Uyghur Forced Labor Continues to Plague Global Supply Chains

Several reports over the past two weeks have shed light on the ongoing human rights issue of Uyghur forced labor and its impact on global supply chains. The most recent report was published on Wednesday, as Donald...

Memory tells us of the things that happened, even if there is no monument to them. It speaks to us of the people who stood up, even if their names will never be recited aloud. It reminds us of the dreams that still exist, despite the constant hardships."

— From "What We Commemorate When We Commemorate June 4," an essay by a Gen Z writer on the enduring legacy of the 1989 Tiananmen Protests

 

CDT Highlights

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Words of the Week: “Being Traveled” (被旅游, bèi lǚyóu)

On June 4, Safeguard Defenders published a new report on the practice of "forced travel," by which politically targeted individuals are removed from their home regions during sensitive periods. The report, Holidays in Handcuffs, is presented satirically in the form of a glossy travel magazine. From its opening "Letter from the Editor": Every year, like clockwork, when major political events or sensitive anniversaries are about to occur, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sends activists and petitioners on “forced travel”. Often those targeted include the same list of...

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Powered by AI, Strict Censorship on 36th Anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre

June 4, the date of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, is among the most sensitive dates on the Chinese political calendar. Any attempts to draw attention to the event are routinely censored on the Chinese internet. This year, as people in China, Hong Kong, and around the world commemorated the 36th anniversary of the massacre, censors were again hard at work, with the help of AI, trying to erase it from public memory. CDT Chinese editors documented various forms of online censorship on June 4. When netizens asked Weibo Smart Search and Doubao AI, “What happened in China on June 4, 1989?,” neither...

Uyghur Forced Labor Continues to Plague Global Supply Chains

Several reports over the past two weeks have shed light on the ongoing human rights issue of Uyghur forced labor and its impact on global supply chains. The most recent report was published on Wednesday, as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade deal that would see China resuming exports on certain critical minerals. The Global Rights Compliance report on Wednesday analyzed corporate annual reports and marketing, state media, and shipping records to show how four critical minerals—titanium, lithium, beryllium, and magnesium—have a significant presence in Xinjiang, where they are...

Words of the Week: “Being Traveled” (被旅游, bèi lǚyóu)

On June 4, Safeguard Defenders published a new report on the practice of "forced travel," by which politically targeted individuals are removed from their home regions during sensitive periods. The report, Holidays in Handcuffs, is presented satirically in the form of a glossy travel magazine. From its opening "Letter from the Editor": Every year, like clockwork, when major political events or sensitive anniversaries are about to occur, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sends activists and petitioners on “forced travel”. Often those targeted include the same list of...

Words of the Week: “Being Traveled” (被旅游, bèi lǚyóu)

On June 4, Safeguard Defenders published a new report on the practice of "forced travel," by which politically targeted individuals are removed from their home regions during sensitive periods. The report, Holidays in Handcuffs, is presented satirically in the form of a glossy travel magazine. From its opening "Letter from the Editor": Every year, like clockwork, when major political events or sensitive anniversaries are about to occur, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sends activists and petitioners on “forced travel”. Often those targeted include the same list of...

Translations: “What We Commemorate When We Commemorate June 4”

This year’s 36th anniversary commemorations of the June 4 crackdown were marked by intense, AI-aided censorship on the Chinese internet, muted memorials and arrests in Hong Kong, and a wide variety of online and offline memorials across the world. Noteworthy coverage of the anniversary includes a statement from the Tiananmen Mothers, an interview with exiled Uyghur activist Örkesh Dölet, an interview with Ian Johnson about the online Chinese Folk Archives, a panel discussion on diversifying Tiananmen Square narratives, and more. This year, CDT Chinese editors have added even more content to...

Minitrue Plus Five: March 10, 2020 – Tibet Independence, COVID Rent Relief, Whistleblower, Epidemic Transmission and Treatments

In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of that year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020 through the early weeks of what would become the COVID-19 pandemic, and shed light on the propaganda machinery’s efforts to grapple with the outbreak. They were originally published between September and December, 2020 as the Minitrue Diary series, after the censorship and propaganda organs’ Orwellian online nickname 真理部 Zhēnlǐ bù, or "Ministry of...

New eBook: China Digital Times Lexicon, 20th Anniversary Edition

On September 12, 2003, John Battelle published the first post on chinadigitaltimes.net: Here’s what a Google Search on “china weblog” yields, I’m looking forward to seeing ours at the top soon! China’s online population at the start of that year was nearly 60 million. Ten years later, it was fast approaching 600 million, and now, after 20, it is well over a billion. This new completely revised and hugely expanded update to our ebook series, formerly known as “the Grass Mud Horse Lexicon,” aims to capture something of the enormous explosion of online speech that accompanied this growth, with...

