HRIC Weekly Brief
May 5, 2026
Top News 头条
Transnational repression looms large this week, with the news that RightsCon 2026—the world’s largest digital rights conference, set to convene almost 2,600 participants in Lusaka, Zambia—was suddenly canceled last Wednesday, only days before it was due to begin. Chinese authorities had pressured the Zambian government to exclude Taiwanese civil society attendees, reportedly objecting to them speaking at a venue built with Chinese government funding. RightsCon’s sudden cancellation heightens concerns about transnational pressure on tech activism, free speech, and digital rights in the Global South and beyond. Organizers Access Now refused to comply with Zambia’s demand to moderate topics and bar Taiwanese participants, and instead cancelled the event entirely, calling it evidence of “the far reach of transnational repression targeting civil society.” In its statement, Access Now stated: “At a time when this sector is already under immense financial and political strain, what we and our community forcefully experienced is unprecedented and existential.” HRIC stands with Access Now and firmly opposes these violations of the fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and interference with the freedom of expression and civic space of the entire international community.
Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, nonprofit organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released their 2026 World Press Freedom Index, which continued to rank China, the world’s top jailer of journalists, at 178 out of 180. Hong Kong held at 140th, with RSF citing imprisoned Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai’s 20-year sentence as emblematic of the city’s “systemic collapse” in press freedom. The city ranked 18th when the index was first published in 2002 and 73rd as recently as 2019. Meanwhile, German media outlet Deutsche Welle awarded its 12th annual Freedom of Speech Award to Jimmy Lai, who will receive it in absentia at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn on June 23. DW director-general Barbara Massing praised Lai for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk.”
Law & Policy 法律与政策
AI helped Shenzhen judges handle cases 50% faster. Is this the future for China?: Judges in Shenzhen reportedly handled 50% more cases in 2025 than the prior year using a domain-specific AI judicial assistance system, which covers 85 procedures across civil, criminal, and administrative litigation. The system is being rolled out to courts in 11 provinces, though human judges retain final decision-making authority.
Chinese Legislature Seeks Public Comment on 6 Bills: Defense Mobilization, State-Owned Enterprise Assets, Healthcare, Water Resources & Agriculture: China’s NPC Standing Committee is soliciting public comment through May 29 on six bills: a Healthcare Security Law, a Cultivated Land Protection law, and draft revisions to laws governing state-owned enterprise assets, agriculture, national defense mobilization, and water resources.
NPC Calendar: May 2026: Three revised laws on maritime trade, fisheries, and hazardous chemicals took effect on May 1. The NPCSC’s next regularly scheduled session is expected in late June, with its 2026 legislative and oversight work plans due to be released sometime this month.
China Cybersecurity Label Explained: Why ‘Optional’ Doesn’t Mean Irrelevant: China’s new voluntary cybersecurity labeling scheme for internet-connected products, jointly issued by the CAC, MIIT, and Ministry of Public Security, launches July 1, 2026. Though participation is optional, analysts say it will effectively function as a de facto market-access requirement, since unlabeled products will face disadvantages in procurement decisions by Chinese government-linked buyers.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
HRIC on Twitter/X: Well-known VPN tool “Kuai Lian” (LetsVPN) recently announced its cessation of operations in Mainland China, stating that due to the impact of network blockades, connection issues could not be effectively resolved.
The Political Limits of China’s AI Diffusion Ambitions: China’s ambitions to rapidly diffuse AI through its economy are constrained by concerns over employment stability, with youth unemployment at nearly 17% as of March 2026. Chinese courts have begun ruling that companies cannot fire workers simply to replace them with AI, a development that creates a practical political brake on large-scale automation.
‘Clearly me’: Chinese AI drama accused of stealing faces: A Chinese model and an influencer discovered their likenesses had been used without consent in an AI-generated microdrama on ByteDance’s Hongguo platform, depicting them in unflattering villain roles. The case highlights legal grey areas around AI-generated content in China, with the platform having already taken down 670 non-compliant AI microdramas, and one victim planning to sue.
