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.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Xinjiang (新疆)

Authorities detain senior editors of Uyghur publishing house over “problematic” books
Radio Free Asia, November 12, 2018

德外长不满北京政府维族政策
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas calls for China transparency over Uighur Muslims
Deutsche Welle, November 12, 2018

Related:
德国外长批评中国新疆维族政策 (During visit to China, German foreign minister says “we will not accept re-education camps”)
Radio France Internationale, November 12, 2018

Access to Information (信息公开)

Deletion of Wu Gan’s Twitter posts reflects the urgent need to protect Chinese human rights activists’ “data ownership”
China Change, November 11, 2018

中国严控网络 20多天查封近万个自媒体帐号 (China tightens Internet further by blocking more than 9,800 independent media accounts in past 10 days)
Radio France Internationale, November 12, 2018

Related:
国家网信办“亮剑”自媒体乱象,依法严管将成为常态 (CAC: Tight restrictions on online media will become norm)
The Paper, November 12, 2018

China is struggling to explain Xi Jinping Thought: Universities have been mobilised to help
The Economist, November 8, 2018

发条微信 中大博士生遭搜查传讯 (University student summoned for interrogation over a WeChat message about churches teaching Chinese socialism instead of Bible
Radio Free Asia, November 12, 2018

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

北大低调回应公安入校抓人打人 学者称校园不该发生暴力事件 (Peking University denies student was attacked and abducted, while scholars condemn violence on campus)

中国加大对劳工抗议的打压
China extends crackdown on labour protests as activism spreads
Financial Times, November 12, 2018

Related:
12名佳士声援者失踪:左派青年受压
Police detain Maoist labor activists on campuses across China: Group
Radio Free Asia, November 12, 2018

China: Student activists reported missing after campaigning for workers’ rights
The Independent, November 13, 2018

Tibetan residents of Gansu protest water diversion scheme
Radio Free Asia, November 12, 2018

Submission to UN on Yu Wensheng – November 8, 2018
Chinese Human Rights Defenders, November 8, 2018

Government Accountability (政府问责)

宗教局查封山西家庭教會 官員:宗教信仰自由不代表宗教活動自由 (Shanxi family church banned, officials: Constitution protects freedom of religion, not freedom of religious activities)
The Stand News, November 12, 2018

China’s bankers grapple with new credit rules to private borrowers as officials sow confusion with flip-flopping policies
South China Morning Post, November 13, 2018

Hong Kong (香港)

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam dismisses request from 17 former chiefs of Foreign Correspondents’ Club to clarify whether government considers it to be a neutral body
South China Morning Post, November 12, 2018

內地邊防部隊涉佔用香港土地 沙頭角建橋擅自過境
Hong Kong land occupied by Chinese border guards in Sha Tau Kok border area
FactWire, November 11, 2018

譚耀宗引述習近平:要求港澳「自覺維護國家安全」 納入國家治理新體系 (Xi Jinping tells Hong Kong and Macau representatives to be “self-conscious on protecting national security”)
The Stand News, November 12, 2018

Related:
President Xi Jinping praises Hong Kong as ”unique and irreplaceable,” urges city to integrate with China
Hong Kong Free Press, November 12, 2018

過千學者組成 「國際第三部門研究學會」去信林鄭促撤陳健民檢控 (One thousand scholars ask Carrie Lam to drop charges against Occupy movement initiator)
The Stand News, November 12, 2018

Commentary (评论)

【專訪】中國流亡作家馬建:文學也許軟弱無力 但總比沉默好 (Interview with exiled writer Ma Jian: literature might be weak, but it’s better than silence)
The Stand News, November 12, 2018

China’s pop idols are too soft for the Party
Foreign Policy, November 12, 2018