HRIC Weekly Brief
March 3, 2026
Top News 头条
In Hong Kong, 68-year-old retired translator Lam Chung-ming was sentenced to eight months in prison for “sedition” on Friday for publishing 130 Facebook posts to an audience of around a dozen friends, which criticized the authorities and called for a boycott of last year’s legislative polls. Separately, 61-year-old Bonney Ma was sentenced to two months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after she pleaded guilty to one count of inciting others not to vote in the run-up to the legislative race on December 7, for sharing a single social media post.
Meanwhile, Kwok Yin-sang, the father of US-based “wanted” activist Anna Kwok, was sentenced to eight months in prison for attempting to cancel an insurance policy that he had purchased in 1999. Although the policy was in Kwok Yin-sang’s name, none of the money would go to an “absconder,” and the judge acknowledged that Kwok had not endangered national security directly, Principal Magistrate Andy Cheng still asserted that canceling the policy “could have increased the chances of his daughter not coming back to Hong Kong to face trial.” Anna Kwok said that these efforts to silence her have only made her more determined to fight for the territory and its people: “I think obviously the (Hong Kong) government wants to use guilt, wants to use a lot of emotions to weight me down, but I’ve found my way to really find my calling in activism for Hong Kong.”
In an ARTICLE 19 statement co-sponsored by HRIC and twelve other organizations, we urge States to speak out against these violations and step up efforts to help ensure the release of all human rights defenders in Hong Kong. We also urge relevant States to take all measures to prevent, investigate, and ensure accountability for all acts of transnational repression on their territory: “We condemn the sentencing of Kwok Yin-sang… This is an act of transnational repression and reprisal against Anna Kwok’s human rights advocacy abroad, including engagement with UN human rights mechanisms. The targeting of overseas human rights defenders carries overwhelming chilling effects and psychosocial harm, often leading victims to choose between protecting their family or abandoning their work, and is a deliberate strategy to obstruct scrutiny and accountability of domestic human rights violations.”
In other news, a rare legal win for Jimmy Lai saw a fraud conviction overturned for an earlier fraud case, in which prosecutors alleged that a consultancy firm controlled by Lai had used office space that his media business rented for publication and printing purposes. Lai had been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison in 2022 after being found guilty of two fraud charges. However, Lai’s national security charges still stand.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
NPC Calendar: March 2026: March brings the most significant Chinese political event of the year, the “Two Sessions” annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC). On March 4, a session will convene for a preparatory meeting to select members of the Presidium and to finalize the session’s agenda. The 2026 NPC meeting will likely close on March 11, based on a recent notice from the Beijing police on ensuring airspace safety during the event.
What to Watch at China’s Two Sessions in 2026: A new 5-year-plan for 2026-2030 will set policy priorities for the next five years; Xi will emphasize his political goals; and several new laws such as the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress are likely to be passed.
Chinese Legislature Declares Initial Batch of 104 Enactments Lapsed—Another Batch Expected at NPC 2026: On December 27, 2025, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted a “Cleanup Decision” that declared that 104 instruments it enacted between 1955 and 2021 had lapsed and were no longer in force, while confirming the continued validity of past actions taken under those instruments.
Chinese Legislature Seeks Public Comment on 3 Bills: Social Safety Net, Certified Public Accountants & Fire and Rescue Personnel: The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress is soliciting public comment on the above three bills through March 28, 2026.
NPC 2026: China to Enact Law on the Formulation and Implementation of Five-Year Plans: The National People’s Congress will review and approve the 15th Five-Year Plan and also discuss and adopt a Law on National Development Plans.
Hong Kong mulls law amendment to boost building fire safety after fatal Tai Po fire: The Fire Services Department plans to submit draft legislation to the legislature by the end of 2026 to implement new safety measures, including requiring buildings to seek government approval before shutting down fire alarms.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
Disrupting malicious uses of our models: OpenAI reports: “The available evidence suggests that Chinese law enforcement is implementing a strategy of ‘cyber special operations’ to suppress dissent and silence critics both online and offline, at home and abroad. This effort appears to be large-scale, resource-intensive and sustained, counting at least hundreds of staff, thousands of fake accounts across scores of platforms, the use of locally deployed Al models, and a playbook of dozens of tactics. These range from abusive reporting of dissidents’ social media accounts, through mass online posting, to forging documents and impersonating US officials. The targets are not just people in China, but also dissidents around the world and representatives of foreign countries, up to and including the prime minister of Japan.”
Translation: Why Was My Positive Energy Post on Heating Costs in Hebei Censored?: A heating crisis struck rural Hebei after provincial authorities banned domestic coal-burning and then rolled back subsidies for natural gas, leaving many residents facing prohibitively expensive bills. The topic quickly became so sensitive that even mild or positive commentary was targeted for removal, likely flagged by keyword scans.
Related: CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part Two. Topics targeted for deletion in January included Maduro and Venezuela, Hebei’s rural heating crisis, and China’s sharp birthrate decline in 2025, amongst others.
Chinese Surveillance Gets the AI Treatment: A series of patents filed the past two years provide insight into how Chinese institutions plan to use AI to improve grassroots surveillance.
Reuters: DeepSeek Ignores US Export Ban by Using Nvidia to Train New AI Model: The AI models trained on these chips are believed to use a “distillation” technique, relying on models from leading U.S. AI companies, including Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI, echoing previous allegations by OpenAI and Anthropic.
