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Chinese police have launched a nationwide operation detaining at least eight people and questioning others, following a Dec. 13 meeting of liberal-minded activists and lawyers in the southeastern province of Fujian.

Authorities in the eastern province of Shandong set up a police task force after the meeting in the Fujian port city of Xiamen, and had detained eight people in Fujian, Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Sichuan, and Zhejiang by Jan. 1.

The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said a similar gathering took place one year ago in Shandong, which could explain the leading role of the Shandong police.

Rights lawyers Ding Jiaxi and Huang Zhiqiang and activists Dai Zhenya, Li Yingjun, and Zhang Zhongshun were among those detained.

Rights lawyer and university professor Liu Shuqing, 43, was detained by police in Shandong's provincial capital Jinan on Dec. 31, on suspicion of "subversion of state power."

"Police used force to kick open the door of his residence without any warning," CHRD said, adding that Liu had recently undergone cardiac surgery. Liu was allowed back home on Jan. 1, the group said.

In the eastern city of Hangzhou, veteran activists Zhu Yufu, Wu Zexi, Xin Zhongcheng, Mao Lijun, and Tang Xiaoyun were detained and interrogated for a day on Dec. 29 after they had dinner with someone who attended the Dec. 13 meeting, CHRD said.

The rights website Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch said many of the activists were detained on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power."

CHRD called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to release all the detainees immediately, as their right to freedom of peaceful assembly is protected under international human rights treaties.

Others also held

Rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, 52, was detained in his hometown of Beijing on Dec. 26 by Shandong police, and police searched his home and confiscated belongings without a search warrant, it said.

Ding's wife Luo Shengchun said her husband had likely attended the meeting in Xiamen.

"He said he was going to meet friends for a meal," Luo said. "I've asked all [the other families], and they all said it seems that their husbands went to Xiamen."

On the same day, university professor Zhang Zhongshun was detained on suspicion of subversion at his home in Yantai, Shandong, despite not having attended the Fujian meeting.

Xiamen-based Dai Zhenya, 46, was meanwhile detained on similar charges. He is being held under "residential surveillance at a designated location" that hasn't been disclosed, CHRD said.

Zhang's wife Yang Hongni said the family had planned to visit relatives in the United States on the Jan. 15 and had tried to get police to rescind her husband's travel ban.

"I have no news of Zhang Zhongshun," Yang said. "It's probably because he went to Xiamen."

Going to a cold place

Lin Yanping, wife of Dai Zhenya, said she was told her husband would need warm winter clothes where he was going.

"In the living room, they told us that they were from the Xiamen police department, and told us to get some very warm clothes for him, because he'd be going to a cold place for investigation," Lin said.

"A police officer told us that the [other officers] were from Shandong and that he might be taken to Shandong, allegedly for inciting subversion of state power," she said.

Lin said the family has been unable to find out any more about Dai since.

"We have no information," Lin told RFA. "We went to that police station and asked which police agency in Shandong took him away."

"They wouldn't tell us, so we are very worried now. I don't know about this Dec. 13 taskforce. I just want to know where he is," she said.

Activist Li Yingjun, a factory worker from Fujian's Zhangzhou city, was also held on the same day, while lawyer Huang Zhiqiang, 47, was detained on Dec. 29, in the eastern province of Zhejiang on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge often leveled at peaceful critics of the regime.

Meanwhile, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, police detained businessman-turned-activist Wei Xiaobing, 42, after he distributed T-shirts printed with slogans supportive of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

No clear theme

An employee at the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website said the latest crackdown was unusual in that there was no clear theme connecting all of the detentions.

"In the past, they would divide the opposition into categories, so you would get waves of crackdowns on activist websites, or on lawyers, or the one-off crackdown on the New Citizens Movement," the employee said.

"This time it was very complicated."

Zhu Yufu's U.S.-based son Zhu Xi said his father is still under close surveillance by the state security police, and that the additional security will likely continue at least until after the annual parliamentary sessions in March.

"This time around it has been quite strange: I think a lot of people are very nervous," he said.

Repeated calls to the Shandong provincial police department went unanswered during office hours, while calls to the political department of the ministry of public security in Beijing were met with the sound of a fax machine.

An official who answered the phone at the political department of the Xiamen police department declined requests for an interview.

"We don't know the situation you asked about ... so you have to ask the department that is handling the case," the official said. "I can't answer you about the legal matters. You will have to ask a lawyer."

'China can't go on like this'

New Citizens' Movement founder Xu Zhiyong is currently on the run after penning a New Year's message to China's citizens, calling on them to think about whether they want to carry on with an authoritarian government or movement towards democratic constitutionalism, an idea that President Xi Jinping has said has no place in his vision for China.

"We are sadly seeing that the Chinese economy is deteriorating, while the stability maintenance regime is depleting national wealth accumulated over more than three decades, and stagnation and poverty are looming," Xu wrote.

"China cannot go on like this. Think about it, people! What kind of China do we want to leave for future generations?"

Over a dozen Chinese lawyers and activists were detained or went missing in the final days of 2019 in a crackdown on participants of a private democracy gathering, rights groups said Thursday.

The Chinese government has severely reduced the space for civil liberties since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, rounding up rights lawyers, labour activists and even Marxists students in various sweeps.

The latest crackdown was linked to a December gathering in the east coast city of Xiamen in Fujian province, where participants discussed “democratic transition in China,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Wang Yaqiu.

The period around Christmas and New Year is traditionally when China chooses to sentence prominent dissidents in an effort to minimise international media attention, “so it is not a surprise that they chose this particular time to launch a manhunt of activists,” Wang said.

The meeting involved a small group of people “peacefully discussing politics in a private space,” she said.

Ding Jiaxi, a prominent Beijing-based disbarred lawyer previously jailed for protesting against official corruption, was among the activists known to have been detained across the country since December 26, according to China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD).

At least seven people, including Shandong-based disbarred lawyer Liu Shuqing, were released after being detained for questioning.

Other civil society figures, including pro-democracy activist Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Tang Jingling, have gone missing or are currently unreachable, CHRD said.

At least two of the people detained, activists Dai Zhenya and Zhang Zhongshun, are suspected of “subverting” or “inciting subversion” of state power, a charge often used to silence dissidents in China.

The crackdown showed how the authorities have “zero tolerance of even just private discussion on issues like democracy and human rights,” Amnesty International researcher Patrick Poon said.

According to CHRD, five activists were taken in for questioning by Jinhua city police in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, on December 29, after having had dinner with someone who attended the Xiamen gathering.

Another lawyer, Lu Tingge, was held overnight for questioning on New Year’s Eve by police in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, CHRD said.

Police in Shandong province, whom CHRD said were heavily involved in the crackdown, as well as Jinhua and Shijiazhuang police, did not respond immediately to AFP’s requests for comment.

“This round of detentions and harassment is the continuation of the larger crackdown on civil society,” Wang said.

On December 30, a court in southwest China’s Chengdu sentenced Wang Yi, the leader of an underground Protestant church, to nine years in prison for “incitement to subvert state power.”

SHANGHAI : The pastor of one of China’s best-known unregistered “house” churches was sentenced to nine years in prison on Monday on charges of inciting subversion of state power, part of Beijing’s crackdown on unregistered religious groups.

Wang Yi, pastor of the Early Rain Covenant Church in the southwestern city of Chengdu, was among dozens of the church’s members and leaders detained by police in December 2018, most of whom were subsequently released.

China’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, but since President Xi Jinping took office six years ago, the government has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the ruling Communist Party.

The government has cracked down on underground churches, both Protestant and Catholic, and has rolled out new legislation to increase oversight of religious education and practices, with harsher punishment for practices not sanctioned by authorities.

“Today’s verdict makes a mockery of China’s supposed religious freedoms,” Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon said in a statement.

“Wang Yi was merely practising his religion and peacefully standing up for human rights in China. This nine-year sentence is appalling and unjust.”

Chinese law requires that places of worship register and submit to government oversight, but some have declined to register, for various reasons, and are known as “house” or “underground” churches.

Wang was profiled in Beijing-based journalist Ian Johnson’s 2017 book The Souls of China, and was also among three Chinese Christians who travelled to Washington in 2006, where they met with then-president George W. Bush, asking for his support in their fight for religious freedom.

An unusually outspoken religious figure, he has openly criticised Xi and wrote in an essay before his detention that Communist Party ideology was “morally incompatible with the Christian faith”.

Quotes attributed to him on a Facebook page run by the church’s supporters’ include one that said, “the Communist Party may kill my body but it cannot kill my soul.”

Wang’s sentencing was announced in a brief statement on the website of the Chengdu court, which said he had been charged with illegally operating a business.

Wang was also deprived of his political rights for three years and 50,000 yuan ($7,160) of his personal property was confiscated as part of his sentencing, the court said.