Netizen Voices on MSS Claim That Foreign Forces Are Funding Chinese Slackers: “If Everyone Slacked Off, Who’d Be Left To Exploit?”: China’s Ministry of State Security recently claimed that unnamed foreign organizations have been funding influencers to spread “lying flat” ideology among Chinese youth, framing the slacker trend as ideological warfare. The claim backfired on social media, with netizens responding with sarcasm and pointed to real grievances like youth unemployment and overwork rather than foreign manipulation.
The Chinese lesson on the human rights approach to AI: A human rights approach to AI must aim at rebalancing power between corporate-state actors, machines, and ordinary people through stronger participatory decision-making frameworks. China’s experience may serve as a cautionary lesson, writes Oiwan Lam.
More private health records of UK Biobank volunteers appear on Chinese website: Health data from all 500,000 UK Biobank volunteers was listed for sale on Alibaba in at least three separate listings, traced to three Chinese research institutions that had downloaded the data under legitimate contracts; the institutions have since had their access revoked.
China-linked disinformation campaign fails to disrupt Tibetan elections: Beijing’s long-running “Spamouflage” influence network deployed 90 Facebook accounts and 13 Instagram profiles to attack re-elected Tibetan leader Penpa Tsering and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2026 exile parliamentary elections, which were held across 27 countries. Despite using AI-generated imagery and coordinated messaging, the campaign drew virtually no organic engagement and failed to meaningfully reach Tibetan diaspora communities.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Tall Tales: How Chinese Actors Use Impersonation and Stolen Narratives to Perpetuate Digital Transnational Repression: According to a new CitizenLab report, Chinese state actors utilize two core strategies, “impersonation” and “narrative hijacking,” to carry out precise digital transnational repression against overseas dissidents.
Student’s alleged jailing in China over Australian pro-democracy protests sparks calls for inquiry: The case has prompted calls for a human rights inquiry, exposing a legal gap in Australia’s university guidelines, which offer no clear guidance on protecting international students who face political repercussions for lawful activism abroad.
HRIC on Twitter/X: In a recent interview, Li Ying (AKA Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher) discussed his work and mission: “China is a low-trust society. Even among dissidents, there is distrust. The meaning of my work is to build trust—that’s why we do everything. I think this makes me a new kind of dissident.”
Beware the Tigers: Jilin Province’s state-owned media group Jishi Media signed a cultural cooperation agreement with Spain’s University of Salamanca, one of Europe’s oldest. The article argues the deal is a textbook example of China’s “Centralization+” strategy, where provinces and cities advance state propaganda narratives abroad under the cover of cultural and ecological diplomacy, drawing prestigious foreign institutions in as unwitting partners.
Italy extradites Chinese cyber-espionage suspect to US: Italy extradited 34-year-old Xu Zewei to the US, where he faces nine counts related to his alleged role in the state-sponsored “Hafnium” hacking campaign, which targeted COVID-19 vaccine research at US universities and organizations under the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security. Xu, a former executive at Shanghai Powerock Network, a suspected MSS front company, was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport in July 2025 and has denied the charges.
Exile Tibetans mark ‘Tibetan Calligraphy Day’ with exhibition, workshops in Dharamshala: The Central Tibetan Administration and Tibet Museum marked Tibetan Calligraphy Day on April 30 with exhibitions showcasing the history and styles of Tibetan script, alongside workshops led by master practitioners.
Bitter aftertaste: Taiwan’s leading baristas forced to compete at global coffee championship as ‘Chinese Taipei’: The World Coffee Championships abruptly renamed all Taiwanese competitors as “Chinese Taipei” on April 28 retroactively, and without prior notice to competitors, just weeks after a Taiwanese barista won the 2026 World Latte Art Championship. Taiwan had competed under its own name since 2007, and industry leaders suspect pressure from Chinese sponsor Luckin Coffee. The Taiwan Coffee Association launched a mass email campaign in protest.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Yuan Keqin, Japan-Based Scholar Jailed Seven Years in China on “Espionage” Charges, Reportedly Released: In 2019, Professor Yuan Keqin and his wife made a brief trip to China to attend his mother’s funeral. After entering China, Yuan disappeared. Denied a lawyer for two years, Yuan was detained and convicted under the Counter-Espionage Law. Now, he has reportedly been released, but may remain under surveillance. Whether he will be permitted to leave the country and return to Japan is still unknown.
