Top News 头条
Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, pleaded guilty last Wednesday to conspiring to seek foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China, a national security charge that carries a maximum life sentence. This is already his second conviction under the National Security Law following a landmark subversion case. Wong was accused of working with the exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law to urge foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against China. Wong has been continuously imprisoned since November 2020, and after spending nearly six years in detention, had been due for release in January 2027. Several civil society groups in Taiwan on Wednesday called for his immediate release. Chanting “Freedom is not a crime, Taiwan has not forgotten,” representatives also called on Taiwan’s government to publicly speak out over Wong’s case.
In other news, Ruth Wang, a partner at Beijing’s VDoor Law Firm who represented detained leaders of the unregistered Zion Church, fled to Taiwan seeking protection after authorities pressured her to dissolve her firm. Taiwan confirmed it had provided her “temporary accommodation,” while rights group ChinaAid emphasized that she and her family must not be forcibly returned to China.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
HRIC on Twitter/X: According to an article from the Lawyers Under Attack Monitoring Committee under the International People’s Lawyers Association, China has established support for the CCP leadership as a statutory practice condition for lawyers.
China defense mobilization law signals preparations for full-scale conflict: Analysts: China’s revised National Defense Mobilization Law, effective October 1, links “unity” directly to wartime transition for the first time, which analysts say constitutes “legal warfare” preparing the state to convert civilian resources for a potential conflict over Taiwan.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
HRIC on Twitter/X: A new phishing campaign is targeting Chinese human rights defenders and activists with fake party invitations that appear to come from familiar contacts and trusted invitation services. These messages may lead to fake login pages designed to steal passwords, authentication codes, or active sessions.
As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) covers up the extent of the mudslide disaster in Tibet, several netizens have been arrested for posting related information: Chinese authorities have censored footage and punished at least ten citizens for “spreading rumors” online about death tolls following the catastrophic August 26 Gyirong Port mudslide on the Tibet-Nepal border, while barring foreign journalists from accessing the disaster zone.
Minitrue: Find, Delete, and Block Chai Jing Video on Cultural Revolution Leader: A leaked CAC directive ordered platforms to find, delete, and block a Chai Jing documentary segment on Gang of Four figure Wang Hongwen using video fingerprinting technology, part of broader efforts to suppress Cultural Revolution history.
Open-Weight Diplomacy: How China’s AI Models Are Rerunning the Digital Silk Road: An analysis argues China’s free “open-weight” AI models like Kimi K3 mirror Huawei’s telecom strategy: luring developing countries with low-cost access before entrenching dependency through chips, cloud infrastructure, and training programs, echoing the Digital Silk Road playbook.
HRIC on Twitter/X: People’s Daily opened an account on Threads, complete with a blue verification checkmark, posting feel-good content like Guangzhou night scenes, dragon boat races, and light shows. One post garnered over three thousand views and just eleven likes, but the replies painted a starkly different picture: one comment paired an old photo of Xi Jinping sitting at a computer with the caption “Watch me cut off your VPN.”
HRIC on Twitter/X: A New York Times investigation reveals that, against the backdrop of tightening export controls, Sugon Group, a Chinese tech company listed on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s “Entity List,” may still be obtaining advanced AI computing equipment from the United States through channels such as affiliated companies, overseas supply chains, and data centers in Southeast Asia.
HRIC on Twitter/X: China’s youth employment landscape is already dire, and AI is exacerbating the problem. A record-breaking 12.7 million graduates are entering the job market this year, and the unemployment rate among urban youth aged 16 to 24 rose to 17.9% in July.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Real Madrid deletes Nepal-Tibet flood post after Chinese backlash: Real Madrid removed a social media tribute to Tibet-Nepal flood victims after Chinese state media and netizens attacked the club for using Tibetans’ preferred name, “Tibet,” instead of Beijing’s preferred Mandarin term “Xizang.”
Related: Real Madrid mourns the victims of the Tibet-Nepal floods, but Chinese state media’s claim that it “crossed the red line of sovereignty” has sparked ridicule online. This companion piece notes that Chinese state media’s claim that Real Madrid’s flood tribute “crossed the red line of sovereignty” drew widespread online ridicule rather than sympathy for Beijing’s position.