In 2009, China sentenced Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”. Liu, a writer and activist, died in prison in 2017 after being denied permission to go abroad for treatment of late-stage liver cancer.

A labor rights worker, a volunteer and an intern were reported incommunicado in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Thursday, while mainland Chinese activists who took part in the Hong Kong protests were sent for "drug rehabilitation," RFA has learned.

Chen Weixiang, who worked for the Xin Huanwei group focusing on labor rights for street cleaners and sanitation workers, was detained on the afternoon of Dec. 17 by police at his home in Guangzhou, a person familiar with the situation told RFA.

Recent graduate and intern Lu Haoju was detained at the same time, the source said.

Yang Zhanqing, a friend of Chen's, said Chen was detained by officers from the Nanshitou Street police station in Guangzhou's Haizhu district.

"We don't know what the charges are or where they are being held," Yang said. "We have had no news so far."

He said a third person -- a volunteer -- linked to Xin Huanwei was also incommunicado, believed detained.

"One of my former classmates, she was involved in [Chen's] project, and she is now out of touch," Yang said. "I think they were taken away by Guangzhou police between 4-5 p.m. on Dec. 17. There were three of them."

"My guess is that they are targeting him because of Xin Huanwei, but a more direct reason could be that he recently helped some sanitation workers to stand up for their rights [with legal assistance]," Yang said.

"One instance was a case of wage arrears for sanitation workers, and another was a sanitation worker who got fired, then died, so it became a compensation case," he said. "Both of these cases touched on vested interests in local government."

No tolerance left for civil rights organizations

Chen had only recently returned to China after gaining a master's degree in the United States, Yang said.

But he said the ruling Chinese Communist Party had no tolerance left for civil rights organizations like Chen's.

"According to my experience and that of my former colleagues and people I know, any independent, privately run NGO that stands up for people's rights will be threatened and harassed with detentions and demands that it cease operating," he said.

An officer who answered the phone at the Nanshitou Street police station declined to comment, saying interviews had to be approved at district level.

"If you want an interview, you'll have to go higher up ... the Haizhu police department," the officer said.

Chen Weixiang graduated from Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine in 2015, but was rejected from further medical training because of his labor activism.

After studying for a master's degree at Penn State University in the United States, he returned to China in August and set up services for sanitation workers, including Xin Huanwei.

'Compulsory detoxification'

Meanwhile, authorities in Guangdong's Dongguan city have detained activist Hu Haibo after he traveled to Hong Kong to support the pro-democracy movement there.

Since his return from Hong Kong, Hu was designated a "drug addict" by police and referred for "compulsory detoxification" at a rehab center last month, fellow activist Chen Yanhui told RFA.

"We are guessing that he may not have been cooperating after being admitted [to rehab] so it was changed to compulsory detoxification," Chen said. "He refused to accept their drugs and injections because he had never done drugs in the first place."

According to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website, Hu could be incarcerated for up to two years under the compulsory program.

Chen said Hu's father had visited him at the center on Wednesday, but the visit was controlled and monitored at all times by police, who forced the pair to speak Mandarin rather than their native language.

"Maybe they were worried that Hu would disclose some information about life inside, because he was being treated differently from other drug addicts there," Chen said.

A Hong Kong resident who knew Hu said he had never seen any evidence of drug-taking during their time as roommates.

Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long and Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Authorities in the Chinese capital detained and questioned a group of rights activists en route to the U.S. embassy in Beijing to participate in an event marking Human Rights Day on Tuesday, RFA has learned.

Wang Heying and a group of fellow petitioners -- people pursuing complaints against misconduct and rights violations by the ruling Chinese Communist Party -- were detained by police on the street after they registered to attend the event online, Wang said.

"This was a public event bringing friends together, an opportunity for the exchange of views," Wang said. "Everyone else got their invitations by using an invitation code they saw online, and registering with their ID. I was directly invited to participate by a friend."

But the group was stopped by a police patrol en route to the embassy, and taken to a nearby police station for questioning, she said.

"There were more than a dozen people at the police station, all of whom had previously lodged complaints against the government," Wang said.

"All petitioners have their ID cards marked with a special code, so they wouldn't be allowed through if there was an ID check. All we did was to lodge a petition ... and now we're labeled as class enemies. I don't get it."

Meanwhile, state security police in Beijing's Shijingshan district warned Xu Yan, wife of detained rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, not to go out ahead of Human Rights Day on Tuesday.

"They came to my door and told me very forcefully that I mustn't go out," Xu told RFA. "They said the restrictions would be in place for four or five days."

Xu, who recently wrote to the Global Lawyers' Forum in Guangzhou calling on overseas lawyers to call for Yu's release or speedy trial, said she was yelled at and shoved by more than a dozen people who surrounded her later, when she tried to leave her apartment.

China a 'bitterly ironic' host

State media said around 800 delegates from around the world attended the forum, which was hosted by the government-controlled All-China Lawyers' Association.

As it opened on Monday, a group of human rights lawyers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and the International Bar Association penned an open letter hitting out at the ruling Chinese Communist Party's use of indiscriminate arrest and detention and the forced disappearances of millions of people with no access to legal representation or fair trials.

Guangdong-based rights attorney Sui Muqing said the forum was mostly attended by justice department officials, and that few practicing Chinese attorneys had the opportunity to participate.

"It's just for people who do as the government tells them," Sui said. "Human rights lawyers or people who are slightly critical of the regime can't attend."

He said he has also had restrictions placed on his movements until the forum closes on Tuesday.

Geng He, the U.S.-based wife of disappeared rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, called on Human Rights Day for the world to remember the nationwide crackdown on lawyers, law firms and associated activists that has seen more than 300 people detained, questioned, prevented from leaving the country or their families harassed and denied access to jobs and education since July 2015.

"In China, law firms can be shut down whenever they want, and lawyers can lose their license, or be arrested, disappeared and tortured whenever they feel like it," Geng told RFA.

"It is bitterly ironic that they are holding a lawyers' conference in such a country, and on Human Rights Day, too."

An outspoken former Chinese rights lawyer has been arrested on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”, as the government continues to crack down on activists and political dissidents.

Qin Yongpei, 50, who often criticised Beijing on social media including Twitter, was arrested on Tuesday in southern China, according to an arrest notice seen by AFP.

“He dares to say anything online,” his wife, Deng Xiaoyun, said.

She said he had been accused of inciting state subversion “because it would be easiest charge to give”.

Qin “drew a lot of attention, and possibly retaliation, from the authorities for openly criticising and reporting high-level public officials”, said Doriane Lau, a researcher at Amnesty International.

Qin, who was detained last month in Nanning, in the southern region of Guangxi, often took to social media to comment on topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party, including pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

The Chinese lawyer, who was disbarred in May last year, is also among the growing number of rights lawyers in China to be stripped of their license to practise – a method activists say effectively silences them without attracting as much attention as an arrest. The widespread disbarment of rights lawyers – at least a dozen have had their licenses cancelled or revoked since 2018, according to government documents – follows one of the largest clampdowns on China’s legal profession in the country’s recent history.

A police sweep launched on July 9, 2015 saw more than 200 Chinese human rights lawyers and activists detained or questioned in a huge operation – later dubbed the “709 crackdown”– that rights groups called “unprecedented”.

“That authorities arrested Qin is outright political persecution,” said Sui Muqing, a Chinese lawyer who was detained during the “709 crackdown” and a friend of Qin’s.

His arrest is also “an escalation of political persecution towards lawyers”, he added. Nanning police did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

A Tibetan man detained in Qinghai on charges of disturbing social order after he complained online about corrupt officials, illegal mining, and the hunting of protected wildlife was convicted on Friday following a two-day trial and handed a seven-year term in prison, a Tibetan advocacy group says.

Anya Sengdra, a resident of Kyangche township in Gade (in Chinese, Gande) county in the Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture was widely respected in his community for his campaigns, London-based Free Tibet said in a statement.

“[His] arrest and conviction fits a wider pattern of harassment of Tibetan activists and environmental defenders, which has [now] seen hundreds of arrests,” Free Tibet said, adding that roundups by Chinese police are conducted as a crackdown on so-called “criminal gangs.”

Sengdra’s work to end corruption and protect the environment “highlighted problems that the authorities should have taken seriously,” Free Tibet said. “But rather than listening, the [Chinese Communist Party] decided that A-Nya must be locked away in silence.”

Sengdra’s lawyer Lin Qilei said in a tweet following the trial that his client refused to accept the court’s verdict against him and will appeal his sentence, Free Tibet said.

Jailed before

Elected Kyangche township chief in 2014, Sengdra was later jailed for 15 months after raising questions about government corruption and served his term at hard labor, suffering damage to his health, sources told RFA in an earlier report.

Before his arrest in December 2014, Sengdra had questioned local authorities about their use of money assigned for projects in the township, one source said, adding, “He argued with them about the mismatch of funds announced by the government and what was actually spent.”

