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.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Xinjiang (新疆)

新疆代表委员聚焦“访惠聚” (XUAR chief reports to local People’s Congress: In 2018, 1.12 million cadres embedded in 1.69 million households for “maintaining stability” topped all other political work
Legal Daily, January 16, 2019

Access to Justice (司法公正)

黃琦當庭炒律師 審訊中斷 (According to reports, Huang Qi dismisses lawyer to protect lawyer’s safety, trial suspended)
Ming Pao, January 17, 2019

Related:
Trial suspended as Sichuan activist Huang Qi reportedly dismissed his lawyer
Human Rights in China, January 16, 2019

Canada asks China for clemency for convicted drug trafficker sentenced to death
Agence France-Presse, January 17, 2019

Related:
在中国被判死刑的加拿大男子将上诉
Canadian sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling will appeal
The New York Times, January 17, 2019

助村民反填海 廣東維權律師陳武權 尋釁滋事判監5年 (Rights lawyer Chen Wuquan sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for helping villagers oppose land-reclamation project)
The Stand News, January 16, 2019

数十家世界500强外企官网错误标识我国港澳台地区,专家建议依法处置错误标识中国领土行为 (CASS research cites 83 websites of Fortune 500 companies that ignore PRC “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and mislabel Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan; experts recommend punishment)
Legal Daily, January 16, 2019

习近平出席中央政法工作会议并发表重要讲话 (Xi Jinping at Central Political Legal Work Conference: “Uphold absolute Party leadership over political and legal work,” “turn advantages of our nation’s socialist system into effective social governance”
The Central People's Government, January 16, 2019

中国民营企业家:永远在通往监狱路上? (Are China’s private entrepreneurs always on their way to prison?)
Radio Free Asia, January 16, 2019

Access to Information (信息公开)

U.S. universities shut down Confucius Institutes
China Digital Times, January 16, 2019

ByteDance can’t outrun Beijing’s shadow
Foreign Policy, January 16, 2019

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

1 in 3 Christians in Asia faces persecution: Report
Agence France-Presse, January 16, 2019

Related:
专家:迫害骤增,中国基督徒或被迫转向“朝鲜模式” (Expert: Heightened crackdown may force Chinese Christians into underground “North Korea model”)
Voice of America, January 17, 2019

China campaign targets gay conversion therapy
Agence France-Presse, January 16, 2019

Use of expired vaccine sparks public scare in China
Voice of America, January 16, 2019

Chinese dissidents in Taiwan airport limbo for over 100 days
Agence France-Presse, January 16, 2019

Police raid legal consultancy “club” founded by disbarred Chinese lawyers
Radio Free Asia, January 16, 2019

Chinese kindergarten teacher, fired for being gay, sues to get job back
SupChina, January 16, 2019

Government Accountability (政府问责)

彭斯再出招:中國經常無視國際法 美不再視而不見 (Pence: U.S. will no longer “look the other way” at China’s disregard of international law)
Citizen News, January 17, 2019

Manila hands over fugitive to Beijing
The Standard, January 17, 2019

U.S. increasingly concerned about a Chinese attack on Taiwan
Foreign Policy, January 16, 2019

Related:
Taiwan prepares to hold large-scale military drills to deter China
Deutsche Welle, January 16, 2019

China anti-corruption hunt catches “tiger” official
Reuters, January 16, 2019

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

Bills would ban sale of U.S. chips to Huawei, ZTE
Reuters, January 17, 2019

Related:
Huawei said to be under U.S. investigation in trade-secrets case
The New York Times, January 16, 2019

Beijing builds cybersecurity industrial park
Sina English, Jan 17, 2018

Hong Kong (香港)

順豐再被投訴審查 拒港宗教團體寄十字架到澳門 (SF Express review process extends to religious items as Catholic volunteer’s package rejected for containing a cross)
The Stand News, January 17, 2019

Huawei gear not checked for spyware
The Standard, January 17, 2019

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps join forces in Legislative Council to call for government U-turn on elderly assistance age change
South China Morning Post, January 16, 2019

Related:
【長者綜援門檻提高】立會通過無約束力議案促擱置 羅致光問:現在還有沒有人說「人生七十古來稀」?(LegCo unites to pass non-binding motion to shelve proposals raising threshold for elderly benefits as gov’t insists policy is constitutional)
Ming Pao, January 17, 2019

港大民調:六成人認為不控梁振英決定偏頗 民主黨研提私人檢控 (HKU survey: 60% of respondents think decision not to prosecute CY Leung is biased)
The Stand News, January 16, 2019

Macau denies entry to ex-student leader of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement Yvonne Leung
Hong Kong Free Press, January 16, 2019

學聯及八大專院校學生會發聯合聲明 反對任何形式國歌法 (9 Hong Kong university student organizations issue joint statement to oppose any form of national anthem law)
The Stand News, January 16, 2019

【流感高峰】多間公院逼爆 護協周日政總集會 促政府增資源應對 (Nurses to rally on Sunday to protest dire working conditions, lack of resources during flu season)
HK01, January 16, 2019

Commentary (评论)

Huawei founder’s protests mean nothing: Independent Chinese companies simply don’t exist
The Conversation, January 17, 2019

China: Three journalists sentenced to prison terms
Reporters Without Borders, January 17, 2019

How the U.S. can step up in the South China Sea
Foreign Affairs, January 16, 2019