Access to Justice (司法公正)

最高检：零容忍虐童案，儿童合法权益缺乏全面系统立法规定 (Supreme People's Procuratorate claims it has zero tolerance towards child abuse and calls for comprehensive legislature to protect children’s rights)
The Paper, December 28, 2017
http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1925445

Tibetan filmmaker flees China, arrives in United States
Reuters, December 28, 2017
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2125923/tibetan-filmmaker-flees-china-arrives-united-states

Related:
一名西藏政治犯逃至加州 (Tibetan political prisoner Dhondup Wangchen flees to California after spending almost 10 years in jail)
Voice of America, December 28, 2017
https://www.voachinese.com/a/tibet-escape-20171227/4182230.html

Kazakhstan national missing, believed detained in China, amid ongoing crackdown
新疆前官员入籍哈国遭公安越境绑架 伊力哈木16个月不准见妻儿
Radio Free Asia, December 27, 2017
EN: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/kazakh-missing-12272017141959.html
CH: http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shaoshuminzu/ql1-12272017101941.html

程海律师、蔺其磊律师:立即撤销案件释放王全璋律师或予以取保候审的要求书 (Cheng Hai and Lin Qilei, defense lawyers of Wang Quanzhang, demand Wang’s case to be immediately closed and call for his release or bail)
Weiquanwang, December 27, 2017
http://wqw2010.blogspot.hk/2017/12/blog-post_44.html

吳淦獲刑聲明：不反對專制，我還是人嗎？ (Rights defender Wu Gan faces jail and says: Am I still human if I do not oppose authoritarianism?)
Stand News, December 27, 2017
http://bit.ly/2C94uzB

Related:
US and Germany call for release of Chinese activist “Super Vulgar Butcher”
The Guardian, December 28, 2017
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/28/us-and-germany-call-for-release-of-chinese-activist-super-vulgar-butcher

张海涛维权获罪19年，新疆妻儿被迫逃美 (Zhang Haitao’s wife and child forced to flee to US, after he was sentenced to 19 years in Xinjiang for defending rights)
Voice of America, December 27
https://www.voachinese.com/a/voaweishi-20171227-connect-zhang-haitao/4181149.html

Related:
How questioning China’s security crackdown in Xinjiang led to a 20-year jail term
Associated Press, December 28, 2017
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2125910/how-questioning-chinas-security-crackdown-xinjiang-led

Beijing to discuss revising constitution for first time since 2004
South China Morning Post, December 27, 2017
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2125871/beijing-discuss-revising-constitution-first-time-2004

Related:
十九届二中全会明年1月召开，讨论研究修改宪法部分内容建议 (Second plenum of 19th party congress to discuss amendments to Constitution in January 2018)
Xinhua News Agency, December 27, 2017
http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1923954

最高检：发挥检察职能协助解决农民工讨薪问题 (Supreme People’s Procuratorate vows to help migrant workers get paid)
Legal Daily, December 27, 2017
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/index_article/content/2017-12/27/content_7432366.htm?node=5955

全国人大法律委：信访法起草工作正在抓紧进行 (NPC Legal Committee: Letters and Calls Law now being drafted)
Xinhua News Agency, December 27, 2017
http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1924876

Access to Information (信息公开)

Don't call “Xi the Bun” - Chinese netizens are being jailed for chatroom jokes
Global Voices, December 27, 2017
https://advox.globalvoices.org/2017/12/27/dont-call-xi-the-bun-chinese-netizens-are-being-jailed-for-chatroom-jokes/

China’s Internet “clean-up” has closed over 13,000 illegal websites since 2015
Quartz, December 27, 2017
https://qz.com/1166024/china-shut-down-over-13000-illegal-websites-and-10-million-user-accounts-since-2015/

中共中央印发《中国共产党党务公开条例（试行）》 (Central Committee of CPC releases “Regulation on Disclosure of CPC Affairs (Pilot)”)
Xinhua News Agency, December 25, 2017
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2017-12/25/c_1122164920.htm

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

乘火车吸二手烟 女大学生告铁路局 (After being exposed to secondhand smoke on train, university student sues railway authority)
The Beijing News, December 28, 2017
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2017/12/28/470384.html