“This could have angered authorities and led to his detention,” the source said.

Development projects in Tibetan areas have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms and local officials of pilfering money, improperly seizing land, and disrupting the lives of local people.

Many result in violent suppression, the detention of protest organizers, and intense pressure on the local population to comply with the government’s wishes.

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has been banned by the Hong Kong court from travelling to London to receive a human rights award from the British parliament, as he faces a charge of inciting anti-government protesters to besiege the police headquarters.

Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping of the High Court on Tuesday refused Wong’s application to vary his bail conditions and lift a travel ban, citing heightened risk of absconding.

Toh said Wong did not need to be present in British parliamentary hearings and meetings in which he was invited, and could instead remain in Hong Kong to help the city return to peace.

Wong, secretary general of localist party Demosisto, was named the recipient of the Westminster Award for Human Life, Human Rights, and Human Dignity by both houses of parliament in Britain, for his “commitments to universal suffrage, human rights and free speech”.

He was the second Chinese person to receive the prize after blind mainland activist Chen Guangcheng was awarded in 2013. District council polls ban was ‘arbitrary’ decision, Joshua Wong says

Wong initially planned to leave Hong Kong next week for 20 days, during which he would attend parliamental hearings and deliver speeches in six European countries, and receive the prize in the Palace of Westminster on December 12.

But Hong Kong’s Eastern Court imposed a travel ban on Wong on August 30 after he was charged with organising, taking part in, and inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly outside the Wan Chai police headquarters on June 21.

The lower court also refused to lift the ban earlier this month, saying Wong’s proposed trip was “not very important”.

Wong said he was disappointed with the ruling which amounted to “an extra punishment” before he was convicted by the court.

A statement by Demosisto said the court was now under immense pressure following Beijing’s criticism over its ruling on Monday that the anti-mask law was unconstitutional.

“Even in times of social turmoil, it’s really inappropriate and unnecessary for the court to step in and comment on how politicians should behave,” Wong said on Facebook.

He was charged alongside party member Agnes Chow Ting and chairman Ivan Lam Long-yin. The trio will appear in court again on December 19.

A pro-democracy politician and four other people were injured when a knife-wielding man attacked protesters in Hong Kong Sunday.

The assailant slashed and stabbed people at Cityplaza mall, one of several shopping centers where protesters had gathered to demand government reforms for the 22nd straight weekend.

Local media reported the attacker told his victims that Hong Kong belongs to China.

Four men and one woman were taken to hospitals, where two were in critical condition.

Among the injured was politician Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, who had part of his ear bitten off as he tried to prevent the attacker from leaving the scene.

A pro-democracy activist tweeted that his "close colleague Dr Andrew Chiu was assaulted" and his "left ear was brutally halved."

The semi-autonomous city has been mired in more than five months of massive and often times violent protests, sparked by a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The protests have evolved into demands for full democracy for Hong Kong, an independent inquiry into possible use of excessive force by police and complete amnesty for all activists arrested during the demonstrations. Masked activists have vandalized businesses and the city subway system, and attacked police with bricks and homemade gasoline bombs.

In September, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced she would withdraw the extradition bill but that has not quelled the protests.

Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the "one government, two systems" arrangement established when China regained control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997. But political activists and observers say Beijing is slowly tightening its grip on the territory and eroding its basic freedoms.

Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.

With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun.

Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.

According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said.

Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.

At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.

Hong Kong Law & Crime Politics & Protest Two journalists arrested as riot police storm malls around Hong Kong and deploy pepper spray 4 November 2019 13:25 Kris Cheng 5 min read

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Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.

With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. cityplaza

A cityplaza guard. Photo: Stand News.

Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.

According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested

Joey Kwok, freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.

Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.

At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.

Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, was arrested and handcuffed on suspicion of obstructing police as he was taking photos at the mall.

Stand News said Kwok was at standing at a distance from police officers and did not obstruct their work. The news outlet condemned the arrest as unreasonable and demanded his immediate release.

“He has said he was a journalist multiple times when he was arrested, but it was ignored by the police,” Stand News said.

Hong Kong has now entered into its 22nd weekend of protest and unrest, which was sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed fugitive transfers to mainland China.

A journalism student, who is a member of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, was also arrested at the mall whilst covering the news.

Roland Chin, the university’s president, said in an email to students, alumni and staff members that the school was deeply concerned about the student’s well-being.

He said the head of the Department of Journalism and a lawyer have visited the police station to provide assistance. The student’s family members have been notified.

Hong Kong Law & Crime Politics & Protest Two journalists arrested as riot police storm malls around Hong Kong and deploy pepper spray 4 November 2019 13:25 Kris Cheng 5 min read

Donate

Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.

With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. cityplaza

A cityplaza guard. Photo: Stand News.

Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.

According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested

Joey Kwok, freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.

Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.

At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.

Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, was arrested and handcuffed on suspicion of obstructing police as he was taking photos at the mall.

Stand News said Kwok was at standing at a distance from police officers and did not obstruct their work. The news outlet condemned the arrest as unreasonable and demanded his immediate release. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested

Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.

“He has said he was a journalist multiple times when he was arrested, but it was ignored by the police,” Stand News said.

Hong Kong has now entered into its 22nd weekend of protest and unrest, which was sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed fugitive transfers to mainland China.

A journalism student, who is a member of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, was also arrested at the mall whilst covering the news.

Roland Chin, the university’s president, said in an email to students, alumni and staff members that the school was deeply concerned about the student’s well-being.

He said the head of the Department of Journalism and a lawyer have visited the police station to provide assistance. The student’s family members have been notified.

“We are also liaising with the relevant government agencies in our effort to seek a fair and proper treatment for the other students arrested by the police over the weekend,” Chin said.

The student claimed police threatened him with rape at the San Uk Ling Holding Centre when he was arrested. “I would not commit suicide,” the student shouted, in reference to a spate of recent deaths which some in the protest movement believe to be suspicious.

Shopping mall protests

Police officers also stormed other malls. At around 1:40pm, officers took eight people away from a gathering outside Sha Tin Town Hall.

At 4pm, police stormed the New Town Plaza from the bus terminus below, arresting at least two. Some threw objects at police inside the mall, as officers pointed their rifles at people and fired pepper spray.

Similar scenes also occurred at Tai Po Mega Mall and Diamond Hill’s Plaza Hollywood. At the Mega Mall, some protesters were folding origami cranes to form protest slogans whilst others trashed a Yoshinoya branch in the mall, believing that the restaurant has sided with the government. Officers then rushed into the mall but did not make any arrests.

At around 6pm, police rushed into the Tai Po mall again, despite a commander ordering them not to do so. Apple Daily footage showed that the commander had to enter the mall and shout: “No-one enter the mall… go back and reform [team] at the bridge.”

Residents gathered again at the mall and riot police entered for the third time at around 7pm to arrest two people, prompting onlookers to throw objects at police from above. Officers fired pepper spray and pointed their rifles at them.

Tseung Kwan O incident

Meanwhile, protesters gathered in Tseung Kwan O following rumours that a police officer was getting married at the Crowne Plaza hotel. At around 1am, police fired tear gas to disperse them.

A student from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology appeared to be trying to escape the tear gas when he fell from a car park’s third floor onto the second floor. He was unconscious and rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Jordan.

The student was in a critical condition and underwent an operation to remove haematoma from his brain. Wei Shyy, president of the university, visited the student on Monday morning at the hospital.

Chiu is running in the District Council election’s Tai Koo Shing West constituency. Kacee Ting of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong is also running.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong says a decision by Hong Kong authorities to bar him from running in upcoming local elections proves "how Beijing manipulate[s] the election with political censorship and screening."

Wong posted the notice he received from an election commission officer on his Twitter page Tuesday declaring his candidacy invalid.

Wong had said last week that he was the only candidate running in the upcoming polls to be barred from taking part.

A government spokesman issued a written statement saying Wong's candidacy was invalidated because he has advocated for "self-determination" for Hong Kong.

The 23-year-old Wong, along with fellow student activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow, stormed a courtyard on the grounds of the government's headquarters in September 2014, which led to the "Umbrella Revolution" that shut down several major highways for more than two months, demanding fully free elections. The protests were launched after Beijing reneged on promises of universal suffrage by 2017, but ended without winning any concessions from the Hong Kong government.

The semi-autonomous city has been mired in nearly five months of massive and oftentimes violent protests since June, sparked by a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The protests have evolved into demands for full democracy for Hong Kong, along with an independent inquiry into possible use of excessive force by police and complete amnesty for all activists arrested during the demonstrations. Masked activists have vandalized businesses and the city subway system, and attacked police with bricks and homemade gasoline bombs.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned Tuesday that city's economy could see negative economic growth this year due to the protests.

Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the “one government, two systems” arrangement established when China regained control of the financial hub from Britain in 1997. But political activists and observers say Beijing is slowly tightening its grip on the territory and eroding its basic freedoms.

