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, December 22, 2016

Access to Justice (司法公正)

Activist, writer held on spying, subversion charges in China's Sichuan
Radio Free Asia, December 21, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/activist-writer-held-on-spying-subversion-charges-in-chinas-sichuan-12212016110458.html

China to try one rights lawyer as European diplomats visit family of another
Radio Free Asia, December 21, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/lawyers-trials-12212016123537.html

4 in China cleared after 2 successful death sentence appeals
The Washington Post, December 22, 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/4-in-china-cleared-after-2-successful-death-sentence-appeals/2016/12/22/3c361a44-c810-11e6-acda-59924caa2450_story.html

广东乌坎9村民被控“非法集会游行” 集体受审 (9 Wukan villagers charged with “illegal assembly” in a joint trial)
Radio Free Asia, December 20, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ql2-12202016115313.html

Access to Information (信息公开)

“六四天网”创办人黄琦被当局指控非法泄漏国家机密 (Huang Qi, founder of “64 Tianwang” website, charged with illegally “leaking state secrets”)
Radio France Internationale, December 21, 2016
http://cn.rfi.fr/中国/20161221-“六四天网”创办人黄琦被当局指控非法泄漏国家机密

中国政府利用打黄扫非限制民众利用互联网直播平台 (Chinese government uses excuse of “cleaning up Internet porn” to restrict citizens from publishing “unofficial” videos on social media)
Radio Free Asia, December 20, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/hc-12202016114950.html

中国公布对境外NGO的业务主管单位名录 (China releases directory of professional supervisory units for overseas NGOs)
Voice of America, December 21, 2016
http://www.voachinese.com/a/china-foreign-ngos-20161221/3644197.html

Related:
China details operating areas for foreign NGOs under new law
Reuters, December 21, 2016
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-lawmaking-ngos-idUSKBN14A1HR

Independent journalism in China struggles to survive
The Diplomat, December 21, 2016
http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/independent-journalism-in-china-struggles-to-survive/

Government Accountability (政府问责)

“Airpocalypse”: dirties credibility of Chinese government
South China Morning Post, December 21, 2016
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2056404/airpocalypse-dirties-credibility-chinese-government

China foreign minister says U.S. ties face new uncertainties
Reuters, December 21, 2016
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-idUSKBN14B0AA

ICTs and Human Rights (信息技术与人权)

China invents the digital totalitarian state
The Economist, December 15, 2016
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21711902-worrying-implications-its-social-credit-project-china-invents-digital-totalitarian

China’s digital dictatorship: Worrying experiments with a new form of social control
The Economist, December 17, 2016
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21711904-worrying-experiments-new-form-social-control-chinas-digital-dictatorship

Hong Kong (香港)

警察之都:香港拟增千警对付示威者 (Hong Kong to increase police presence to deal with demonstrators)
Radio France Internationale, December 21, 2016
http://cn.rfi.fr/政治/20161221-警察之都:香港拟增千警对付示威者

China’s Public Security Ministry labels Hong Kong democracy activists “foreign proxies”
South China Morning Post, December 21, 2016
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2056387/chinas-public-security-ministry-labels-hong-kong

Commentary (评论)

Did Oslo kowtow to Beijing?
ChinaFile, December 21, 2016
http://www.chinafile.com/conversation/did-oslo-kowtow-beijing