HRIC Weekly Brief
February 11, 2026
Top News 头条
This week, Hong Kong continued its harsh crackdown on pro-democracy activists, with the sentencing of Jimmy Lai and the conviction of Hong Kong activist Anna Kwok’s father, Kwok Yin-sang, under the Article 23 national security law for attempting to cancel an insurance policy he bought for his daughter when she was two. HRIC strongly condemns the authorities’ targeting of activists’ family members as a form of collective punishment, which is illegal under international law.
On Monday, Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in jail under the 2020 National Security Law (NSL). One of Hong Kong’s most prolific pro-democracy figures, Lai had been accused of using his tabloid, Apple Daily, to lobby foreign nations to impose sanctions, blockades, or other hostile activities upon China and Hong Kong. He was also accused of inciting hatred against the authorities with 161 op-eds he allegedly wrote and published in the now-shuttered newspaper. At 78 years old, this is a life sentence.
The news was met with condemnation from the international community. Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary, said: “For 78-year-old Jimmy Lai, 20 years is an effective life sentence, following a politically motivated prosecution under a law that was imposed to silence China’s critics. The Hong Kong authorities must end Jimmy Lai’s appalling ordeal and release him to be with his family.” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk and the UN Human Rights Office stated that the sentence criminalizes the exercise of protected freedom of expression, including media freedoms, and association, drawing extensively on conduct that predates the NSL.
HRIC Executive Director Zhou Fengsuo says: “I remember meeting Jimmy in Hong Kong in 2014 during the Umbrella Movement. He was already a giant in the media world, yet what struck me most was his humility and his total devotion to the cause of freedom. He did not act like a tycoon; he acted like a servant of the people. He stood on the frontlines, inhaling the same tear gas, facing the same threats, and never wavering. He could have left Hong Kong at any time to live out his days in comfort and safety. Instead, he chose to stay and stand with the people of Hong Kong, knowingly sacrificing his own freedom for theirs. Jimmy Lai is a great man—a martyr for democracy who has looked tyranny in the eye without blinking. The CCP hopes that these brutal sentences will crush the spirit of Hong Kong, but they only reveal the regime’s profound fear of one 78-year-old man who refused to kneel.”
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Law on the Prevention and Control of Cybercrime (Draft for Solicitation of Comments): The deadline for submitting feedback on the draft is March 2, 2026.
Related: China moves to boost cybercrime penalties by adding exit ban after sentences. Exit bans on people found guilty of cross-border online crimes will go up to three years, even after they have served their sentences.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Conceptualizing the reverse great firewall: cybersecurity and the logics of government geo-blocking in China: The Chinese authorities not only seek to prevent information from entering China, they also seek to restrict global access to information on the domestic Chinese internet, through an emerging “Reverse Great Firewall.”
HRIC on Twitter/X: In recent months, X has been flooded with accounts claiming to be Uyghur women from Xinjiang, posting selfies with messages that insist “nothing is wrong here.” Many of these profiles are not real people, but rather faked content following templated instructions. The accounts often steal personal photos from platforms such as Xiaohongshu to appear legitimate.
Translations: Eight Censored Views on the Detentions of Investigative Reporters Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao: Translations of eight deleted articles including: the official misconduct alleged in Liu and Wu’s article; the decision to detain the two journalists; the way that was carried out and subsequently handled; and the situation’s broader implications for journalism and public discourse in China.
What You’re Getting Wrong About China and AI: Ying-Liu Li, journalist and author of the new book “The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet,” argues that the narrative of an existential AI race between China and the U.S. risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Tightening the Net: China’s infrastructure of oppression in Iran: A new in-depth report by ARTICLE 19 reveals how China has been instrumental in the foundation of Iran’s information control, and how it continues to offer a blueprint for the architecture of digital authoritarianism in Iran.
HRIC on Twitter/X: Guan Heng, the Chinese asylum-seeker known for his efforts to document Uyghur concentration camps, was released from detention in New York last week.
Akhmetzhan Sadyrov, the son of former Chinese concentration camp detainee and Uyghur activist Gulbahar Jalilova, is being deported to Kazakhstan: Observers and activists say the efforts to deport Sadyrov are part of broader transnational repression efforts by the Chinese government aimed at silencing Gulbahar Jalilova, who has continued to publicly speak out about her 15 months of detention in China’s internment camps.
