HRIC Weekly Brief
February 11, 2025
Top News 头条
HRIC honors and remembers Dr. Li Wenliang, a young ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital whose attempts to warn colleagues and the public about COVID-19 made him a symbol of free speech and resistance against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s censorship. February 7 marks the fifth anniversary of Li’s tragic death. On February 1, 2020, Li himself was diagnosed with COVID-19, and a Weibo post by the Wuhan Central Hospital announced his passing at 2:58 a.m., February 7.
In an unusual legal move, human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng has filed suit against Tencent at the Beijing Internet Court, accusing the Chinese tech giant of abusing its monopoly power to enforce the CCP's political directives and block his accounts in retaliation for his advocacy work. Although his case is unlikely to progress under the CCP-controlled judiciary, Zhou has also said he is interested in pursuing his case in the United States.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Regulations on the Management of the Public Security Video Imaging Information System: The regulations aim to govern the management of public security video systems, specifically that they must not pose a threat to China’s national security or public interests, and more importantly adhere to the Party line.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
The Screws Tighten on Military Content: New regulations, the Measures for the Management of Military Information Dissemination on the Internet, mark a formal legalization, and possible tightening, of control over military-themed content in Chinese cyberspace.
What do we know about China’s new AI safety institute?: The China AI Safety and Development Association is unique in its prominent focus on not just AI safety, but also on AI development.
DeepSeeking Truth: The Chinese authorities’ comprehensive approach to narrative control goes beyond simple censorship. When testing DeepSeek for propaganda, one should be cognizant of the full range of possible tactics to achieve social “guidance,” beyond merely avoiding so-called sensitive topics.
Evaluating Security Risk in DeepSeek and Other Frontier Reasoning Models: Cisco researchers found that “[c]ompared to other frontier models, DeepSeek R1 lacks robust guardrails, making it highly susceptible to algorithmic jailbreaking and potential misuse.”
Researchers say China's DeepSeek chatbot is linked to state telecom, raising data privacy concerns: The web login page of DeepSeek’s chatbot contains heavily obfuscated computer script that, when deciphered, reveals connections to computer infrastructure owned by China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company.
Related: Which countries have banned DeepSeek and why?. DeepSeek is already banned on government devices in South Korea, Australia and Taiwan, citing “security concerns” and a lack of clarity about how users’ personal information is handled.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Hundreds protest against Chinese ‘mega-embassy’ in London: More than a thousand people congregated outside London’s Royal Mint Court, which could soon be turned into China’s largest embassy in the world.
Uyghurs mark 28 years since Ghulja violence, condemn ongoing repression: February 5 marks the anniversary of the 1997 Ghulja massacre. “[The massacre] was the beginning of today’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs,” said Zubayra Shamseden of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, who led a protest outside the Chinese embassy in Washington in commemoration of the tragedy.
Campaign for Uyghurs, ‘Teacher Li’ nominated for Nobel Peace Prize: The nominations were put forth by U.S Congressmen John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat and Ranking Member of the Select Committee.
Canadian foreign interference agency says it detected a ‘malicious activity’ targeting candidate: According to Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, a coordinated and malicious information operation targeting federal Liberal Party leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland “was traced to WeChat’s most popular news account – an anonymous blog that has been previously linked by experts at the China Digital Times to the People’s Republic of China.”
Books banned in Hong Kong crackdown find new home in democratic Taiwan: As more Hong Kongers have moved to Taiwan in search of a freer society, Taiwanese libraries play a role in countering censorship and responding to the increased demand for Hong Kong books. A catalog search of the National Taiwan Library, Taipei City Library and Academia Sinica Library found that 107 out of 144 books that have been removed from libraries in Hong Kong are now available.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Tiananmen Mothers founder Ding Zilin responds to letter from HRIC, expresses gratitude and grief: In a rare and deeply moving letter to HRIC, Ding Zilin, founder of the Tiananmen Mothers, thanks those who have supported the group's fight for justice and reaffirms her commitment to the cause, even in the face of ongoing surveillance and isolation.
