hong Kong bureau, without explanation. Fan was detained by the Chinese authorities in 2020 on suspicion of committing crimes endangering national security, but was eventually released without charges.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
China's Spy Agency Warns Students Against Anti-China Rhetoric in College Application Essays: According to China’s powerful intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security, college consulting services have been illegally inserting “anti-China prejudices” into students’ application essays to make them more attractive to foreign universities, and claims that negative information about China is a result of the infiltration of “hostile foreign forces.”
China Expands Tactics to Bolster Territorial Claims, Rivals Follow Suit: China’s expansionist tactics have moved thousands of people to new settlements on its frontiers to serve as civilian outposts, or “border guardians,” resulting in a greater risk of military conflict and exploitation of civilians. Other countries have also replicated some of these tactics.
Chinese cartoon campaign warns village clans against hindering Communist Party: Authorities are urging family clans with considerable influence in rural areas not to stand in the way of Communist Party and government policies, as part of a massive public education campaign launched by Beijing regarding new party discipline rules announced at the end of last year.
3 ways China is ratcheting up surveillance of Tibetans: Chinese authorities have dramatically boosted surveillance of Tibetans in Lhasa in these three ways: putting more police on the streets; cracking down on social media users; and even hiring food delivery workers to serve as auxiliary police officers.
China digs up the past to shore up official version of history: China is working on major archaeological projects with its neighbors in Central Asia in a bid to dig up fresh finds to shore up its official historical narrative and extend its regional soft power, mainly to boost its image as a “benevolent power.”
Hong Kong arts education must do more than strengthen national identity: In seeking to boost children’s understanding of Chinese culture, the objectives of arts education cannot simply be ignored in order to boost national security.
Current Events 热点新闻
US Army intelligence analyst pleads guilty to selling military secrets to China: According to charging and plea documents, Korbein Schultz had conspired with an individual who lived in Hong Kong who was suspected of being associated with the Chinese government, to collect national defense information, including classified information and export-controlled technical data related to U.S. military weapons systems, in exchange for money.
Youth unemployment in China jumps to 17.1% in July: This figure is the highest level this year, a marked increase even from June's 13.2%.