Top News 头条
Hong Kong national security police confirmed that eight people were arrested in September over the August 31 Prince Edward station commemoration, among them independent journalist Tang Ho-wing of Boom News, who was filming the gathering. The Hong Kong Journalists Association says it is the first publicly known sedition arrest of a journalist under the 2024 security law, much to the condemnation of the association and civil society organizations. Tang was released on bail after his sedition arrest, which police have not tied to any specific act beyond his coverage and livestream.
Meanwhile, a Tibet Watch report, built on police tenders and procurement records, found that drone fleets and counter-drone systems have been deployed across Tibet for “stability maintenance” purposes, especially in protest-prone areas such as Driru and Derge. The report documents 12 contracts for DJI equipment worth about ¥24.8M and urges the UK and US to restrict Chinese-made drones with cameras.
Also: in its first public “espionage alert,” the UK’s MI5 stated that the China General Technology Research Institute is a front tied to China’s Ministry of State Security, and that the Institute had already funded projects involving 100+ UK-linked academics in areas including AI and cybersecurity. The government told universities to end all arrangements with the Institute, warning that collaboration could breach the UK’s National Security Act. China’s embassy denounced the claims as falsehoods.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
A few notes on the Ethnic Unity Law: A commentary on China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which took effect July 1, explains why minzu should be translated as “ethnic” rather than “nationality,” as official English versions blur ethnic identity with citizenship.
NPC Calendar: October 2026: The revised National Defense Mobilization Law takes effect on October 1. This upcoming session is expected to review the draft revision to the Tax Collection Administration Law, the draft amendments to the Emergency Response Law, and 14 other unspecified laws that were respectively approved by the State Council leadership on August 31 and September 18.
USALI This Week in Asian Law: September 27 – October 03: Beginning October 1, 2026, the Ministry of Public Security has expanded powers to inspect companies’ handling of data and personal information. The new Measures for Public Security Organs’ Supervision and Inspection of Cyberspace Security update 2018 rules to reflect the 2021 Data Security Law and Personal Information Protection Law.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
HRIC on Twitter/X: Taiwan’s Center for Technology, Democracy, and Society recently released a report examining censorship biases in two mainstream large language models, ChatGPT-5.2 and Gemini 3. The results showed that the Chinese responses from both models were more evidently aligned with censorship narratives compared to the English responses.
HRIC on Twitter/X: A cybersecurity firm tested Alibaba’s open-source large model Tongyi Qiwen (Qwen) and found it evades facts on sensitive political issues, parroting the official line. Qwen has been downloaded globally over 3 billion times, and is used by American companies like Airbnb and Uber.
HRIC on Twitter/X: U.S. cybersecurity firm Proofpoint disclosed that a hacker group suspected to be linked to the Chinese government impersonated prominent figures in the U.S. AI sector in February and July this year, launching phishing attacks against experts researching AI export controls and military AI applications at U.S. universities, think tanks, and law firms, with the intent to steal their email accounts and gain insight into how U.S. society discusses and formulates AI policies.
HRIC on Twitter/X: On the afternoon of October 4, well-known Taiwanese host Cai Kangyong attended the launch event for the campaign headquarters of Shen Boyang, Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate for Taipei mayor. Overnight, his Weibo account with 36 million followers had all its content wiped clean and all follows reset to zero.
US arrests California man for allegedly smuggling $300m worth of computer servers to China: Greg Lui, owner of Earthmade Computer, was arrested on charges of using false paperwork and shipments through Malaysia and Singapore to route export-controlled GPU servers to China in 2023–24. He faces counts of conspiracy, smuggling and money-laundering, in a case that follows Taiwan’s recent prosecutions over smuggled Nvidia servers.
OpenAI reveals huge ‘co-ordinated campaign’ to attack ChatGPT: OpenAI says it disrupted a July campaign, involving 15,000+ users, to extract its models’ hidden reasoning, attributing a core cluster to people linked to China’s Moonshot AI. Moonshot has not responded, and OpenAI says no encryption was broken.
West-to-east energy, east-to-west computing: The Uyghur costs of China’s digital order: The author argues that Beijing is turning the Uyghur region into a Eurasian AI and data hub, pointing to the SCO Digital Economy Forum in Urumqi, as an extension of its long-standing resource extraction. She says the push rests on Uyghur land, energy and labor while the forum ignored the surveillance and forced-labor concerns tied to the region.
Translation: Censored Commentary on Beijing’s Drone Storage Ban: A mild WeChat post about Beijing’s new rule banning drone possession, storage and sale citywide from November 15 was deleted. The rule followed the June crash of a manned aircraft into the CITIC Tower, and the post’s removal fits a pattern of censoring even non-critical commentary on security measures.
