HRIC Weekly Brief
November 12, 2024
Top News 头条
On November 11, Human Rights in China co-signed a joint statement led by Amnesty International, together with 24 other organizations, to call on governments globally and on the UN and its human rights mechanisms to urgently press the Chinese government to uphold its international human rights obligations and commitments in relation to imprisoned Chinese human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, activist Xu Yan.
On 29 October 2024, Suzhou Intermediate Court sentenced Yu to three years in prison and Xu to one year and nine months in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” It is evident that they have been sentenced solely for the exercise of their human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, creating a chilling effect both on the work of human rights defenders in China, as well as on the important and constructive interactions between defenders and civil society groups and diplomatic representatives in the country. The US government condemned the sentencing and noted that the Chinese authorities barred the attendance of diplomats from several foreign missions, including those from the United States, undermining transparency critical to Yu and Xu’s right to a fair trial.
In addition, Xu Zhiyong, champion of the Chinese civil rights movement, has been on hunger strike for 40 days. HRIC co-signs an open letter calling on the international community to support Xu's demands and urge the Chinese authorities to respect his rights.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
“Provisions on the Fingerprint Information Work of Public Security Organs”: Regulations now mandate that fingerprint data will be used for border entry and exit, and other public security administrative management purposes.
Chinese Legislature Seeks Public Comment on 4 Bills: People’s Congress Delegates, Arbitration, Maritime Affairs & Sci-Tech Popularization: The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress is soliciting public comment on the above four bills through December 7, 2024.
Translation: Finance Minister's Explanation of China's Local Debt Swap Plan: On November 8, the State Council’s proposal for a “debt swap plan” to authorize local governments to borrow an additional RMB 6 trillion over the next three years to repay outstanding debt was approved. In recent years, local government debt has skyrocketed, resulting in a range of less-savory methods of extracting money from local populations.
Related: China’s police seize assets, demand payments amid economic downturn: As China’s economy struggles and economic pressures constrain local government budgets, law enforcement officers have been using the law and financial punishments to fill government coffers.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
City in Xinjiang Deletes Video Boasting That WeChat Records User Activity For Law Enforcement: The Municipal Bureau of Justice in Karamay, Xinjiang posted a later-deleted skit to Douyin boasting that WeChat automatically records user activity and shares it with law enforcement.
TikTok deletes videos related to Uyghur human rights violations: Uyghurs living abroad say TikTok is deleting videos about human rights violations in Xinjiang, and that the Chinese authorities are behind the deletions.
Chinese hackers gained access to huge trove of Americans' cell records: China-backed hacking group dubbed Salt Typhoon allegedly gained access to a vast trove of information relating to who Americans talk to, how often, and when, as well as detailed location data afforded by 5G networking services.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Commemorating the 35th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the 1989 Tiananmen Protests: HRIC Executive Director Zhou Fengsuo spoke about the democratic struggles that defined 1989, namely the fall of the Berlin Wall and Tiananmen Square protests.
He Made a Daring Escape From China. Then His Real Troubles Began.: Hasan Imam grew up as an “unregistered” Uyghur child in Xinjiang, where he was eventually forced to do hard labor building roads for no pay. Yet, when he managed to flee to Thailand, he discovered that the Thai government refused to protect Uyghurs: rather, they were separated from others in the prison-like immigration camps and frequently deported back to China, under pressure from the Chinese authorities.
Chinese Americans targeted with ‘misogynistic and insulting’ election misinformation: In the leadup to the American election, major pieces of disinformation were aimed at Chinese-speaking users through “platform jump,” when English misinformation is translated into Chinese and then shared on platforms with a higher concentration of Chinese-Americans.
Related: How Trump Divides Chinese Who Aspire to Democracy.
New Hong Kong Watch report exposes transnational repression in Hong Kong's digital space: According to a new report by Hong Kong Watch, Chinese and Hong Kong governments are leveraging digital tools to exert their ideological influence and to threaten dissidents abroad.
China uses London travel show to promote its narrative of Xinjiang in the West: According to critics, China was using the travel fair to try to show the world the “success” of its “Xinjiang policy” in stabilizing the region.
Hong Kong Watch urges INTERPOL to be wary of transnational repression via Red Notices in Glasgow: INTERPOL’s Red Notice system allows participating countries to issue a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. HKW research has identified numerous cases in which Chinese and Hong Kong dissidents have been targeted by Red Notice requests from the PRC.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Once China's 'Worst Nightmare,' Labor Activist Refuses to Back Down: Han Dongfang, former Tiananmen student leader and current labor activist, currently continues his work openly from Hong Kong. Working within the text of the Chinese legal system, he and the organization he heads, China Labor Bulletin, push Chinese companies to respect workers’ rights and work to hold officials accountable.
Jailed Tibetan community leader denied retrial: Anya Sengdra, has already served six years of his seven-year sentence for “disturbing social order” after he complained online about corrupt officials, illegal mining and the hunting of protected wildlife.
周梓樂逝世五周年 市民攜白花悼念：希望話畀佢聽我哋冇忘記佢 [On the fifth anniversary of Chow Tsz-lok's death, citizens carry white flowers to mourn: hoping to tell him that we have not forgotten him]: Chow, a 22-year-old student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, fell from the third floor inside a car park during the 2019 protests.
Hong Kong social worker ordered to pay over HK$440,000 to police officer assaulted during 2019 protests: HK$440,000 is approximately equivalent to $56,000 USD. The police officer had sustained injuries to his right eye, the back of his head, and his right shoulder.
Hong Kong independent outlet InMedia fined HK$10,000 after being reported for not keeping registers at office: InMedia was a small-scale non-profit media outlet, Hong Kong’s oldest independent online outlet, and one of few remaining following the National Security Law and Article 23.
Hong Kong legal body issues warnings to lawyers linked to 2019 protester relief fund: The 16 lawyers investigated included those who had received money from the fund, which provided financial and legal assistance to individuals detained in connection with the 2019 protests.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
China hands death sentence to state secrets leaker: This rare case highlights China’s increasing focus on national security under Xi Jinping, who has ramped up warnings about foreign powers allegedly targeting Chinese citizens.
China clamps down on quest for soup dumplings by 'Night Riding Army': Authorities, long disapproving of spontaneous gatherings, whether political or not, are clamping down on a viral craze in which thousands of university students used rented bikes to ride overnight to the city of Kaifeng in search of breakfast.
Hong Kong ‘upgrades’ lamppost that matched Tiananmen massacre date: Hong Kong authorities changed the number on a lamppost whose original number contained an inadvertent reference to the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, for fear of angering Beijing.
Hong Kong civil servants to be given confidential guidelines on how to safeguard national security: By the first half of 2025, confidential national security guidelines for all civil servants will be in place and outline how civil servants can safeguard national security in their daily duties.
International Responses 国际反应
Germany arrests US national accused of spying for China: German prosecutors said the accused person had “contacted Chinese officials in 2024 and offered to hand them sensitive information about the US military.”