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, January 02, 2019

Xinjiang (新疆)

新疆伊宁强逼穆斯林当廉价劳工
Forced labor used businesses in China’s Xinjiang as part of camp system: Sources
Radio Free Asia, January 1, 2019

Chinese authorities close three Hui Muslim mosques for “illegal religious education”
South China Morning Post, December 31, 2018

Access to Justice (司法公正)

China holding more than 800 political prisoners in 2018: Report
Radio Free Asia, December 31, 2018

Access to Information (信息公开)

China discourse report 2018
China Media Project, December 30, 2018

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

A photographer’s quest to reverse China’s historical amnesia
The New York Times, January 1, 2019

澳大利亚律师团体敦促政府为北京监禁的人权律师发声 (Australian lawyers urge foreign minister to pressure China on Wang Quanzhang)
Voice of America, January 1, 2019

参与六四民主运动的56人发表元旦声明 (56 Tiananmen activists issue new year statement calling for global review of China’s model and re-establishing goal of democratic reform)
Radio Free Asia, December 31, 2018

1228北大清场纪要|北大团学领导的耻辱柱 (Shame on Peking University leaders for Dec. 28 roundup and beating of students supporting Jasic workers)
Jasic Workers Support Group, December 30, 2018

Related:
【时间线】更新至12.29|北大马会遭打压全过程 (Timeline: Suppression of Marxist students at Peking University, updated Dec. 29)
Jasic Workers Support Group, December 30, 2018

Government Accountability (政府问责)

Unification is the goal and force is an option, Xi Jinping says of Taiwan
The New York Times, January 1, 2019

蔡英文促中国和平处理分歧,强调台湾人自治意愿
Taiwan’s leader urges China to address differences peacefully
The New York Times, January 1, 2019

Related:
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen tells Beijing it “must” respect island’s sovereignty, people’s choices
South China Morning Post, January 1, 2019

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs retreats from Twitter after criticising U.S.’ treatment of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou
South China Morning Post, January 1, 2019

Hong Kong (香港)

University of Hong Kong students and staff united in desire to remove city’s leader as chancellor
South China Morning Post, January 2, 2019

In pictures: Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters rally over rule of law, inequality and waning freedoms
Agence France-Presse, January 1, 2019

Related:
Don’t bring Hong Kong independence banners to New Year march, protesters told
South China Morning Post, December 31, 2018

【元旦遊行】港獨組織多名成員稱被監視爆竊 梁頌恆:黑社會所為 (Pro-independence group members under surveillance, warehouse broken into, banners and flags missing)
Ming Pao, January 1, 2019

Four potential flashpoints for Hong Kong in 2019: National anthem law, mainland tourists, Lantau reclamation, and elections
South China Morning Post, January 1, 2019

影片證多名警察扔磚 莫慶榮:警方受暴徒猛烈攻擊,還擊無可厚非、相當合理、可以接受 (“Fighting back is reasonable and acceptable,” says superintendent in response to trial video showing police officers throwing bricks at protestors)
Inmediahk.net, December 31, 2018

A “dangerous departure”: More lawyers criticise Justice Dept. after it drops corruption case against ex-leader CY Leung
Hong Kong Free Press, December 31, 2018

Hong Kong University students seek permanent home on campus for statue of late Nobel-winning laureate Liu Xiaobo
Hong Kong Free Press, December 31, 2018

Commentary (评论)

香港「被融入」之後(文:陳景祥)(What happens after Hong Kong has been “integrated”)
Ming Pao, January 2, 2018

Teresa Cheng should have sought independent counsel for CY Leung’s case – that she didn’t is worrisome
South China Morning Post, January 2, 2019

The year China’s rise enters awkward adolescent phase
Channel NewsAsia, January 2, 2019

中國律師見聞錄:相信「依法治國」的下場,就是丟飯碗蹲監獄 (Chronicles of a lawyer in China: Consequences of “governing the country by law” are losing job, going to prison)
The News Lens, January 1, 2019

Weather the dark storm, persevere for rule of law in China — A 2019 New Year’s message from the China Human Rights Lawyers Group
China Change, January 1, 2019

End dictatorship, march towards freedom — A 2019 New Year’s statement from the China Citizens Movement
China Change, December 31, 2018

Monday, December 31, 2018

Xinjiang (新疆)

Why did Kyrgyz stage a protest outside the Chinese embassy?
The Diplomat, December 29, 2018

几十名 “寒冬”网刊供稿人在中国被逮捕或失踪 (Over 40 Bitter Winter contributors arrested, disappeared in China for Xinjiang coverage)
Radio Free Asia, December 28, 2018

“Now we don’t talk anymore”: Inside the “cleansing” of Xinjiang
ChinaFile, December 28, 2018

