This week, advocates faced harsh and unjust legal penalties for engaging in protected speech: courts in Changsha and Hong Kong handed down jail time over social media posts, while Kazakhstan convicted 19 activists for protesting Beijing’s crackdown in Xinjiang. open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
HRIC remembers Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Koo Sze-yiu, who passed away last week; human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng has completed his sentence; HRIC published a new interview with TADC co-chair Winnie Ng; and more in the Weekly Brief. open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
This week: Bitchat app removed from China's app store for its "social mobilization" capabilities; workers' rights advocate Jing Shuren scheduled for pre-trial conference after two years in prison; WeChat has sanctioned over 60k accounts in 2026; and more. open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
This week's top news: Human rights lawyer Xie Yang has been sentenced to five years for “inciting subversion of state power"; artist Gao Zhen was tried in a secret one-day hearing; and two individuals in Hubei were fined for using VPNs. Read-- open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Macau allows closed-door national security cases and mandates lawyers pass a natsec clearance; Hong Kong draft law requires natsec suspects turn over passwords and decrypt devices; owner and staff of a HK bookshop arrested for selling "seditious" materials: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
On March 9, in collaboration with University of Toronto students, HRIC hosted the panel “Commemorating Tiananmen: Thirty-Six Years of Resistance in Canada,” featuring four panelists from three generations of activists. Thank you to all participants! Read more:
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Imprisoned democracy advocate Chow Hang-tung challenged the use of the Chinese constitution in Hong Kong courts; a 21-year-old was charged for carrying laser pointers in 2019; the UN human rights chief criticized China's new "ethnic unity" law, and more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
China's “Two Sessions” will wrap up this Thursday; a censorship strategy called “algorithmic encirclement” exploits X's rules to target dissident accounts; Italy expelled 8 people for transnational repression against Teacher Li, and more in the Weekly Brief: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Two Hong Kong retirees were given prison sentences for posting or sharing "seditious" posts on social media; Anna Kwok's father Kwok Yin-sang was sentenced to eight months in prison; the NPC's "Two Sessions" begin this week; and more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Last week, HRIC held a colloquium on Chinese-language independent media at Stanford. Experts on media, tech, and innovation came together to share their experiences and recommendations for a stronger Chinese media ecosystem. Read more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
A Hong Kong court rejected 12 appeals in the "Hong Kong 47" case; investigative journalists Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao were released on bail; suspected Chinese hackers breached the Italian Interior Ministry; and more. Read the Weekly Brief:
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Last week, Alysa Liu’s Olympic performance sparked an outpouring of positive commentary, both for her skill on the ice and for the history her story represents. For many, Liu's story led them to learn the truth about 1989 for the first time. Read more:
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
The Weekly Brief: encrypted messaging app Mosavi removed from Apple's China app store; HK media associations silent on Jimmy Lai sentence; RFA resumes Tibetan and Uyghur broadcasting; draft Cybercrime Law strengthens China’s real-name registration rules; and more. open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Sad news from Hong Kong this week, as Anna Kwok's father has been convicted under Article 23 and Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Also: the UN urged China to grant Yang Li access to medical treatment, and A-Nya Sengdra was released. Read: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Guan Heng takes a selfie with his mother, smiling.
Breaking: Guan Heng has just been released from detention and is now reunited with his mother, a long-awaited and joyful reunion. DHS has not yet decided whether to appeal his asylum. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who stood by him and helped make today possible.
Journalists Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao have been detained, likely over their criticism of a Party official; Guan Heng was granted asylum but has not been released; Notepad++ reports that its update server was compromised by Chinese state-sponsored hackers, and more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
This week, the trial of three Tiananmen massacre commemoration organizers begins in Hong Kong; Zhang Youxia falls to Xi's political purges; UN experts decry ethnic minorities' forced labor; hackers had access to UK top leaders' phones for "years," and more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
New suggested amendments to China's Draft Childcare Services Law from a Chinese lawyer call for stronger mechanisms of social oversight and family participation in childcare governance, to address structural shortcomings and better protect children. open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
A new investigation revealed a Chinese disinformation ecosystem which impersonates legitimate, trusted platforms; the UK approved China's 'mega embassy' in London; Chow Hang-tung lost her legal challenge over gender inequities in HK prisons; and more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
This year, the Tiananmen Mothers' annual New Year's gathering was obstructed by the Chinese authorities for the first time. The Tiananmen Mothers have released a statement, translated and posted in full by HRIC: hrichina.substack.com/p/annual-gat...
On Monday, Jimmy Lai appeared in court for a mitigation hearing alongside eight other defendants; the new 2025 Li Community Digital Activism Annual Report documents digital rights developments; the crackdown on religion continues to intensify; and more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Members of a Chengdu house church were detained in raids on Tuesday; a folk-religion shrine in Guangxi was torn down as villagers faced police brutality; online censorship in 2025 doubled down on on preventing uncontrolled discourse; and more: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Quote from the linked article: "Jin Liang did not present himself as an official mouthpiece. Instead, he leveraged his past social media record, marked by ostensibly 'anti-system' rhetoric and appeals to 'universal values,' to carefully construct the persona of an 'enlightened insider' or 'independent observer.'"
After HRIC reported on Guan Heng's asylum case, an investigation into the smear campaign that followed revealed the CCP-affiliated identity of the ringleader and a new "external propaganda" strategy that emphasizes subtlety and "neutrality" to avoid detection. Read: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
The official who spearheaded China's brutal one-child policy died last week; the CCP now works to raise birth rates by surveilling women and raising the cost of contraceptives; and Uyghurs face imprisonment for listening to folk music. Read the Brief: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Over a hundred Christians were detained during a crackdown on a house church in Yayang, Zhejiang; 80 Tibetans are reported to have been detained protesting an illegal gold mine; artist Gao Shen was denied release on bail; and more in the Weekly Brief: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Update: Today, DHS dropped the request to send Guan Heng to Uganda, a significant positive development. Many thanks to everyone who has supported his case!
This week: Jimmy Lai's two-year trial ended with a guilty verdict, met with global condemnation; Guan Heng awaits a second immigration hearing on January 12; and Hong Kong activists in exile were threatened by explicit letters sent from HK and Macau. open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Today, a lawyer for DHS suggested sending Guan Heng to Uganda, a country with close ties to China that is "more likely than not" to send him back, says Mr. Guan's lawyer. Due to increased public attention to the case, he has been scheduled for a 2nd hearing on Jan 12. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/u...
A fierce, decentralized digital uprising has recently erupted within the confines of China’s Great Firewall. From Douyin to Bilibili, Chinese netizens are throwing themselves into a form of digital protest known as the Great Tower Rush (#大冲塔运动). Read more: hrichina.substack.com/p/the-great-...
Great article on Guan Heng from the WSJ. "If he is deported, he will certainly face a very severe prison sentence due to the social impact of this incident," @zhoufengsuo.bsky.social explained. According to Guan's lawyer, he was denied release on bond today. www.wsj.com/world/china/...