China: Pressure on Catholics Escalates Chinese authorities are increasing pressure on underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled official church.

NEW: @hrw.org research finds that Beijing has tightened ideological control & surveillance on China's 12 million Catholics since Xi's Sinicization campaign & that the 2018 Holy See-China agreement has facilitated Beijing's pressure on the underground Catholic communities. www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

V&A censored catalogues after demands by Chinese printer Exclusive: Victoria and Albert Museum has deleted maps and images deemed sensitive by Beijing censors from exhibition publications

Major UK museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, has deleted maps and images deemed "sensitive" by Beijing censors from exhibition publications. Incredible: www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Behind China's development is the state-owned companies that can shift financial risks downward to small subcontractors + workers as they hold all the power.

凤凰财经｜讨薪未果反成被告，一个包工头的三年 几年前，刘彪还是手握积蓄、带领几十号人的包工头，风光无两。如今，存款耗尽，亲戚借遍，癌症缠身，还讨要着给工人的工钱。

Read this from @chinadigitaltimes.net about how a small construction subcontractor tried to recover ~1/2 million USD in unpaid wages owed to his workers by a major state-owned company, only to end up being sued by that company. chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/7263...

The Secret Trial of a Chinese Artist Accused of Mocking Mao Zedong

Gao Zhen’s trial shows Beijing’s growing intolerance of dissent + contempt for the rule of law. He's punished for works done over a decade ago, when he was able to show them publicly in China. Secret trial + exit ban for family would've been rare back then www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/w...

very important op-ed highlighting what's often missing in media coverage of China's economy: This is an economy based on crushing the rights of workers and communities rather than anything else. Heavy repression means only very little can be exposed by journalists & NGOs.

Europe’s Economic Security Begins With Human Rights Confronted with what he calls a “commercial tsunami” from China and growing unpredictability from the United States, French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to become “a true geopolitical an...

"A Europe that systematically embed human rights across trade, procurement, migration, and security policies, would strengthen not only its credibility, but also its security, acting as a stabilizing force in an unstable world."

- @benjeannerod.bsky.social &
@mayawang.bsky.social in @lemonde.fr

Europe’s Economic Security Begins With Human Rights Confronted with what he calls a “commercial tsunami” from China and growing unpredictability from the United States, French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to become “a true geopolitical an...

And the English version is available at www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

« Les pays européens devraient intégrer les droits humains à leurs politiques économiques et étrangères » TRIBUNE. Alors que le modèle économique chinois repose sur un système répressif – interdiction des syndicats, exploitation des migrants, travail forcé… –, l’Union européenne devrait renforcer la loi s...

Rather than quietly acquiescing to China’s "low-rights political economy," "European countries and other democracies should band together and integrate human rights into their economic and foreign policies. Read the op-ed on @lemonde.fr: www.lemonde.fr/idees/articl...

If democracies treat China purely as a problem of subsidies or industrial policy, they are only addressing the symptoms—not the system.

Similarly, the Chinese government can mobilize capital, "forcibly seize rural land, displace villagers, and green‑light massive infrastructure projects without public consultation or effective legal constraints."

.@benjeannerod.bsky.social and I argue that labor is placed in a position of weak bargaining power. China's the only major industrial economy that bans independent labor unions, 1/3 of its workforce--300 million-- are second class citizens (aka "migrant workers") who take precarious work.

« Les pays européens devraient intégrer les droits humains à leurs politiques économiques et étrangères » TRIBUNE. Alors que le modèle économique chinois repose sur un système répressif – interdiction des syndicats, exploitation des migrants, travail forcé… –, l’Union européenne devrait renforcer la loi s...

European policies' focus on China's subsidies & industrial policy is missing a deeper point: that China's political economy is built on "a scaffolding of abuses that enable authorities to reshape economic sectors and to strong-arm communities with minimal resistance." www.lemonde.fr/idees/articl...

The Chinese government's ever stronger grip on society is targeting the many people who, in a freer society, would be recognized for their outstanding service and commitment to uplift their community.

China: 10 Years Since ‘709 Crackdown,’ Lawyers Still Under Fire The Chinese government is persecuting and silencing lawyers who challenge official abuses a decade after the “709 crackdown” on lawyers defending people’s rights.