Chinese Muslim poet Cui Haoxin fears his people will suffer as history repeats itself in wave of religious repression
Associated Press, December 28, 2018

Access to Justice (司法公正)

China's disappeared: A look at who went missing in 2018
Associated Press, December 30, 2018

王炳章预感自己有生命危险 (Imprisoned activist Wang Bingzhang expresses fear for personal safety)
Radio Free Asia, December 30, 2018

廣東維權人士甄江華 被判囚兩年 (Guangdong activist Zhen Jianghua sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for inciting subversion of state power)
The Stand News, December 29, 2018

China releases Canadian teacher but others still held in Huawei row
The Guardian, December 29, 2018

Canadian drug smuggler to face retrial after China says 15 years too lenient
Agence France-Presse, December 29, 2018

In Pictures: Security personnel block wife of detained China lawyer Wang Quanzhang from submitting court petition
Agence France-Presse, December 28, 2018

German rights commissioner slams trial of Chinese lawyer
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, December 27, 2018

Related:
Human Rights Commissioner Kofler on the trial of Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang
Federal Foreign Office of Germany, December 29, 2018

Access to Information (信息公开)

China thwarts U.S. effort to promote American culture on campuses
The New York Times, December 30, 2018

China’s cyber watchdog shuts down 3,500 apps over “pornographic” content
TechNode, December 29, 2018

权健帝国与疫苗之王:“新闻游侠”能否成为中国媒体管制下的曙光 (Are “news rangers” a ray of hope for journalism despite China’s media control?)
BBC News, December 28, 2018

Chinese government departments ordered to sharpen up on social media
Reuters, December 28, 2018

Three years on from Causeway Bay booksellers’ disappearances, mainland Chinese traders of banned books say the business is like selling “cocaine at the price of cabbage”
South China Morning Post, December 28, 2018

Citizen Participation (公民参与)

北大马克思主义学会学生和警卫发生冲突
Chinese students clash with guards over Marxist society crackdown
Financial Times, December 29, 2018

Students defiant as Chinese university cracks down on young Communists
The New York Times, December 28, 2018

Related:
China university students protest Marxist group shakeup
Agence France-Presse, December 29, 2018

Two temporary activities removed from Ministry of Public Security database
China NGO Project, December 28, 2018

历史关头 中国百余公共知识分子为改革奋身呐喊 (100 intellectuals speak out on 40th anniversary of Reform and Opening)
Radio France Internationale, December 30, 2018

Government Accountability (政府问责)

Xi: Upholding Socialism in the new era is a “great social revolution”
The Diplomat, December 29, 2018

Chinese police officers given exemption from prosecution
South China Morning Post, December 29, 2018

Teacher sentenced in Beijing kindergarten abuse scandal
Sixth Tone, December 28, 2018

Beijing’s new man in Macau is a former vice-minister of commerce, with the aim of bolstering ties with Portuguese-speaking countries
South China Morning Post, December 28, 2018

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

Beijing turns to facial recognition to combat public housing abuses
South China Morning Post, December 28, 2018

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš hits back at Chinese diplomats’ Huawei and ZTE claims
South China Morning Post, December 28, 2018

Hong Kong (香港)

Give the job of finding land to a dedicated body to solve Hong Kong’s land shortage crisis, says advisory task force
South China Morning Post, December 31, 2018

News outlet HK01 hits back after press freedom watchdog questions its Taiwan independence “disclaimer”
Hong Kong Free Press, December 29, 2018

Deputy director of Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office steps down, a year late
South China Morning Post, December 29, 2018

Hongkongers gloomy about 2019 – just 30 per cent expect life to improve as US-China trade war and Brexit weigh on economy
South China Morning Post, December 28, 2018

After Tiananmen crackdown, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew said 200,000 influential Hongkongers should “band together” and bargain if Beijing interfered in city’s affairs
South China Morning Post, December 28, 2018

Commentary (评论)

中國「土地整理」拆老家,是肥了政府還是貧了農民?(China’s “land reorganization”: Profit for the government while exploiting the poor?)
The News Lens, December 31, 2018

Canada, China’s Schellenberg’s retrial and Beijing’s calculating maneuvers
Jerome Cohen, December 31, 2018

Justice chief Teresa Cheng doesn’t think she owes Hong Kong any explanation about the CY Leung case. She’s clueless
South China Morning Post, December 31, 2018

Something to hide? This Christmas, it was not a rights lawyer on trial, but the Chinese legal system itself
Hong Kong Free Press, December 30, 2018

How Hong Kong’s public political discourse was mainlandized in 2018
Hong Kong Free Press, December 29, 2018

巨龍與陰影:五年之後的「一帶一路」(The dragon and the shadow: Five years into Belt and Road)
The Initium, December 29, 2018

We must finally see China for what it truly is
The Globe and Mail, December 27, 2018