Category Archives: Special Topics

China’s Crackdown on Rights Lawyers Shows No Sign of Abating

image (4)2015-07-14

China intensified its sweeping crackdown on human rights lawyers and legal activists on Tuesday, as the country’s state media shrugged off growing international condemnation and lawyers under threat warned that the country’s already fragile rule of law would be further weakened.

The mass arrest drive that opened Continue reading

Hong Kong Student Leaders Charged Over Democracy Protest

3D7423EB-3271-47CB-AF84-11AD23F1B971_w640_r1_s_cx0_cy2_cw0Student leaders Joshua Wong (R) and Nathan Law smile in front of supporters holding yellow umbrellas, symbol of the Occupy Central movement, outside a police station in Hong Kong, July 14, 2015.
July 14, 2015 3:50 PM

HONG KONG—Two Hong Kong students who rose to fame during pro-democracy demonstrations that angered Beijing last year were charged on Tuesday with obstructing police during a protest earlier in the year.

The charges were related to a protest outside the office Continue reading

High-profile Tibetan Monk Dies in Prison in China

253ED8E8-2FB1-4ECD-86CA-E1D9097090D7_w640_sJuly 13, 2015 9:33 PM

BEIJING—A Tibetan monk who was one of China’s most prominent political prisoners has died in jail, a relative said on Monday, and a rights group Continue reading

Hong Kong journalist association says press freedom deteriorating

 

A newspaper columnist urges passersby to support stabbed former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau in Hong Kong February 28, 2014.   REUTERS/Bobby Yip

A newspaper columnist urges passersby to support stabbed former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau in Hong Kong February 28, 2014. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

A newspaper columnist urges passersby to support stabbed former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau in Hong Kong February 28, 2014.
REUTERS/BOBBY YIP

The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association says PP has Continue reading

Chinese Authorities Detain and Denounce Rights Lawyers

zhoushifengBy CHRIS BUCKLEY JULY 11, 2015

CHONG KONG — At least five Chinese lawyers from a firm that specialized in rights cases have been detained by the police in Beijing and accused of running a criminal syndicate to smear the Communist Party and “create social chaos” through their litigation, state-run news media said on Saturday.

The accusations bear the hallmarks of a concerted operation, and signaled one of the most high-profile efforts by the party under President Xi Jinping to discredit the “rights defense movement,” Continue reading

Thai embassy in Turkey closes after pro-Uighur protests

_84191077_8419107610 July 2015

From the section Asia

Riot police stand as a group of Uighur protesters demonstrate outside the Thai embassy in Ankara
Riot police stood guard at the Thai embassy in Ankara on Thursday

Thailand has closed its embassy in Turkey following protests over Thailand’s deportation of about 100 Uighurs to China.

The embassy in Ankara<!–more–> and the consulate in Istanbul have been temporarily shut after the consulate was stormed by Uighur supporters on Thursday.

Rights groups have criticised the deportation of Muslim Uighurs saying they face persecution in China.

China denies repressing Uighurs and called the deportees illegal migrants.

There have been days of unrest in Turkey over reports of Uighurs in western China being restricted by the Chinese government from observing the holy month of Ramadan.

Uighurs have close cultural and religious ties with Turkish Muslims.

Protests outside the Chinese embassy have seen Chinese flags burnt and on Thursday police fired pepper spray at demonstrators.

There have been reports of Chinese citizens being harassed and attacked and China issued a travel warning to its citizens travelling to Turkey.

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Uighurs already living in Turkey responded angrily, smashing windows at the Thai consulate in Istanbul

Thailand’s decision to deport about 100 Uighurs has raised tensions further.

Windows at the Thai consulate were smashed, furnishings damaged and the sign outside pulled down.

Thai spokesman Werachon Sukhondhapatipak told reporters the government had ordered the embassy and consulate to close temporarily on Friday.

He added: “We will assess the situation on a daily basis.”

About 400 Uighurs detained for illegally entering Thailand in March last year have been the focus of a diplomatic dispute between Turkey and China over where they should be moved to.

Thailand said about 100 people were removed on Wednesday, while an earlier group of 172 women and children were sent to Turkey in late June.
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Chinese Authorities Appear to Detain 4 Human Rights Lawyers

By CHRIS BUCKLEY  zhoushifengJULY 10, 2015

HONG KONG — The police detained one of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers in Beijing on Friday, after three other rights lawyers who worked together disappeared in the capital within 24 hours, apparently caught in an expanding investigation focused on their firm, their colleagues and family members said.

The reasons for moves against the lawyers remained unclear. Continue reading

Beijing Rights Lawyer ‘Missing,’ Believed Detained: Lawyer

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Beijing-based lawyer Wang Yu in an undated photo.
Photo courtesy of Wang Yu’s microblog
Prominent rights attorney Wang Yu is missing from her Beijing home, presumedly detained by China’s state security police, rights activists and lawyers said.

Wang, who has defended high profile activists, including jailed Uyghur dissident Ilham Tohti, Cao Shunli and Wu Gan, has been incommunicado since the early hours of Continue reading