China Never Actually Removed Homosexuality From Its Official List of Mental Disorders: The revised CCMD-3 retained homosexuality as a diagnosable condition and explicitly preserved the rationale for conversion therapy for people “distressed” by their orientation. On the 25th anniversary of the CCMD-3, the authors argue that healthcare textbooks, psychiatric facilities, and official actors have continued to treat homosexuality as a disorder, making full de-pathologization still an unfinished project.
Alert: Deaths and Torture of Prisoners of Conscience amid Delayed UN Scrutiny: Jailed Tibetan writers Gangkye Drubpa Kyab and Tsering Dolma are reportedly in critical health and being denied adequate medical care despite serious deterioration. Two Falun Gong practitioners also died in April, reportedly after similar medical neglect. CHRD is calling for independent investigations into all four cases ahead of delayed UN scrutiny of China.
Silencing University Voices: Beijing Normal University silently deleted the social media account of Jingshi Scholars, a student-run publication that had operated for 20 years, erasing 600–700 articles overnight with no notice to readers or former members. The account was listed as “voluntarily closed,” which former members say was not the case.
Don’t Swat the Scholars: China’s top state social sciences institution, CASS, issued an unsigned commentary warning journalists not to “interfere in academic affairs” and to instead focus critical reporting on public power, without disclosing what incident prompted the statement.
Political commentator to stand trial in Oct over disclosing nat. sec probe details: Hong Kong commentator Wong Kwok-ngon (pen name Wong On-yin), charged under Hong Kong’s Article 23 national security law for allegedly disclosing details of a national security investigation, will stand trial beginning October 9 in the first prosecution for this offense in the city.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Why China Treats ‘Lying Flat’ As a National Security Threat: Framing the “lying flat” lifestyle as foreign-backed sabotage reveals a deeper logic than simply economics: Beijing is treating passive disengagement from the labor market as a threat to the Party’s legitimacy.
Related: HRIC on Twitter/X.
Xi Jinping wants China to read more—as long as it’s the right books: Xi Jinping has launched a national reading campaign, with a new regulation promoting reading that took effect in February and China’s first-ever national reading week concluding in late April. The Economist notes the initiative comes with a twist: state media are channeling readers toward ideologically approved content, reinforcing Xi’s political agenda rather than encouraging broad intellectual engagement.
China scraps tariffs for all but one African nation: China extended its zero-tariff policy to 53 of Africa’s 54 nations from May 1, excluding only Eswatini, Taiwan’s sole African ally.
China to ban drone sales in capital over security fears: Beijing banned the sale, rental, and transport of drones effective May 1, requiring mandatory police registration and prior approval for all flights, citing the capital’s concentration of sensitive political and military sites.
International Responses 国际反应
HRIC on Twitter/X: A motion from the European Parliament, led by members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Dainius Žalimas and Miriam Lexmann, rejects Beijing’s interference in the Tibetan spiritual leader succession mechanism and encourages China to abolish the “Ethic Unity” law.
US Senators introduce ‘Tibet Atrocities Determination Act’ to probe alleged crimes by China: U.S. senators Rick Scott and Jeff Merkley introduced the Tibet Atrocities Determination Act, which would require the U.S. Secretary of State to submit a formal determination within one year on whether China’s actions in Tibet constitute genocide or crimes against humanity.
Convicted former Harvard scientist rebuilds brain computer lab in China: Charles Lieber, convicted in 2021 of lying to US federal investigators about his ties to China’s talent recruitment programs, is now the founding director of China’s state-funded i-BRAIN lab in Shenzhen, with access to primate research facilities and chip-making equipment unavailable to him at Harvard.