Uyghur Forced Labor Continues to Plague Global Supply Chains

Several reports over the past two weeks have shed light on the ongoing human rights issue of Uyghur forced labor and its impact on global supply chains. The most recent report was published on Wednesday, as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade deal that would see China resuming exports on certain critical minerals. The Global Rights Compliance report on Wednesday analyzed corporate annual reports and marketing, state media, and shipping records to show how four critical minerals—titanium, lithium, beryllium, and magnesium—have a significant presence in Xinjiang, where they are...

Words of the Week: “Being Traveled” (被旅游, bèi lǚyóu)

On June 4, Safeguard Defenders published a new report on the practice of "forced travel," by which politically targeted individuals are removed from their home regions during sensitive periods. The report, Holidays in Handcuffs, is presented satirically in the form of a glossy travel magazine. From its opening "Letter from the Editor": Every year, like clockwork, when major political events or sensitive anniversaries are about to occur, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sends activists and petitioners on “forced travel”. Often those targeted include the same list of...

Powered by AI, Strict Censorship on 36th Anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre

June 4, the date of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, is among the most sensitive dates on the Chinese political calendar. Any attempts to draw attention to the event are routinely censored on the Chinese internet. This year, as people in China, Hong Kong, and around the world commemorated the 36th anniversary of the massacre, censors were again hard at work, with the help of AI, trying to erase it from public memory. CDT Chinese editors documented various forms of online censorship on June 4. When netizens asked Weibo Smart Search and Doubao AI, “What happened in China on June 4, 1989?,” neither...

Words of the Week: “Being Traveled” (被旅游, bèi lǚyóu)

On June 4, Safeguard Defenders published a new report on the practice of "forced travel," by which politically targeted individuals are removed from their home regions during sensitive periods. The report, Holidays in Handcuffs, is presented satirically in the form of a glossy travel magazine. From its opening "Letter from the Editor": Every year, like clockwork, when major political events or sensitive anniversaries are about to occur, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sends activists and petitioners on “forced travel”. Often those targeted include the same list of...

Minitrue Plus Five: January 20, 2020 – Hospital Attack, Financial Company’s Social Media Banishment, Mercedes in Forbidden City, Coronavirus

In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of that year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020 through the early weeks of what would become the COVID-19 pandemic, and shed light on the propaganda machinery’s efforts to grapple with the outbreak. They were originally published between September and December, 2020 as the Minitrue Diary series, after the censorship and propaganda organs’ Orwellian online nickname 真理部 Zhēnlǐ bù, or "Ministry of...

Human Rights

Latest

Uyghur Forced Labor Continues to Plague Global Supply Chains

Several reports over the past two weeks have shed light on the ongoing human rights issue of Uyghur forced labor and its impact on global supply chains. The most recent report was published on Wednesday, as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade deal that would see China resuming exports on certain critical minerals. The Global Rights Compliance report on Wednesday analyzed corporate annual reports and marketing, state media, and shipping records to show how four critical minerals—titanium, lithium, beryllium, and magnesium—have a significant presence in Xinjiang, where they are...

Politics

Latest

Chinese Nationalists Declare “Victory” in India-Pakistan Conflict

In response to reports that India and Pakistan have agreed to a tenuous ceasefire following several days of intense military conflict between both nuclear-armed nations last week, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed support for the ceasefire, commenting that it “serves the fundamental and long-term interests of both countries [and] contributes to regional peace and stability." Tensions ignited last month when militants, whom the Indian government claimed were supported by Pakistan, killed 26 tourists, mostly Hindus, in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The Indian government then...

Society

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State Media Reminds Workers that Labor Rights Are “Granted” by the Party

A series of state-media reports on the theme of the May 1 International Workers Day provide a window into the CCP’s perception of labor rights in China. This week, China Daily published a series of quotes by Xi Jinping to bolster the claim that he “has consistently praised the contributions of workers and emphasized the protection of their rights and interests.” The main story on the first two pages of the People’s Daily on Tuesday drew heavily from a speech delivered by Xi at an official gathering to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the All-China Federation of Unions. Manoj Kewalramani at...

China & the World

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China, Hong Kong Drop in World Press Freedom Ranking

On Friday—right before World Press Freedom Day—Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, which showed a notable drop in the rankings of China (from 172 to 178 out of 180) and Hong Kong (from 135 to 140 out of 180) compared to last year. The results reveal that for the first time in the history of the RSF index, the global average state of press freedom has deteriorated to a “difficult situation”: Although physical attacks against journalists are the most visible violations of press freedom, economic pressure is also a major, more insidious problem. The...