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for August 2026: August’s censorship roundup covered the Guo Degang “red tune” probe, criticism of banquet culture after alleged sexual assaults in Hangzhou, Huawei’s “bamboo cicada” meme backlash, and security checks around Tiananmen. It also covered the surprise hit animated film “Niu Lai” and the heavily censored Gyirong flood.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
China pressured Munich institute to cancel Taiwan author event: Taiwan’s Munich office says the Chinese consulate unsuccessfully pressed Literaturhaus München to cancel author Yang Shuang-tzu’s talk, offering to fund an event with a Chinese author instead. The office also said that the event’s interpreter wouldn’t translate certain words such as “Taiwan” and that some audience members asked “sensitive” political questions.
FBI arrests woman accused of spying on Taiwan leader’s family for China: Irvine realtor Wanying “Heather” Zhang was arrested at LAX before a flight to China and charged as an unregistered Chinese agent. She allegedly surveilled and photographed the Seattle-area family of President Lai’s son in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials.
Recent Incidents Highlight Chinese Transnational Repression in Taiwan: This piece describes attacks such as the smearing of a Taipei comedy club’s entrance with feces after a comedian mocked Xi. It also covers earlier paint attacks on exiled Hong Kong figures and a growing number of impersonation cases. It notes that attackers are often paid locals or fly-in operatives, which gives plausible deniability, though a link to China is unclear in the comedy club case.
TYC youth activists storm Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on China’s National Day: About 30 Tibetan Youth Congress activists protested at the Chinese Embassy on China’s National Day, rejecting Beijing’s sovereignty claims. Delhi Police detained them for several hours before releasing them that evening.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
HRIC on Twitter/X: Noted democratic figure Yang Tianshui’s sister, Yang Guixiang, passed away unexpectedly on August 18. Yang Guixiang advocated tirelessly for her brother over his 22 years of imprisonment. As we advocate for prisoners of conscience behind bars, we must not overlook the families who stand behind them.
China grants a singer a rare exemption over censorship after an unapproved tribute song: Chengdu authorities said singer Na Ying needed no extra approval for singing “Curved Moon” as a tribute to her late friend Liu Huan, calling it a brief, fragmentary performance during audience interaction. China requires pre-approval of all live-performance content. The exemption came weeks after Wuhan fined the organizers of comedian Guo Degang’s show.
‘Stand on the right side of history’: Starbucks urged to close stores in China’s Xinjiang: The World Uyghur Congress called on Starbucks to “stand on the right side of history” and close its first two Urumqi stores, which opened September 29. US House China Committee chair John Moolenaar called the move “morally bankrupt,” while Starbucks China’s CEO said the company will keep investing in the region.
Related: China Turns Starbucks Opening in Uyghur Homeland Into Propaganda Opportunity Amid Western Criticism. Chinese state media and officials promoted the Urumqi stores as proof of prosperity and normalcy, using footage of Uyghur dancing and the stores’ “ethnic” design.
Cardinal Zen, singer Denise Ho and 3 other trustees take 2019 protest fund convictions to top court: Cardinal Joseph Zen, Denise Ho, Margaret Ng, Cyd Ho and Hui Po-keung are taking their convictions for failing to register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to the Court of Final Appeal, after the Court of Appeal upheld them on September 3. They want the top court to clarify what counts as a “society” under the Societies Ordinance and what that means for freedom of association.
Press union urges police to handle all cases with ‘equal efficiency’ after same-day arrest over threats to pro-gov’t outlet: Police arrested a 24-year-old man within hours of a threatening letter with white powder reaching the pro-Beijing Sing Tao Probe. The HKJA welcomed the speed but urged equal efficiency, noting multiple threats against other press outlets remain unsolved.
A Second Death for a Student Outlet: Following April’s quiet shutdown of Beijing Normal University’s 20-year-old student publication Jingshi Scholars, the outlet Voice of the Voiceless revealed how alumni fought to save the account and preserve its archive. The piece frames it as a second “death” of the outlet, as campus media space shrinks.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
National Security on the Silver Screen: The Ministry of State Security co-produced the spy drama The Long Watch, which topped ratings and which the People’s Daily promoted as showing national security is “every citizen’s responsibility.” The MSS seeks to use entertainment to build “security consciousness,” with Taiwan as a central theme.
The Chinese Communist Party forces Tibetan students and monks across the country to participate in celebrations on “National Day”: Per the headline, the Party compelled Tibetan students and monks to take part in National Day celebrations. This fits a long pattern of mandatory patriotic participation alongside tight limits on religious activity in Tibetan areas.
What China’s Laos foothold means for the region: China opened a joint support and training center and aviation academy at Laos’s Ban Keun airfield. Some call it China’s first full PLA overseas base in Southeast Asia, while others question what it adds beyond forces already in Yunnan.
Tom Cruise film Digger pulled from Hong Kong cinemas ahead of National Day release, censors tight-lipped: The satirical disaster comedy was pulled just before its October 1–2 Hong Kong and Macao release, with no showtimes and no official explanation. Local reports cite possible “sensitive content” or political satire and suggest cuts may be needed, while Taiwan released it on schedule.
