The HRIC Daily Brief is a daily selection of news stories and commentary related to human rights in China, drawn from Chinese- and English-language news and online media sources that we monitor daily. In addition to headlines and source links, HRIC also provides English translation of Chinese headlines.

Friday, January 20, 2017

Access to Justice (司法公正)

中国法律人敦促周强引咎辞职 (Chinese legal profession urges Zhou Qiang to resign)
Deutsche Welle, January 19, 2017
http://www.dw.com/zh/中国法律人敦促周强引咎辞职/a-37189971

Related:
中国知识界联署要求最高院周强“走人” (Intellects in China petition to demand President of SPC Zhou Qiang to “leave”)
Voice of America, January 20, 2017
http://www.voachinese.com/a/news-china-scholars-demand--resignation-20170119/3682745.html

四位旅美前中国法律界人士谴责周强抵制司法独立的言论违法违宪要求人大撤销其职务 (4 U.S.-residing former Chinese legal professionals criticize Zhou Qiang for speech rejecting judicial independence, demand his dismissal from CPC)
Radio Free Asia, January 19, 2017
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ck-01192017100729.html

“709案”谢燕益回家仍有8人被羁押 谢阳拒绝当局“放人条件” (“709 case”: Xie Yanyi returns home while 8 people still detained, Xie Yang refuses the authorities’ “conditions for release” )
Radio Free Asia, January 19, 2017
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/xl1-01192017103426.html

Related:
Transcript of Interviews with Lawyer Xie Yang (1)
China Change, January 19, 2017
https://chinachange.org/2017/01/19/transcript-of-interviews-with-lawyer-xie-yang-1/

Authorities Deny Lawyers’ Access to Xie Yang and His Case File
“709”案谢阳律师被违法阻止律师会见和阅卷
Human Rights in China, October 21, 2016
EN: http://www.hrichina.org/en/citizens-square/authorities-deny-lawyers-access-xie-yang-and-his-case-file
CH: http://www.hrichina.org/chs/gong-min-yan-chang/709an-xie-yang-lu-shi-bei-wei-fa-zu-zhi-lu-shi-hui-jian-he-yue-juan

Rights groups ask China to free Tibetan education advocate
人权组织呼吁释放藏语教育倡导者扎西文色
The New York Times, January 20, 2017
EN: http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20170120/china-tibetan-education-advocate/en-us/
CH: http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20170120/china-tibetan-education-advocate/

Wife of detained Chinese rights lawyer seeks Angela Merkel’s help
被监禁的人权律师江天勇妻子向默克尔求助
The New York Times, January 19, 2017
EN: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/world/asia/china-lawyer-jiang-tianyong-germany.html
CH: http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20170120/china-lawyer-jiang-tianyong-germany/

Access to Information (信息公开)

What’s behind China’s mass fabrication of official figures?
Caixin, January 19, 2017
http://www.caixinglobal.com/2017-01-19/101046909.html

China orders state media not to criticize Trump ahead of inauguration
Radio Free Asia, January 19, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/media-trump-01192017163646.html

Related:
Ministry of Truth: Handle Trump carefully
China Digital Times, January 18, 2017
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2017/01/minitrue-handle-trump-carefully/

Commentary by Gao Wenqian: Human Rights and the U.S.-China Diplomatic Chessboard
高文谦:中美外交棋局与人权
Human Rights in China, January 19, 2017
EN: http://www.hrichina.org/en/china-rights-forum/commentary-gao-wenqian-human-rights-and-us-china-diplomatic-chessboard
CH: http://www.hrichina.org/chs/zhong-guo-ren-quan-shuang-zhou-kan/gao-wen-qian-zhong-mei-wai-jiao-qi-ju-yu-ren-quan

China’s official 2016 GDP number is in, and the government promises it’s “authentic”
Quartz, January 20, 2017
https://qz.com/890084/chinas-official-2016-gdp-growth-was-6-7-and-the-government-promises-its-authentic/

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

Chinese migrant workers protest over unpaid wages
Voice of America, January 19, 2017
http://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-migrant-workers-protest-unpaid-wages/3682577.html

Government Accountability (政府问责)

China to launch graft-busting super bureau next year
South China Morning Post, January 20, 2017
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2063690/china-launch-graft-busting-super-bureau-next-year

China asks foreign diplomats for closer cooperation in anti-graft war
Reuters, January 19, 2017
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-corruption-idUSKBN1540AL

China jails former senior oil executive for 15 years for graft
Reuters, January 19, 2017
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-corruption-cnpc-idUSKBN1530TY

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

Evaluating the U.S.-China cybersecurity agreement, Part 1: The U.S. approach to cyberspace
The Diplomat, January 19, 2017
http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/evaluating-the-us-china-cybersecurity-agreement-part-1-the-us-approach-to-cyberspace/

Related:
Evaluating the U.S.-China cybersecurity agreement, Part 2: China’s take on cyberspace and cybersecurity
The Diplomat, January 19, 2017
http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/evaluating-the-us-china-cybersecurity-agreement-part-2-chinas-take-on-cyberspace-and-cybersecurity/

Hong Kong (香港)

United States Congress set to introduce Hong Kong human rights act “in coming days”
South China Morning Post, January 20, 2017
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2062798/will-hong-kongs-pro-democracy-camp-find-ally-trump

Video: There is absolutely no room for Hong Kong independence, C.Y. Leung warns
Hong Kong Free Press, January 18, 2017
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/01/18/video-absolutely-no-room-hong-kong-independence-cy-leung-warns/

Hong Kong's localist revolutionaries
Al Jazeera, January 19, 2017
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2017/01/hong-kong-localist-revolutionaries-170118060422170.html

Hong Kong’s democrats say no to China’s treasures
The Economist, January 21, 2017
http://www.economist.com/news/china/21715042-worlds-most-popular-museum-political-too-hong-kongs-democrats-say-no-chinas-treasures

Why China's supporters in Hong Kong are divided
The Diplomat, January 20, 2017
http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/why-chinas-supporters-in-hong-kong-are-divided/

曾俊華:人大8.31是基礎 若氛圍與2014年相似不會重推政改 (John Tsang: CPC’s August 31 decision is a foundation, I will not push for political reform again if atmosphere is similar to that in 2014)
Mingpao, January 20, 2017
http://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20170120/s00001/1484873862833

終止青政民族黨年宵租約 高永文稱為市民安全被迫下決定 (Ko Wing-man says he had no choice but to ban stalls of Youngspiration and National Party for the sake of public safety)
Mingpao, January 20, 2017
http://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20170119/s00001/1484821546254

Commentary (评论)

Is Xi Jinping the new champion of globalization? Far from it.
The Washington Post, January 18, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/is-xi-jinping-the-new-champion-of-globalization-far-from-it/2017/01/18/ecfda27a-dda0-11e6-acdf-14da832ae861_story.html