Human Rights Lawyers Face Debarment for Involvement in Politically Sensitive Cases
by John Chan | Jan 4, 2021
The Chinese government has moved to strip two human rights lawyers of their licenses to practice, following their involvement in legal cases against citizen journalist Zhang Zhan and the 12 Hong Kong activists caught fleeing the...
Read MoreCDT Top Ten Posts of 2020: Ren Zhiqiang, Cai Xia, and COVID-19
by Sophie Beach | Dec 31, 2020
This year, not surprisingly, CDT’s most popular posts centered around the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus, and related stories such as the death of whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang and censorship of relevant...
Read MorePandemic Research Follows Initial Response Into Political Headwinds
by Joseph Brouwer | Dec 30, 2020
One year ago, on 30 December 2019, Dr. Li Wenliang shared information about a patient exhibiting SARS-like symptoms with his colleagues over WeChat—the first public warning about the disease that would soon sweep the world....
Read MoreHong Kongers Captured at Sea Jailed on Mainland for Up to Three Years
by John Chan | Dec 30, 2020
A court in Shenzhen has handed prison sentences to ten Hong Kongers who were caught attempting to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan by boat in August 2020. Two others, who are underaged, were repatriated to Hong Kong on Wednesday, where...
Read MoreTranslation: Lu Yuyu’s “Incorrect Memory” (II)
by Josh Rudolph | Dec 30, 2020
In 2016, citizen journalist Lu Yuyu and his then-girlfriend Li Tingyu were formally arrested after having been detained for over a month for chronicling “mass incidents” across China on their “Not News” (非新聞)...
Read MoreNew Factories Next To Detention Centers Fuel Concerns Over Forced Labor In Xinjiang
by Joseph Brouwer | Dec 29, 2020
A new Buzzfeed News investigation shows that Xinjiang authorities have constructed massive factory facilities alongside internment camps where over one million ethnic minorities, primarily Uyghurs and Kazakhs, have been...
Read MoreAlibaba Faces Antitrust Probe While New Regulations Challenge Ant Group’s Core Business
by John Chan | Dec 29, 2020
New announcements from China’s regulatory authorities have revealed broad plans to rein in Alibaba and Ant Group, as part of a concerted effort to strengthen state supervision of Jack Ma’s business empire. On...
Read MoreTranslation: Wei Zhou on National Optimism vs Personal Pessimism
by Josh Rudolph | Dec 28, 2020
An essay by writer Wei Zhou (@维舟) published to WeChat last week describes a dissonant way of thinking increasingly common in China, in which people are able to maintain optimism about the state and trajectory of the nation...
Read MoreCitizen Journalist Zhang Zhan Is Jailed for COVID Reporting
by John Chan | Dec 28, 2020
Zhang Zhan, lawyer-turned-citizen journalist who documented the lockdown of Wuhan at the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, has been jailed for four years for her reporting. She was the fourth citizen journalist to be arrested and...
Read MoreCDT Editors’ Picks 2020: The Best from CDT and Around the Internet
by Sophie Beach | Dec 28, 2020
The year just past has been one unlike any other in recent memory, in China and around the globe. As the year began, residents of Wuhan were just learning about a new virus that had emerged in their city. By the end of January,...
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CDT in the News
- DW – Where is Jack Ma? The mainstream media keep slience
- FT – Beijing orders Chinese media to censor coverage of Alibaba probe
- China Heritage – China’s Virus of Lies in 2020
- VOA Chinese – Year 2020 in Review: Xi Jinping steps up crackdown on independent journalists with unprecedented intensity
- Rest of World – Waving goodbye to Weibo