Putting Overseas Film On the Record: Hong Kong’s culture secretary Rosanna Law said overseas filmmakers must submit an outline of a film’s “story content” and “message” before shooting in the city. It signals a possible new vetting mechanism for foreign crews.
A New Page for the People’s Daily: The Party’s flagship paper joined RedNote with a chipper, youth-targeted poem as part of a top-down push to keep Party media relevant as young audiences move to short-video and lifestyle apps.
Another Chinese Propaganda Outpost for Italy: Anhui’s International Communication Center opened a “European outpost” in Milan, the third such state-linked media office in Italy and second in Milan. It follows a Prato office opened in 2025, in a city with a large Chinese immigrant population.
HRIC on Twitter/X: U.S. think tank Jamestown Foundation published a long article titled “Xi Jinping’s Purges and the Taiwan Strait War,” analyzing the scale and implications of Xi’s recent military purges. Since 2022, 36 full and lieutenant generals have been formally dealt with, and another 65 senior officers have vanished from public view, likely purged. Of the seven Central Military Commission members at the end of 2022, only one remains today besides Xi Jinping himself.
International Responses 国际反应
Bipartisan US delegation reaffirms support for Tibet, say Trump-Xi meeting does not alter Washington’s position: A bipartisan House delegation led by Rep. Brian Mast met the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala and said the Trump-Xi summit doesn’t diminish US opposition to repression of Tibetans and Uyghurs. Mast was hopeful about the Assuring the Future of Tibet Act.
Latin America sees China as more positive global influence than US: Poll: The 2026 Latinobarómetro survey of 17 countries found 65% see China’s influence as positive versus 57% for the US, a first in the poll’s history. China is up from 48% in 2020, while the US still leads on overall favorability (63% vs. 58%), down from 73% in 2024.
HRIC on Twitter/X: The U.S. Senate passed the “Falun Gong Protection Act and Victims of Organ Harvesting” unanimously on September 28. According to Voice of America, the bill was jointly introduced in March this year by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley. The bill requires the President to submit a list to relevant congressional committees, identifying individuals who have intentionally and directly carried out or facilitated organ harvesting within China. The assets of individuals on the list in the United States will be frozen, Americans will be prohibited from conducting transactions with them, and they will be denied visas, with existing visas subject to revocation.
Trump says he had ‘fruitful discussions’ about Jimmy Lai’s release with Xi Jinping: Trump said he raised the release of political prisoners, including Jimmy Lai and Min Zin, with Xi at last week’s summit, calling the talks “hopefully fruitful.” Lai’s daughter Claire said she was hopeful, though in May Trump said Xi told him Lai’s release was “a tough one,” and the White House hasn’t said whether broader Tibet and Uyghur rights issues were raised.
India issues standard Ladakh placenames that identify incursion spots: India’s Home Ministry released 28 official names for places and features in Ladakh, including parts of Aksai Chin and Gilgit-Baltistan and the 2020 friction points of Hot Spring and Gogra. It follows a similar naming of 27 Arunachal Pradesh locations about two months earlier, in response to China’s repeated naming of border areas.
Current Events 热点新闻
Return of the Pekingologist: Adrian Zenz argues that as China closes archives and criminalizes data-gathering, scholars need a forensic method he calls “Investigative Policy Analysis,” which treats Chinese bureaucratic paper trails as a field to be reverse-engineered. He says it helped expose the Xinjiang camps, by tracking Party watchwords (tifa) through construction bids and regulations, and the Uyghur forced-labor transfers. The method can’t measure implementation precisely, and he notes Beijing has scrubbed documents once they’re exposed.
Bollywood war drama Maatrubhumi gets gov’t approval, storyline now shows China in positive light: The Salman Khan film, originally Battle of Galwan, got an Indian government no-objection certificate after Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials approved a heavily revised storyline. Per the report, the new version portrays India-China ties in a positive light, and a November 13 release is possible once the censor board clears it. The original had drawn criticism from China and delays from India’s Defence Ministry as ties improved.
Seven Years in Tibet back on Netflix shelves after 20 years: The 1997 film returned to Netflix on October 1. Beijing objected to its depiction of the occupation and reportedly banned Brad Pitt, David Thewlis and director Jean-Jacques Annaud, who filmed in Argentina and Canada after China pressured India. Other celebrities China has banned or restricted over Tibet include Richard Gere, Martin Scorsese and Harrison Ford.
As India and China repair ties, a Tibet film tells the story of a forgotten resistance: Four Rivers Six Ranges dramatizes the Chushi Gangdruk fighters who helped the Dalai Lama escape in 1959. Anthropologist Carole McGranahan calls it a “Tibetan telling of the history of Tibet.” Its India release, set for September 11, the day before Xi’s BRICS arrival, was delayed amid the India-China thaw. Chinese state media attacked it as separatist.