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.

Monday, April 30, 2018

Access to Justice (司法公正)

Police detain Chinese activists marking 50th anniversary of Lin Zhao's death
民主先驱林昭遇难50周年 多位祭奠人士遭控制
Radio Free Asia, April 30, 2018
EN: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/activists-04302018114334.html
CH: https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/gf1-04302018101602.html

Tianjin police “investigate” colleagues of detained human rights lawyer
公安“侦查”王全璋案 多名维权律师拒绝配合
Radio Free Asia, April 30, 2018
EN: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/colleagues-04302018113935.html
CH: https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/gf1-04272018102431.html

蔡志国感慨“信访见人不见底”,五一节前“三骗子胡同”突然不见了信访人 (Hebei rights defender observes: usual crowds of petitioners in front of State Bureau of Letters and Calls in Beijing have been cleared away before May 1 holiday)
Weiquanwang, May 1, 2018
http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2018/04/blog-post_83.html

Access to Information (信息公开)

Peppa Pig blocked from China's Douyin video platform
British Broadcasting Corporation, April 30, 2018
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43953432

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

The AI arms race: China and US compete to dominate big data
Financial Times, May 1, 2018
https://www.ft.com/content/e33a6994-447e-11e8-93cf-67ac3a6482fd

”Forget the Facebook leak”: China is mining data directly from workers’ brains on an industrial scale
South China Morning Post, April 29, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2143899/forget-facebook-leak-china-mining-data-directly-workers-brains

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

中国多地塔吊司机拉横幅上街 要求涨工资 (Crane operators nationwide strike and protest to demand wages increase and overtime pay for high-risk work)
Voice of America, April 30, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/news-collective-action-and-strike-broke-out-by-construction-crane-operators-in-numerous-regions-of-china-20180430/4370725.html

袁凌:從調查記者轉型作家,記錄鄉村、底層和體制邊緣人 (Yuan Ling, an investigative journalist and author, on recording the lives of rural, marginalized people)
The Initium, April 30, 2018
https://theinitium.com/article/20180430-mainland-yuanling/

National Security & Counterterrorism (国家安全与反恐)

White house considers restricting Chinese researchers over espionage fears
The New York Times, April 30, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/us/politics/trump-china-researchers-espionage.html

Hong Kong (香港)

Article 23 national security law in Hong Kong could help win more democracy, government adviser Ronny Tong says
South China Morning Post, May 1, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2144199/article-23-national-security-law-hong-kong-could-help-win

Government is rewriting the history of Hong Kong, one inconvenient phrase at a time
South China Morning Post, May 1, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2144200/government-rewriting-history-hong-kong-one-inconvenient

Cutting off former Hong Kong legislator’s famous long hair was not discriminatory, court rules
South China Morning Post, April 30, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2143998/cutting-former-hong-kong-legislators-famous

Activists complain to Ombudsman over gov’t officers monitoring lawmakers’ whereabouts inside legislature
Hong Kong Free Press, April 30, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/30/activists-complain-ombudsman-govt-officers-monitoring-lawmakers-whereabouts-inside-legislature/

Other (其他)

目击者:中方施压约旦 台湾参展旗帜遭扯 (Taiwan flag ripped off exhibition in Jordan, allegedly at China’s request)
Radio Free Asia, April 30, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/hcm1-04302018102735.html

Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation increases as Dominican Republic recognizes China
The New York Times, May 1, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/world/asia/taiwan-dominican-republic-recognize.html

Commentary (评论)

Censorship “maybe”? Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam fails to reassure on press freedom
Hong Kong Free Press, May 1, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/05/01/censorship-maybe-hong-kongs-carrie-lam-fails-reassure-press-freedom/

The rise of populism and implications for China
China File, April 30, 2018
http://www.chinafile.com/library/china-world-podcast/rise-of-populism-and-implications-china

誰砸爛大學基層教師的飯碗?(Who smashed the rice bowls of Hong Kong adjunct faculties?)
Inmedia, April 30, 2018
https://www.inmediahk.net/node/1056712a

Access to Justice (司法公正)

人民陪审员法表决通过 明确人民陪审员与法官有同等权利 (NPC Standing Committee passes law of People’s Assessors who “have the same rights as judges”)
Xinhua News Agency, April 27, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-04/27/c_1122755575.htm

