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.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Xinjiang (新疆)

Tear gas, tasers and textbooks: Inside China’s Xinjiang internment camps
Agence France-Presse, October 24, 2018

人權報告揭年半以來新疆 231 位維族學者「被失蹤」(Uyghur Human Rights Project report reveals 231 Uyghur scholars “disappeared” since April 2017)
The Stand News, October 23, 2018

Related:
The persecution of the intellectuals in the Uyghur region: Disappeared forever?
Uyghur Human Rights Project, October 22, 2018

Access to Justice (司法公正)

“缺席审判”条款引关注,有委员建议将涉黑犯罪纳入适用范围 (NPC Standing Committee member proposes to expand scope of “trials in absentia” provisions to include serious crimes, regardless of availability of defendant)
The Paper, October 24, 2018

两院组织法修订草案:委员“专门法院由谁设置、由谁任免、对谁负责、向谁报告应有明确规制” (NPC Standing Committee proposes clear rules on establishment, appointment, and accountability of special courts)
Beijing News, October 24, 2018

被精神病:网络作家被关两月 (Online writer detained in mental institute for two months for making statements critical of the state)
Radio Free Asia, October 23, 2018

Related:
中国精神病治疗乱象:被精神病 (Bedlam in mental health treatment in China: You are given a mental illness)
Radio Free Asia, October 23, 2018

Access to Information (信息公开)

Ambiguity of Chinese words sparks charges of distortion as U.S.-China tensions rise
South China Morning Post, October 24, 2018

中國社科基金中選研究題目 習近平思想居前列 (Top 7 winners of CASS research funding are projects on Xi Jinping Thought)
The Stand News, October 24, 2018

China quietly opens door to more foreign films
South China Morning Post, October 23, 2018

中国或以反恐理由禁封KakaoTalk与NAVER (China blocks Korean chat app and blog site)
Radio France Internationale, October 23, 2018

A newspaper banned in China is now one of Trump’s biggest defenders
BuzzFeed, October 22, 2018

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

Satirist compares Xi Jinping and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to Winnie the Pooh and Piglet
Hong Kong Free Press, October 23, 2018

Government Accountability (政府问责)

Chinese women golfers told to pull out of Taiwan event - sources
Reuters, October 23, 2018

China jails former prosecutors over tortured Hong Kong businessman Stephen Lau’s death in custody
South China Morning Post, October 23, 2018

Shanghai school food scare triggers city wide kitchen health check
South China Morning Post, October 23, 2018

China attempting to meddle in Taiwan elections: Intelligence chief
Focus Taiwan, October 22, 2018

Draft law revisions suggest public supervision on judicial work
Xinhua, October 22, 2018

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

The Android phone maker that’s more popular than Apple isn’t selling its new iPhone rival in the US
Business Insider, October 22, 2018

Why China can do AI more quickly and effectively than the U.S.
Wired, October 23, 2018

Sri Lanka wants Chinese help to recover phone evidence over “assassination plot”
Reuters, October 24, 2018

Hong Kong (香港)

Lam plays down special place
The Standard, October 24, 2018

British gov’t urges Hong Kong to reconsider “politically motivated” expulsion of journalist
Hong Kong Free Press, October 24, 2018

Related:
Hong Kong media should quell talk of independence, by-election hopeful Chan Hoi-yan says, insisting Victor Mallet case has nothing to do with press freedom
South China Morning Post, October 23, 2018

不受訪、不見敏感人士、不公開活動 入境處向劉曉波好友列三大入境條件 (HK Immigration Office sets three conditions for entry of Liu Xiaobo's friend: no interviews, no public activities, no meeting with “sensitive" individuals)
The Stand News, October 24, 2018

China tests facial recognition at border crossing of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
South China Morning Post, October 24, 2018

劇場編劇甄拔濤被拒入澳門 業界聯署促政府交待 (Drama industry requests “credible response” from Macau government for denying playwright’s entry on public security grounds)
The Stand News, October 24, 2018

Commentary (评论)

In Hong Kong, public consultations are effective – at keeping the public at bay
South China Morning Post, October 24, 2018

Being China means never having to say you’re sorry
The New York Times, October 23, 2018

“一带一路”是中国版马歇尔计划吗? (Is BRI the Chinese version of Marshall Plan?)
Radio Free Asia, October 23, 2018

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Xinjiang (新疆)

As China legalizes Xinjiang “re-education camps,” Weibo netizens cheer on
Global Voices, October 23, 2018

Xinjiang authorities jail prominent Uyghur television host
Radio Free Asia, October 22, 2018

Access to Justice (司法公正)

Small victory for lead poisoning victims in China: Government harassment, weak environmental laws hamper justice efforts
Human Rights Watch, October 22, 2018

Access to Information (信息公开)

Chinese experts “filtered” trade war advice to Beijing policymakers
South China Morning Post, October 22, 2018

New Chinese blockchain regulations raise censorship concerns
China Digital Times, October 22, 2018

Related:
China requires blockchain-based information service providers to register users using real names, censor postings and store user data
South China Morning Post, October 22, 2018

中国严控教师言论 学校育人还是管人? (China’s tight control over what teachers can say: Are schools educating or regulating people?)
Radio Free Asia, October 22, 2018

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

無法迴避的浪潮 中國#MeToo調查全記錄 (The tide we must face: A full record of China’s #MeToo investigations)
The Initium, October 23, 2018

声援工人维权 北大学生岳昕失踪 (Peking University student missing after arrest for supporting Jaisic protests)
Radio Free Asia, October 22, 2018

China’s #MeToo claim costs university professor his job
South China Morning Post, October 22, 2018

