At a summit dominated by two leaders who have demonstrated such utter hostility to the international system, human rights & democratic principles, how should democratic countries respond? With courage and conviction. By me & John Sifton: thediplomat.com/2025/10/trum...

Extensive research shows while autocracies eg China "sometimes achieve rapid gains, they also produce volatility, repression, & data manipulation", on balance democracies "offers the strongest odds for healthier, more stable, and prosperous societies" www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/wha...

Among the strongest words we've heard from Zelenskyy on China since the war began

EV investment in the US tumbled by a third in the last quarter, the Clean Investment Monitor from Rhodium Group & MIT shows. Under Trump, the US is unilaterally surrendering the global EV market to China (and others). It risks turning the US into the Galapagos Islands of cars. on.ft.com/4nlRcly

What a striking vignette about gender relations in China today: A feminist opened three women-only spaces three years ago-- as emergency shelter, reading group, and gathering place--and men came in and destroyed two of them. They may all have to close: chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/7221...

中國政府剛剛主辦了「全球婦女峰會」。 在一個監禁女權運動者、把女性身體當作控制人口方式的地方舉行「婦女峰會」，不僅諷刺更令人感到冒犯。 這場峰會把女性權利當作營銷工具，並對女性觀點進行嚴密審查，而當前最迫切的議題，諸如基於性別的暴力（包括性騷擾和家庭暴力）以及生育自主權，大都遭到忽視或幾乎未見改進。 - 人權觀察 @mayawang.bsky.social

❗️Detained Chinese artist Gao Zhen (高兟) is in poor health and had fainted in late Sept. Chinese govt should drop charges against the 69-year-old, allow him + his family to return to the United States. The Gaos are US green card holders & citizen. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

The Chinese govt's proposed draft "Ethnic Unity" Law would justify, intensify existing: ▶️ ideological controls ▶️ the targeting of ethnic and religious minorities, including by erasing minority language rights + ▶️foster control beyond China’s borders. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

“ .. #Tibetans, #Uyghurs, and others who speak out for minority populations can expect even greater government repression.” @mayawang.bsky.social (HRW) www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

#張雅笛 被捕是「一件 #跨國鎮壓 案例。中國留學生的抗爭行動恐怕已遭嚴密監控。它的影響是使每個人都對自己的一言一行感到十分擔心，包括在中國國外。」- 人權觀察 @mayawang.bsky.social 對《自由亞洲電台》表示： www.rfa.org/english/chin...

Our latest case of #transnationalrepression: a young Chinese woman studying in France has disappeared some seven weeks ago while on a trip to visit her family in Hunan province. She is an editor for the digital platform “Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet” (CYST) www.tibetanreview.net/chinese-intl...

‼️ A Chinese student has been missing during her visit home due to her activism for Tibetan rights while studying in France. Lawyer Jiang Tianyong, who represents her, has been taken into custody during a meeting with her parents. French govt should press for their freedom.

As people in China, including many young people, tighten their belts, dumpster-diving (or more precisely, picking vegetables thrown out by wholesale veggie sellers, 捡菜) has become a fashionable trend:

For years there are allegations of the spread of China's Great Firewall (especially by Myanmar activists) but there had been no concrete proof--until now. This looks like an incredibly important contribution: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

I'll speak at a #HRC60 side event on human rights in China, alongside Mary Lawlor, Rizwangul NurMuhammed, and Sophie Richardson, moderated by Raphael Viana David. We'll discuss the chilling effects of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances in China on human rights and offer recommendations.

While the world celebrated the 90th birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama this July, Tibetans inside Tibet faced brutal repression- owning a photo, singing in his honour, or organising a simple prayer can lead to arrest, torture, or disappearance under Chinese occupation

"Some diplomats asked me if it is still worth making public statements about abuses in Xinjiang...The answer is a resounding yes." Heartbreaking and personal by @yalkun.bsky.social China's committed crimes against humanity and should be held accountable: thehill.com/opinion/inte...

