HRIC Weekly Brief
August 19, 2025
Top News 头条
In Hong Kong, Jimmy Lai’s trial resumed on Monday with closing arguments after a pause last week for Lai to receive urgent medical care. Lai’s attorney said that the 77-year-old had been experiencing heart palpitations and episodes where he felt like he was “collapsing.” Hong Kong activist Ted Hui, who lives in Australia and is the subject of a HK$1M bounty, thanked the Australian government for granting his asylum application and urged them to speak up on behalf of Lai and other activists who remain imprisoned. Tony Chung, another activist in exile targeted by the HK$1M bounties, also announced that he has received asylum in the UK.
In other news: Thai and French art museums have come under fire for caving to Chinese government pressure to remove, censor, and/or publicly misinterpret works from Tibetan, Uyghur, and Hong Kong artists. In Bangkok, an art exhibit on collaboration between authoritarian regimes was ironically forced to remove part of the works and cover other parts of the show with black paint after complaints were lodged by the Chinese Embassy. Now, the Burmese curator of the show says he fled under pressure and is seeking asylum in the UK. This is not the first time that the Chinese authorities have leveraged political pressure to control the narrative internationally, but it is notable for the explicit acknowledgement of such pressure by the gallery itself. Last month, a lawsuit was filed against the Guimet Museum in Paris related to its alleged erasure of Tibetan identity, following years of involvement with the Chinese Embassy; however, the museum denies any such influence.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
China’s Revised Law of Public Order Offenses (Part 1): Physical Liberty, Due Process, and Speech vs. Public Security Administration: The new law contains extensive revisions, some of which are explained here. For example, minors may now be administratively detained without due process in more situations, while fines are now an alternative to detention for the vague and commonly applied charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
Skip Social Insurance, Pay Severance: China’s Top Court Tells Employers: In a new development for labor rights, a judicial interpretation from the Supreme People’s Court has found that when employers fail to pay mandatory social insurance, employees may request the authorities to order back payments and even resign with severance.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Chatbots Silent on Sichuan Protests: As demonstrated by a series of test questions about the recent protests in Jiangyou, supervision and censorship of AI chatbots such as DeepSeek is a key element of the authorities’ strategy for implementing “public opinion guidance.”
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
NGOs urge Nandy to halt sale of Telegraph over China links: In an open letter to UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy, a group of international NGOs including HRIC raised urgent concerns over the potential acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group by investment firm RedBird Capital, in light of its ties to China. HRIC is deeply concerned about the acquisition's resulting threats to media pluralism, transparency, and information integrity in the UK and beyond.
What is Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, the Buddhist group at the centre of an alleged spy case in Australia?: Religion is seen as subversive in China, an officially atheist state, but it is also a useful tool for the Chinese security apparatus to exert influence overseas.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
HRIC on Twitter/X: Anhui resident and retiree Chen Bing has been sentenced to three years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” over writing political commentary articles on WeChat, reposting content, and expressing views on current affairs that reflected a critical view of national policies and leaders.
Translation: Filmmaker Describes Monitoring by Local Cadre in Urumqi: Guo Zhenming, an independent filmmaker who was recently fined 75,000 yuan (US$10,300) for alleged "unauthorized filmmaking" by the Xinjiang authorities, describes the intrusive monitoring he experienced while renting an apartment in Urumqi, such as being required to check in every time he traveled, and the initial police visit regarding so-called unauthorized filmmaking.
100 candidates pass nat. security vetting for Election Committee by-elections in Hong Kong: Only 100 candidates for Election Committee have been approved by Hong Kong’s patriots-only vetting process, which includes review by police and the Committee for Safeguarding National Security, which holds an adviser from Beijing. The majority will be automatically elected to uncontested seats, while the remaining 28 will compete for 21 spots in the September elections.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Hong Kong to continue implementing ‘patriotic education,’ leader John Lee says in lead-up to 4th Policy Address: Patriotism and national security education are expected to remain a priority, and will be an integral part of the curriculum in Hong Kong schools.
International Responses 国际反应
2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: China (Includes Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet): Last week, United States released its yearly reports on human rights in countries around the world. The report emphasized “[g]enocide and crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, restrictions on media freedom, arbitrary detention of rights defenders, repression in the name of national security in Hong Kong, and more.