The Tibetan Association of New York and New Jersey will erect a monument to commemorate Lobsang Rangtsen, a Tibetan who died by self-immolation: The Tibetan Association of New York and New Jersey plans to build a memorial monument honoring Lobga Rangzen, the Tibetan activist who self-immolated outside UN headquarters on July 2, 2026, in protest against China’s rule over Tibet.
China artists quit S.Korea art show after organisers let ‘Taiwan’ be used in name of exhibition: Chinese artists withdrew from South Korea’s Gwangju Biennale after organizers restored the “Taiwan Pavilion” name for a Taiwanese exhibit (reversing an earlier change to a museum acronym), prompting formal Chinese government protest over violation of the so-called “one China” principle.
Belgian-Chinese man to face trial over suspected semiconductor espionage: A 52-year-old dual Belgian-Chinese national, a former senior researcher at bankrupt chipmaker BelGaN, was detained while attempting to fly to Beijing and faces trial for allegedly transferring gallium nitride semiconductor trade secrets to a rival Chinese firm.
A US journalist sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for acting as an illegal agent for China: American journalist Thomas Pauken II, a former Xinhua contributor, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government after trying to connect a Trump official with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
Hong Kong court upholds convictions of Cardinal Joseph Zen and others over protester relief fund: A Hong Kong appeals court upheld the convictions of Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund for failing to register the fund, which had aided arrested 2019 protesters, rejecting arguments that the registration requirement unduly burdened freedom of association.
Three arrested on anniversary of 2019 incident involving suspected police violence at Prince Edward station: Police arrested three people, aged 33 to 79, near Prince Edward MTR station for disorderly conduct as people gathered with flowers to mark the seventh anniversary of the 2019 police storming of train carriages there.
Related: 3 re-arrested for alleged sedition after marking anniversary of 2019 Prince Edward police storming. The same three people were re-arrested days later by national security police on sedition charges for allegedly shouting “seditious slogans” and spreading “false information” while commemorating the Prince Edward anniversary.
Elderly woman charged with displaying seditious publications outside flat, remanded at psychiatric centre: A 61-year-old woman was charged with displaying seditious materials outside her Tin Shui Wai flat between March and November 2024; her case was adjourned for psychiatric evaluation, and she faces up to seven years under Article 23 if convicted.
M Lin’s ‘The Memory Museum’ Depicts the Choices and Contradictions of a Generation of Urban Chinese Women Who Rarely Tell Their Own Stories: A review of M Lin’s short-story collection about urban Chinese women who came of age in the 2000s praises its unflinching, untranslated depiction of pandemic-era marriages, censorship, feminism, and diaspora identity.
Danish sculptor writes to Hong Kong court asking for return of Tiananmen crackdown monument: Jens Galschiøt asked a Hong Kong court to return his “Pillar of Shame” sculpture, seized as evidence in the Hong Kong Alliance’s national security trial, following the group leaders’ recent conviction for inciting subversion.
University of Hong Kong student ‘Democracy Wall’ replaced with digital displays: The University of Hong Kong’s long-dormant “Democracy Wall,” stripped of protest posters since 2021, has now been physically replaced with digital displays, part of a broader campus digitization following the university’s split from its student union.
M+ Museum abruptly axes performance by award-winning local musician Wong Hin-yan: M+ abruptly canceled a scheduled performance by singer-songwriter Wong Hin-yan—who has a history of pro-democracy activism, including performing at a 2017 solidarity concert for jailed activists—one day before the show, citing only a vague “program change.”
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Information Controls Follow Catastrophic Flooding in Gyirong on the China-Nepal Border: CDT documented a sophisticated Chinese censorship operation after the deadly Gyirong flood, including video fingerprinting to block specific surveillance footage, “sanitized” search results flooded with state-approved content, and hundreds of Weibo trending topics vanishing. describing it as calibrated “public-opinion guidance” rather than blunt deletion.
China restrict Tibetan volunteers, relief efforts in flood-hit Kyirong: Sources told Phayul that Chinese authorities imposed unusually strict limits on Tibetan volunteer relief efforts in flood-hit Kyirong compared to past disasters like the 2025 Dingri earthquake, restricting entry to only officially designated personnel given the area’s sensitive border location.
Borrowed Boats for Bishkek: An analysis of a People’s Daily story celebrating a multilingual Xi Jinping propaganda program broadcast across nine Eurasian and Middle Eastern state media outlets is a demonstration China’s systematic, years-long media-diplomacy partnerships built to amplify Beijing’s narratives.
