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, September 21, 2018

Access to Justice (司法公正)

China places top energy official, a senior Uighur, under investigation
Channel NewsAsia, September 21, 2018
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/china-places-top-energy-official--a-senior-uighur--under-investigation-10744128

China detains, “disappears” parents of faulty vaccine victims
Radio Free Asia, September 20, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/vaccine-parents-09202018124833.html

Access to Information (信息公开)

China looks to restrict imported current affairs TV content
Reuters, September 20, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-censorship-content/china-looks-to-restrict-imported-current-affairs-tv-content-idUSKCN1M02G0

China expunges unapproved, foreign content from school textbooks
Reuters, September 20, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-education/china-expunges-unapproved-foreign-content-from-school-textbooks-idUSKCN1M00D9

Related:
中国审查教科书 欲删除未经允许的外国教材 (Ministry of Education conducts a comprehensive review of textbooks, prepares to remove foreign textbook content to counter so-called Western influence)
Voice of America, September 20, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/China-Expunges-Unapproved-Foreign-Content-From-School-Textbooks-20180920/4579552.html

两部门开展网络文学专项整治 三个月责令整改230余家单位 (In special rectification campaign of literature online, more than 230 companies ordered to reform in 3 months)
Beijing News, September 20, 2018
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2018/09/20/506715.html

China’s Global Times plays a peculiar role
The Economist, September 20, 2018
https://www.economist.com/china/2018/09/20/chinas-global-times-plays-a-peculiar-role

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

The decline and fall of Chinese Buddhism: how modern politics and fast money corrupted an ancient religion
South China Morning Post, September 21, 2018
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2165088/decline-and-fall-chinese-buddhism-how-modern-politics-and-fast

New era for religion in China as party tightens controls
Voice of America, September 20, 2018
https://www.voanews.com/a/new-era-for-religion-in-china-as-party-tightens-controls/4580289.html

Police hold kindergarten principal in China's Yunnan amid sexual abuse probe
Radio Free Asia, September 20, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/yunnan-abuse-09202018135042.html

Hong Kong cardinal calls for Vatican official to resign over China dealings
Voice of America, September 20, 2018
https://www.voanews.com/a/hong-kong-cardinal-calls-for-vatican-official-to-resign-over-china-dealings/4579794.html

老兵集结北京等地维权 当局维稳压力山大 (Hundreds of veterans from multiple provinces gather in Beijing to protest their treatment)
Voice of America, September 20, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/4579792.html

敏感时刻:自由派经济学者抱团发声 (Prominent Chinese liberal economists call on government to continue reforms at important forum in Beijing)
Radio Free Asia, September 19, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/xql-09192018133233.html

Government Accountability (政府问责)

Pakistan asks China to soften restrictions on Muslims
The Nation, September 20, 2018
https://nation.com.pk/20-Sep-2018/pakistan-asks-china-to-soften-restrictions-on-muslims

Beijing complains as U.S. “orders Chinese media to register as foreign agents”
The Guardian, September 20, 2018
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/20/beijing-complains-as-us-orders-chinese-media-to-register-as-foreign-agents

China says booming tourism shows everything is fine in crackdown-hit Xinjiang
Reuters, September 20, 2018
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/20/china-says-booming-tourism-shows-everything-fine-crackdown-hit/

Weidmann urges lawmakers to remain open to Chinese takeovers of German firms
Financial Times, September 20, 2018
https://www.ft.com/content/56c83526-bce8-11e8-8274-55b72926558f

China distances children from families to subdue Muslim west
Washington Post, September 20, 2018
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/china-distances-children-from-families-to-subdue-muslim-west/2018/09/20/87aec924-bd3e-11e8-8243-f3ae9c99658a_story.html

中國駐瑞典大使:瑞典人想了解新疆 應親自去看 無人強迫桂民海認罪 (Chinese ambassador to Sweden denies detaining Uyghurs in Xinjiang or forcing Swedish citizen to confess on TV)
The Stand News, September 20, 2018
https://thestandnews.com/china/新疆再教育營-中國駐瑞典大使-瑞典人想了解新疆-應親自去看-無人強迫桂民海認罪/

财政部原党组副书记、副部长张少春严重违纪违法被开除党籍和公职 (Former vice CPC secretary of Ministry of Finance expelled from party, public office for serious disciplinary, legal violations)
People's Daily, September 20, 2018
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0920/c1001-30305973.html

贵州省委原常委、省政府原副省长王晓光严重违纪违法被开除党籍和公职 (Former member of CPC Standing Committee and former lieutenant governor of Guizhou expelled from party, public office for serious disciplinary, legal violations)
People's Daily, September 20, 2018
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0920/c1001-30305555.html

Translation: How public security databases sort China’s citizens
China Digital Times, September 19, 2018
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2018/09/translation-how-public-security-databases-sort-chinas-citizens/

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

Beijing recruits Hong Kong artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime to lead tech drive
South China Morning Post, September 20, 2018
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/2165105/beijing-recruits-sensetime-ai-start-hong-kong-lead

President and CTO of internet data analysis company iResearch “disappear” for investigation
TechNode, September 20, 2018
https://technode.com/2018/09/20/iresearch-data-analysis-dissapear/

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

U.S. sanctions Chinese agency for buying Russian military equipment
Voice of America, September 20, 2018
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-sanctions-chinese-agency-for-buying-russian-military-equipment/4580252.html

Hong Kong (香港)

Do more to market mainland China express rail link to Hongkongers, MTR told
South China Morning Post, September 21, 2018
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/2165102/do-more-market-mainland-china-express-rail-link-hongkongers

Related:
China tightens embrace of Hong Kong with bullet train, other mega projects
Reuters, September 21, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-politics-integration/china-tightens-embrace-of-hong-kong-with-bullet-train-other-mega-projects-idUSKCN1M1005

Hong Kong’s “umbrella movement” activists focus of new film, Last Exit to Kai Tak
South China Morning Post, September 21, 2018
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2164971/hong-kongs-umbrella-movement-activists-focus-new

Commentary (评论)

Will Taiwan trap itself into “One China” again?
The Diplomat, September 20, 2018
https://thediplomat.com/2018/09/will-taiwan-trap-itself-into-one-china-again/

Learning to survive without WeChat
The New York Times, September 20, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/opinion/learning-to-survive-without-wechat-in-china.html

Uighurs in the laogai: How China's persecution of a minority turned my fiction into fact
Global Voices, September 20, 2018
https://globalvoices.org/2018/09/20/uighurs-in-the-laogai-how-chinas-persecution-of-a-minority-turned-my-fiction-into-fact/

學術爭論的基本倫理 (Basic ethics of academic debate)
Ming Pao, September 17, 2018
https://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20180918/s00012/1537209496585