It is incredibly courageous for the lawyers to take the Zion Church cases, given the frosty environment for law as the authorities have cracked down on lawyers who defend rights outside of government control since 2015. www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

The case started in October 2025 when the Chinese authorities arrested nearly 30 pastors, preachers, and church members of the Zion Church in seven cities, including the church's pastor and founder Ezra Jin Mingri: www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

China Targets Lawyers Defending Jailed Christian Leaders The arrest of pastor Ezra Jin has drawn criticism from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and members of Congress.

Chinese government's going after the lawyers defending the arrested leaders of Zion Church, a major unofficial evangelical church in China, revoking and suspending the lawyers' licenses: www.wsj.com/world/china/...

Don’t Forget Tibet on Anniversary of 1959 Lhasa Uprising Nearly seven decades since the 1959 uprising in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, the Chinese government still treats March 10 with vigilance.

"World leaders should use this moment to challenge #China’s enforced silence surrounding #Tibet" #TibetanUprisingDay @mayawang.bsky.social #HumanRightsWatch www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

Don’t Forget Tibet on Anniversary of 1959 Lhasa Uprising Nearly seven decades since the 1959 uprising in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, the Chinese government still treats March 10 with vigilance.

On March 10, anniversary of 1959 Lhasa Uprising, Chinese govt would be on high alert, but few Tibetans would dare to mark the occasion as the cost is too high. "World leaders should use this moment to challenge China’s enforced silence surrounding Tibet": www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

Opinion: Trump has spurred a rush to China for trade salvation. That shouldn’t sacrifice human rights ‘Pragmatism’ cannot mean building unconditional trade ties with a Chinese government that engages in widespread human rights violations

... argues that govts, instead of continuing to sideline rights, should weave them into trade and other policies to deny China from continuing to turn repression into competitive advantages www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Opinion: Trump has spurred a rush to China for trade salvation. That shouldn’t sacrifice human rights ‘Pragmatism’ cannot mean building unconditional trade ties with a Chinese government that engages in widespread human rights violations

The rush to China trade "–meant to survive Trump’s chaos–may instead hasten the arrival of the China Century, one in which Beijing dominates not only geopolitics but its repressive approach to domestic governance becomes the global norm." My op-ed: www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

. @mayawang.bsky.social of @hrw.org in the @theglobeandmail.com : “Mr. Carney is right that middle powers need to co-operate. But a more honest “pragmatism” begins with recognizing that widespread human rights violations by a trading partner generate economic, security and governance risks.”

Blade Defects at Three Gorges Wind Farm Expose Quality Risks in China’s Turbine Boom A repair tender covering 99 turbines in Inner Mongolia highlights mounting failures linked to the industry’s 2015-2016 installation rush and later price wars

Blade defects at Three Gorges wind farm expose quality risks in China’s turbine boom – Caixin Global: ‘adding to concerns that China’s past installation rush and price wars are now surfacing as costly quality failures.’

Framing Hong Kong’s repression as “stability” risks legitimising authoritarian governance as an economic good, and words from democratic leaders matter far beyond Hong Kong and set precedents elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Chinese govt communique mentions Hong Kong, quoting Starmer as saying that the city's a "unique [UK-China] bridge". So on an issue the UK presumably cares about, it has ceded rhetorical grounds to Beijing. www.fmprc.gov.cn/zyxw/202601/... There's still time, and we're watching.

The UK’s 1st press release on Starmer's visit is all about business (no Hong Kong, no human rights): www.gov.uk/government/n.... Formality matters in diplomacy, esp when it comes to China.

Starmer stresses Hong Kong’s stability as key to stronger ties in meeting with Xi Meeting focused on shared interests to bolster Sino‑British relations, with Jimmy Lai’s national security case also touched upon in ‘respectful’ discussions.

When pressed by journalists, British PM Keir Starmer said he *mentioned* Jimmy Lai to Xi. He didn't seem to have called for Lai's release: www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

Chinese govt has detained the leader + key members of underground Protestant church, the Early Rain Covenant Church. There's been a string of arrests of members of prominent “house churches” in China in past year. They should be freed, faith isn't a crime: www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Sexual Harassment of Chinese Critics Abroad China’s government has long sought to silence dissent abroad, but recently there’s been a disturbing escalation: harassment through sexually explicit letters targeting activists outside the country.

China’s government has long sought to silence dissent abroad, but recently there’s been a disturbing escalation: harassment through sexually explicit letters targeting activists outside the country www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

Greenwashing With Chinese Characteristics China's "Green Electrostate" Is Neither

The second is a deep dive into the numbers - and lives - behind China's renewable energy surge by @wang-seaver.bsky.social and @tednordhaus.bsky.social. --> www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/greenwashi...