The World for Freedom

China issued new rules allowing authorities to stop Chinese citizens from leaving the country if they are considered a potential threat to national technology or industrial security. The regulations expand the government's ability to restrict the movement of citizens accused of violating export-control or technology rules. Source: (Full article...)

China passed a new law promoting a shared national identity among the country's ethnic groups and prioritizing Mandarin in education and public life. Critics said the measure could further weaken Tibetan, Uyghur, Mongolian and other minority languages and cultures and expose people who resist assimilation policies to accusations of separatism. Source: (Full article...)

United Nations experts said there was a persistent pattern of alleged forced labor affecting Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Tibetans in Xinjiang and other parts of China and warned that some practices could amount to enslavement. Beijing rejected the allegations and defended its labor and human-rights policies. Source: (Full article...)

Chinese authorities detained six members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in a renewed crackdown on unregistered Christianity. Reuters reported that more than 100 Christians from house churches had also been detained near Wenzhou in December, while Beijing continued tightening restrictions on religious groups that operate outside state control. Source: (Full article...)

China executed former Huarong International executive Bai Tianhui after he was convicted of accepting about 1.1 billion yuan in bribes. The execution was part of President Xi Jinping's continuing anti-corruption campaign and demonstrated that the Chinese state still uses capital punishment in major economic and corruption cases. Source: (Full article...)

Eighteen leaders of China's Zion Church were formally arrested after a nationwide police operation against the unofficial Christian congregation. The leaders were accused of illegally using information networks, while new religious regulations had recently restricted unauthorized online preaching, religious training and foreign religious connections. Source: (Full article...)

Police detained nearly 30 pastors and church members associated with Zion Church in one of China's largest crackdowns on Christians in years. The church operates independently of Communist Party-controlled religious institutions, and its supporters said authorities had also questioned worshippers and interfered with services. Source: (Full article...)

Amnesty International reported that Chinese courts systematically use broad national-security and public-order offenses against human-rights defenders. Its review of official judicial documents found activists, journalists, lawyers and ordinary citizens prosecuted for peaceful speech, association and contacts with people outside China. Source: (Full article...)

China's internet regulator launched a nationwide campaign targeting online material considered hostile, inflammatory or excessively pessimistic. Posts suggesting that hard work or studying is useless and comments presenting negative views of life were among the content authorities said could be scrutinized, alongside rumors and other prohibited material. Source: (Full article...)

Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was sentenced to another four years in prison after previously serving four years for reporting from Wuhan during the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Press-freedom groups said the new prosecution followed her reporting and comments concerning human-rights abuses and condemned the case as persecution of journalism. Source: (Full article...)

A Chinese student activist studying in France was detained while visiting China and investigated on suspicion of inciting separatism after supporting Tibetan rights. Friends and a human-rights organization said she had been held for almost two months, highlighting the risks faced by Chinese citizens involved in politically sensitive advocacy. Source: (Full article...)

An Associated Press investigation reported that authorities in Xinjiang warned Uyghur residents they could face detention for listening to, storing or sharing certain Uyghur-language songs deemed problematic. The restrictions extended to cultural and religious expression and were accompanied by phone inspections and pressure to avoid some Islamic expressions. Source: (Full article...)

Amnesty International reported that families of detainees in Xinjiang continued to experience separation, intimidation and uncertainty years after a United Nations assessment found serious human-rights violations in the region. Amnesty said repressive laws and policies remained in place and families seeking information continued to face pressure. Source: (Full article...)

An Associated Press investigation described how Chinese authorities developed systems capable of combining phone records, messages, payments, travel information, video surveillance, DNA data and other information to monitor citizens. Predictive-policing systems have been used to identify people authorities consider suspicious and have supported intensive surveillance in Xinjiang and elsewhere. Source: (Full article...)

Amnesty International and other organizations said Chinese human-rights lawyers targeted in the 2015 '709' crackdown continue to face imprisonment, surveillance, harassment and restrictions affecting them and their families. The original crackdown involved more than 300 lawyers and activists being questioned, detained or otherwise targeted. Source: (Full article...)

On the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, authorities increased security and checkpoints around Tiananmen Square while the event remained absent from China's heavily censored social media. Public remembrance of the killings continues to be prohibited on the mainland. Source: (Full article...)

The United States imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials involved in limiting foreign access to Tibetan areas. Rights advocates have long accused Beijing of restricting religious, cultural and political freedoms in Tibet, while China maintains that its policies protect stability and development. Source: (Full article...)

Chinese filmmaker Chen Pinlin was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after making a documentary about the 2022 White Paper demonstrations against China's strict COVID controls and censorship. The protests were among the largest public displays of dissent in China since the 1989 Tiananmen movement. Source: (Full article...)

A Beijing court sentenced veteran journalist Dong Yuyu to seven years in prison for espionage after he met diplomats and journalists as part of his professional work. His family called the verdict a grave injustice and warned that treating normal contacts with foreign diplomats as espionage could intimidate other Chinese journalists and citizens. Source: (Full article...)

Former Bank of China chairman Liu Liange was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery and illegal loan issuance. Under the sentence, execution would generally be avoided if no further crime is committed during the reprieve, after which the punishment is normally converted to life imprisonment. Source: (Full article...)

China announced that a former state-agency employee had received a death sentence after being convicted of providing state secrets to foreign intelligence services. The case demonstrated the severe penalties available under China's expanding national-security system. Source: (Full article...)

A Chinese court sentenced prominent human-rights lawyer Yu Wensheng to three years in prison and his wife Xu Yan to one year and nine months. The couple had been detained while traveling to meet European Union diplomats, and foreign governments and rights groups criticized their imprisonment. Source: (Full article...)

Former People's Bank of China deputy governor Fan Yifei received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve after being convicted of accepting hundreds of millions of yuan in bribes. The punishment formed part of the government's extensive anti-corruption campaign across China's financial system. Source: (Full article...)

Chinese billionaire farmer Sun Dawu continued fighting an 18-year prison sentence while his family and senior company executives also faced imprisonment. Reuters reported that his case formed part of a broader tightening of state control over influential private entrepreneurs, particularly those with independent social or political influence. Source: (Full article...)

China issued detailed rules expanding implementation of its state-secrets system. Employees entrusted with classified information can be prevented from leaving China without approval and must undergo strict procedures when leaving sensitive jobs, extending government control over information and personal movement. Source: (Full article...)

Independent journalist and prominent #MeToo activist Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison for subversion of state power. Labor activist Wang Jianbing was sentenced to three years and six months. Supporters said authorities treated meetings where young people discussed social issues as evidence against them. Source: (Full article...)

Security was tightened around Tiananmen Square for the 35th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown. Reuters reported that Chinese social-media users were unable to change profile photographs on some platforms, a restriction that can prevent symbolic memorial images such as candles from being displayed. Source: (Full article...)

Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan completed a four-year prison term imposed after she traveled to Wuhan and published first-hand accounts of the early COVID-19 outbreak. Her lawyers had said she went on hunger strike and was force-fed while imprisoned, and rights groups remained concerned about surveillance and pressure after her release. Source: (Full article...)

A revised State Secrets Law took effect in China, expanding the framework governing protected information and adding a category of 'work secrets.' The rules increased government authority over information, organizations and personnel and raised concerns that broad definitions could deter whistleblowers and independent investigation. Source: (Full article...)

Chinese authorities tightened restrictions on overseas travel by state employees and workers in sensitive industries, including collecting passports and requiring approval for foreign trips. The measures came as Beijing broadened anti-espionage rules and encouraged citizens to participate in national-security monitoring. Source: (Full article...)