Police in southern China detained feminist activist and journalist Huang Xueqin after she returned to the mainland from Hong Kong and Taiwan, her friends said Friday.

Authorities in Guangdong province's Guangzhou city arrested Huang last Thursday on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," her friends said. The vague charge is commonly used against activists viewed as threatening by the ruling Communist Party.

The friends spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared government retribution for being publicly associated with Huang. Calls on Friday to Huang's lawyer and Guangzhou's Baiyun District Detention Center, where friends say she is detained, rang unanswered.

The friends said police harassed Huang's family after she published an essay describing her experience at a protest in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese city that has been roiled by months of anti-government demonstrations.

"Perhaps, under the powerful machine of the party state, ignorance and fear can be cultivated," Huang wrote in her essay. "But if you have personally experienced it, witnessed it, you cannot pretend to be ignorant."

In August, Guangzhou police confiscated Huang's passport and other travel documents, preventing her from pursuing a postgraduate law program at the University of Hong Kong.

Huang has been an outspoken voice in China's #MeToo movement, helping sexual assault victims highlight cases against university professors. She has worked as an independent reporter covering issues surrounding gender, equality and disadvantaged groups.

Detained, harassed

"It is unclear exactly the reasons for Huang's detention, but in recent weeks, more and more activists, writers and regular citizens in the mainland have been detained or harassed by authorities for their peacefully voicing support for the Hong Kong protests," said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"Huang's detention shows that the Chinese government has intensified the crackdown on mainland Chinese who peacefully showed solidarity with Hong Kong protesters, and that authorities are fearful that the protests in Hong Kong could inspire challenges to the government in the mainland, and any expression of ideas of freedom and democracy is a threat to their grip on power," Wang said.

The protests in Hong Kong began over the summer in response to a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. The sometimes-violent demonstrations have since ballooned to encompass broader calls for democratic reform and an inquiry into alleged police abuse.

The Hong Kong Police Force has been obstructing the work of reporters at protests in recent months. They have even used excessive and unnecessary force. The Hong Kong Journalists Association has time and again expressed our discontent. Police has not just failed to make any improvement. They did more to obstruct the work of reporters. Yesterday, police officers targeted at journalists spraying blue dye on them. And without giving prior warning, they threw teargas canisters at a place where many reporters had gathered. HKJA again vehemently condemns Police for unreasonably obstructing the work of reporters. We demand the force to immediately stop interfering and causing injuries to reporters – and apologise to the media for their wrongdoings.

According to several press reports, police have deployed a water cannon truck to drive away protesters in Sham Shui Po on Sunday. On one occasion, officers inside the truck have twice sprayed blue dye directly to them.

Meanwhile, several journalists have been rudely treated by police officers during their reporting in Mong Kok. Some riot-police officers have shouted at reporters, pushed and drove them away. An officer had pointed his gun at reporters. Late evening, a group of riot-police officers had deliberately thrown a hand teargas canister to a group of reporters before they withdrew. The canister exploded above the heads of several reporters. Thank to their protection devices, they escaped injuries.

HKJA vehemently condemns the Police for ignoring freedom of reporting and freedom of the press when they repeatedly used unnecessary force against reporters. We reiterate that freedom of expression and press freedom are an important cornerstone of Hong Kong. Truth-finding is the sacred duty of reporters. We cannot take abuses of the use of force by the police as normal. We urge the Government to immediately correct their mistakes.

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have detained outspoken rights attorney Tan Yongpei, whose license to practice was revoked last year.

Tan was detained on Thursday by officers of the Nanning municipal police department during a raid on his Baijuying legal consultancy company.

An employee at a company occupying the same floor told RFA: "There were 10 or 20 of them. They came shortly after 5.00 p.m., just before we got off work."

"They showed their police identification and said they were from the police department and that they were looking for a lawyer surnamed Tan," he said. "Then they went in."

The employee said the officers were still on the premises when he left after 6.00 p.m. "They were forceful, but went into their offices quite politely, with somebody shooting video," he said. "They put seals on Tan's office door that said "Nanning Municipal Police Department."

The Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website said the police hadn't produced any official documents authorizing the raid and search, however.

It said Tan had tried and failed to prevent them from carrying out the raid, which lasted around three hours, after which the police took Tan away with them.

Fellow Guangxi-based lawyer Tan Jiaji said it was hard to tell whether Tan would face criminal charges now, or simply be released after questioning.

"It's pretty hard to say right now," he said. "Anything is possible."

"He would regularly post [politically sensitive] stuff to social media, so maybe they now see him as a threat," Tan Jiaji said. "This sort of thing is happening more and more nowadays."

"I wasn't surprised at all that this happened."

'Picking quarrels and stirring up trouble'

He said the authorities can use catch-all charges like "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" to detain people for what they post to social media.

"The whole idea of what is picking quarrels and stirring up trouble is so broad," he said. "It's perfect for those in power to use [against government critics]."

In January, Tan's China Lawyer's Club was raided by dozens of police office who said it was an illegal organization of banned lawyers.

A nationwide police operation under the administration of President Xi Jinping has targeted more than 300 lawyers, law firms, and related activists for questioning, detention, imprisonment, debarring and travel bans since it launched in July 2015.

The China Lawyers' Club was set up in Guangxi's regional capital, Nanning, by a group of former rights attorneys who lost their "business license" at the hands of local justice departments, and may no longer represent clients in court.

Formally established on Sept. 29, 2018, the club's aim was to find employment and income for dozens of experienced litigators who no longer have an income in the wake of the crackdown.

The club traded as a legal services company, and had 'signed' lawyers in a manner similar to the way sports teams sign big stars. Under current regulations, Chinese lawyers need a business license to represent clients, but not to offer legal consultancy on petitions and complaints.

The leader of a pro-democracy group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protest marches in Hong Kong was attacked on Wednesday, four days before another planned mass rally.

Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, was set upon by at least four non-ethnic Chinese assailants on Arran Street in Mong Kok at 7.40pm, a police source said.

The attack was the second against Sham in less than two months.

The Civil Human Rights Front said Sham had been smashed over the head with hammers and spanners but was conscious when sent to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He was understood to be in stable condition.

A photo of Sham following the attack showed the activist lying on the ground near a white vehicle with blood spilled around him.

Police said Sham was bleeding from his head and arms when officers found him. The suspects fled in a car which officers were pursuing, the force said. An investigation was under way.

Jimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: FacebookJimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: Facebook Jimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: Facebook

The leader of a pro-democracy group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protest marches in Hong Kong was attacked on Wednesday, four days before another planned mass rally.

Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, was set upon by at least four non-ethnic Chinese assailants on Arran Street in Mong Kok at 7.40pm, a police source said.

The attack was the second against Sham in less than two months.

The Civil Human Rights Front said Sham had been smashed over the head with hammers and spanners but was conscious when sent to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He was understood to be in stable condition.

A photo of Sham following the attack showed the activist lying on the ground near a white vehicle with blood spilled around him.

Police said Sham was bleeding from his head and arms when officers found him. The suspects fled in a car which officers were pursuing, the force said. An investigation was under way. SUBSCRIBE TO Hong Kong News Get updates direct to your inbox By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy Government condemns attack on Hong Kong protest leader

Fellow rights front member Figo Chan said witnesses had told him onlookers tried to stop the ambush but Sham’s attackers pointed a knife at them.

Sham had been making his way to the democracy group’s annual general meeting where he was expected to discuss a march from Tsim Sha Tsui to West Kowloon railway station set for Sunday.

Chan said the march would proceed as planned.

The rights front condemned the attack, saying it would have a “chilling effect” on democracy advocates and fuel fears of “white terror” in Hong Kong. China warns US it will take ‘countermeasures’ over Hong Kong bill

The attack was not the first against Sham. He and his assistant Law Kwok-wai were in late August set upon by two people in masks wielding a baseball bat and a rod, hours after the pair were told by police that a rally they had planned for the following weekend had been banned.

Police later arrested three male suspects, including a 15-year-old boy. The youngster was charged with conspiracy to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and appeared at Kowloon City Juvenile Court. Two other suspects remain at large.

In addition to his activism, Sham is contesting a seat in Hong Kong’s district council elections set for November, at Lek Yuen in Sha Tin.

A number of Hong Kong lawmakers from the city’s pan-democratic camp were among those visiting Sham at Kwong Wah Hospital on Wednesday night, including Shiu Ka-chun, Tanya Chan, Wu Chi-wai, Ip Kin-yuen, Raphael Wong Ho-ming and “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung. Fifteen-year-old boy arrested over attack on activist Jimmy Sham and his assistant

Tanya Chan, the bloc’s convenor, condemned the attack and called it shocking. She urged police to investigate as soon as possible.

“What has Hong Kong turned into?” she asked.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting said “the assault is clearly politically motivated”. He accused police of failing to protect opposition politicians and activists. Lam said he had been assaulted by government supporters in June but that police had not made any arrests.

