Originally published by USA Today on January 13, 2015 BEIJING — A U.S. report Tuesday accused China’s rulers of intensifying their repression of personal freedoms, even as the communist government has proclaimed a commitment to greater human rights. Freedom House, a Washington advocacy group, said that since Communist Party leader Xi (read more…)
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Originally published by Radio Free Asia on January 8, 2015 Top Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng remains effectively under house arrest, five months after his release from prison on subversion charges, his family said on Thursday. Gao, 52, is currently under 24-hour surveillance by state security police at the home of (read more…)
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Originally published by AFP on January 8, 2015 BEIJING: China arrested or prosecuted more than 2,300 people for political offences in 2013, the vast majority in secret, an advocacy group reported Thursday as the ruling Communist party continues a crackdown on dissent. A total of 2,318 people were arrested or indicted on (read more…)
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Originally published by Quartz on January 14, 2015 There are over 40 Chinese citizens that continue to be detained—some of them tortured—by Chinese authorities for supporting pro-democracy protests in neighboring Hong Kong, according to researchers at Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) . At least 42 people are still in police custody after expressing (read more…)
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Author(s): Frances Eve Published in: China File As the year came to a close, at least seven prominent Chinese human rights lawyers rang in the New Year from a jail cell. Under President Xi Jinping, 2014 was one of the worst years in recent memory for China’s embattled civil society. Bookending the (read more…)
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Originally published by Asia News on December 31, 2014 In eastern China, the Jiangsu Provincial Higher People’s Court rejected appeal by companies, which now have 30 days to pay US$ 26 million in fines. The mainland’s environmental situation is getting worse with 70 per cent of rivers and lakes polluted, this (read more…)
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Author(s): Victor Clemens Published in: Fletcher Forum The booming construction and development industry in China, where the government faces no democratic constraints and rule of law exists only on paper, has brought about a devastating side effect: violent episodes of land appropriation, housing evictions, and demolitions that typically victimize the poorest citizens, particularly (read more…)
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Originally published by AFP on November 28, 2014 Two prominent Chinese political activists went on trial on Friday (Nov 28) for helping to organise small-scale protests against censorship, their lawyer said, the latest prosecution in a deepening government crackdown on dissent. BEIJING: Two prominent Chinese political activists went on trial on (read more…)
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Originally published by Reuters on November 28, 2014 Two Chinese human rights activists are standing trial Friday on charges of “disturbing public order,” becoming the latest dissidents to be prosecuted by Beijing. Guo Feixiong and Sun Desheng were arrested in August 2013 after taking part in rallies outside a newspaper that had (read more…)
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Originally published by EFE on December 4, 2014 Chinese authorities have arrested a number of public intellectuals and shut down two independent organizations in what many see as a preventive response to the threat of Hong Kong’s revolution spreading to the rest of the country, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, CHRD (read more…)
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Originally published by The Wall Street Journal on December 4, 2014 Roughly two years ago, free-speech protests outside the offices of a celebrated Chinese newspaper sparked a government crackdown on proponents of constitutionalism. Today, China’s government is leading the celebrations to mark its first national Constitution Day. The seeming about-face illustrates (read more…)
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Originally published by Quartz on December 2, 2014 The cheer of America’s holiday season is typically lost on China. Over the past decade, Chinese officials have increasingly chosen to hold trials for detained political dissidents during Western holidays, when diplomats, journalists, and other observers are off duty or distracted. Last week’s American Thanksgiving (read more…)
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