For decades, Hong Kong mourned when the mainland could not. Its huge annual Tiananmen vigil kept alive the memory of the 1989 pro-reform protests in Beijing, and of the massacre that suppressed them. Along with Macau, it was the only place in China where the anniversary could be publicly marked and the truth preserved. But the crackdown on the 2019 uprising in Hong Kong has crushed the freedoms that the region once enjoyed. That year’s vigil was the last. On Friday, two leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance, which organised the commemoration,…
Tag: Freedom of speech
Tiananmen Square vigil organisers found guilty in Hong Kong of ‘inciting subversion’
Two Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils marking China’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 were found guilty of “incitement to subversion”, in one of the most high-profile cases in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed its national security law in 2020. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41 “incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power”, a press summary handed out to reporters said. The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. Sentencing…
Jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai wins free speech award in Germany
The jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The German public broadcaster said on Thursday that Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on 23 June at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Deutsche Welle’s director general, Barbara Massing, praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk”. “With Apple Daily, he gave…
The splinternet: how online shutdowns are getting cheaper and easier to impose
During the height of Iran’s blackout in January, people could still access a platform that, in some senses, was like the internet. Iranians could message family members on a government-monitored app and watch clips of Manchester United on a Farsi-language video-sharing site. They could read state news and use a local navigation service. What they couldn’t do was check international headlines about thousands of people being killed by government forces during one of the bloodiest weeks in recent Iranian history. Nor, for the most part, could they get evidence out…
China’s threat to academic freedom in the UK | Letters
Your report (UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China, 3 November) is deeply alarming. Amnesty International UK’s own research shows that attempts by the Chinese state to intimidate and silence people extend far beyond its borders: a clear case of transnational repression, where governments reach across borders to stifle dissent. We have documented how Chinese and Hong Kong students in the UK live in fear of surveillance and retaliation. Some have changed the focus of their study, avoided “sensitive” topics, or dropped research on human rights altogether.…
UK academics studying topics sensitive to China face harassment, survey finds
Academics and students of Chinese studies in Britain are being subject to harassment, surveillance and pressure to self-censor as they seek to avoid disruption to funding, a survey of universities by a transparency group has concluded. The findings by UK-China Transparency coincide with new government guidance stating that universities may be breaching rules by having partnerships with foreign governments that require academic staff to pass ideological tests – for example, by hosting Confucius Institutes. Academics working on topics that are politically sensitive to the Chinese Communist party (CCP) reported instances…
Hong Kong democracy campaigner accuses UK police of asking her to ‘self-censor’
A former Hong Kong politician and prominent democracy campaigner has accused British police of asking her to “self-censor” and “retreat from public life” after officers asked her to agree to avoid public gatherings. The request, outlined in a signed “memorandum of understanding” seen by the Guardian, has alarmed exiled dissidents who fear it may embolden attempts to silence criticism of Chinese and Hong Kong officials worldwide. Carmen Lau, who moved to the UK in 2021, was asked to sign the formal agreement in March by Thames Valley police after her…
China’s human rights lawyers speak out, 10 years after crackdown
A decade on from China’s biggest crackdown on human rights lawyers in modern history, lawyers and activists say that the Chinese Communist party’s control over the legal profession has tightened, making rights defence work next to impossible. The environment for human rights law has “steadily regressed, especially after the pandemic”, said Ren Quanniu, a disbarred human rights lawyer. “Right now, the rule of law in China – especially in terms of protecting human rights – has deteriorated to a point where it’s almost comparable to the Cultural Revolution era.” The…
‘The old days are no more’: Hong Kong goes quiet as security laws tighten their grip
“Ideas are bulletproof”. Three words, stamped out in multicolour tiles above a doorway, represented one of the last vestiges of Hong Kong’s once vibrant literary spaces. On 31 March, Mount Zero, a beloved independent bookstore in Hong Kong, closed its doors for the final time. Hundreds of Hongkongers came to say goodbye. The bookshop, which opened in 2018, took its slogan from the 2005 film V for Vendetta; the eponymous antihero’s Guy Fawkes mask occasionally appeared during Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests. Mount Zero’s closure, which was announced after what the…
Rishi Sunak faces grilling from MPs over economy, global issues and strategy – UK politics live
<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"6602cce18f08e9df71ad729a","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Q: Is there more we can do to protect children from the dangers of mobile phones? ","elementId":"8afe8cc0-42ad-4239-8929-1f506c931cfd"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Sunak says, as a parent, he is particularly interested in this. He says the government has published guidance on this. ","elementId":"837b819d-8b3b-4620-808b-fc95d2a23ea1"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" The Online Safety Act is law, but it needs to be implemented, he says. He says it should make a difference. ","elementId":"f5cc1e65-a8dd-4676-90ee-288bdcab9f24"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" He says he is thinking more broadly about this question. People have made suggestions. He has spoken to parents like Molly Russell’s father and Brianna…