Sha Tin district councillor Wong Yue-hon, who is campaigning against Sham for another term on the council in the November elections, condemned “all forms of violence” and wished Sham a speedy recovery.

“I do hope there will be a fair election and it will not be affected by this incident,” he said.

But Wong discouraged Hongkongers from attending Sunday’s rally, warning that it would descend into chaos like other protests in recent months. Election hopefuls insist use of ‘liberate’ slogan is not independence call

“I hope the government can come up with a concrete proposal to restore social order, instead of the city seeing more and more injuries,” he said.

Since August, at least nine pro-democracy figures have been attacked, including Democratic Party lawmaker Roy Kwong Chun-yu. Offices of pro-establishment politicians, meanwhile, have been trashed by radical protesters during the anti-government protests.

Ng Tak-nam, chief inspector of Mong Kok district, said the attackers, who were masked and were wearing black tops, assaulted Sham causing a 3cm (1.2-inch) wound on his forehead.

Ng condemned the violence and believed the crime was organised as the attackers had been wandering in the area for some time.

“After the attack, they jumped into a black private car and fled in the direction to Sham Shui Po,” Ng said. “Witnesses have told us the car had been driving in the area for a while. The attack was swift and the suspects wore similar clothing.”

Ng added uniformed officers were protecting Sham in hospital and they were investigating whether the case was linked to the previous attack in August.

Sichuan Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei received a notification from Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee for allegedly violating rules while accepting to represent a defendant of a human rights case, and thus will be subjected to disciplinary punishment.

Lawyer Lu specializes in finance laws and criminal defense, and at the same time, took up human rights cases; he was notably among the lawyers who were set to represent one of the defendants in the June 4th Wine Bottle Case and the Pengxi County land seizure case. The disciplinary punishment issues by the Lawyers Association is likely to be associated with Lawyer Lu taking on the case of Lawyer Chen Jiahong, who has been suspected of committing “incitement to subvert state power.”

Lawyer Chen’s charge was probably based on his calligraphy piece against “the evil bureaucracy” and encouraging democracy which he created in April this year, leading to his detainment in Guangxi’s Yulin Detention Center, where Lawyer Lu visited him on 9th May. At the same time, a list of lawyers defending Lawyer Chen began circulating online, which triggered the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice to call for Lawyer Lu to return to Chengdu as soon as possible, and to notify the staff at his law firm not to sign any contract of authorization.

The next day (10th May), the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice received evidence from the Sichuan Department of Justice regarding Lawyer Lu possibly violating professional ethics and the disciplinary code, thus referring the case to the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association. On 4th June, the Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee started investigating the allegations and found that Lawyer Lu violated rules when taking up a case, therefore planning on disciplinary punishment.

At 2pm on Monday, Lawyer Lu Siwei attended a hearing regarding his alleged misconduct and consequent punishment by the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association at the Chengdu Legal Aid Centre.

The disciplinary punishment is likely associated with Lawyer Lu taking on the case of Lawyer Chen Jiahong, who has been suspected of committing “incitement to subvert state power.” The Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee started investigating the allegations, and found that Lawyer Lu violated rules when taking up a case, therefore planning on disciplinary punishment, in addition to not allowing Lawyer Lu to pass the annual inspection for up to three months for the same reason.

Staff from the Consulate Generals of the USA, Germany, Canada, and the UK attended the hearing, but the moderator stated a fear for his own safety after their entry, saying that there were too many people in the meeting room, and requested that the members of the audience be limited to five only. A decision regarding Lawyer Lu has yet to be made, as it will be debated by the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee.

A series of false allegations and smears have this week targeted journalists and unionists in Hong Kong known for speaking out against attacks on media. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) condemn the attacks against media workers and commends the solidarity of Hong Kong journalists in the face of such relentless attacks.

Since the “Prohibition on Face Covering”, otherwise knowns as the “anti-mask law”, was passed on October 4, media workers and their union, the Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA), have week endured a targeted campaign of smears and false allegations published online and in newspapers including state newspaper China Daily. The HKJA is among those strongly criticising the colonial era Emergency Regulation Ordinance that has allowed the government to ban the use of face masks – an action which jeopardises the safety not only of journalists but ordinary citizens caught up in tear gas attacks by the territory’s police.

On October 5, HKJA received a fake report claiming it “is racing against time to issue 10,000 press cards”. The false claim went viral on social media, despite HKJA’s rigorous defence and explanation of its eligibility requirements and application process for membership. Then, on October 7, Mark Pinkstone wrote in the China Daily that HKJA was “in the pocket of the NED/NDI”; a non-profit organisation funded by US Congress that invests in democratic movements worldwide. The article went on to defame HKJA chairperson, Chris Yeung alleging he attended “anti-China” meetings in the United States recently, even though the leader has not travelled to the country since 2007.

The HKJA said it deplored the “groundless and defamatory” article.

HKJA chairperson, Chris Yeung, said: “We trust your paper will take factual mistakes and unfounded allegations seriously and would take promptly action to set the record straight and make an apology for the remarks. To seek legal remedy for the damages caused to us is the last things we want.”

This week, Hong Kong Free Press reported comments by Hong Kong Executive Council member Ip Kwok-him, stating that the government “would not rule out a ban on the internet”. The IFJ strongly condemned such a move that would only further erode the right to free expression and democracy of Hong Kong.

The IFJ said: “Persistent attacks on the media this week is evidence of the continued erosion of Hong Kong’s democracy and the fragile state of press freedom. We strongly condemn the use of state media to spread defamatory and false statements about journalists and activists who are in the fight of their lives to defend Hong Kong’s press freedom. The IFJ expresses solidarity with Chris Yeung and will stand with the HKJA through these attacks.”

The Hong Kong Journalists Association deplores the use and threat of violence towards journalists covering events in Hong Kong.

HKJA notes with grave concern, reports by Radio Television Hong Kong ( RTHK) of serious injury to a journalist covering protests in Hong Kong on Sunday 29 September 2019.

Reports have stated that the journalist, working for an Indonesian-language publication based in Hong Kong, was injured in the eye by a rubber bullet or beanbag round whilst covering demonstrations in Wanchai.

Media video footage of her receiving medical attention shows her wearing a high visibility jacket with press markings as well as press card on display. HKJA also understands that the journalist was also wearing a helmet with press markings.

We are gravely concerned by these reports of serious injury to a journalist whilst covering events in HK. We are particularly concerned by reports that the injury was caused by a rubber bullet or bean bag round and that the journalist was not in the immediate vicinity of protestors at the time of the incident, she was clearly identifiable as being a member of the press and was with a number of other journalists at the time also wearing high visibility press markings.

Police have a duty to assist the press and facilitate reporting by members of the press. It is self-evident that this means that police should not cause injury to members of the press.

The HKJA will be investigating this incident and if substantiated, will be taking action to protect the rights and safety of our members

The HKJA also expresses grave concern about recent online threats, purportedly by radical protestors, to TVB journalists if they cover events in Hong Kong from today onwards.

We deplores the use and threat of violence towards journalists covering events in Hong Kong from any source and calls on police and protestors to allow journalists to carry out their job of reporting the facts without risk of serious injury or threats of violence.

(Hengyang, Hunan—Sept. 25, 2019) Authorities controlled human rights lawyer Xie Yang and a Chinese citizen, Chen Yanhui, this evening when they were discussing the Sept. 23 death of Wang Meiyu, a prisoner who died in the Hengyang Detention Center.

In the middle of Xie and Chen’s conversation at the Shennong Hotel in Hengyang, Hunan, six armed SWAT team members rushed in and contained them. Plainclothes police and hotel employees watched the room’s doorway, while the SWAT team members handled the staircase.

Xie’s wife, Chen Guiqiu, noted on social media that he was still being controlled as of 1:16 a.m. on Sept. 26 Beijing time. Her attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful, leading her to believe he is still being restricted by the officials.

Xie was previously taken into police custody for his human rights work on July 11, 2015, as part of a nationwide crackdown on rights attorneys known colloquially as the "709 Incident." During Xie's time in prison, he revealed that he had been tortured and that the lawyers appointed by his family were prevented from meeting him numerous times. To combat these accusations, China launched a propaganda campaign, claiming the reports were false. They also forced Xie Yang to deny his torture allegations during his trial.

Prior to his trial, Xie made a written declaration stating that he was not guilty of subversion, the charge which authorities used to imprison him, and said he would not plead guilty unless it was for the sake of his family or because of torture.

Xie was ultimately ruled "exempt from criminal penalty," a decision that means Xie should be legally free but also that the court had convicted him. He continues to be constantly monitored by the authorities.