Tibetans’ online speech and behavior continue to be restricted: religious and cultural content is subject to strict censorship, and many WeChat accounts have been blocked.: Social media platforms have increased scrutiny of Tibetan language use and content showcasing Tibetan culture. Some Tibetan accounts have received warnings, had functions restricted, or even been permanently banned for posting related videos or conducting livestreams.
Related: China tightens digital controls on Tibetan identity and expression on Kuaishou. Chinese authorities justify these measures under broadly defined internet governance regulations.
Teacher Li on X/Twitter: While Apple offers an engraving service that lets customers engrave custom text onto purchased Apple devices, Apple actually censors content in China, with varying levels of strictness depending on the region. For instance, “Xi Jinping,” “Republic of China,” “8964,” “Five Demands,” and even “human rights” are all intercepted and censored.
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Colloquium on Independent Chinese Media Held at Stanford: Last week, HRIC held a colloquium on Chinese-language independent media at Stanford. Experts on media, tech, and innovation came together to share their experiences and recommendations for a stronger Chinese media ecosystem.
What is Shen Yun – the Chinese dance troupe that received a bomb threat causing the evacuation of The Lodge?: In a bomb threat emailed to the group, the sender claimed that explosives would be detonated if Australian performances by Shen Yun proceeded.
Projecting Light in the Shadows: Through interviews with multiple independent Chinese-language screening groups in Europe, this article gives readers a day-to-day sense of the challenging circumstances facing independent Chinese film.
Stranded in Limbo: Uyghur Asylum Seekers Wait Years for US Protection: Between 500 and 1,000 Uyghurs are caught in an indefinite backlog within the US immigration system, with some waiting over eight years for a decision on their asylum cases.
Tibetan exiles voiced their support for their compatriots in Geneva at the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council.: Activists held up Tibetan flags and banners with slogans such as “I want freedom,” “Respect human rights,” and “No crime of faith” in a peaceful protest. They also submitted an appeal addressed to the United Nations and the international community.
3 scientists were charged in worm smuggling scheme. Lawyers say China helped get the case dismissed: Xu Bai and Fengfan Zhang were charged with conspiring to help another scientist who shipped packages to them from China before she arrived in 2025 for temporary lab research at the University of Michigan. A third man, Zhiyong Zhang, was charged with making false statements to authorities.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
China’s Religious Crackdown Continues: Hefei Ganquan Church Elders Sentenced for “Fraud” for Accepting Tithes: Last month, two elders at Hefei Ganquan church were sentenced to over four years in prison for “fraud” for accepting church donations, the latest escalation in a series of high-profile cases of religious repression since late 2025.
A Prize Against the Odds: The results of the seventh edition of the Journalists Home News Prize, a grassroots journalism awards initiative that has been affectionately called “China’s Pulitzers,” were published through the WeChat public account of veteran investigative journalist Liu Hu.
Imprisoned Uyghur Writer Yalqun Rozi Awarded 2026 Graciela Fernández Meijide Award: Before he was detained, Yalqun Rozi, a respected Uyghur literary critic, writer and former editor at the state-run Xinjiang Education Press, had focused his work on protecting and promoting the Uyghur language, culture and identity within the official education system.
Thailand’s deported Uyghurs have vanished in China: A year after Thailand secretly deported 40 Uyghurs to China, their whereabouts remain unknown. The deported men had been offered resettlement in Canada and the United States.
Hong Kong court dismisses appeals of 12 activists over landmark subversion case: The Court of Appeal upheld a finding that an unofficial 2020 primary election was subversive and that the seven-year starting point for jail terms was not “manifestly excessive.”
Hong Kong gov’t to recruit journalism students to intern at mainland Chinese media outlets: A total of 16 students will be recruited for a three-week placement, Home and Youth Affairs Bureau chief Alice Mak said. In the 2025 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, China was ranked 178th out of 180 countries, while Hong Kong came 140th.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
During the Tibetan New Year, the Chinese Communist Party deployed a large number of military and police forces in Tibet to restrict the religious freedom of Tibetans: The Chinese authorities issued a notice prohibiting Tibetans from gathering and holding religious ceremonies during the Tibetan New Year.
19 deputies of China’s legislature, including 9 military officers, removed before annual meeting: Analysts say Xi’s anti-corruption campaign is also a way for Xi, who is in his 14th year in power, to remove potential rivals and ensure loyalty among his subordinates.
Hong Kong gov’t expands rehabilitation programme for released protesters with mainland China tours: Under the expanded Project PATH, the Correctional Services Department has been organizing tours to mainland China for released prisoners under supervision since early February.
International Responses 国际反应
UN rights chief slams China’s failure to improve Uyghur rights: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said: “I deplore the lack of follow-up on previous recommendations to protect the rights of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, and of Tibetans in their regions.”
Panama wrests control of 2 canal ports from Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison: Ports director Max Florez said an 18-month transition period has now begun, with the ports being operated by two other companies before contracts are awarded under a new international tender.
German Chancellor Merz arrives in China for talks on trade, security: Berlin hopes to strengthen its trade relations with Beijing in the midst of global uncertainty.
Japan to deploy missiles to island near Taiwan by 2031, says defence minister: The surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Japan’s westernmost island, Yonaguni.
Related: China targets Japanese companies over ‘remilitarization’. China’s Commerce Ministry restricted exports to 20 Japanese entities, including some from the Mitsubishi conglomerate and the Japanese space agency, saying it was a matter of national security. The Ministry also added another 20 companies to a “watch list” which will require a stricter review of exported items.
US arrests ex-Air Force pilot for training Chinese military: The US arrested 65-year-old Gerald Brown upon his return from China, where he had been located since 2023.