Top News 头条
On September 11, 2026, the West Kowloon Law Courts in Hong Kong sentenced three former leaders of the dissolved Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HKASPDMC) in a national security case on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.” The Alliance, former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung had been found guilty on August 21, while former vice-chairman Albert Ho pleaded guilty before the trial. Chow Hang-tung was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison, Lee Cheuk-yan to seven years, and Albert Ho to five years and two months. The HKASPDMC was also fined HK$1.5 million.
The case did not involve violence or the threat of violence, “nor had the defendant put forward any specific means of implementation or timetable” to end one-party rule in mainland China, one of the Alliance’s central tenets. Nevertheless, the court still found that the offence was “of a serious nature.” Former HKASPDMC Standing Committee member Lau Ka-yee stated that the HKASPDMC has always upheld freedom of speech and that she believes the sentence is excessive. The UN Human Rights Office criticized the sentences, calling them “regrettable,” while UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged that sentences be quashed and that Hong Kong’s National Security Law be brought into line with China’s international human rights obligations. Relatives and family members decried their years-long prison terms as “totally unjust,” and have said that two of the defendants will appeal.
In other news, Macau will hold its first national security trial behind closed doors next week, a court said on Friday, in a case against a former pro-democracy lawmaker charged with “subversion.” Former Macau lawmaker Au Kam San in July 2025 became the first person to be arrested under the expanded law, with authorities alleging he had ties to foreign groups endangering China.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
China’s top court posts guidelines on deepfakes, voice cloning, algorithmic price discrimination: China’s Supreme People’s Court issued its first nationwide judicial rules on AI disputes, barring unauthorized deepfakes and voice cloning, holding platforms liable if they fail to act on infringing content, and also addressing algorithmic price discrimination and AI-generated misinformation.
China’s Draft Anti-Cross-Border Corruption Law – How Will It Affect Foreign Companies?: China’s draft law extends anti-graft enforcement across borders, requiring foreign companies to cooperate with investigations, restrict evidence-sharing with foreign regulators, and enable retaliatory sanctions, creating potential compliance conflicts for multinationals caught between Chinese restrictions and foreign disclosure laws like the US FCPA.
How not to be a human rights lawyer in China: A new amendment to China’s Lawyers Law, effective September 1, formally enshrines “support for CCP leadership” as a legal qualification for practicing law, converting a prior administrative requirement into statutory political loyalty test that further squeezes space for rights-oriented lawyers.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
HRIC on Twitter/X: Anthropic claims that since February 2026, it has identified and blocked unauthorized model distillation activities targeting Claude by seven Chinese AI labs; efforts to train their own models using data and reasoning capabilities generated by Claude.
HRIC on Twitter/X: According to The New York Times, pessimistic sentiments on Chinese social media are continuing to spread, and can no longer be easily covered up by the official “positive energy” narrative.
China’s Online Environment Gets Colder and Darker: Li Yuan describes growing, persistent pessimism across Chinese social media driven by economic slowdown and unemployment, which censors struggle to fully suppress even as the space for substantive critique continues to narrow through AI-powered surveillance tools.
Six Chinese AI firms accused of aggressively copying US frontier models: US agencies (NSA, FBI, CISA) accused DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Alibaba, MiniMax, StepFun, and Z.AI of running “aggressive, malicious” campaigns since late 2024 to distill capabilities from Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok using fraudulent accounts and proxy evasion tactics, with China dismissing the claims as groundless.
Beijing bans drone possession in the city after earlier moves to tighten rules: Beijing will ban possessing drones within city limits starting mid-November, extending an earlier May sales ban, following a fatal June crash in which a small aircraft struck a Beijing skyscraper. The authorities will offer buyback subsidies for existing owners.
China’s Huawei Technologies faces racketeering trial in New York: Jury selection began in Huawei’s long-running US criminal trial over alleged trade-secret theft, sanctions violations in North Korea and Iran, and surveillance assistance to Iran during 2009 protests. Huawei called the prosecution’s narrative “demonstrably false.”
The Global Data Center Boom Is a Gift to Spies: shared “colocation” data centers, where Chinese and American companies often lease space in the same facility, create espionage risks far simpler than hacking, as tenants can physically tamper with neighboring servers.
HRIC on Twitter/X: The New York Times’ latest investigation reveals that, against the backdrop of the United States tightening export controls on advanced AI chips to China, Sugon Group, a Chinese tech company listed on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s “Entity List,” may still be obtaining U.S. advanced AI computing equipment and computing power through channels such as affiliated companies, overseas supply chains, and data centers in Southeast Asia.
