In the Press | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

‘Mourn June 4 in your own way’: Tiananmen Square events vanish amid crackdowns and Covid

June 3, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by The Guardian on Jun 3, 2021 For the first time since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, there will be no formal commemoration event held in the Chinese-speaking world for the anniversary. Thirty-two years after soldiers crushed student protests in Beijing and killed anywhere from several hundred to (read more…)

Oscar win shines spotlight on censorship in China

April 30, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by TRT World on April 30, 2021 Multiple Oscar-winning film Nomadland was directed by a Chinese director, but the film isn’t being celebrated in her home country. States can deflect criticisms of human rights abuses with ease, but it is far harder for governments to dull the impact of (read more…)

Another dissident died in China’s hellish prisons — will we remember him?

April 27, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by New York Post on April 27, 2021 On April 9, Chinese political prisoner Guo Hongwei, 48 and serving a 13-year sentence in northeastern Jilin province, died under mysterious circumstances. The “crime” he was in prison for: supporting Hong Kong democracy. Authorities took Guo to the Guowen Hospital (read more…)

In China, delivery workers struggle against a rigged system

April 20, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by SupChina on April 20, 2021 In mid-February, Chén Guójiāng 陈国江, who leads an alliance of food delivery workers in China numbering in the thousands, confronted the delivery platform Ele.me, owned by Alibaba, for its exploitative policies. He published a video accusing Ele.me of failing to deliver on (read more…)

Rights Activist Held in Psychiatric Facility in China’s Shandong Province

March 16, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by RFA on March 16, 2021 Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong have formally arrested prominent rights activist Li Qiaochu, and are holding her in a psychiatric hospital in Linyi city, RFA has learned.Li, who was recently given the Cao Shunli Memorial Award for her rights (read more…)

Chinese Feminist, Anti-Camps Campaigner Honored With Rights Prize

March 12, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by RFA on March 12, 2021 Detained women’s rights activist Li Qiaochu and veteran rights campaigner Li Yufeng have been announced as the joint winners of a prestigious human rights prize made annually to Chinese activists mark the March 14, 2014 death in police custody of rights advocate (read more…)

Concerns Grow For ‘Disappeared’ Wuhan Citizen Journalist

March 9, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by RFA on March 9, 2021 Chinese citizen journalist Fang Bin remains missing after being detained by police in the central city of Wuhan for reporting from the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Fang is being held incommunicado following his detention on March 5, 2020. RFA has learned (read more…)

Westerners are increasingly scared of traveling to China as threat of detention rises

March 9, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by CNN on March 9, 2021 (CNN) Jeff Wasserstrom is a self-proclaimed China specialist who is seriously considering never returning to China — at least, he says, not while President Xi Jinping is in power. The American professor, who for decades made multiple trips a year to China (read more…)

Turkey’s Uighur exiles raise voices against China amid Erdogan’s silence

February 25, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by La Prensa Latina Media on February 11, 2021 Istanbul, Feb 11 (efe-epa).- The 50,000-strong community of exiled Uighurs in Istanbul have in recent weeks stepped up their protests against the alleged repression by Beijing of their people in their western Chinese homeland of Xinjiang, amid fears that (read more…)

Activists mark one-year countdown to Beijing Winter Olympics with protest

February 23, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by Phayul Newsdesk on February 23, 2021 By Tenzin Dharpo DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 3: As the one-year countdown to the 2022 Winter Olympics begins on January 4, a coalition of over 170 activist groups called on nations to boycott the premier sporting event to be held in Beijing. On (read more…)

China would welcome UN Human Rights Council visit ‘because there is no genocide in Xinjiang’

February 23, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by SCMP on February 23, 2021 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has rejected claims of genocide or oppression in the far western region of Xinjiang and said China would welcome the UN human rights chief to visit the region. Wang’s statement comes as international pressure mounts over accusations (read more…)

Terry Glavin: Do athletes really want Olympic medals that have been soaked in blood?

February 10, 2021 Comments Off

Originally published by National Post on February 10, 2021 Now that a rising global movement to move the 2022 Winter Games from Beijing is finally starting to pick up steam in Canada, there’s a debate worth having about it, and some difficult questions to be raised. Can the International Olympic (read more…)