Sydney | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Chinese activist Liu Feiyue given five years’ jail for ‘inciting subversion’

January 30, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by AFP on January 29, 2019 The founder of a prominent Chinese civil and human rights website has been sentenced to five years in prison for inciting state subversion, according to human rights organisations. Liu Feiyue created and ran the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website, which covers (read more…)

Yue Xin 岳昕

June 30, 2020 Comments Off

Yue Xin, a 2018 graduate of Peking University, has emerged as a leading voice in China’s #MeToo movement as well as a strong advocate for workers’ rights. She was disappeared on August 24, 2018, when police raided an apartment complex in Shenzhen and seized her and about 50 other students (read more…)

China thinks it can arbitrarily detain anyone. It is time for change

January 12, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by The Guardian on January 4, 2019 Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, has called China’s detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor a “worrying precedent” but for many China watchers it is all too familiar. It reminds us of the detentions of other foreign citizens, such as Canadian (read more…)

China Jails Three Activists For Video ‘Mocking’ President Xi Jinping

January 12, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on January 8, 2019 Authorities in the Chinese capital have sentenced citizen journalist Ding Lingjie and two petitioners to jail for making a video ‘mocking’ President Xi Jinping during a holiday season crackdown on dissent.Ding was tried alongside petitioners Li Xuehui and Wang Fengxian by the Shijingshan (read more…)

Kanji: The Uighurs remain forgotten in debates over human rights in China

January 12, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by Ottawa Citizen on January 8, 2019 In detaining Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor as alleged threats to “national security” in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, China provided an exemplary demonstration of one of the most transparent and hackneyed tricks in the authoritarian repertoire: (read more…)

Beijing furthers campaign to ‘Sinicize’ ethnic Muslims with new law

January 12, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by AFP on January 6, 2019 In the latest push in an aggressive campaign to “Sinicize” Muslims in China, Beijing on Saturday reportedly passed a law dictating the way Islam can be practised in the country. The Global Times, China’s most popular English paper, reported that following a (read more…)

Chinese Government Puts Human Rights Defenders on Trial During Holiday Season to Hide Rights Abuses

January 8, 2019 Comments Off

Chinese authorities put a number of HRDs on trial over the holiday season, including journalists Sun Lin and Ding Lingjie, lawyer Wang Quanzhang, and activists Zhen Jianghua and Zhang Kun.

‘My husband is innocent’: Wife of detained Chinese lawyer barred from trial

January 6, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by The Guardian on December 26, 2018 Li Wenzu was blocked by police officers from leaving her apartment complex to attend the trial of her husband Wang Quanzhang It was a little after 5am on Boxing Day when Li Wenzu tried to leave her apartment to attend her (read more…)

Prominent Chinese rights lawyer missing for three years goes on trial

January 6, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by Reuters on December 26, 2018 Chinese police locked down a courthouse on Wednesday for the trial of a prominent rights lawyer who is accused of subversion of state power and whose case has attracted widespread concern in Western countries. Wang Quanzhang, who took on sensitive cases such (read more…)

As China Cracks Down on Churches, Christians Declare ‘We Will Not Forfeit Our Faith’

January 6, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by The New York Times on December 25, 2018 CHENGDU, China — For months, Gu Baoluo had been looking forward to a boisterous Christmas celebration at one of China’s best-known Protestant churches. He loved decorating trees, singing songs like “Silent Night” and watching the annual Christmas pageant recounting (read more…)

‘The last time I saw Granny Pu’: 85-year-old mother of Chinese dissident seized by police

January 6, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by The Guardian on December 20, 2018 For the last two years, Pu Wenqing, 85, has spent most of her time writing articles about her son, Huang Qi, a long-time dissident who has been in prison for more than two years awaiting trial. She posts updates about Huang, (read more…)

China Bans Christmas Celebrations Amid Nationwide Crackdown on Churches

January 6, 2019 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on December 20, 2018 The ruling Chinese Communist Party has stepped up a nationwide crackdown on Christians, raiding and detaining pastors and members of churches in several locations as urban authorities warn against public Christmasdecorations and events.Authorities are undergoing “one of the largest crackdowns on underground Christian churches (read more…)