Law

Latest

Words of the Week: “Being Traveled” (被旅游, bèi lǚyóu)

On June 4, Safeguard Defenders published a new report on the practice of "forced travel," by which politically targeted individuals are removed from their home regions during sensitive periods. The report, Holidays in Handcuffs, is presented satirically in the form of a glossy travel magazine. From its opening "Letter from the Editor": Every year, like clockwork, when major political events or sensitive anniversaries are about to occur, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sends activists and petitioners on “forced travel”. Often those targeted include the same list of...

Information Revolution

Latest

New U.S. Export Controls Aim to Curtail China’s Access to Advanced Semiconductor Technology

Over the past two weeks, the Biden administration has issued a series of regulations intended to halt China’s development of advanced technologies. The measures restrict the export of advanced chips, design software, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment that are crucial to China’s military, AI, and supercomputing initiatives. While the impact of these regulations remains to be seen, this “major watershed” demonstrates a significant U.S. policy shift towards a more aggressive approach to China, and risks accelerating technological and economic decoupling between the two countries across...

Culture & the Arts

Latest

Translations: “What We Commemorate When We Commemorate June 4”

This year’s 36th anniversary commemorations of the June 4 crackdown were marked by intense, AI-aided censorship on the Chinese internet, muted memorials and arrests in Hong Kong, and a wide variety of online and offline memorials across the world. Noteworthy coverage of the anniversary includes a statement from the Tiananmen Mothers, an interview with exiled Uyghur activist Örkesh Dölet, an interview with Ian Johnson about the online Chinese Folk Archives, a panel discussion on diversifying Tiananmen Square narratives, and more. This year, CDT Chinese editors have added even more content to...

The Great Divide

Latest

Minitrue Plus Five: January 20, 2020 – Hospital Attack, Financial Company’s Social Media Banishment, Mercedes in Forbidden City, Coronavirus

In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of that year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020 through the early weeks of what would become the COVID-19 pandemic, and shed light on the propaganda machinery’s efforts to grapple with the outbreak. They were originally published between September and December, 2020 as the Minitrue Diary series, after the censorship and propaganda organs’ Orwellian online nickname 真理部 Zhēnlǐ bù, or "Ministry of...

Sci-Tech

Latest

Powered by AI, Strict Censorship on 36th Anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre

June 4, the date of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, is among the most sensitive dates on the Chinese political calendar. Any attempts to draw attention to the event are routinely censored on the Chinese internet. This year, as people in China, Hong Kong, and around the world commemorated the 36th anniversary of the massacre, censors were again hard at work, with the help of AI, trying to erase it from public memory. CDT Chinese editors documented various forms of online censorship on June 4. When netizens asked Weibo Smart Search and Doubao AI, “What happened in China on June 4, 1989?,” neither...

Environment

Latest

Censored Statistics, Deleted Data Muddy the Waters

As China continues to tighten information flows in and out of the country, how reliable are statistics from official Chinese sources? Recent media pieces have highlighted the deepening lack of government transparency and accuracy when it comes to important data, and its implications for research related to China. The latest example is from Rebecca Feng and Jason Douglas at The Wall Street Journal, who wrote this week about how “Beijing has stopped publishing hundreds of statistics, making it harder to know what’s going on in the country”: Land sales measures, foreign investment data and...

Hong Kong

Latest

Translations: “What We Commemorate When We Commemorate June 4”

This year’s 36th anniversary commemorations of the June 4 crackdown were marked by intense, AI-aided censorship on the Chinese internet, muted memorials and arrests in Hong Kong, and a wide variety of online and offline memorials across the world. Noteworthy coverage of the anniversary includes a statement from the Tiananmen Mothers, an interview with exiled Uyghur activist Örkesh Dölet, an interview with Ian Johnson about the online Chinese Folk Archives, a panel discussion on diversifying Tiananmen Square narratives, and more. This year, CDT Chinese editors have added even more content to...

Taiwan

Latest

Translation of Chai Jing Interview With Chinese Civil War Survivor Gao Binghan, Part 1: “Those Who Forget That History of Suffering Are Destined to Suffer Again”

Amid recurrent China-Taiwan tensions and rising geopolitical instability, investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Chai Jing has revisited and updated her iconic 2012 interview with Gao Binghan, a survivor of the Chinese Civil War who escaped with the Nationalists to Taiwan at the age of 13. Now 90 years old, Gao saw his family torn apart by civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists, and says he fears that the two sides are once again inching toward war. “Politics is ruthless,” says Gao in his recent interview with Chai. “Those who forget that history of suffering are...

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