"A government can’t half care about human rights. And Australia’s ‘disagree where we must’ approach with China enables abuse and undermines [Australia's] national interest." Excellent piece by my colleague @dgavshon.bsky.social: www.theguardian.com/law/commenti...

就在 #中國共產黨 紀念二戰勝利80週年並大秀軍事實力的同時，批評中共惡劣人權記錄的聲音也日益高漲。 從 #彭立發 和2022年 #白紙運動 ，到湖南 #方藝融 、四川 #梅世林 的布條抗議行動，再到今個月在重慶、北京各地陸續出現的反習標語，這些抗爭的共通點是：即使中國政府鎮壓日益緊迫，仍然不斷出現無畏的公民，甘冒巨大風險，公開批評習近平並要求民主改革。 中共盛大的閱兵背後，掩藏著中國共產黨高壓統治的潛在弱點：在執政超過70年後，中共依然最害怕自己的人民，只因他們屢屢以勇敢的行動要求民主與人權。 @mayawang.bsky.social

Yes there's the state-of-the-art weaponry, yes there are the goose-stepping soldiers. But beneath this show of strength of a dictators' club, there is an enduring anxiety: of the people standing up for their rights. My modest piece: www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Young Chinese scholar of Uyghur culture, missing since 2018, is reportedly sentenced to 15 years in prison hrichina.substack.com/p/young-chin... This stunningly harsh sentence is in fact typical during Xinjiang's abusive crackdown, where baseless prison terms are *12.5 years on average*.

China refuses to release the environmental assessment report of the world's largest dam, claiming it's a "state secret." It said earlier that the dam, being built in Tibet and will have impact on India + Bangladesh, is "a safe project that prioritises ecological protection".

"That Xi felt compelled to overshadow the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday with a carefully choreographed display of power only reveals Beijing's enduring anxiety: Tibet remains less a success story of integration than a fragile frontier" asia.nikkei.com/opinion/xi-j...

Ecuador settles with Chinese state-owned company that built a $3.3 billion dam that later developed > 17,000 cracks in it + it "is under threat from the backward erosion of the Coca River". In China, people are familiar with such "tofu dregs " projects: fundacionandresbello.org/en/news/ecua...

人權律師 #高智晟 被中國當局 #強迫失蹤 至今已整整八年。高律師曾處理過多宗維權案件，因此被當局吊銷律師執照、施以酷刑、強迫失蹤和囚禁。他在2016年出版回憶錄，討論包括中國未來民主化等議題後，在2017年8月被當局強迫失蹤。 中國政府應立刻釋放高智晟，以及所有被關押的人權倡議者。 高智晟： wqw2010.blogspot.com/2024/08/blog...

> 100,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand have lost access to essential food & medical aid due to US funding cuts. The Thai government should immediately permit refugees to lawfully work and travel outside its refugee camps, @hrw says www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

Hundreds of Israeli attacks since Oct 2023 have struck > 500 school buildings, many used as shelters, killing hundreds of civilians + damaging *nearly all* of Gaza’s schools, @hrw says: www.hrw.org/news/2025/08... These "include unlawfully indiscriminate attacks using US munitions".

Seems like the position of the Chinese Foreign Minister is cursed: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a... + periodic reminder that nobody is safe in China where there's no rule of law, no matter how rich you are or how high you climb

This is shocking: "One of Thailand’s top art galleries removed, at China's request, materials about Beijing's treatment of ethnic minorities and Hong Kong from an exhibit on authoritarian governments" www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Such a fun article: How young Chinese flock to DeepSeek for fortune-telling (tldl: AI is the one who always listens and answers when nobody has the time + Deepseek has great Chinese language/literary skills that make you want to talk with it): theinitium.com/article/2025...

Why is the Chinese govt spying on a Buddhist-inspired org in Australia? Cuz it's outside its control. Chinese govt only allow 5 official religions & tightly control practices such as religious leader appointments. Anything else is "evil cult" + persecuted abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Another day, another film axed by Hong Kong censors: hongkongfp.com/2025/08/07/s...