Related:
中华人民共和国人民陪审员法 (People’s Assessors Law of the People’s Republic of China)
National People’s Congress, April 27, 2018
http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/xinwen/2018-04/27/content_2053975.htm

Access to Information (信息公开)

佩佩豬突遭抖音封殺 網哀:我們懷念她 (Peppa Pig censored by Douyin, Chinese video platform)
TVBS, April 30, 2018
https://news.tvbs.com.tw/fun/911102

李克强让人民运用互联网大数据监督政府讲话遭删 (Li Keqiang’s comment on people monitoring government using Internet, big data censored in China)
Radio France Internationale, April 30, 2018
https://bit.ly/2HFFpzF

China’s state broadcaster backs Russian version of the Syrian crisis, saying chemical attacks were staged
Global Voices, April 28, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/28/chinas-state-broadcaster-backs-russian-version-syrian-crisis-saying-chemical-attacks-staged/

广东省网信办等部门加强网络空间治理 积极查办违法违规案件 (Guangdong Internet and Informatization Office censors 6 million pieces of “harmful information,” shuts down 580,000 Internet accounts, takes down 700 apps in 2018)
China Cyberspace Administration, April 27, 2018
http://www.cac.gov.cn/2018-04/27/c_1122750744.htm

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

珠海偉創力罷工遭官方工會破壞 (Zhuhai workers’ strike sabotaged by party-controlled trade union)
Inmediahk, April 30, 2018
https://www.inmediahk.net/node/1056686

Government Accountability (政府问责)

Chinese girl abducted, hidden and beaten finally finds birth parents 21 years on
South China Morning Post, April 30, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2144027/chinese-girl-abducted-hidden-and-beaten-finally-finds-birth

A new class struggle: Chinese party members get back to Communist Manifesto basics
South China Morning Post, April 29, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2143841/new-class-struggle-chinese-party-members-get-back

National Security & Counterterrorism (国家安全和反恐)

Taiwan president says willing to meet China's Xi “for peace”
Agence France-Presse, April 27, 2018
https://www.yahoo.com/news/taiwan-president-says-willing-meet-chinas-xi-peace-003615062.html

公安部:铸牢对党忠诚政治灵魂,发扬国保队伍优良传统 (Ministry of Public Security honors Domestic Security officers for “loyalty to the Party”)
Ministry of Public Security, April 27, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2101036

Hong Kong (香港)

Hong Kong poet and supporter of late dissident Liu Xiaobo battles terminal cancer
South China Morning Post, April 30, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2143965/hong-kong-poet-and-supporter-late-dissident-liu-xiaobo

Correctional Services Dept. wins appeal to overturn sexual discrimination challenge against male prisoner haircuts
Hong Kong Free Press, April 30, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/30/correctional-services-dept-wins-appeal-overturn-sexual-discrimination-challenge-male-prisoner-haircuts/

Hong Kong housing protests grow as Labor Party demands seizure of city’s most exclusive golf club
South China Morning Post, April 29, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2143904/hong-kong-housing-protests-grow-labour-party-demands-seizure

Commentary (评论)

為何仍堅持建設民主中國? (Why do we persist in building a democratic China?)
Inmediahk, April 30, 2018
https://www.inmediahk.net/node/1056705

How China’s filmmakers became nostalgic for a socialist past
China Film Insider, April 29, 2018
http://chinafilminsider.com/how-chinas-filmmakers-became-nostalgic-for-a-socialist-past/

Free speech: Hong Kong’s new limits, new punishments, and the fate of academic Benny Tai
Hong Kong Free Press, April 29, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/29/free-speech-hong-kongs-new-limits-new-punishments-fate-academic-benny-tai/

The Ted Hui debacle: Tragedy, farce, and the hypocrisy of Hong Kong’s pro-establishment camp
Hong Kong Free Press, April 29, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/29/ted-hui-debacle-tragedy-farce-hypocrisy-hong-kongs-pro-establishment-camp/

The demise of watchdog journalism in China
中国调查性报道的衰亡
The New York Times, April 27, 2018
EN: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/opinion/watchdog-journalism-china-oppression.html
CH: https://cn.nytimes.com/opinion/20180428/watchdog-journalism-china-oppression/