Hong Kong authorities should conduct a swift and credible investigation into the recent assault of an Apple Daily reporter and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Yesterday, four men dressed in black and wearing yellow helmets rushed into a restaurant in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong district where a reporter from the pro-democracy Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily was dining with her family, and kicked and punched the reporter and then fled the scene, according to a report by Apple Daily and other news reports.

During the assault, the attackers mentioned Jimmy Lai, founder and chair of Next Digital, which owns Apple Daily, according a report by the newspaper.

The journalist was taken to a hospital with injuries to her head and right ear, according to the newspaper, which published photos of her injuries but did not release the reporter’s name.

“If the rule of law means anything in Hong Kong, police must take swift action to apprehend not just the men who carried out this assault on an Apple Daily reporter, but anyone who planned the attack as well,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Attacks against journalists have gone unpunished for far too long in Hong Kong.”

Apple Daily editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong said in a statement on the newspaper’s website that the reporter was targeted for her reports and live-streams of the protests that have taken place in Hong Kong since June. The protests were originally sparked by an extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to face trial in mainland Chinese courts, as CPJ reported at the time.

The journalist’s personal information had recently been published by an anonymous website opposed to the protesters, according to a statement published on Facebook by the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

Hong Kong authorities have asked the website to remove identifying information of about 20 Apple Daily journalists, as well as more than 70 activists, student leaders, and protesters, but the website, which is registered to a Russian domain, has kept the information online, according to the South China Morning Post.

Jimmy Lai’s home was firebombed earlier this month, but no one was hurt in the incident, according to news reports.

The Hong Kong Police Force told CPJ in an email that the case is under investigation and no arrests have been made.

A rights activist who called publicly for the resignation of Chinese president Xi Jinping has died in a police-run detention center in the central province of Hunan, rights groups said.

Wang Meiyu's widow received notification of her husband's death in the Hengyang Detention Center on Monday.

Wang, 38, was detained two months ago after holding up a placard in public calling on President Xi to step down, and for democratic elections in China.

"Wang Meiyu died in the detention center," his mother, who declined to give her name, told RFA. "Wang Meiyu was only 38 years old. His father passed away 20 years ago, and now my only child is dead too."

Wang's widow Cao Shuxia said Wang was initially detained on July 8, and had been in normal health when his detention began.

Then, he was reported as having died suddenly in a military hospital. Cao said Wang's body was "unrecognizable" when she went to identify it.

"He was a healthy, normal man when he went in there," she said. "Then, at 4.00 a.m. on Sept. 23, I got a call from the village [ruling Chinese Communist] Party secretary, who told me that Wang Meiyu was dead."

"I asked how he died, and he said he didn't know, and that he had been informed by his superiors," she said. "He didn't even know the time of death. Later, I found out when I called up to enquire that he had died in the emergency room of Hengyang 169 Hospital."

"When I saw his body, it was like another person; he was totally unrecognizable," Cao said. "They wouldn't let me take my cell phone in with me, and there were a lot of police officers there with us, and they stopped me from getting too close."

Solitary confinement

Cao said Wang had received two visits from a lawyer after being detained. During these meetings, the lawyer heard that he was initially held in a large cell along with dozens of other inmates.

But by the time the lawyer visited again at the end of August, Wang had been transferred to solitary confinement, she said.

She said Wang's death was a huge blow to his family, especially to his two children, the older of whom is just 11. The couple had already lost their jobs as a result of Wang's activism, she said.

"My husband didn't commit any crime: he did nothing wrong," Cao said.

An acquaintance of Wang's surnamed Chen said Wang had been campaigning for democratic elections in China, which was why he had called on President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang to resign.

"Last year, he held up a placard outside the gates of the Hengyang Normal University in Hunan, and he did it again last July, outside the Hunan provincial police department, where he was detained," Chen said.

"He was already under very tight surveillance and had no source of income, and relations with his family were already strained," he said.

The authorities had already been in touch to warn off anyone thinking of showing support to the family, or speaking out on Wang's behalf, he said. "I will likely have to go and meet with state security police tomorrow."

'Step down and enable general elections'

In November 2018, Wang wrote on the social media platform WeChat that he had been visited by five officers of the state security police from Hengyang's Zhoushi county.

"They accused me of making random comments online, calling on Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang to step down and enable general elections," Wang wrote at the time.

"They said this was attacking our national leaders and told me to ... write a letter of repentance and a guarantee [of future good behavior]."

"Morons: it never occurred to them that three days and three nights of torture with dripping water and electric batons until I was spitting blood and my soul had nearly left my body wouldn't bring about my surrender," he wrote.

"What have I done wrong? I didn't give these state security morons the time of day: eventually, they went away with their tails between their legs."

An employee who answered the phone at the Hengyang People's Liberation Army 169 Hospital declined to comment, saying she wasn't on duty when Wang died, and that nobody was discussing the incident at work.

Repeated requests to the Hengyang police department for comment went unanswered at the time of writing.

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have criminally detained a prominent rights activist after he repeatedly showed public support for the anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong.

Chen Yunfei was taken away by state security police from his home in Gucheng township in Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu on Sept. 19, his friend told RFA on Monday.

"Eight or nine people came from the Gucheng township police station, some in uniform, some in plain clothes," Chen's friend Luo Kaiwen said. "The police station called his sister and offered to find a lawyer for him."

"I heard that it was because of interviews Chen Yunfei gave to overseas media during which he expressed his support for the anti-extradition movement, that's what this was," Luo said. "They didn't say what the charge was, but I read online that it was for 'supporting Hong Kong'."

"The authorities basically have a lot of different options if they want to bring charges," he said.

Chen's family received official notification on Sept. 21 that he is under criminal detention for publishing comments in support of the anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong, it said.

Chen has outspokenly defended the anti-extradition movement at a time when the ruling Chinese Communist Party is ramping up the nationalistic narrative that the Hong Kong protests are being carried out by a small minority of troublemakers in the pay of "hostile foreign forces."

In recent interviews with RFA, Chen has called repeatedly for a dialogue between Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and protesters to try to reach a resolution over the five demands of the anti-extradition movement.

Several Chinese dissidents have had their Twitter accounts taken offline or been called in for questioning by police after they voiced support for the Hong Kong protests.

Chinese authorities have also been checking the devices of anyone crossing the internal border from Hong Kong to mainland China, as part of a concerted campaign to ensure that no unedited news of the Hong Kong anti-extradition protests is able to reach residents of China.

Admiration for the anti-extradition protesters

In an interview with the Epoch Times on Aug. 31, Chen expressed his admiration for the anti-extradition protesters and said Hong Kong should serve as a model for people in mainland China, an idea that gives voice to concerns in Beijing that Hong Kong's liberal attitudes could lead to the overthrow of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Chen was only released last March from a jail term handed down on public order charges after he marked the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, politically sensitive and forbidden topic in China, in 2015.

Back then, he was detained after visiting the grave of Tiananmen massacre victim Wu Guofeng near Chengdu along with a group of fellow activists.

The government bans public memorials marking the event, and has continued to ignore growing calls in China and from overseas for a reappraisal of the 1989 student protests, which it once styled a "counterrevolutionary rebellion."

Chen has also campaigned vigorously for human rights protections and against environmental pollution in the past two decades.

Sichuan-based writer and activist Tan Zuoren declined to comment in detail, citing additional security measures ahead of celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule on Oct. 1.

"Of course I'm worried about him, but there's not much I can do to help, particularly not before National Day on Oct. 1," Tan said. "I have been told not to make any comments, as part of the conditions of my current bail."

Chen's wife said she and her husband are currently estranged, and that she is also under pressure from the authorities over the birth of the couple's daughter, which was deemed a violation of family planning restrictions.

"I just saw on the group chat that he was in trouble," she said. "But I don't know any of the details. I'll go and visit him in a few days ... we are not living together at the moment ... and I don't have much time to take care of him."

National Day on Oct. 1

Calls to the nearby Wenjiang Detention Center rang unanswered during office hours on Monday.

An employee who answered the phone at the the Gucheng township police station said he knew nothing of Chen's detention.

"I don't really know about this," the employee said. "You could come to the police station and ask. Different people are on duty here every day."

Fellow dissident Zeng Rongkang said Chen's detention could also be linked to his attempts to make news of the Hong Kong protests available to social media users in mainland China.

"News from Hong Kong is usually deleted from WeChat, and a lot of ordinary people don't actually know about the anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong," Zeng said.

"Security is extremely tight across the whole country ahead of National Day on Oct. 1," he said. "There are police on all the buses and metro trains in the Chengdu area."

Zeng said Chen had previously been sentenced to four years' imprisonment over his commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre. "He didn't even do anything, just visit the grave of a 1989 student protester."

"Strictly speaking, that's not a crime."

The Global Times, an English media owned by the state-run People’s Daily, published an article on September 23, which referred to a ‘campaign’ launched by several Hong Kong journalists against the Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA), and requested the IFJ to revoke HKJA’s membership. The journalists behind the campaign remain anonymous, and the accusations referred to against the HKJA on the campaign website [saynotohkja.mystrikingly.com], are not based on solid evidence, some are based on the disinformation by other state-run media.

