Top News 头条
In a further blow to Hong Kong’s rapidly declining press freedom, two prominent journalists from the now-defunct Hong Kong media outlet Stand News, Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief, and Patrick Lam, former acting editor-in-chief, have been found guilty of conspiring to publish seditious materials. These are the first convictions on such charges since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control in 1997. As one of Hong Kong’s most reputable and respected independent media outlets, Stand News’ popularity had skyrocketed during the 2019 protests through “hours-long Facebook live streams, in-depth features and investigative reports, with more than 20 million page views per month.” Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Hong Kong Journalists Association, and the European Union have all slammed the guilty verdicts. Former employees of Stand News broke down in tears in the public gallery in court upon hearing the verdict.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
China's cabinet passes draft regulations on data security management: According to the cabinet, the regulations aim to “categorise and classify network data protection, clarify security boundaries [and] ensure the orderly and free flow of data.”
NPC Calendar: September 2024: From September 10 to 13, the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress will convene for its 11th session and review several bills including the draft revision to the National Defense Education Law, the draft revision to the Law on Preventing and Controlling Infectious Diseases, and the draft Public Health Emergency Response Law.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
China cuts off internet, phones of outspoken journalist Gao Yu: Gao had refused a police request to travel out of town on an enforced “vacation” from August 29, ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which runs from September 4 to 6 in Beijing.
Chinese hackers exploited bug to compromise internet companies, cybersecurity firm says: Hackers from allegedly Chinese government-backed group "Volt Typhoon" reportedly exploited a vulnerability in service management platform Versa Director to target users including at least one internet company, potentially in order to surveil their customers.
How China’s internet police went from targeting bloggers to their followers: Recently, increasing numbers of followers of influential bloggers have been interviewed by police, as China widens its net of online surveillance and crackdown on any free expression on the Internet.
China's AI Hallucination Challenge: Due to political and social conditions, China’s tech companies face steep challenges as they build their own Large Language Models (LLMs), the foundation of generative AI.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Shuttered in Shanghai, Chinese bookstore reopens in Washington: In 2017, Jifeng Bookstore was one of several independent bookstores forced to close by the Chinese authorities. Its reopening in Washington DC as JF Books brought throngs of visitors, highlighting the clear demand for independent Chinese booksellers in diaspora.
Chinese students abroad say they face intimidation: Chinese students at European universities report harassment from the Chinese authorities—and fellow Chinese students—for expressing so-called “opposition views.”
Hong Kongers march in London to mark subway station police attacks: Around five hundred protestors in London marked the fifth anniversary of 2019 attacks by Hong Kong riot police on unarmed train passengers with batons and tear gas by marching from Trafalgar Square to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, chanting slogans such as “Hong Kong is not China!”
Once a safe haven, Hong Kong is now ‘exporting its own refugees’: Sentiments of the exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Nathan Law at the launch of his new book, “When the Wind Blows: The Struggle for Freedom in Hong Kong.”
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
China Dissent Monitor: April-June 2024: The latest report from China Dissent Monitor logged 805 dissent events from April-June, a notable increase from last year. A large percentage of the protests were labor or property related. CDM reports that rural land protests in particular tend to lead to repression from the authorities, because they undermine the CCP’s legitimacy among local citizens.
Artist Gao Zhen Detained in China Over Sculptures Criticizing Mao Zedong: New York-based Gao has been charged under the Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law, which prohibits any slander of historical figures who have been designated national heroes. Notably, the activities he is accused of occurred many years ago.
Related: Open for Signatures - Joint Letter on the Case of Artist Gao Zhen, Unjustly Imprisoned.
Chinese rights attorney Yu Wensheng and his wife stand trial: Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan were initially detained in April 2023 on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," but are now being put on trial for the more serious charge of "incitement to subvert state power" at the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court. The trial comes during heightened security around the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
Hong Kong jury convicts 1, acquits 6 in landmark UN anti-terrorism trial: The trial marked the first time the United Nations Anti-Terrorism Ordinance was enacted in Hong Kong, concerning an alleged plan to detonate explosives and use firearms against police during the 2019 protests.
Hong Kong activist Chan Po-ying loses appeal against conviction over collecting money in public without permit: Chan, the chairperson of the League of Social Democrats, one of Hong Kong’s last remaining opposition parties, had displayed QR codes for the party’s Patreon page at street booths in 2021.
Related: League of Social Democrats members accused of unlicensed fundraising set to enter pleas in October: Ten members are considering how to plead to the charges laid against them, and will rely on two precedent cases for their pleas, ahead of their next court appearance scheduled for October 31.
Hong Kong appeal court quashes man’s acquittal over 2019 Yuen Long attacks: Appeal judges said that the trial judge had erred in determining that Wong Chi-wing was not among the attackers present at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2019.
Related: Police conduct stop-and-search around Prince Edward MTR, 5 years after 2019 incident, 1 man taken away: Another man was searched twice and eventually taken to the nearby Mong Kok Police Station, according to InMedia.
2 arrested for alleged ‘seditious intentions’ under new security law, reportedly over fake suicide note: The national security arrests had been made over an allegedly fake note after the apparent suicide of a professor at City University, which suggested that Hong Kong’s political developments were a reason for his mental health issues.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Hundreds of Taiwanese 'disappear' in China over past 10 years: According to the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and several other non-government groups, 857 Taiwan nationals have been "forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily arrested" in China in the last decade.
China deflects after UN renews calls to investigate Xinjiang abuses: In response to the UN human rights chief’s call to investigate Xinjiang abuses, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said China was ready to have a “constructive exchange” with the OHCHR, but warned it to “refrain from being used by political forces aiming at containing and vilifying China.”
Security Ministry Says Chinese Jailed for Giving Railway Data to Foreigners: This is the first known case since September 2021, when Beijing’s Data Security Law became effective, of collected data being identified as intelligence.
Uyghur entrepreneur serving 18 years for charitable contributions: Elijan Ismail has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for “inciting separatism” because the recipients of his charitable donations included the families of political prisoners.
A ‘patriotic education’: Hong Kong schools begin rollout of Xi Jinping Thought: This is alongside more lessons about national security and pro-Beijing patriotism, as the influence and control of China’s ruling Communist party increases in Hong Kong.
International Responses 国际反应
American drug firms accused of clinical trials in Uyghur region: If true, U.S. drug companies would be “inadvertently linked” to the Chinese authorities’ genocide against the Uyghurs, who have been suspected of being forced to undergo medical testing.