Ethnic Mongolian dissident Hada rushed to hospital from house arrest: Ethnic Mongolian dissident and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Hada, who has been under house arrest for more than 30 years, was recently rushed to the hospital and was in critical condition for several days.
Related: Police stop family members visiting ethnic Mongolian dissident Hada. Hada’s family members now no longer know his whereabouts, and are not even sure if he is still in the hospital.
HRIC on Twitter/X: Retired reporter and former president of the Guangdong branch of Xinhua News Agency, Gu Wanming, was sentenced to a year in prison by the Minhang Court of Shanghai for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" after he questioned the cause of Li Keqiang’s death.
Chinese ‘should use their right to vote,’ despite the risks: activist: In 1998, constitutional law expert Yao Lifa got himself elected to his local Qianjiang Municipal People’s Congress by carefully gathering nominations, and used his position to criticize the government’s decisions, making him a target ever since. Now, Yao is encouraging people to participate in voting, even if the outcomes are limited by the Party. “We want to focus on achieving legal elections, so the will of voters can be truly expressed,” Yao explains.
Hong Kong police arrest man in connection with helping 4 2019 protesters hide from authorities: Yu Hin-Lam, a 26-year-old taxi driver, was accused of aiding the escape attempt of protestors Tsang Chi-kin, Fung Ching-wah, Ansen Wong and Alex Wong.
Related: Bail denied for Hong Kong woman arrested by nat. security police for allegedly helping fugitive protesters. Ng Shuk-wai, a 26-year-old childcare assistant, was arrested for allegedly “doing an act or a series of acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice.”
Wanted Hong Kong activist Carmen Lau’s relatives taken in by nat. security police to assist investigation: National security police took away Lau’s 66-year-old uncle and 63-year-old-aunt and reportedly brought them to Sha Tin police station.
Hong Kong media regulator loses bid to appeal to top court over RTHK satire that ‘insulted’ police: The challenge stemmed from a court decision last September, when a three-judge panel ruled that Radio Television Hong Kong did not breach the media watchdog’s rules in a 2020 episode.
Hong Kong man cleared of rioting in 2019 after appeals court casts doubt over police officer’s testimony: The Court of Appeal acquitted Liu Hong-leong on the basis of inconsistencies between a police officer’s testimony and footage of the incident.
International Responses 国际反应
Investigation Reveals Uyghur Forced Labor in Decathlon’s Supply Chain: According to an investigation by French outlet Disclose, Decathlon’s second-largest textile manufacturer in China’s subsidiary Xinjiang, Xirong Clothing, makes sportswear in a factory that receives Uyghur workers from a concentration camp less than one kilometer away.
Australia expresses ‘serious concerns’ for dissident writer jailed in China: Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-born Australian citizen, has been in jail in China since 2019 on spying allegations and received a suspended death sentence last year. Since, his health has deteriorated and his family says he has not received adequate medical care.
US cedes ground to China with ‘self-inflicted wound’ of USAid shutdown, analysts say: Professor Huang Yanzhong, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, says: “[The US is handing] on a silver platter to China the perfect opportunity to expand its influence, at a time when China’s economy is not doing very well.”
Canada ends ‘lifeboat’ work permit scheme for recent Hong Kong graduates, enacted after security law: Under the scheme, open work permits were granted to provide immigrants from Hong Kong with two additional means to gain permanent residence in Canada. However, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, a government agency, remarked that the program had been “always intended as a temporary measure.”
Current Events 热点新闻
Dalai Lama’s elder brother, who led several rounds of talks with China, dies at 97: Gyalo Thondup, was known for beginning discussions between Tibetans and Chinese leaders in 1979, in a departure from his earlier approach, which sought an armed struggle against Chinese control of Tibet.