广东顺德征地疑涉官商勾结 村民示威遭带走 (Villagers in Guangdong protest against government-business collusion in land rights dispute, and get taken away by police)
Radio Free Asia, December 27, 2017
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/gf1-12272017112213.html

左派张云帆被捕遭秘密关押 学界联署要求放人 (Academia launches signature campaign demanding release of left-wing advocate Zhang Yunfan, after he was arrested and secretly detained last month)
Agence France-Presse, December 27, 2017
http://bit.ly/2ljz7HT

Related:
Scholars call for release of detained Maoist Zhang Yunfan in China
Agence France-Presse, December 27, 2017
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/12/27/scholars-call-release-detained-maoist-zhang-yunfan-china/

8 top Chinese intellectuals demand constitutional review of Beijing’s mass eviction
The Diplomat, December 27, 2017
https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/8-top-chinese-intellectuals-demand-constitutional-review-of-beijings-mass-eviction/

Government Accountability (政府问责)

中央环保督察完成31省份全覆盖 已问责超1.8万人 (Environmental inspectors from Central Government now cover 31 provinces and have held over 18,000 people to account)
Chinanews.com, December 28, 2017
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2017/12-28/8411080.shtml

Chinese authorities define student bullying
China News Service, December 27, 2017
http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2017/12-27/286102.shtml

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

Uyghur biodata collection in China
The Diplomat, December 28, 2017
https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/uyghur-biodata-collection-in-china/

China lashes out at German ambassador over cyber security
Associated Press, December 27, 2017
https://goo.gl/q1Mb9n

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

武警元旦起歸黨和中央軍委領導 (Paramilitary police force to be led by Party and Central Military Commission starting January 1, 2018)
NOW, December 28, 2017
http://news.now.com/home/international/player?newsId=248382

Related:
China Communist Party takes control of paramilitary police
Agence France-Presse, December 27, 2017
https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/china-communist-party-takes-control-paramilitary-police-doc-vg17e1

Hong Kong (香港)

海麗邨清潔工續罷工 公民廣場外抗議 要求政府介入 (Public housing cleaners strike and protest for severance pay outside government building)
Inmediahk, December 28, 2017
https://www.inmediahk.net/node/1054160

Bar Council chairman Paul Lam seeks re-election amid challenge from rights lawyer Philip Dykes
Hong Kong Free Press, December 28, 2017
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/12/28/bar-council-chairman-paul-lam-seeks-re-election-amid-challenge-rights-lawyer-philip-dykes/

China’s top legislature approves joint checkpoint plan; says it complies with Hong Kong constitution
Hong Kong Free Press, December 27, 2017
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/12/27/chinas-top-legislature-approves-joint-checkpoint-plan-says-complies-hong-kong-constitution/

Related:

全国人大常委会批准《内地与香港特别行政区关于在广深港高铁西九龙站设立口岸实施“一地两检”的合作安排》 (NPC Standing Committee approves joint checkpoint plan)
Xinhua News Agency, December 27, 2017
http://www.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2017-12/27/c_1122175282.htm

港团体游行抗议中共重判大陆维权人士吴淦 (Hong Kong groups march in protest against hefty sentencing of mainland rights defender Wu Gan)
Radio Free Asia, December 27, 2017
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/cp-12272017162608.html

Baptist University biology researcher claims his political leanings have led to talk of his termination
South China Morning Post, December 27, 2017
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/2125861/baptist-university-biology-researcher-claims-his-political

Commentary (评论)

A decade on, China’s Labor Contract Law has failed to deliver
China Labor Bulletin, December 28, 2017
http://www.clb.org.hk/content/decade-china%E2%80%99s-labour-contract-law-has-failed-deliver

Minitruth 2017: October-“A Taxi Driver” & Tiananmen echoes
China Digital Times, December 28, 2017
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2017/12/minitruth-2017-october-taxi-driver-echoes-tiananmen/

“The Chinese Dream” and Xi Jinping's power politics in 2017
Deutsche Welle, December 27, 2017
http://www.dw.com/en/the-chinese-dream-and-xi-jinpings-power-politics-in-2017/a-41941966