He was arrested a year ago under the local national security law imposed by Beijing, modelled on Hong Kong’s, on charges of “subversion”. The former primary school teacher was a member of the Legislative Assembly since the times of Portuguese rule and has called for free elections for the post of chief executive, judicial independence, and administrative transparency.
The activist and former trade unionist spoke at his subversion trial regarding his role in the Hong Kong Alliance, which organised vigils in memory of the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre. He faces up to 10 years in prison. In his defence, he quoted Mao Zedong and former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang opposing one-party rule.
The 42-year-old blogger and lawyer who was jailed for reporting on the pandemic in Wuhan will spend more time behind bars for “causing a public disturbance”. Her "crime" was attempting to meet and defend a trade unionist in Gansu. Friends and supporters highlight the deep Christian faith that inspires her courage.
Trump's latest wave of executive orders has reached Radio Free Asia and other related news outlets such as Voice of America. Funded by the US government, the latter have been an essential source of information in at-risk regions like Tibet and Xinjiang, against Chinese censorship. For a former US ambassador, this is a giant gift to China.
The blogger who spent four years in prison for reporting on the pandemic in Wuhan was threatened with arrest again a few days after her release. Three weeks ago, visibly distressed, she spoke about her faith behind bars in a Zoom meeting organised up by Chinese house churches, which are persecuted by the authorities.
The paper pays tribute to the victims on the 35th anniversary of the massacre. In an editorial, it cites an increasingly "restrictive" reality in which even praying may “arouse concern”. In Beijing, access to Tiananmen Square is restricted while the web is censored. Taiwan pledges to respond to "authoritarianism" with "freedom” while a rally is scheduled in the capital. Canada and the United States are set to host memorial ceremonies.
While China is systematically erasing the memory of the brutal repression of student protests on 4 June 1989, 14 prominent participants of that movement are still behind bars, rearrested for their struggle for democracy. Chinese Human Rights Defenders issued an appeal for their release. In Hong Kong there is concern for Jimmy Lai's health.
While the anniversary of the massacre of the students in Beijing will not take place on 4 June in Victoria Park, a group of individual Christians is calling on people to sign a prayer that will be published as an ad in the Christian Times. The text refers to the repression of that time, but also to the one currently underway in Hong Kong.
Zhang Zhan, 40, was a leading human rights advocate in Shanghai. The Christian woman was supposed to be freed today after four years in prison, but her fate remains unknown while her family has been forced into silence. Activist groups following her case fear that, as in other cases, she might be detained under a different form.
The Christian lawyer turned 60 on 20 April, but Chinese authorities have refused to provide any information about his fate. Repeated appeals from his wife, human rights NGOs, and UN agencies have been ignored. He is among the many victims of enforced disappearances by China’s communist regime.
China rejects accusations about Hong Kong, Uyghurs, Tibet, and jailed dissidents at a hearing by the Human Rights Council. Each country had only 45 seconds to express its views. Meanwhile, four UN special rapporteurs are calling for Jimmy Lai to be released and charges against him be dropped.
A group of prelates from every continent including Cardinals Dolan of New York and India's Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal had called for the immediate release of the Catholic businessman and pro-democracy activist who has been in jail for more than a thousand days. The harsh reply: 'Distorted words aimed at interfering in Hong Kong's internal affairs'. He faces life imprisonment under the controversial National Security Act on 18 December.
Lawyer Lu Siwei - detained in July in Vientiane while trying to flee the People's Republic - is in a detention centre in Sichuan despite warnings from UN Human Rights Council officials. The same place where Beijing seeks re-election for a new three-year term on 10 October.
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