Translations: As Tributes Pour In, Chengdu’s You Xing Bookstore Gets a Reprieve From Feared Closure
Following more than a week of speculation that Chengdu’s You Xing Bookstore (有杏书店, Yǒu Xìng...
freedom of expression
Netizen Voices: “Stop Complaining, Hu Xijin. You Played a Part in This.”
Two posts from nationalist pundit and former Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin criticizing what he describes as a “collective silence” on Chinese social media have sparked intense discussion on Chinese and overseas websites....
Despite New Law to Facilitate Reporting of Public-Health Emergencies, COVID-Whistleblower Zhang Zhan Sentenced to Four More Years in Prison
Citizen journalist and COVID-whistleblower Zhang Zhan, who spent four years in prison for her in-depth reporting from Wuhan in the early days of the pandemic, was sentenced to another four years in a closed-door trial in...
Chongqing Slogan Protest: “Freedom Is Not Something Bestowed; We Must Fight to Reclaim It!”
On the evening of August 29, Chinese Valentine’s Day, passersby in Chongqing’s University Town neighborhood met with an astonishing sight: eye-catching political slogans – some inspired by Peng Lifa’s October 2022 Sitong Bridge...
Book Publishers Continue to Face Commercial and Political Pressure
Government censorship in China has increasingly targeted books, bookstores, and publishers. Last fall, over a dozen bookstores were shuttered or targeted for closure, generating a chilling effect on China’s publishing industry....
ICIJ Investigation Highlights Scope of Chinese Government’s Transnational Repression
This week, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published “China Targets,” a 10-month, cross-border investigation with dozens of media partners around the world on the topic of Beijing’s transnational...
Netizen Voices on TikTok “Refugees”: “We All Know This Isn’t Going to End Well, so Let’s Enjoy This ‘Global-village Moment’ While We Can”
As the U.S. Supreme Court voted to uphold a law forcing either the sale or ban of ByteDance-owned TikTok, “TikTok refugees” continued flocking to the Chinese-language app Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote. The influx of new...
Translation: “Confessions of a Collegiate ‘Zhengzhou-to-Kaifeng Night-Cyclist’”
For college students in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan province, it was a brief moment of freedom: a short-lived craze for cycling overnight on ride-share rental bikes to the nearby city of Kaifeng for a bit of fun, food, and...
Translation: Essays by Two Reporters on the Rewards and Pitfalls of Investigative Journalism in China
Despite this year’s disappointing, propagandistic line-up of winners for the 34th China Journalism Award, some Chinese investigative journalists continue to ply their trade with dogged reporting, commitment to keeping the...
Translation: Anodyne Winners of 34th China Journalism Awards Prompt Declaration That “News is Dead”
On the eve of “Journalists’ Day” on November 8, the All-China Journalists Association announced the winners of the two most prestigious national prizes for reportage: the China Journalism Award and the Changjiang Taofen Award. A...
Censors, Authorities Spooked by Halloween Celebrations
The specter of arrest has made Halloween extra spooky this year. In Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, Halloween revelry has been marred by strict police curfews, the detention of costume-clad partygoers, and bans on organized...
Responding to Government Censors’ Crackdown on Online Slang and Memes, Chinese Internet Users Protest, “We Want to Speak Properly, but You Won’t Let Us!”
Chinese internet users are taking issue with a recent announcement that the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and Ministry of Education are trying to standardize online speech by cracking down on the use of “irregular and...
Passport Restrictions on Public Employees, and China’s “New Cultural Emigres”
Several recent reports and articles highlight the experience of those in China who seek to leave the country in search of better opportunities or greater freedom abroad. On Wednesday, the Pew Research Center published a report...
Xi’an Woman Arrested For Posting Video of Snow
Yesterday, police in Xi’an announced the arrest of a 33-year-old woman for rumor mongering. Her crime? Posting a video claiming that it was snowing in Xi’an, when in fact it was not. In a notice posted to WeChat, local police...
Human Rights Watch Report Shows Decline of Academic Freedom in Hong Kong
New research documents the repressive effects of Hong Kong’s national security laws. This week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report titled “We Can’t Write the Truth Anymore,” detailing the decline in academic freedom and...
Weibo Cracks Down on Posts About Weibo Crackdowns
Microblogging platform Weibo is cracking down on speech about crackdowns on speech. In a weekly “safety” digest published to an official Weibo administrators’ account, the platform announced that it had...
Critics of China’s Proposed National Internet ID System Hit With Online Bans, Censorship, Harassment
In the two weeks since the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China published a draft law proposing an ostensibly voluntary national Internet ID program and opened it up for public comment, there...
Chinese Diaspora Voices Fight Harassment and Find Room for Expression
As the room for expression in China continues to shrink under Xi Jinping, many Chinese people are finding more tolerant political environments abroad. Some disenchanted Chinese citizens have made the difficult decision to “run,”...
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