HRIC Weekly Brief
May 28, 2024
Top News 头条
Six people in Hong Kong have been arrested for alleged seditious intent, including pro-democracy barrister Chow Hang-tung who is already in jail for other charges, in the first arrests under Hong Kong’s homegrown security legislation, known as “Article 23.” Under Article 23, the maximum penalty for sedition has been raised from two years to seven. According to Secretary for Security Chris Tang, the basis of the arrests was a Facebook page that used an “forthcoming sensitive date” to “advocate hatred” against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments, and the judiciary. The date in question is June Fourth, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, which Chow Hang-tung and others planned commemorations for each year. No commemorations have been held since the city banned them in 2020.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Hong Kong protest anthem removed by distributor after court injunction: UK based music distributor EmuBands notified music creators that "Glory to Hong Kong" would be taken down from all platforms, including iTunes and Apple Music, due to an injunction from a Hong Kong court—despite the fact that the injunction does not ban the song itself, nor does it apply extraterritorially.
Related: Hong Kong will keep watching internet platforms for non-compliance with ban on protest song. In addition to issues relating to freedom of expression and internet freedom, critics have warned that this might disrupt the operation of tech giants and undermine Hong Kong’s appeal as a global financial hub.
Hong Kong begins legislative process to increase gov’t appointments to social workers’ licensing body: The proposed amendments were raised following Secretary of Labour and Welfare Chris Sun’s Facebook post earlier slamming the Social Workers Registration Board for failing to establish a mechanism barring those convicted of national security offences from becoming registered social workers.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Chinese researchers say internet archives are fast disappearing: The disappearance of a Peking University-run internet archive comes amid growing concern over rapidly diminishing access to online information in Chinese, particularly about its recent history, as even not particularly sensitive articles and information have been taken down.
Related: Researchers grapple with the tightened data landscape in China. As more barriers around data are put up, researchers must learn to work with less. This scarcity of data will warp global understanding of what is really going on in China.
Sparking Compliant AI: China seeks to unlock the immense potential of generative AI while ensuring that political and ideological restraints remain firmly in place. “Clean” training datasets, free of sensitive content, create AIs with knowledge gaps.
Decoding China: Who will shape the internet of the future?: According to London-based think tank Article 19, China’s version of the internet being promoted by Beijing rests on state control and focuses on "cybersecurity, censorship and surveillance."
Related: China's Digital Silk Road exports internet technology, controls. Through investments in Southeast Asian countries’ infrastructure, China is exporting its model of authoritarian governance of the internet through censorship, surveillance and controls.
Riding Into the Uncanny Valley: The Chinese military has begun experimenting with AI anchors as a form of digital propaganda, but many viewers find the effect off-putting.
TikTok rolls out new rules to limit the reach of state-affiliated media accounts on its platform: In the coming weeks, identified accounts that attempt to “reach communities outside their home country on current global events and affairs” will not appear on users’ main feed.
Related: TikTok says it disrupted 15 influence operations this year — including one from China. According to a TikTok report, inauthentic accounts tried to artificially amplify positive narratives of China, including support for the PRC’s policy decisions and strategic objectives, as well as general promotion of Chinese culture.
China censors clip of children dancing to Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall': Let’s Music performing arts school posted a video of students dancing to the song, whose lyrics protests overbearing authority and "thought control" in education. Ironically, the removal of the video attracted more views it would normally have gotten, alerting more people to the song's meaning.
China Censors Discussion of Lai Ching-te's Inauguration, Plays Down Taiwan Protests: Terms such as “Taiwanese election” and “Inauguration” + “President Lai” were blocked on the Chinese internet, as propaganda pushed the one-country narrative. Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party are viewed by the Chinese government as separatist.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Taiwan's people must never forget Tiananmen massacre, artists warn: In Taipei, an exhibit called "Preserving Memory: Life, Death” brings together artworks and artifacts to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre and draw a connection to recent pro-democracy movements, particularly in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong trade offices 'keep an eye' on 'anti-China' activities: According to a top government adviser, Hong Kong’s Economic and Trade Offices overseas are now charged with keeping track of 'anti-China' activities, appearing to confirm claims that the offices have been targeting pro-democracy activists on foreign soil.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Human Rights in China on Twitter/X: Chinese human rights lawyer Xie Yang has been detained in Changsha since January 2022. The authorities have illegally extended his detention six times, and his attorney has faced harassment from the judge for representing him.
Pandemic citizen journalist ‘taken to brother’s home’ in Shanghai: Many believe that Zhang Zhan is still under constant guard and surveillance, despite her release from prison, and call for her to be granted true freedom.
Former China politics lecturer slams curbs on university research: Since former Tsinghua University politics lecturer Wu Qiang published an open letter criticizing "Cultural Revolution-style" ideological controls of China's higher education system, he has been heavily surveilled and prevented from going to certain areas in Beijing.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Xi Jinping’s Recipe for Total Control: An Army of Eyes and Ears: Xi’s so-called “Fengqiao experience for a new era” has revived Mao-era methods of total surveillance at a local level. Residents are recruited to spy on one another, and local police are expected to keep track of anyone who may not be fully on board with the Communist Party.
China is accelerating the forced urbanization of rural Tibetans, rights group says: According to a Human Rights Watch report, Chinese internal reports admit that Tibetans who have been forced to relocate in fact did so involuntarily, despite official pronouncements to the contrary.
Related: Reports Detail Forced Displacement and Violent Reprisals Against Protest in Tibet. Another report by collaborative research network Turquoise Roof details how violent paramilitary reprisals have stifled protests against the construction of the planned Kamtok hydropower dam along the Drichu (Yangtze) river, threatening the displacement of villages and Buddhist monasteries.
Last major Arabic-style mosque in China loses its domes: Experts say this is the completion of a government campaign to “Sinicize” the country’s Muslim places of worship.
In Xinjiang, security chief calls for ‘normalisation of counterterrorism’: China’s top security official Chen Wenqing urged local officials to “always give top priority to maintaining social stability” and to “accurately prevent and crack down on violent terrorist crimes.”
Hong Kong urges 4 schools to step up nat. security curriculum, including 2 for special needs students: The Education Bureau also said schools were encouraged to create an atmosphere on campus “conducive to the development of a national identity.”
International Responses 国际反应
US Senate unanimously passes bill urging China to resolve Tibet dispute: The bill, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, refutes Beijing’s claim that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times, and calls on China to “cease its propagation of disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions, including that of the Dalai Lama.”
US lawmakers vow to help Taiwan strengthen defense against growing Chinese aggression: The U.S. has stated that it remains committed to supporting Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities as China increases military pressure on the island.
Current Events 热点新闻
Tens of thousands protest against contentious Taiwan parliament reforms: The reforms, supported by the largely pro-China Kuomintang, would give lawmakers the power to ask the military, private companies or individuals to disclose information deemed relevant by parliamentarians—and will also criminalize “contempt of parliament,” a term with no clear definition. Many protesters see the reforms as an attempt by China to damage Taiwan’s democracy.
China says war games around Taiwan to test ability to ‘seize power’: The People’s Liberation Army conducted land, sea and air exercises around Taiwan for two days as “punishment” for the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, as well as a test to gauge how quickly Beijing could take Taiwan by force.
Related: How significant are China’s military drills around Taiwan?