HRIC Weekly Brief
December 17, 2024
Top News 头条
Last week, the Shanghai High Court upheld a seven-year prison sentence for Ruan Xiaohuan, a programmer who was arrested in May 2021 for running a blog that shared information security knowledge and tips on circumventing the Great Firewall. He is charged with “inciting subversion of state power.”
On Human Rights Day, human rights defender Xie Wenfei shared a chilling first-person testimony of his experience with “state-sanctioned physical violence, psychological torment, degradation and dehumanization in China’s detention centers and prisons.” His statement has been translated into English by HRIC.
Finally, at HRIC’s symposium “The Age of Silence: A Conversation on the Plight and Resistance of Chinese Journalism,” Two Chinese journalists of different generations shared their experiences in mainland China and discussed the censorship faced by the Chinese journalism industry, the industry's unfriendly attitude towards young journalists, and more.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
NPCSC Session Watch: VAT, Anti-Corruption, Private Sector Promotion, Law Propaganda & Unfair Competition: One of the new bills submitted for review is the draft Law on Publicity and Education on the Rule of Law, which is expected to codify established law-propaganda practices that have been in use for the last four decades.
November 2024: First Updates to China’s Law on Legislative Oversight: In addition to several new draft laws, there will be new guiding cases on correcting local market-entry barriers, ultra vires punishments for untrustworthiness & improperly issued regulatory documents.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
TikTok loses emergency bid to pause law that could lead to US ban: Under this law, TikTok will be banned unless ByteDance divests it by January 19th. The law also gives the U.S. government the power to ban other foreign-owned apps.
US sanctions China cyber firm for potentially deadly ransomware attack: In this latest case involving Sichuan Silence, the malware was allegedly designed to steal data, including usernames and passwords, as well as deploy ransomware that blocks access to victims’ computer networks using encryption when companies try to fix the attacks.
Eyes in the sky: Hong Kong police considering AI-enhanced drone patrols: Secretary for Security Chris Tang said drones are already being used for crime detection and investigation, beat patrolling, rescue operations and firefighting.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
‘China Beyond Borders’ documentary explores Beijing’s transnational repression: This first episode uncovers how students and their families face surveillance, intimidation, and retaliation, both abroad, including on American campuses, and in China.
UK regulator's Shein IPO decision slowed by challenge from Uyghur group: The advocacy group, Stop Uyghur Genocide (SUG), announced a legal challenge in June on the basis that Shein uses cotton from China's Xinjiang region.
Chinese migrants in US illegally uneasy after fourth removal flight: U.S. authorities are stepping up efforts to deport Chinese nationals who are illegally present in the United States, increasing concerns for some asylum seekers who fear returning to China.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
HRIC on Twitter/X: Less than three months after human rights defender Cheng Yuan was released from prison, his private property was secretly frozen by the Foshan authorities. According to his wife Shi Minglei, the authorities have frozen his property since October 2021 without any legal basis. Even though the freezing order expired in October of this year, the Housing Authority still refuses to unfreeze it, and has asked Cheng Yuan to “prove his innocence.”
Two Years After Zero-COVID, A Rare White Paper Remembrance: A personal essay reflects on the arbitrary imposition of lockdowns and their equally arbitrary removal during the Zero-COVID days.
Yunnan Muslims protest outside government building as imam detained: The detention of Ma Yuwei, imam at the Yuxi Daying Mosque, prompted crowds of local Muslims to converge on municipal government buildings, with many praying outside, and some demanding his release.
Hong Kong verdict against Yuen Long attack victims prompts widespread criticism: The seven people involved, including former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, were found guilty of “rioting” for attempting to stop white-clad men wielding sticks from attacking passengers at Yuen Long subway station in 2019.
Hong Kong 47: Activist ‘Long Hair’ Leung Kwok-hung seeks to overturn conviction, sentence in national security case: Leung is among 13 activists, ex-legislators, and a journalist who have lodged appeal bids so far.
Related: Hong Kong 47: 4 more democrats jailed in landmark national security case seek appeals. Tam Tak-chi is the first of the 31 pro-democracy figures who pleaded guilty to the national security trial to seek an appeal, while Raymond Chan, Tat Cheng, and Kalvin Ho also are seeking to challenge their convictions and sentences.
‘Grandpa Chan’ cleared of unauthorised banner display, as judge says broad reading of offence hurts free expression: Veteran activist Chan had been accused of violating the Hong Kong Country Parks and Special Areas Regulations by “displaying” banners with quotes from Chinese author Lu Xun atop Lion Rock on September 28, 2023. The judge rejected the prosecution’s argument that merely holding the banners up in public was enough to qualify as “displaying” the banners under the statute.
More Hongkongers than ever perceived news outlets to be self-censoring, survey finds: According to a survey by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, 65 percent of the survey respondents perceived news outlets to have practiced self-censorship, up from last year and a record high.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Taiwanese rapper says he ‘took money’ from China’s United Front operatives: Taiwanese rapper Chen Boyuan recently admitted to taking money from China’s United Front operatives to convey their messaging through his music, stating that he had been “brainwashed” while studying in China.
Related: Taiwan warns internet celebrities on collusion after video uproar. Online influencers have now become propaganda tools of Beijing.
China's record 'worsening' on Human Rights Day, activists say: The Chinese Communist Party has stepped up its suppression of public speech, organized religion and personal freedoms, while continuing to persecute anyone agitating for change.
Interview: Gerald Roche on the Erasure of Tibet’s Minority Languages: The Chinese government’s policy of erasing local languages in favor of Mandarin has made it increasingly difficult for Tibetans to live, work, and study in their own language, as Mandarin is now the primary language for official communications and education.
Related: Xi Jinping calls for wider use of Mandarin in China’s border areas. At a Politburo study session, Xi said Mandarin and its writing system should be comprehensively popularized in border regions, and the use of national textbooks compiled under central guidance should be fully implemented.
China Cites Automation in Response to BBC Report on Forced Labor in Xinjiang Tomato Farming: The Chinese authorities’ claim of heavy mechanization has been a core part of Chinese responses to critics of Xinjiang’s cotton, tomato, photovoltaic component, and other exports.
China quietly razes Uyghur business landmark in Xinjiang: China recently demolished a center for Uyghur culture and commerce, the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center, thus erasing the legacy of prominent Uyghur rights dissident Rebiya Kadeer and sparking outrage among Uyghur rights groups.
Asia’s Walled City: The Erosion of Transparency in Hong Kong: A recent report shows a deliberate and systematic campaign to erode the pillars of transparency and free information exchange, marking a stark departure from Hong Kong’s long-standing status as a beacon of open access and freedoms in Asia.
China Customs seizes Hong Kong geography textbook said to wrongly depict Chinese borders: According to China Customs, “Any printed materials and publications that do not comply with China’s regulations on the content of publicly available maps are strictly prohibited from entering or leaving the country.” In other words, maps which do not depict China’s own claims over disputed territories are banned.
International Responses 国际反应
Memorandum on the Establishment of the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group: U.S. President Biden ordered the formation of a "China Censorship Monitor and Action Group (Task Force)," an interagency effort to create a cohesive federal strategy for countering the CCP’s censorship and intimidation of U.S. people and companies.
Canada sanctions 8 Chinese officials for human rights violations: The most prominent of those sanctioned is Chen Quanguo, Party Committee Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region from 2011 to 2016 and of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from 2016 to 2021.
Employee of Hong Kong trade office in London pleads not guilty to spying charges in UK court: Bill Yuen and Peter Wai were charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and engaging in foreign interference under UK’s security law for allegedly breaking into a residence in London.