HRIC Weekly Brief
March 5, 2024
Top News 头条
In Beijing, the annual “Two Sessions”—two simultaneous meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference—have begun. While the CCP ultimately controls everything that happens during the sessions, many are still watching closely for indications of the party’s goals for the year. One major area of interest is the economy, which has been suffering under an ongoing real estate crisis: an ambitious economic growth target of 5% has been set for 2024. In a shocking announcement, Premier Li Qiang will not hold a press conference this year, breaking a 30-year tradition.
Last week, Xi signed into law new revisions to the Law on the Protection of State Secrets, which has gained notoriety for expanding the definition of “state secrets” to include more extensive coverage of “work secrets,” also vaguely defined as “not suitable for public release and may impact the normal performance of duties or internal management of the organ.” Furthermore, those who work for government entities may find themselves hit with a temporary travel ban after they leave their positions, during a so-called “declassification period.”
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Hong Kong Bar Association calls for clarity in new security legislation to avoid ‘chilling effect’: At a recent press conference, the Hong Kong Bar Association called for greater clarity and specificity in the new Article 23 national security law, in order to avoid a chilling effect on civil society.
UK ‘strongly’ calls on China to reconsider Hong Kong’s new national security law: British foreign secretary David Cameron also expressed concerns over the “lack of clarity” in the proposal for Hong Kong’s new Article 23 national security law, and called on the Hong Kong government to “reconsider.”
Related: Hong Kong’s plan for a new national security law deepens fears over eroding civil liberties.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Same Same, but Different: What does the I-Soon leak tell us about the Chinese hacking industry? For one, Chinese hacking firms are large companies with well-established methods for recruiting talent and collecting vulnerabilities and personal information despite security protections in place.
Police haul in China-based X followers of citizen journalist Mr Li: Recently, a citizen journalist who goes by “@whyyoutouzhele” or “Teacher Li is not your teacher” on Twitter/X warned followers that the Chinese police are individually targeting accounts that follow him, and have detained several individuals for questioning and to pressure them into unfollowing the account.
The Local Game of Global Propaganda: The CCP’s global propaganda push involves the creation of provincial-level “international communication centers,” such as Yunnan’s South and Southeast Asian Media Network. The centers build connections with media in their target regions and push CCP messaging to audiences overseas.
Ukrainian YouTuber Finds Her AI Clone Selling Russian Goods on Chinese Internet: Olga Loiek, a Ukrainian Youtuber studying in the United States, uncovered AI-generated videos of herself on Chinese social media. Her AI persona claims to be Russian and proclaims her love for China. Such AI “identity theft” videos are an increasingly common phenomenon as high-quality deepfakes have become more accessible, and many have been used in propaganda efforts.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
HRIC Joins Event on Transnational Repression at Georgetown University: Human Rights in China’s Zhou Fengsuo recently joined a panel on transnational repression at Georgetown University, featuring a student activist who spoke about his experiences facing harassment from the Chinese government.
Living outside China has become more like living inside China: In recent years, the Chinese government has increased its efforts to control not only its citizens living abroad, but also anyone with Chinese heritage. As a result, the Chinese diaspora faces suspicion from host governments, in addition to the fear of repression and surveillance from the CCP.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
China Has Thousands of Navalnys, Hidden From the Public: While China has dissident figures, such as Liu Xiaobo and Xu Zhiyong, the level of intense censorship and lack of transparency from the CCP has meant that none are able to gain the same level of public awareness as Russia’s Alexei Navalny.
For Some Chinese Migrants, Few Options in Xi's China: At the U.S. border, Chinese migrants describe seeking “freedom” from repressive censorship, and economic opportunity.
Hong Kong gov’t slams self-exiled democrat Ted Hui over ‘intimidating’ public officers: Hong Kong authorities have accused exiled pro-democracy activist Ted Hui of “intimidating” government officials after he made a post calling out specific officials by name for “trampling on Hong Kong’s freedoms.”
8 jailed for up to 3 years and 9 months over 2019 protest in Hong Kong: Eight defendants charged with rioting and wearing face coverings during 2019 protests have received sentences from a Hong Kong court. The five who pleaded not guilty have been found guilty of both charges and sentenced to three years and nine months in jail, while the three who made a guilty plea were only charged with rioting and received two years and nine months.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Provincial "Ideological Liberation" Campaign Calls for "Unswerving Alignment" with Xi Jinping: The Chinese government is pushing Party-centric, unified ideology in every area. A recent notice from Hunan’s Provincial Party Committee called for “ideological liberation,” which was further defined as complete fealty to Xi Jinping Thought.
International Responses 国际反应
Scientist fed classified information to China, says Canada intelligence report: Two research scientists at the National Microbiology Laboratory, Canada’s “highest-security laboratory,” were dismissed for providing confidential information to Chinese institutions, according to a new intelligence report.