HRIC Weekly Brief
July 29, 2025
Top News 头条
Hong Kong’s national security police have issued arrest warrants for 19 activists based overseas, the largest number yet, accusing them of “subversion” under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law. The 19 individuals have been accused of organizing or participating in the Hong Kong Parliament, a pro-democracy group that Hong Kong authorities allege had intended to subvert state power. Amongst the 19 are prominent businessman Elmer Yuen, commentator Victor Ho, and activists Johnny Fok and Tony Choi. The arrest warrants were immediately met with criticism from the U.S., Canada, and U.K. governments, which described the move as "another example of transnational repression". U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the warrants, stating: “The extraterritorial targeting of Hong Kongers who are exercising their fundamental freedoms is a form of transnational repression.” Hong Kong hit back against the criticism in a statement, claiming that “foreign government officials and politicians, as well as anti-China organisations, turned a blind eye to illegal acts of criminals” and “deliberately smeared and spread irresponsible remarks, in an attempt to mislead the public.” In other news, the UK government is considering reinstituting extradition cooperation with Hong Kong, which was suspended five years ago due to concerns about the city’s national security laws.
Law & Policy 法律与政策
Legal minimalism: how the notion of sentience disappeared from Chinese law: Breaking from classical Chinese legal traditions, today’s legal framework under the CCP deliberately removes moral reasoning and concerns over suffering and ethics except as a tool to serve statist aims, exemplified by the lack of protections against animal cruelty. Drawing on Soviet legal philosophy and emphasizing economic and political usefulness over “sentiment,” the law has become “a legal system designed not to recognize dignity, but to administer control.”
Public Security Administration Punishments Law (2025): Under the new revisions, possible penalties for violations of public order and safety range from administrative detention to potential deportation for non-Chinese citizens.
Inability vs. Unwillingness to Satisfy Judgments: Example Cases for the Court Judgment Defaulter List: Uncovering the courts’ “judgment defaulter list,” a unique part of the Chinese social credit system. It is a court enforcement mechanism used against those who have a legal judgment against them but refuse to satisfy it despite having the ability to do so.
Nat. sec clause in application for new scheme to convert commercial buildings into student hostels: In Hong Kong, the hunt for national security violations is being incorporated into every facet of life. According to new application guidelines for student hostels, if any applicant “has engaged in or is engaging” in activities which are “likely to constitute or cause the occurrence of offences endangering national security or which would otherwise be contrary to the interest of national security,” the premises will be excluded from the scheme and the applicant will be barred from joining the scheme for three years.
Transgender people have right to use public toilets in line with their affirmed genders, Hong Kong court rules: The High Court in Hong Kong ruled that the Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulation, which makes it illegal for transgender people to enter public toilets that correspond with their gender identity, is unconstitutional.
Cyber Security & Digital Rights 网络安全与数字权利
HRIC on Twitter/X: China is intensifying its crackdown on VPN “airports”: since May, multiple operators of “airport” services providing circumvention tools have reported that their service nodes have faced continuous “explosive” blockages, and a large number of server IP addresses used to connect to overseas networks have been collectively blocked and disabled during specific time periods.
Carmen Lau on Twitter/X: State-backed disinformation campaigns targeting exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists like Carmen Lau and others have started to use deepfake videos of the activists to spread disinformation and sow discord amongst the diaspora community.
Google says it axed over 7,700 YouTube channels linked to Chinese state-backed ‘influence operations’: According to Google’s Threat Analysis Group, most channels removed were part of coordinated influence operations linked to Beijing an uploaded content in Chinese and English about China and US foreign affairs.
China is suppressing coverage of deadly attacks. Some people are complaining online: Chinese authorities have rapidly expanded information control over any incidents which could induce unrest, particularly any incidents related to public safety. For example, when a car struck children near an elementary school in an outlying district of Beijing last month, the police statement did not mention that children were among the victims and pictures of the event were censored from the internet.
US nuclear weapons agency ‘among 400 organisations breached by Chinese hackers’: According to Dutch cybersecurity company Eye Security Hackers, 400 agencies, businesses and other groups, have already been compromised, including several hundred U.S. government agencies and organizations. The numbers are expected to rise as investigations progress.
_China_Chatbot_25: In new updates on the Chinese AI environment, MoonshotAI has released a new model, Kimi-K2, a non-reasoning, open-source model that conforms closely to official requirements on information control; meanwhile, Manus AI “appears to have given up an attempt to create a version of their product that abided by both international and Chinese standards for AI models.”
Diaspora Community & Transnational Repression 海外社群和跨国镇压
Interview: Badiucao and Melissa Chan on Their Graphic Novel, You Must Take Part in Revolution: An interview with political cartoonist Badiucao and journalist Melissa Chan, who in 2012 became the first reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade, on their new graphic novel “You Must Take Part in Revolution.” Discussing the title, Badiucao commented on authoritarian regimes’ manipulation of language and the power of reclaiming words such as “revolution” in the context of Chinese history and Mao Zedong.
Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society 人权捍卫者与公民社会
HRIC on Twitter/X: In the last three months, five Chinese entrepreneurs have ended their own lives after being involved in China’s detention system, drawing attention to the immense psychological pressure brought about by detention, which lacks judicial transparency and independent oversight. The lack of human rights protections has driven these individuals to extreme and tragic measures.
HRIC on Twitter/X: Hebei youth Zhang Qiyuan, who publicly questioned Xi Jinping, has been missing for over two weeks after recording a "no suicide" statement. He had been summoned by the Dongfeng Police Station in Baoding City, Hebei.
Smashing the News: In promoting Xi Jinping’s vision of the press as a tool for the Party’s interest and for “positive propaganda,” the Chinese authorities have systematically enacted violence against journalists.
Hong Kong teen arrested for allegedly writing ‘seditious words’ in commercial building toilet: The exact words have not been disclosed, but police alleged that the messages provoked hatred, contempt or disaffection against the constitutional order and the executive, legislative or judicial authorities in Hong Kong, and incited other people to commit illegal acts.
3 democrats released after serving jail terms in Hong Kong’s largest nat. security trial: Frankie Fung, Carol Ng, and Lau Chak-fung, part of the “Hong Kong 47” national security trials, were released this week after four years and five months in prison.
Gov’t denies using new prison rules after visitor allegedly barred from seeing inmate jailed for nat. sec offences: The Correctional Services Department stated that they denied a member of the public permission to visit a person imprisoned on national security charges because the visitor “was not on the declared visitors list of the person in custody”; however, the visitor told HKFP that he had confirmed with the prison prior to visiting that his name was in fact on the approved list.
The League of Social Democrats: A brief history of Hong Kong’s now-disbanded left-wing party: The organization began operating on May 1, 2006, Labor Day, and spanned almost two decades before closing down this year in June.
China’s Reach & Internal Control 中国: 内控与外扩
Chinese digital propaganda in Central America: In recent years, China has increased its presence in Central America via a sophisticated digital influence strategy that includes the systematic dissemination of narratives favorable to the Chinese regime across social media and media outlets, with the aim of consolidating its image as a trustworthy strategic partner.
Lingua Sinica Newsletter, 22 July: Chinese state radio broadcasts have infiltrated Taiwan's FM frequencies with propaganda broadcasts, and Peng Lifa, the protester dubbed "New Tank Man" who hung anti-Xi Jinping banners on Beijing's Sitong Bridge in October 2022, has been sentenced to nine years in prison on charges including "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" and arson.