Southern California man acting as covert agent for China sentenced to four years in prison: Yaoning “Mike” Sun had pleaded guilty to working as an agent of China without notifying the Attorney General. From 2022 to 2024, he operated a news website aimed at the Chinese-American community that posted pro-PRC content, organized the election of an individual to City Council, reported on Taiwan-related activity in southern California, and more.
Journalists and Spies: As illustrated by Yang Yiming’s case, Chinese state media based outside China often operates in a grey zone between news, propaganda, and espionage, with correspondents collecting pro-China content for state outlets and intelligence operatives using press credentials as cover.
Hong Kong declines to confirm if formerly sanctioned UK MPs can enter city, after PM says China travel ban lifted: The UK MPs are Iain Duncan Smith, Nusrat Ghani, Tom Tugendhat and Neil O’Brien in 2021, as well as Peers Helena Kennedy, David Alton, and now-former MP Tim Loughton.
France charges 4 suspected of spying for China, prosecutor says: The Paris prosecutor’s office said two individuals have been remanded into custody and two others placed under judicial supervision, without offering details on their identities.
Universities and politicians briefed on China and Russia spy threat: The briefing covered methods used to influence academic research and teaching content, specifically citing Chinese agents’ use of professional networking sites such as LinkedIn and financial inducements to recruit academic staff and students.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
HRIC on Twitter/X: HRIC commemorates the sixth anniversary of Dr. Li Wenliang’s passing on February 6, 2020.
UN experts condemn denial of medical treatment to human rights defender in China: Yang Li has been advocating against land requisition and crop clearance being carried out by the authorities in Jiangsu Province since 2009. Her efforts have led to her being administratively detained multiple times since 2014.
HRIC on Twitter/X: Earlier this year, HRIC mailed New Year greeting cards to several human rights defenders. Ma Yalian never received hers. Instead, police showed up at her hotel late at night, demanding to know whether she had received “overseas cards” and ordering her to hand them over.
Tibetan environmental activist A-Nya Sengdra released after seven years in prison: A-Nya Sengdra is widely known for exposing corruption, abuse of power, illegal mining, and environmental destruction in his region. He challenged local officials over the embezzlement of public welfare and relief funds, unlawful extraction of natural resources, discrimination, and neglect of impoverished Tibetan communities.
Hong Kong Federation of Students to disband after 68 years, citing ‘increasing pressure’: Founded in 1958, the HKFS is composed of student unions from higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The group has a long history of activism in student movements.
Hong Kong man gets 80 hours community service for tearing off ‘fingertip’-sized corner of election poster: Mo Chi-kit slightly damaged two government posters on a Mong Kok footbridge that bore a slogan calling on residents to cast their ballots in the elections.
Public health is part of national security, police officer tells trial of Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil activists: Superintendent Chow Wing-yee told the court that the idea of national security was “broad” and that public safety and public health were parts of her understanding of what constituted national security.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Human Rights Watch World Report 2026: China: According to Human Rights Watch, Chinese authorities systematically deny the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion, and persecute government critics. Tightened CCP ideological control has been accompanied by harsh forced assimilation of Tibetans and Uyghurs and by imposition of a repressive national security regime in Hong Kong.
Chinese government prohibits Tibetan children under 18 from entering monasteries: Notices reading “Children under 18 are not allowed in the monastery” have reportedly been placed at the entrance of a monastery in Kham, signaling stricter implementation of long-standing policies aimed at limiting minors’ participation in religious activities.
China out to eradicate Tibetan civilization, UN rights expert warns: Nicolas Levrat, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, called Tibet a case where state-led policies are not merely discriminatory but constitute “eradication in more subtle ways”.
China overturns death sentence of Canadian in sign of diplomatic thaw: Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg had been detained on drug charges in 2014.
International Responses 国际反应
US approves $23 million in Tibet assistance; funding restored for RFA and VOA: Of the total allocation, $10 million has been earmarked for nongovernmental organizations with experience working with Tibetan communities; $8 million has been designated for programs that promote Tibetan culture and language among refugee and diaspora communities; and $5 million has been appropriated to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Central Tibetan Administration.