HRIC on Twitter/X: According to the New York Times, California cybersecurity firm Calif recently disclosed a high-risk “zero-click” worm attack targeting WeChat, dubbed “WeWorm.” Victims do not even need to click links, download files, or answer calls—a single WeChat call from a compromised contact could serve as the entry point for intrusion.
HRIC on Twitter/X: Judicial materials disclosed by Chinese authorities show that China is increasingly treating Starlink terminals operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX as a priority concern in border security and cross-border communications control, and has already used criminal prosecution to punish the unauthorized cross-border transport of Starlink equipment.
HRIC on Twitter/X: Due to the inability to normally directly use certain foreign top-tier AIs like ChatGPT and Claude in mainland China, corporate employees have turned to extensively using third-party AI “relay stations.” To get AI assistance with programming, operations and maintenance, and troubleshooting, they may send internal code, server logs, VPN configurations, or even authentication credentials directly to the relay services.
Chinese Online Harassment and Death Threats Against Me Continue as I Speak for Uyghurs: This personal essay is part of an ongoing series in which the Uyghur Times founder recounts continued online death threats and hacking attempts linked to Chinese state networks, alongside the detention of dozens of his relatives in China in apparent retaliation for his journalism abroad.
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for July 2026: July’s censorship roundup centered on the deadly Guangxi dam breach and Zhengzhou flood anniversary, alongside a Changsha parking dispute that exposed cadre privilege, controversy over razor-wire fencing at Mount Tai, debate following two Chinese mathematicians’ Fields Medal wins, and comparisons of Taiwan’s outspoken versus China’s muted reaction to food-safety scandals.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Over 60 TYC activists detained after protesting Xi’s visit near BRICS venue in New Delhi: At least 64 Tibetan Youth Congress activists, including senior leaders, were detained by Delhi Police after staging a late-night protest near the BRICS Summit venue against Xi Jinping’s presence, part of a broader wave of Tibetan demonstrations, surveillance, and preventive detentions during his first India visit in nearly seven years.
The release of the Tibetan historical film “Four Rivers and Six Ranges” in India has been postponed by one week, reportedly due to Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to the country.: The theatrical release of Four Rivers and Six Ranges, depicting the Dalai Lama’s 1959 flight from Tibet, which Chinese state media has denounced as “separatist,” was pushed back a week in India, reportedly to avoid controversy during Xi Jinping’s visit for the BRICS summit.
An international Tibetology symposium was cancelled in Nepal, which was criticized as an overinterpretation of signals from the Chinese Communist Party.: Some observers argue Nepal’s cancellation of the international Tibetan studies conference under alleged Chinese pressure reflected an overcautious “overinterpretation” of Beijing’s signals rather than an explicit Chinese demand, as the event was ultimately moved online.
Sydney man jailed for three and a half years over fake defence reports prepared for Chinese spies: Alexander Csergo, a Shanghai-based Australian consultant, was sentenced to three and a half years for reckless foreign interference after compiling fabricated, plagiarized reports on Australian defense, AUKUS, and critical minerals for Chinese intelligence operatives in exchange for cash.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Two Tibetan Monks Jump into River to Escape Arrest by Chinese Authorities: Two young Tibetans hiding at Nyarong Monastery after being banned from becoming monks jumped into a river and drowned in January 2026 while fleeing Chinese authorities who came to arrest them for illegally residing there.
Dorje Tenzin Rinpoche, the abbot of Mentang Monastery in Jiuzhi County, Tibet, has been missing for nearly nine months since his arrest.: Chogtrul Dorje Tenzin, abbot of Mentang Monastery and founder of a Tibetan-language vocational school in Qinghai’s Golog Prefecture, remains missing nearly nine months after his December 2025 detention, with authorities providing no explanation and his school forced to close.
2 men with autism jailed for 3 years over joining a Taiwan group that advocated independence for Hong Kong: Chan Tai-sum, 27, and Ng Chi-tung, 25—both diagnosed with autism—were sentenced to 36–38 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit secession for their involvement with the Taiwan-based Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union, with the judge rejecting claims that Chan’s attempt to seek foreign asylum should reduce his sentence.
Wall Street Journal publisher convicted in Hong Kong of deterring reporter from union role: A Hong Kong court convicted Dow Jones of unlawfully deterring former reporter Selina Cheng, now chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, from running for the press union’s leadership, though it acquitted the company of firing her over her union role, in a case widely seen as a press-freedom bellwether.