Macao govt should free ex-lawmaker, activist Au Kam San, who was arrested on national security charges. This is the 1st the draconian Law on Safeguarding National Security has been invoked in the former Portuguese colony. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

What is truly difficult working on China is this: What decision-makers and the public see/hear/understand about China is already manipulated by the Chinese govt: www.bbc.com/news/article... and www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...

From the UK to Canada to Australia, police tells activists critical of the Chinese govt to censor themselves to avoid being harassed by 🇨🇳. Instead of blaming the victims, how about taking concrete actions to combat 🇨🇳's transnational repression? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

‼️ Macau authorities invoke the city's draconian National Security Law for the first time & arrest the city's longest standing democratic legislator: www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/... Authorities should drop all charges against Au Kam San, who faces up to 10 years in prison for "foreign collusion".

Chinese tech firm Tencent seeks removal of anti-censorship archive FreeWeChat, watchdog says hongkongfp.com/2025/07/17/c... “This escalation comes amid a tightening censorship regime inside China and dwindling international support for digital rights work due to foreign aid cuts.”

Breaking: Hong Kong national security authorities issues a fresh round of baseless bounties against 15 people for organizing and participating in the exile Hong Kong Parliament hk.news.yahoo.com/%E5%9C%8B%E5...

Catholic priest officially recognized by the Chinese government, Ma Xianshi, is reportedly detained in Zhejiang Province, where there is a persecuted underground bishop. Case to watch as Pope Leo ponders over the 2018 Vatican-China agreement www.asianews.it/news-en/Fr-M...

Chilling: Chinese state-owned press lambasted Hong Kong's independent bookstores for organizing a book fair, calling it "soft resistance", thus re-defining previously non-controversial/non-political behavior as politically subversive, as it drives deepening repression hongkongfp.com/2025/07/21/c...

"U.S. citizen who works for Commerce Dept. ensnared in Chinese exit ban" www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec... and the exit ban against Wells Fargo exec raise fresh alarms about safety of foreigners (esp Chinese descent) in China www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

Public health crisis -> cover-up -> public outrage -> jailing a few scapegoats -> rinse and repeat from Covid-19 to lead poisoning of kids. People in China deserve real accountability--i.e. democracy, a free press. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/w...

The 1-night stand of 2 young people--Chinese woman + Ukranian man--riveted China, reflecting what I wrote earlier: Chinese women's "bodies and loyalty are not theirs alone, but openly judged as reflections on the honour of the entire Han Chinese race." abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Wow: U.S.-Based Wells Fargo Banker Blocked From Leaving China www.wsj.com/world/china/... "The use of such measures on foreign executives has intensified concerns about business travel to mainland China in recent years."

Shocking that the head of a major democracy can't even muster the courage to defend press freedoms --a fundamental human rights-- or mention that the Chinese Constitution guarantees the rights to free expression: www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

Surprise surprise: "Views of China and its leader...have improved slightly among many people around the world over the past year while the opposite is true for the United States and...Trump, according to survey results provided by the Pew Research Center." www.newsweek.com/china-us-xi-...

"On Tuesday, the US president said he would be fighting China 'in a very friendly fashion.' In meetings with his staff, Trump is often the least hawkish voice in the room, some of the people said." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Congrats to Prof Yves Moreau on his dodged quest to press academic press to stop publishing ethically questionable research by Chinese police researchers which maybe part of coercive DNA collection drives in the Uyghur and Tibetan regions www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Chinese govt’s persecuting & silencing lawyers who challenge official abuses a decade after the “709 crackdown”, @hrw said. The CCP has also strengthened ideological controls over the broader legal profession to compel it to serve its agenda. www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, given his followers' wishes, he has decided that the traditions of the Dalai Lama's reincarnation will continue, and that "no one should interfere." www.theguardian.com/world/video/...