In the Press | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Chinese Journalist Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Publishing Negative Information About Communist Party

May 1, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by Newsweek on May 1, 2020 Chinese journalist Chen Jieren was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday, for publishing negative information about China’s Communist Party. According to the South China Morning Post, a court in the central Hunan province released a statement which said that (read more…)

China journalist Chen Jieren jailed as free-speech clampdown intensifies

May 15, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by AFP on May 15, 2020 by Patrick Baert A journalist who had worked for some of China’s most powerful propaganda outlets has been jailed for 15 years after being accused of attacking the ruling Communist Party, court documents showed. The sentence handed down on Chen Jieren is one (read more…)

Hong Kong police violence curtails the freedom of assembly and the press

May 16, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by HKFP on May 16, 2020 By Leo Lan A 12-year-old boy who aspired to be a journalist went to cover the protests in Hong Kong on Mother’s Day. He found himself surrounded and scoffed at by police officers in full gear. Citizens in this city are shocked (read more…)

Coronavirus crackdown: China arrests professor who linked COVID-19 to Communist party

May 5, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by Express on May 5, 2020 Chen Zhaozhi was detained for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” – a charge frequently used by authorities to gag peaceful critics of the ruling party. Mr Chen is a former professor at the Beijing University of Science and Technology. Police swooped (read more…)

Media Advocates Urge West to Resist China’s Censorship After EU Letter Controversy

May 30, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by VOA News on May 8, 2020 Press freedom advocates say China’s censorship of a letter co-authored by 27 European Union ambassadors that contained a reference to the origins of the coronavirus is another example of how the lack of press freedom in the country has caused problems for the (read more…)

Government targets academic critics of COVID-19 response

May 12, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by University World News on May 12, 2020 Two Chinese academics are under investigation by their universities and a third has been arrested in recent weeks for criticising the handling of the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown in China. COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province, at (read more…)

Analysis: China’s ‘disappeared’ corona heroes in ‘total censorship era’

May 17, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by WORLD ISRAEL NEWS on May 17, 2020 They were evidently “disappeared” because they were searching for, and telling the truth about, what happened, as well as the Chinese regime’s attempt to bury it. By Giulio Meotti, Gatestone Institute Three Chinese internet activists have disappeared and are believed to (read more…)

Shanghai Police Hold Lawyer-Turned-Blogger Who Reported From Wuhan

May 18, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on May 18, 2020 Police from Shanghai have detained a lawyer-turned-citizen journalist who reported on the emerging coronavirus epidemic in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Zhang Zhan, who lives in Shanghai but who traveled to Wuhan in early February, was taken away from (read more…)

Twitter’s Hiring of China-Linked AI Expert Sparks Concern

May 20, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on May 20, 2020 Commentators have been raising concerns over Twitter’s recent hiring of artificial intelligence (AI) star Fei-Fei Li, who has links to the Chinese Communist Party. Twitter appointed Stanford professor and former Google vice president Li to its board as an independent (read more…)

Chinese parliament approves Hong Kong security law

May 28, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by Guardian on May 28, 2020 China’s legislature has approved a decision to force a controversial national security law on Hong Kong, in an extraordinary and unprecedented move aimed at bringing the semi-autonomous territory further under Beijing’s control. On Thursday, China’s National People’s Congressvoted and passed a draft decision that (read more…)

One democracy activist’s detention in mental health facility belies China’s legal reforms

May 28, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by RFI on May 28, 2020 China’s National People’s Congress ended on Thursday with the adoption of the first-ever Civil Code and controversial legislation on Hong Kong. But to what extent does China’s lawmaking body, officially presented as an example of “socialist democracy,” defend the citizens of China? (read more…)

Chinese parliament approves controversial Hong Kong security law

May 28, 2020 Comments Off

Originally published by The Guardian in 28 May 2020 Move paves way for anti-sedition laws that rights advocates say threaten freedoms, as US opposition builds China’s legislature has approved controversial national security laws for Hong Kong, dealing what critics have called a “killer blow” to the city’s autonomy and freedoms. Delegates of (read more…)