Trade union congress opens amid widespread labor unrest in China
China Labour Bulletin, October 22, 2018

Government Accountability (政府问责)

Swiss bank discourages China travel after banker is kept in Beijing
The New York Times, October 22, 2018

Related
Citigroup asks private bankers to rethink China travel
Bloomberg, October 23, 2018

国资入主民资后,公司治理发生怎样变化?(After injection of state capital, what changes have occurred in corporate governance in private companies?)
Financial Times, October 23, 2018

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

Supermicro tells customers it is looking for Chinese spy chips on motherboards “despite lack of proof”
Reuters, October 23, 2018

Hong Kong (香港)

涉搶女 EO 電話案 許智峯提堂否認襲擊等三控罪 (Legislator Ted Hui appears in court for “phone-snatching” case, denies all 3 charges)
The Stand News, October 23, 2018

习近平南下出席港珠澳大桥开通仪式:大湾区发展下香港面对的危与机 (Xi Jinping attends Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge opening ceremony: The dangers and opportunities Hong Kong faces in Greater Bay Area development)
BBC News, October 23, 2018

Related:
Hong Kong playwright Yan Pat-to denied entry to Macau on grounds of jeopardizing public security
South China Morning Post, October 23, 2018

In Pictures: Mui Wo residents take to the beach in protest of Lantau reclamation plan
Hong Kong Free Press, October 22, 2018

Related:
Stop Lantau reclamation, say dolphin activists, after mega-bridge marine park deemed “useless”
Hong Kong Free Press, October 23, 2018

Calls to “end one-party rule” could lead to future election bans, says pro-Beijing politician Rita Fan
Hong Kong Free Press, October 23, 2018

Hong Kong-based international firms hit back at Law Society’s plans to close loophole allowing foreign lawyers to practise
South China Morning Post, October 23, 2018

港智能身份证恐沦为监控工具 (New HKID card might become tool for surveillance)
Radio Free Asia, October 22, 2018

【九西補選】李卓人、劉小麗到簡介會質問選舉主任 遭保安暴力抬走 (Lee Cheuk-yan and ousted legislator Lau Siu-lai removed from candidates’ briefing session for challenging disqualification)
Inmediahk.net, October 22, 2018

Hong Kong Legco by-election candidate Lee Cheuk-yan ejected from poll briefing over anti-disqualification protest
South China Morning Post, October 22, 2018

Commentary (评论)

To Beijing: Don’t hold Hong Kong too tight if you want “one country, two systems” to succeed
Hong Kong Free Press, October 23, 2018

什么样的慈善组织最能吸引企业捐赠? (What kind of charities are best at attracting corporate funding in China?)
CNPolitics, October 23, 2018

中國「男子漢訓練營」背後:變遷中的性別審美,與國家的中性焦慮 (Behind China’s “masculinity training camps”: Shifting gender aesthetics and state anxiety over "neuterizing")
The Initium, October 22, 2018

#MeToo movement in China: Powerful yet fragile
Al Jazeera, October 22, 2018

Any changes to rules for Hong Kong lawyers must be in the public interest
South China Morning Post, October 22, 2018

Monday, October 22, 2018

Xinjiang (新疆)

From denial to pride: how China changed its language on Xinjiang's camps
The Guardian, October 22, 2018

新疆“去极端化”:官员鼓励吃汉餐 (Xinjiang’s de-extremification: Uyghur officials urge Muslims to eat Han cuisine, claim “halal” is “extremist thought”)
Radio Free Asia, October 19, 2018

CCTV airs program on Xinjiang’s “vocational training centers”: Criticism and Weibo responses
What’s On Weibo, October 19, 2018

Exile leaders slam China claims of “voluntary vocational training” for detained Uyghurs in Xinjiang
Radio Free Asia, October 19, 2018

Access to Justice (司法公正)

709王全璋案:代理律师刘卫国退出案件代理 (Wang Quanzhang’s lawyer withdraws from case due to injury)
Radio France Internationale, October 21, 2018

广州女律师遭警“裸羞”案:证人被抓丈夫被消声 (Human rights lawyer’s police abuse case: Witnesses detained, husband’s Weixin permanently banned)
Voice of America, October 21, 2018

Two held amid “riots” after forced eviction, detentions in China's Jiangsu
Radio Free Asia, October 19, 2018

Access to Information (信息公开)

How the Chinese censors highlight fundamental flaws in academic publishing
Made in China Journal, October 21, 2018

Chill and fear in Chinese classrooms as students are recruited to report teachers with “radical” opinions
South China Morning Post, October 20, 2018

China Continues to Boost Xi Thought, Stifle Others
China Digital Times, October 20, 2018

欧亚经济论坛公报在中国压力之下删除敏感内容 (Euro-Asia Economic Forum amends public statement due to pressure from China)
Voice of America, October 19, 2018

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

身陷囹圄的七位中国民主党人获评为“中国杰出民主人士” (Seven jailed Chinese democrats given “outstanding democracy activist” awards)
Radio Free Asia, October 21, 2018

Detained Interpol chief Meng Hongwei’s wife says “everybody in China is at risk,” as she refuses to meet Beijing officials alone
Associated Press, October 20, 2018

Related:
专访孟宏伟妻子:孟宏伟被查是“残酷、肮脏”的政治迫害 (Video interview with Grace Meng: Meng Hongwei’s investigation is “cruel, dirty” political persecution)
BBC News, October 19, 2018

“Stop bullying Taiwan”: Tens of thousands rally in Taipei for independence vote
Hong Kong Free Press, October 20, 2018

Outcry as Chinese police chief accused of detaining primary school teacher for punishing his daughter
South China Morning Post, October 19, 2018