HRIC on Twitter/X: “Pillar of Shame” Tiananmen commemoration artwork creator Jens Galschiøt responded to the prosecution’s application in the Hong Kong Alliance case to confiscate “Pillar of Shame” and other June Fourth historical materials, stating that he never transferred legal ownership of the work to the Hong Kong Alliance, nor has he consented to the Hong Kong authorities confiscating, seizing, destroying, disposing of, or transferring it.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
USALI This Week in Asian Law: Courts sentenced three senior officials for corruption and the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection expelled two former ministers from the party and referred both for prosecution on bribery allegations.
A Family Dispute: A licensing fee dispute between a Shaanxi provincial broadcaster and CCTV’s national distribution arm—both ultimately CCP-controlled but nominally commercial entities—reveals the odd internal dynamics of China’s state-owned media landscape, where a struggling provincial network failed to pay $11 million in fees amid a broader collapse in local TV ad revenue and viewership.
HRIC on Twitter/X: A new report released in September 2026 by Safeguard Defenders unveils the other side of the camera lens at China Global Television Network (CGTN). The report interviews eight former CGTN employees, including anchors, editors, and producers, describing a work environment starkly different from that of ordinary international news organizations: news values often give way to political propaganda, and journalists and editors must face strict censorship and self-censorship.
Satellite images show China advancing into contested India border territory as Xi travels to New Delhi: Satellite imagery shows China rapidly building infrastructure in contested Arunachal Pradesh territory near villages like Gelemo and Taksing, with local Tagin residents reporting Indian troops retreating as Chinese forces advance, a stark contrast to Xi’s simultaneous diplomatic “reconciliation” visit to New Delhi.
Related: Xi Jinping gets red carpet at Brics summit amid thaw in India-China relations. Xi Jinping received a ceremonial welcome in New Delhi for his first India visit in seven years, marking a diplomatic thaw since the deadly 2020 Galwan border clash, as India and China publicly project unity within BRICS while quietly competing for regional influence.
International Responses 国际反应
HRIC on Twitter/X: On September 8, Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro spoke at the Seoul Defense Dialogue hosted in South Korea. As he discussed the South China Sea situation and compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a staff member handed him a piece of letter paper from a Chinese military attaché at the Chinese Embassy in South Korea reiterating China’s opffiucial stance rejecting the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling.
NSC adviser urges caution on travel to China amid new rules: Ahead of new Chinese entry-exit rules, a Taiwanese national security adviser warned that Taiwan’s civil servants, religious group members, and tech-sector engineers are prime targets for Chinese intelligence gathering, citing cases of police and judicial personnel being questioned about infrastructure and internal operations during China visits.
UN expresses deep concern over China’s tightening restrictions on Tibetans: UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council’s 63rd session that China’s “tightening restrictions” on Tibetan religious freedom are “deeply troubling,” calling for urgent policy change.
Bipartisan U.S. Lawmakers Demand DHS Briefing on Uyghur Forced Labor Law Enforcement: A bipartisan coalition of US lawmakers pressed DHS for a briefing on Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act enforcement, citing concerns over declining detention rates in high-risk sectors despite a record 43-company expansion of the sanctions list.
Conflict over Taiwan would be disastrous, de facto US ambassador warns: The top US diplomat in Taipei, Raymond Greene, said any Taiwan Strait conflict would harm the global economy more than WWII, calling the upcoming Trump-Xi summit an opportunity to avoid “miscalculations” as the US reinforces Indo-Pacific defense partnerships.
Beijing has no right to interfere in vice president’s visit to Italy: MOFA: Taiwan’s foreign ministry rejected Beijing’s criticism of Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s visit to a European Parliament-organized democracy conference in Italy, after China lodged formal protests with Rome and Brussels over the “one China” principle.
Current Events 热点新闻
At least 25 dead in cargo ship fire at China’s Qingdao port: At least 25 people died and 5 were hospitalized after a fire broke out aboard the Liberian-flagged Ocean Melody while docked for repairs at a state-owned Qingdao shipyard; Xi ordered urgent rescue efforts and a safety investigation.
Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first post-Handover leader, dies at 89: Hong Kong’s first post-Handover chief executive, a Beijing-backed shipping tycoon who governed through the Asian financial crisis, SARS outbreak, and the historic 2003 anti-Article 23 protests before resigning in 2005, passed away last week.
Call in China to end English’s core status sparks debate: A viral post by math teacher Tang Jiafeng calling to strip English of its core-subject status in Chinese schools, arguing AI translation has reduced its necessity, reignited a long-running debate. Critics like Hu Xijin warned against politicizing language education, citing its role in global competitiveness and equity.