The IFJ is aware of attempts to discredit HKJA, having received several complaints since June from anonymous emails. The complaints are almost identical in language and issues referred to, raising questions about their authenticity. The IFJ strongly condemns attempts to discredit professional journalist unions such as the HKJA, as well as the broader work of the journalist community with attempts to legitimise the authorities’ attacks against the media or suppress press freedom.

The IFJ said:"We strongly deplore this smear campaign against our affiliate the HKJA. The work of the HKJA is commendable, especially the continued support and campaigning for media safety in the past four months in Hong Kong. We stand in solidarity and support the HKJA. The IFJ was never sort for comment regarding the campaign to have HKJA's membership revoked. The attempts by some to share disinformation are part of a campaign to discredit the work done by HKJA, supported by the IFJ to ensure the safety and security of the media and press freedom in Hong Kong."

The HKJA is a strong professional media union, working to support the Hong Kong media community and promote press freedom. Since the start of Hong Kong wide protests in June 2019, HKJA has been active in working to support the media. Since June they have raised HKD3 million (USD 383,000) for an anti-violence legal fund for journalists. They have supplied more than 100 safety kids to journalists, organized medical service for 33 journalists injured with tear gas while covering the protests, provided professional counselling services to 20 journalists and filed complaints for over 40 journalists attacked covering the protests.

Hong Kong police must cease their unprovoked use of tear gas and pepper spray against journalists covering protests in the city, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On September 7, police pepper-sprayed a group of journalists who were filming the arrests of protesters in the Mong Kok area, according to news reports and Holmes Chi Hang Chan, a reporter with the independent news website Hong Kong Free Press, who live-streamed the incident on Facebook and recounted it in a statement sent to CPJ.

On September 8, police threw teargas canisters directly at several journalists wearing clearly marked press vests while they were covering protests in the Causeway Bay metro station, according to news reports and footage circulated online showing the attack. One canister appeared to hit a journalist in the helmet and then exploded near another journalist, according to those reports.

“Hong Kong police need to learn that a police badge and a uniform do not amount to a license for indiscriminate attacks against journalists, or anyone,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The most recent attacks against journalists make clear why an independent investigation into police behavior is essential if Hong Kong is to be a place where rule of law prevails.”

Police fired pepper spray without warning that hit Chan, who was wearing a reflective press vest and a helmed labeled “Press,” in the face, he wrote in the statement provided to CPJ. Chan had two press passes visible and was not wearing protective facial gear, he wrote.

Chan was admitted to the Kwong Wah Hospital and was treated for a “chemical eye injury,” according to a document given to him by a doctor, he said in the statement. The journalists on the scene had complied with police instructions and had not given police any reason to use force against them, he said.

Also on September 7, in Mong Kok, police pepper-sprayed three reporters for local daily Ming Pao who wore helmets and passes identifying them as press, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the newspaper’s staff association.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Journalists Association both issued statements condemning the increasing acts of violence against journalists. Protestors have demanded an independent inquiry into police behavior, according to news reports.

The Hong Kong Police Force did not respond to CPJ's email requesting comment.

Around 10.30 pm Saturday (Sept 7), police officers were charging to drive away protesters and make arrests outside Pioneer Centre in Mongkok. With no protesters around, police officers sprayed pepper spray at reporters at the scene. Several frontline journalists were injured. We condemn police violence and taking journalists as their target of attack – deliberately and with hostilities – in obstructing reporters’ work. We urge Police to take the issue of frontline officers being unable to control their emotions and abuse of power seriously.

Around 10.30 pm, reporters who covered the police operation were driven away by police officers. Reporters kept a distance of about 10 meters from the place where police made arrests. They heeded police’s demand for them to position themselves at the pedestrian pavement. Suddenly, two officers from the Special Tactical Squad, or commonly known as Raptor, sprayed pepper spray. At least five photojournalists, two from HK01, one from AFP and two from Ming Pao and three reporters, one from Ming Pao and two from Cable TV. Two had sprayed on their faces.

We noted that reporters there were wearing passes and helmets emblazoned with the word, PRESS, which were easily identifiable. There were no protesters near the reporters. Reporters were retreating while police officers were making the requests. The sudden attack from police officers was unreasonable. Two officers had persistently sprayed at a bigger group of reporters, injuring more. A reporter at the scene heard from an officer who sprayed pepper spray saying, “shooting (pictures), so you like shooting.” It is clear the police officers were hostile towards the reporters. The acts of the two officers were close to an assault against journalists. We demand police to provide the identification of the two officers for reporters to lodge a formal complaint.

Police officers at the scene had not provided clear identification for reporters to lodge a complaint. Police’s media liaison officers were nowhere to be seen. Those who turned up late failed to perform their duty of liaison. They were also hostile when responding to journalists’ questions.

We condemn police’s abuse of the use of force and deliberately obstruct reporters’ work. We urge the police to take seriously the statements issued by us in the past three months. We urge the police to take the issue of frontline officers being unable to control their emotions and abuse of power seriously to coordinate with the work of frontline journalists for them to play their role of fourth power.

In 2016, the police issued an order to all the kindergartens, including all the early education centers in Beijing’s Shijingshan District (石景山区) to not accept my son at their schools. My son, Quanquan (泉泉), had stayed home, unable to attend school since May 2018. Then, by luck and coincidence, I found a private school that accepted him. Quanquan finally was able to go to school, joining the top kindergarten class there.

It was a hard-won opportunity for Quanquan, and he was very excited. On the first day of school [in 2018], he woke up at 6 am. He tugged at me, acting cute one moment and threatening me the next. I had to get out of bed. We washed together, and after getting dressed, he wanted to go to school. Reluctantly, I told him that the school bus wouldn’t arrive at the gate until 7:48 am. His single-eyelid eyes flashed with ardent hope, and he said to me pleading: “I want to go early to wait at the gate. Please?”

So I gave in, unable to say no to his adorable face. So, we sat on the side of the street waiting for the bus for more than an hour before it was due to arrive. Quanquan was a little anxious; he would stand up and sit down, stand up and sit down again, making me dizzy just watching him. His small pudgy face was full of worry, and he asked me over and over again: “Mom, are you sure we’re waiting in the right place for the school bus?” It was annoying and amusing at the same time; all I could do was answer “Yes!” over and over again. At that time, I thought, it was only children who’ve been unable to attend school who could feel such excitement about going to school.

Quanquan really liked his school. The flowers and trees in the school grounds, the sandboxes, the trampoline, and the various insects on the lawn made each day full of surprise and joy. The school’s atmosphere was happy, relaxed, and full of love, which led to Quanquan arguing that he wanted to go to school on Sundays. He also made a lot of friends, and he even secretly liked a little girl.

Quanquan successfully completed kindergarten without incident. I thought at the time that attending school would no longer pose a problem.

Come September 2, Quanquan was promoted to primary school. School has only been in session for four days, but the police have visited multiple times already to put pressure on the school. As a result, my son is once again forced out of school.

Having been told that that Quanquan could not continue school, I felt all my strength was sucked out of me there and then. Heavyhearted, I walked out of the school gate. At home, Quanquan’s maternal grandpa had just suffered a severe cold, stooping after days of high fever and coughing. I tried hard to pull myself together, not wanting to cry in front of him. But I broke down after all, tears streaming down my face.

I was thinking, why? Why?

It’s no wonder that every time I visited Quanzhang (王全璋), what he worried about most was whether our son could go to school. No wonder he repeatedly sought confirmation from me whether our son was indeed going to school.

When Quanzhang was detained four years ago, our son was only two and a half years old. Now, it looks like our son has been made into a bargaining chip which officials are going to use to coerce Quanzhang. Maybe that’s why every time I see Quanzhang he tells me not to come visit; maybe that’s why Wang Quanzhang said he did not want medical parole (as I write this, I recall that Quanzhang has lost three teeth in the past four years; maybe that’s why Wang Quanzhang said that after he is released from prison next year, he would continue to be subject to government monitoring, and would not return to Beijing, but stay in Jinan!

They detained and isolated an innocent lawyer from the outside world for four years; they held a secret trial of him without lawyers present to defend him, and then transferred him to prison to serve his sentence, and repeatedly blocked me, his wife, from visiting him. Now they are making an issue of a 6-year-old boy attending school.

I have to ask, what do you want?

Do you intend to make a mother give in and give up by making her suffer pain and despair over her son’s loss of schooling? Or, are you using his son to strike the imprisoned father and force him to bow to your menacing?

Or, perhaps you are concocting a tribute to your grand celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China by depriving this six-year-old child of schooling, and inflicting pain on this family.

