Sydney | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Cultural rifts, repression fueling violence in China’s far west

July 17, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Nikkei Asian Review on July 9, 2015 URUMQI, China — Political risk is increasing in China as tensions there continue to mount between the dominant Han and minority groups. The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, in the country’s northwest, has been plagued by continued violence between the predominantly Muslim Uighur (read more…)

Chinese Police Freeze Bank Accounts of Online Free Speech Activist

July 9, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on July 2, 2015 Authorities in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian have frozen the bank accounts of the wife of activist Wu Gan, who now faces three criminal charges over online criticism of the government and advocacy for freedom of speech. Wu’s wife Song (read more…)

China Passes Controversial National Security Law

July 9, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Voice Of America on July 1, 2015 China’s parliament has adopted a sweeping new national security law that critics say will further enshrine and expand the country’s suppression of political dissent. The largely ceremonial National People’s Congress passed the bill Wednesday with 144 yes votes and one abstention, (read more…)

China Slaps Travel Ban on Nuclear Researcher-Turned-Poet Activist

July 9, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by RadioFree Asia on June 25, 2015 Authorities in the central province of Hunan have prevented a prominent poet from leaving the country, saying he isn’t obedient enough to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Liang Taiping, who lives in the Hunan provincial capital Changsha, had planned to attend (read more…)

CPJ concerned about deteriorating health of journalist imprisoned in China

July 9, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Committee to Protect Journalists on June 18, 2015 New York, June 18, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Chinese authorities to immediately release Wang Jing, a journalist who has been imprisoned since December and whose health has deteriorated in custody. Wang’s lawyer, Li Weida, visited the journalist (read more…)

China’s Ramadan restriction decried

July 9, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by The Gulf Today on June 20, 2015 CAIRO: The leading Muslim seat of learning, Al Azhar, condemned China on Friday for imposing restrictions on fasting in its mainly Muslim Xinjiang region during the Holy Month of Ramadan. China has banned civil servants, students and teachers in Xinjiang from (read more…)

UN leadership: China must fully #FreetheFive

July 9, 2015 Comments Off

(Geneva) – Ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Plan of Action this September, the UN and its Member States have the opportunity – and the obligation – to demand that China improve its human rights record, said ISHR and CHRD today. This call follows the release of an (read more…)

[CHRB] Pu Zhiqiang Detained 14 Months Without Trial, Recently Denied Lawyers’ Access & Medical Treatment (7/3-7/9/2015)

July 9, 2015 Comments Off

Prominent human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强) has recently been denied access to legal counsel and proper medical treatment, according to information obtained by CHRD. Pu has now been held in pre-trial detention for more than 14 months at Beijing No. 1 Detention Center. Beijing prosecutors indicted Pu on May (read more…)

China rights activists drop lawyers, halt subversion trial

July 7, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Reuters on June 19, 2015 Three Chinese rights activists on trial for distributing books advocating a peaceful end to dictatorships on Friday dismissed their lawyers, bringing a halt to the proceedings. The trial in the southern city of Guangzhou comes as President Xi Jinping’s government has ratcheted (read more…)

China Clamps Down on Activists Ahead of Lawyers’ Subversion Trial

July 7, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on June 18, 2015 Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have placed dozens of activists under surveillance after they planned to attend the subversion trial of three prominent rights lawyers on Friday. Tang Jingling, Wang Qingying, and Yuan Xinting, known as the Guangzhou (read more…)

Chinese Court Pulls Plug on Activists’ Subversion Trial Amid Procedural Dispute With Defense

July 7, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on June 19, 2015 Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong called off the trial of three prominent rights activists after they dismissed their defense team amid a procedural dispute with court officials, lawyers said on Friday. Rights lawyer Tang Jingling, former teacher Wang (read more…)

China Detains Two Activists as NGO Crackdown Widens

July 7, 2015 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on June 15, 2015 Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have detained activists linked to a leading nongovernment organization (NGO) on charges of “illegal business activity,” in a move which fellow activists and rights groups said is linked to a growing civil society (read more…)