Language requirement change from Cantonese to Chinese not targeting specific students – HKU med school: HKU’s medical faculty said revising its Cantonese-specific admission requirement to broader “Chinese” proficiency (including Mandarin) wasn’t meant to target any group, while affirming Cantonese remains essential for patient communication.
The Chinese Communist Party’s forced removal of prayer flags in Diqing, Tibet, has sparked concerns among Tibetans: Chinese authorities forcibly removed traditional Tibetan prayer flags in Diqing, Tibet, under the guise of “environmental cleanup,” sparking concern among Tibetans as part of a long-running campaign against visible symbols of Tibetan Buddhist culture and religious practice.
Xi visits Egypt as China seeks deeper influence across the Mideast: Xi Jinping’s first Egypt visit in a decade saw China and Egypt hold their first-ever joint fighter jet exercises, as Beijing positions itself as a stabilizing alternative to the US amid the fallout from Washington’s war with Iran and seeks to expand influence across the broader Arab and African world.
Chinese theater, promoter fined for altered patriotic song in a comedy show: Wuhan authorities fined the venue and promoter behind comedian Guo Degang’s show after he allegedly “distorted” and mocked a patriotic 1950s war song, part of the fallout that has kept China’s most famous xiangsheng performer off stage since the incident.
While forcibly closing Tibetan-language schools across Tibet, the CCP is simultaneously building schools that teach in Mandarin Chinese: While systematically shutting down Tibetan-language schools across Tibet under education policies mandating Mandarin instruction, Chinese authorities are simultaneously constructing new Mandarin-medium schools, part of a broader campaign to erase Tibetan linguistic and cultural identity.
China’s secret lifeline to Russia’s killer drone producer: Internal Russian shipping documents show Chinese state-owned Jilin Chemical Fiber Group disguised shipments of 46 tons of carbon-fiber materials to a Rosatom subsidiary that produces kamikaze drone components, offering some of the clearest evidence yet of direct Chinese support for Russia’s military activities.
China warns of ‘consequences’ over Taiwan presence at Pacific Islands Forum: China’s Pacific envoy Qian Bo warned of unspecified “consequences” over what it called Taiwan’s “sneaky visit” after Taiwan’s foreign minister attended the Pacific Islands Forum’s opening ceremony in Palau, one of Taiwan’s three remaining diplomatic allies in the region.
International Responses 国际反应
USALI This Week in Asian Law: Volkswagen opened a compliance investigation into Changzhou Xingyu Automotive Lighting Systems, a Chinese auto parts supplier, following allegations of labor abuses reported by new hires who were forced out of the company.
Putin, Xi reaffirm Russia-China ties amid ‘unpredictable’ world: At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, Xi and Putin reaffirmed their strategic partnership has grown “more solid.”
Pacific leaders issue joint rebuke over China missile test: Pacific Islands Forum members agreed a joint statement (17 of 18, with Nauru dissenting) registering “concern” over China’s July ICBM test that landed near Tuvalu and Nauru, calling for at least 24 hours’ advance notice of future tests.
Related: Pacific leaders at summit fail to reach unanimous condemnation of China’s ballistic missile launch. The Pacific Islands Forum’s statement of “concern” over China’s missile launch fell short of a sterner rebuke and didn’t name China directly, with Nauru dissenting and Kiribati’s absence highlighting deeper regional divisions amid intensifying US-China-Taiwan competition for influence.
UK to pursue ‘pragmatic relationship’ with China despite US calls for trade barriers: Britain continues signaling a pragmatic, engagement-focused approach to China—prioritizing trade and economic ties.
The U.S. Commission on the Committee on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Dalai Lama recommended that Congress recognize only the Dalai Lama’s successor selected through the Ganden Phodrang Trust process: The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission urged Congress to formally commit to recognizing only a Dalai Lama successor chosen through the Dalai Lama’s own Gaden Phodrang Trust process, pushing for legislative and diplomatic groundwork ahead of an anticipated succession dispute with Beijing.
Current Events 热点新闻
Mudslide death toll in China rises to 3 after heavy rain from Typhoon Saudel: A mudslide in Jiangxi province’s Suichuan County killed three people and left nine missing after days of torrential rain from Typhoon Saudel, with two additional deaths reported in neighboring Hunan province and over 5,300 residents relocated to safety.