In the Press | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Chinese billionaire arrested for crossing ‘red line’ of political activism

October 28, 2013 Comments Off

Originally published by NBC News on October 21, 2013 By Eric Baculinao, NBC News Producer BEIJING – In a crackdown on dissent ahead of a crucial Communist Party gathering next month, Chinese authorities on Sunday formally arrested a billionaire venture capitalist who has turned his wealth toward supporting human rights issues. The (read more…)

Lawyer Held, Activists Questioned Over Tiananmen Seminar

May 26, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by RFA on May 6, 2014 Chinese authorities have detained a top rights lawyer and questioned dozens of activists and family members of victims of the 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square student-led pro-democracy movement after they held a seminar to mark the sensitive 25th anniversary. The (read more…)

China: Detained to Death

May 20, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by The New York Review of Books on May 15, 2014 Renee Xia and Perry Link Chinese Human Rights DefendersChinese legal rights activist Cao Shunli (1961–2014) On May 3, fifteen Beijing citizens—scholars, journalists, and rights lawyers—gathered informally at the home of Professor Hao Jian of the Beijing Film Academy to (read more…)

Jiangxi Child Sex Abuse Case Gets Retrial

October 22, 2013 Comments Off

The parents of seven schoolgirls sexually abused by a teacher in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi have succeeded in getting their case heard again by a local court, following a petitioning trip to Beijing last month.

Lawyer Charged After Trying to Defend June 4 Commemorators

July 7, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by The New York Times (blog) on July 7, 2014 A meeting on May 3 in Beijing to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy movement led to the detentions of several participants and criminal charges against a prominent lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, in events widely reported abroad and spoken of, (read more…)

China Formally Arrests Graft-Busting Journalist in Crackdown

October 15, 2013 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on October 10, 2013 Authorities in the Chinese capital have formally arrested a whistleblowing journalist amid a wave of detentions linked to online “rumors” and nationwide calls for greater transparency. Liu Hu, a reporter with Guangzhou’s Modern Express newspaper who had exposed official corruption in his hometown of (read more…)

China Targets Moderate Democracy Activist

July 7, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by The Weekly Standard on July 2, 2014 In a 2007 article in THE WEEKLY STANDARD, “Let a Hundred Flowers Be Crushed,” the Chinese lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, told of being followed by security agents every year around the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 massacre of democracy protesters. Pu responded by ushering the (read more…)

Human rights lawyer among four detained over Tiananmen commemoration event

May 13, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by SCMP on May 6, 2014 At least four prominent participants at a low-key event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the crackdown on the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement have been placed under criminal detention, their lawyers and families said yesterday. One thing that is certain is that it was (read more…)

Chinese Teen’s Death on ‘Forced’ Factory Work Experience Sparks Outrage

October 15, 2013 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on October 9, 2013 The relatives of a high-school student from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong who died last month after being forced to work 12-hour shifts at an electronic appliance factory on a work experience program has hit out at local authorities for “passing (read more…)

U.S. calls on China to free Tiananmen anniversary activists

May 13, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by Reuters on May 7, 2014 (Reuters) – The United States urged China to release rights activist Pu Zhiqiang and other rights campaigners detained this week after attending a meeting that called for a probe into the suppression of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. “The United States is (read more…)

Chinese Activist Paralyzed by Torture Is Released

October 15, 2013 Comments Off

Originally published by Epoch Times on October 6, 2013 Ni Yulan, a well-known property rights activist who was tortured and beaten so badly by police that she now gets around in a wheelchair, has been released after two years in prison. After being greeted by family, friends, and journalists from abroad on (read more…)

China detains five activists before 25th anniversary of Tiananmen crackdown

May 13, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by Reuters on May 6, 2014 BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Tuesday detained five rights activists, three lawyers and a rights group said, after they attended a weekend meeting that called for a probe into the suppression of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Among those held (read more…)