Quanquan knows that he can’t go to school anymore starting today. He asked me: “I am the leader of Team No. 1 in martial arts class. I can’t lead the team anymore, what to do? The teacher is going to teach a lot of new moves, which I won’t know — what should I do?” He’s not ready to accept that fact that he has no school to go to anymore. He’s said repeatedly that he wants to go school, he wants to go to school.

I wiped my tears, and began to smile, telling him:

“If we can’t attend this school, I believe that God will provide another school for us that is just as good as this one!”

Thousands of Hong Kong university and school students boycotted class and rallied peacefully for democracy on Monday, the latest acts of defiance in an anti-government movement that has plunged the Chinese-ruled city into crisis.

The boycott followed a weekend marred by some of the worst violence since unrest escalated more than three months ago, with protesters burning barricades and throwing petrol bombs, and police retaliating with water cannon, tear gas and batons.

Tension remained high, with several brief skirmishes around the territory after night fell. Police fired tear gas to clear protesters in the densely populated Mongkok region of the Kowloon peninsula.

Thousands of students gathered earlier on the hilltop campus of Chinese University under leaden skies, taking turns to make speeches from a stage with a black backdrop embossed with “Students in Unity Boycott for our City”.

They are seeking greater democracy for the former British colony which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees wide-ranging autonomy, including the right to protest and an independent judiciary.

They fear those freedoms are being slowly eroded by Communist Party rulers in Beijing, a charge China denies.

“I come here just to tell others that even after summer holidays end we are not back to our normal life, we should continue to fight for Hong Kong,” said one 19-year-old student who asked to be identified as just Chan.

On the first day of the new school year, secondary students were seen singing, chanting and forming human chains, some wearing hard hats and masks.

China accuses Western countries of egging on the protests. It says Hong Kong is its own internal affair.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated Beijing’s support for Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam.

“China’s central government supports chief executive Carrie Lam’s leadership ... to administer in accordance with the law and supports Hong Kong’s police tackling the violence and chaos in accordance with the law to restore order,” he told a press briefing.

As for Lam, she said last week she had caused “unforgivable havoc” by igniting the crisis and would quit if she had a choice.

Students have turned out in significant numbers at recent rallies and were also prominent during the 2014 pro-democracy “Umbrella” movement that foreshadowed the current unrest.

“It’s very different from what happened back then. People are more mad now,” said Summer, a 20-year-old student who gave only his first name.

The vice-chairman of the Demosisto pro-democracy movement, Isaac Cheng, was assaulted by three unidentified men on Monday and taken to hospital, the group said in a statement. The group’s leader, Joshua Wong, was one of the prominent leaders of the 2014 struggle.

Thousands of protesters blocked roads and public transport links to Hong Kong airport on Sunday. Some then targeted the MTR subway station in nearby Tung Chung, ripping out turnstiles and smashing CCTV cameras, glass panels and lamps with metal poles. Police made several arrests.

Lam, a lightning rod for protesters’ anger, said on her Facebook page on Monday that 10 subway stations had been damaged by “violent offenders” over the weekend.

John Lee, government secretary for security, told media that nearly 100 petrol bombs were thrown in various locations on Saturday with two found on a 13-year-old boy who was arrested inside an MTR station.

The unrest began over a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed people in the city to be sent to China for trial in courts controlled by the party.

The turmoil has evolved into calls for democracy. China is eager to quell the unrest before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1.

With Hong Kong facing its first recession in a decade, China has also warned of the damage the protests are causing to the economy.

Authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday 31st October detained a prominent women's rights activist after she organized an online activity in support of Hong Kong's Occupy Central pro-democracy movement. Ye Haiyan, who founded the Women's Rights Workshop, was taken away by police in her home district of Xinzhou after her home was searched, a Beijing-based rights lawyer told RFA. "Police went to her home and confiscated some of her things," rights lawyer Tang Jitian said. "I am guessing it's because she organized some activities on and offline." "I can't say for sure, but it is likely to have at least something to do with her support for Occupy Central," Tang said. Ye's boyfriend Ling Haobo said around a dozen police officers had arrived at her home at around 11.30 a.m. local time on Friday, and had confiscated two notebook computers, three cellphones, and an external hard drive. "I was at the door when the police came knocking," Ling said, adding that police had stayed around 20 minutes. "Then they told Ye Haiyan to go with them to the police station, but they didn't produce any documentation," he said. "They didn't say whether it was for questioning, or whether it was criminal detention," he said. "They just took her away, and left five officers behind to go through her things." He said Ye had recently joined an online movement in which participants shaved their heads to show support for Occupy Central. "Several dozen people in mainland China shaved their heads," Ling said. The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group, which collates and translates reports from rights groups inside China, says it has documented 72 cases of detention of people showing public support for the Occupy Central movement. Of those, 27 people were criminally detained and three were handed administrative detentions, while 32 remain in custody without charge. A further 11 were released, it said. It said the most recent detention was that of Guangdong-based activist Su Changlan, who is being held by Foshan municipal authorities on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power" after she took part in Hong Kong-related activities in the province. But Tang said the true number of Hong Kong-related detentions may be much higher. "It's more than 100 so far, although we haven't yet updated those numbers," he said. Beijing has repeatedly said the five-week-old Occupy movement is "illegal," but Hong Kong officials have taken a more diplomatic stance since police use of tear gas brought hundreds of thousands of people out onto the streets to swell the movement, and sent video and social media accounts of the Sept. 28 clashes streaming live around the world. Since then, the mostly peaceful protests have occupied major highways and intersections near government headquarters in Admiralty district and in the busy shopping districts of Causeway Bay and Mong Kok, amid sporadic clashes with police and anti-Occupy protesters.

A Tibetan monk charged with inciting Tibetans to oppose Chinese rule has been ordered jailed for 12 years, according to sources who say he is being confined in a prison notorious for its abusive treatment of prisoners. Tsangyang Gyatso, chant leader at the Drilda monastery in Sog (in Chinese, Suo) county in the Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, "was sentenced sometime around Oct. 1, 2014," Ngawang Tharpa, a Tibetan living in India, told RFA's Tibetan Service, citing contacts in the region. "He is reportedly being held in Chushur prison near[the regional capital] Lhasa," Tharpa said. Harsh treatment is common at the Chushur prison, located about 48 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Lhasa, with prisoners routinely subjected to torture, beatings, and forms of abuse, Tibetan sources have said. "[Gyatso] was convicted on charges of inciting others to protest against China and of communicating with contacts outside Tibet," Tharpa said. "His relatives in Sog county's Trido township were informed of his sentence by letter only around Oct. 15." Family members have been told they will not be allowed to visit the jailed monk until three months elapse from the date of his sentencing, but have also been warned they will need letters from township and county officials giving permission for the visit, Tharpa said. Tsangyang Gyatso was detained on unknown charges on March 17, 2014, along with three other monks from Drilda monastery named Tsewang, Atse, and Gyaltsen, Tharpa said. Their detention followed a roundup earlier in March of at least nine other area monks and residents suspected of involvement of activities challenging Chinese rule in Tibet, including the painting of independence slogans on boulders near an iron bridge in Trido township. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 133 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing's rule and call for the return of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

An AIDS researcher, Wang Qiuyan, was prevented from attending a women's rights conference put on by the United Nations, when authorities forcibly registered her at a hospital. Jess Macy Yu reports for the New York Times: Wang Qiuyun, 46, a member of the Women's Network Against H.I.V./AIDS China, was to have consulted Thursday with experts reviewing China's case before the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In an interview on Wednesday, she said she was currently under close surveillance at her home in Hebi, Henan Province, after local officials took away her passport with her newly issued Swiss visa on Oct. 10. On that same day, she was driven to the Hebi City Infectious Disease Hospital by six officials, registered as a patient and told to notify the conference that she was "too sick to attend." That night, she said she was able to quietly escape the hospital. Ms. Wang, formerly director of women's services with the Henan Province Family Planning and Medical Station, has in recent years devoted her time to the Women's Network Against H.I.V./AIDS China, an organization founded in 2009 with the support of Unaids, the United Nations agency dealing with AIDS, to help Chinese women with H.I.V. improve the quality of their life.[Source] Simon Denyers at the Washington Post looks at Wang's work and the possible reasons for her travel ban. Wang herself contracted HIV, most likely during an operation when Henan was the center of an HIV epidemic in the 1990s: "I don't know why this happened," Wang said in a telephone interview. "I've explained to the police and other officials many times that I was just going to talk about helping women with AIDS, and about children who suffer discrimination because of their parents' HIV status." The report she was due to present, on behalf of the nongovernmental group Women's Network Against HIV/AIDS China (WNAC), concludes that the HIV epidemic among women in China is on the rise, partly because of a lack of awareness and low condom use among sex workers. It also argues that women face "serious discrimination and humiliation" in health care, employment and education, and that strong laws against prostitution - including police regulations that equate condom possession with prostitution - were discouraging sex workers from carrying condoms.[Source]