Access to Justice (司法公正)

周远案当事人获赔191万：对结果持保留态度 将申诉 (Zhou Yuan receives 1,910,000 yuan of state compensation after spending 20 years in prison for crimes he didn’t commit, and he pledges to appeal to the supreme court)
Xinhua News Agency, January 31, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/legal/2018-01/31/c_1122343890.htm

700人联署声援余文生 国际特赦紧急呼吁 (700 sign petition calling for release of rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, as Amnesty International issues emergency statement)
Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ql2-01302018102303.html

甘肃临夏农民工讨薪事件： 张成义被刑事拘留 律师会见未果 (Migrant worker representative barred from meeting with lawyer after being criminally detained in Gansu for “not paying wages” while the developer remains at large)
Weiquanwang, January 30, 2018
http://wqw2010.blogspot.hk/2018/01/blog-post_533.html

Uyghur Muslim scholar dies in Chinese police custody
Radio Free Asia, January 29, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/scholar-death-01292018180427.html

Related:
Interview: “I lost all hope of surviving”
Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/kazakh-01302018161655.html

Access to Information (信息公开)

Foreign journalists say reporting conditions in China deteriorated in 2017
Hong Kong Free Press, January 31, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/01/31/foreign-journalists-say-reporting-conditions-china-deteriorated-2017/

Related:
2018年1月29日外交部发言人华春莹主持例行记者会 (MFA spokesperson dodges “antagonistic” VPN question, says China will “continuously promote comprehensive opening up to the outside world”)
Ministry of Foreign Affair, January 29, 2018
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/fyrbt_673021/t1529866.shtml

China's secret police “recruit students as agents” to spy on activists overseas
国保海外撒网 诱异见留学生做卧底
Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2018
EN: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/recruit-01302018110158.html
CH: https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/spy-01262018062505.html

Related:
How Chinese government uses “front organizations” to influence Australian society and monitor behavior of its citizens studying there
The Guardian, January 31, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/2131309/how-chinese-government-uses-front-organisations-influence

中国一军机贵州坠毁多人身亡 当局封锁消息 (China blocks news of deadly military plane crash in Guizhou)
Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/ql1-01302018102222.html

Interview: “I came to live a life free from surveillance”
Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/interview-i-came-to-live-a-life-free-from-surveillance-01302018095509.html

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

Vatican rebukes Hong Kong’s Cardinal Zen for remarks on “selling out” of Chinese Catholics
South China Morning Post, January 31, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2131316/vatican-rebukes-hong-kongs-cardinal-zen-remarks-selling-out

China's #MeToo movement in colleges initially encouraged by authorities, then frustrated
Reuters, January 31, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-harassment-insight/chinas-metoo-movement-in-colleges-initially-encouraged-by-authorities-then-frustrated-idUSKBN1FJ33W

中国公民社会前景：乐观还是堪忧？ (Experts have mixed views on future of civil society in China)
Voice of America, January 31, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/ngo-20180130/4232289.html

中国曹顺利人权团队在上海的部分人权捍卫者近日第5次上街举牌要求中共政权立即释放全国政治犯并解除党禁报禁 (Human rights defenders in Shanghai hold placards on street demanding release of political prisoners and allowing political parties and media to operate freely)
Weiquanwang, January 30, 2018
http://wqw2010.blogspot.hk/2018/01/5_30.html

投诉：陕西石泉县鬼谷庄景区民工到省政府讨薪 (Migrant workers demand wage in arrears at provincial government in Shaanxi)
Weiquanwang, January 30, 2018
http://wqw2010.blogspot.hk/2018/01/blog-post_970.html

维权人士冯正虎等人控告上海高院院长 (Rights defenders in Shanghai take head of city’s top court to court)
Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/yf2-01302018102441.html

民政部：严重失信社会组织将被列入重点监管对象 (New measures from Ministry of Civil Affairs include characterizing social organizations without CPC committees as engaging in aberrant activities)
Xinhua News Agency, January 30, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-01/30/c_129802145.htm

Related:
《社会组织信用信息管理办法》 (Measures for the Administration of Social Organization Credit Information (Full Text))
Ministry of Civil Affairs, January 30, 2018
http://www.mca.gov.cn/article/gk/fg/shzzgl/201801/20180100007671.shtml

Government Accountability (政府问责)

China drawing up “fresh battle plan” to tackle smog
Reuters, January 31, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2131331/china-drawing-fresh-battle-plan-tackle-smog

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

腾讯信用全国公测 阿里、腾讯下一场“鏖战”在信用？ (Tencent tests credit system based on social networking data nationwide)
The Beijing News, January 31, 2018
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/finance/2018/01/31/474734.html

王力雄：“天网”之下，还有革命的可能吗？ (Wang Lixiong: Is revolution still possible under “Skynet”?)
The New York Times, January 31, 2018
https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20180131/wang-lixiong/

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

Chinese military paper urges increase in nuclear deterrence capabilities
Reuters, January 30, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-security/chinese-military-paper-urges-increase-in-nuclear-deterrence-capabilities-idUSKBN1FJ1A0

Hong Kong (香港)

全球民主指數 港跌至71位 並列巴拉圭、納米比亞 (Economist Democracy Index 2017: Hong Kong slips to 71st place)
Mingpao, January 31, 2018
https://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20180131/s00001/1517380372601

Related:
Democracy Index 2017
Economist Intelligence Unit, January 31, 2018
https://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index

In Pictures: District councilors seeking answers over Agnes Chow election ban blocked from meeting
Hong Kong Free Press, January 31, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/01/31/pictures-district-councillors-seeking-answers-agnes-chow-election-ban-blocked-meeting/

Related:
Video: Agnes Chow was not banned from election because of her political affiliation, Carrie Lam says
Hong Kong Free Press, January 30, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/01/30/video-agnes-chow-not-banned-election-political-affiliation-carrie-lam-says/

Theresa May pledges to raise Hong Kong and human rights with China
The Guardian, January 31, 2018
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/31/theresa-may-pledges-to-raise-hong-kong-and-human-rights-with-china

Related:
Theresa May – as you travel to China, let me tell you about my family's treatment under Xi Jinping
The Independent, January 30, 2018
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-china-visit-xi-jinping-human-rights-brexit-trade-deal-tiananmen-square-protest-a8184856.html

香港团体中联办抗议中共打压维权律师 (Hong Kong groups protest in front of Liaison Office against CPC’s suppression of rights lawyers)
Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/cp-01302018102658.html

76-year-old former track coach arrested in connection with sexual assault of Hong Kong hurdler Vera Lui
Hong Kong Free Press, January 30, 2018
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/01/30/76-year-old-former-track-coach-arrested-connection-sexual-assault-hong-kong-hurdler-vera-lui/

Commentary (评论)

China rewrites the rules on how to rise in influence in the Middle East
South China Morning Post, January 31, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2131328/china-rewrites-rules-how-rise-influence-middle-east

Agnes Chow’s by-election disqualification robs us all of a debate on Hong Kong’s future
South China Morning Post, January 31, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2131233/agnes-chows-election-disqualification-robs-us-all-debate

Related:
世道人生：退無可退 (No running away from autocracy)
Apple Daily, January 30, 2018
https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/daily/article/20180130/20289707

廖天琪：桂民海的遭遇绝非孤立事件 (Liao Tianqi, head of Chinese PEN, claims Gui Minhai’s ordeal is not an isolated incident)
Radio France Internationale, January 30, 2018
http://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/97450

Beijing attacks Hong Kong’s rule of law
The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2018
https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-attacks-hong-kongs-rule-of-law-1517270605