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CHINA MEDIA BULLETIN

Issue No.185: November 2024

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/ Read Online

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A monthly update of media freedom news and analysis related to China

For daily updates in the Chinese language, follow FH_China

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on X.



Analysis: Rubio’s Nomination to Head US Diplomacy Bodes Well for Human Rights in China

In the News:

Harassment and detentions

Hong Kong

Censorship and surveillance

Beyond China

Read Online

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Rubio’s Nomination to Head US Diplomacy Bodes Well for Human Rights in China

The Florida senator has an opportunity to strengthen Donald Trump’s mixed record on holding Beijing accountable for abuses.​​​​​

By Yaqiu Wang

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The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency has raised concerns among many who care about human rights and democracy in China and around the world. As Freedom House has documented

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, the returning president has a record of antidemocratic and anti–human rights behavior and rhetoric, and his first administration featured a mixture of gains and missteps in its China policy. On the campaign trail, Trump indicated a hard-line stance toward Beijing regarding economic issues in particular, but referred often to his “very strong relationship” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, leaving observers unsure of how events might play out over the next four years.

Given this lack of clarity, Trump’s recent selection of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for US secretary of state has instilled some confidence in prodemocracy communities in China and the diaspora, as Rubio is known for his strong objections to Beijing’s human rights abuses.

Rubio once served as a cochair of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), an independent agency that monitors human rights and the rule of law in China, and he has long been one of the fiercest critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Congress. His consistent advocacy for freedom in China stems from his belief that the global threat posed by the CCP regime is not just a matter of economic competition, but also a challenge to the survival of democratic norms.

In a 2022 speech

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, Rubio warned that the history of the 21st century would either be “a story of how a rising authoritarian power replaced a free society as the world’s most powerful country” or “the story of how the people of the United States, the freest, most prosperous and successful nation in the history of the world . . . rallied around the truth the country was founded on and ushered in a century of liberty and justice.” In 2020, Beijing sanctioned Rubio and five other legislators in retaliation for the imposition of US sanctions on Hong Kong officials who had restricted fundamental rights in the territory.

In some ways, the first Trump administration’s record on human rights in China was in line with Rubio’s views. For example, responding to what US officials determined

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to be genocide against ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, the US government slapped sanctions on senior Chinese officials and blacklisted major Chinese companies for their complicity in surveillance and forced labor in the region. In the wake of the CCP’s dramatic crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, the Trump administration revoked Hong Kong’s preferential economic status and sanctioned officials from both Hong Kong and the mainland. President Trump also signed into law the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, both of which had been sponsored by Senator Rubio.

Other Trump-era polices were more problematic. The China Initiative, launched in 2018 by the Department of Justice to prosecute economic espionage and intellectual property theft, was widely criticized for causing ruinous financial and reputational harms to wrongfully targeted individuals, stoking suspicion against scholars of Chinese origin, and contributing to a climate of fear among academics with legitimate working ties to Chinese institutions. And despite its overall support for Uyghurs suffering persecution in Xinjiang, the Trump administration did not accept any Uyghurs through its refugee resettlement program

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or prioritize

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reviews of their asylum cases, leaving many at risk of being repatriated to China or stuck in the ponderous US asylum system.

Trump himself has made a slew of deeply troubling comments. In 2018, he told

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a gathering of Republican Party donors that Xi being president for life “sounds good,” adding “maybe we’ll give that a shot someday.” During a meeting with Xi in 2019, he allegedly encouraged

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the construction of detention camps in Xinjiang. In a campaign interview this year, he praised

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Xi for being “a brilliant guy,” explaining that he “controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.” Trump has also repeatedly called COVID-19 “the Chinese virus,” which studies show contributed

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to the rise of anti-Asian racism online.

Rubio, if confirmed by the Senate, and others who will serve in the new administration should resume the first Trump administration’s strong policies on human rights in China while working to avoid past mistakes. One of Rubio’s first actions as secretary of state should be to press for the immediate release of political prisoners in China and Hong Kong, in part by imposing sanctions on officials responsible for human rights violations in both locations. He should also ensure that the provisions of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act are fully enforced and that the US government continues to support civil society groups and human rights defenders in China.

It will be equally important for Rubio to vigorously counter any harmful rhetoric that makes light of autocracy or conflates the CCP with the Chinese people more broadly. As the world’s most influential democracy, the United States has a unique ability to appeal directly to Chinese citizens and champion their enduring desire for freedom. It should never squander this great competitive advantage against Beijing by neglecting democratic principles or blurring the distinction between a rigid authoritarian regime and the people it oppresses.

​​​

Yaqiu Wang is the research director for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House. This article was also published by the Diplomat

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on November 26, 2024.





Harassment and detentions

Prominent activists mistreated in prison: Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong, two renowned human rights defenders who respectively received 12- and 14-year prison sentences for “subversion of state power” in 2023, are reportedly facing ill treatment in prison. Ding’s communication with family is restricted

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to letters, with prison authorities explicitly telling his wife to “forget

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about it, Ding will never be allowed a phone call with you.” Xu, also deprived

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of the right to communication, began a hunger strike

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on October 4 to protest his treatment, raising international concerns

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over his deteriorating health. Nicholas Burns

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, the US ambassador to China, has called for Xu’s immediate release.

Sentencing of human rights defenders: Weiquanwang

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, the human rights organization, reported that on October 29, a Jiangsu court sentenced human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng to three years’ imprisonment for “subversion of state power.” His wife, activist Xu Yan, received a 21-month sentence. Yu, known for relentlessly defending Falun Gong practitioners and dissidents, had been detained multiple times and was reportedly subjected

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to torture in prison. Xu, an outspoken advocate for her husband, had become a target of retaliation herself. The couple was last arrested

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in 2023, while en route to the European Union delegation’s office in Beijing. Their son, under constant state surveillance since their arrest, suffers from depression and attempted suicide twice

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.

Repatriated human rights lawyer detained: On October 10, Sichuan police broke

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into the home of human rights lawyer Lu Siwei and took him into custody, according to his wife’s post on X. He was later charged

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with “illegally crossing borders.” Lu, who in recent years has endured repeated harassment

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and penalties for representing fellow human rights lawyers and activists, was stripped of his lawyer’s license

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in early 2021 and was barred

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from leaving China that May. In July 2023, police in Laos seized

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Lu before he could board a train to Thailand ahead of his intended reunion with relatives in the United States. He was deported

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to China that September, despite international opposition

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.

Vaccine activist sentenced: On October 23, the Huixian People’s Court in Henan Province sentenced vaccine activist He Fangmei to five and a half years’ imprisonment over charges of bigamy and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” her supporters announced on X

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. He and her husband Li Xin were arrested in 2020 in connection with their advocacy for vaccine safety, with Li receiving a five-year sentence

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in 2022. Their son was forcibly placed in foster care by the authorities after their arrest, and their two daughters, who had been confined to a hospital, have been missing

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since the government secretly relocated them in April 2024.

Tightened control over academia: Hu Wei, a professor at the Shanghai Party Institute of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a government adviser, was forced into early retirement according to an October 22 Financial Times report

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. The decision was reportedly connected to his remarks on the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Hu having urged Beijing to cut ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This follows a September 24 Wall Street Journal report

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noting that prominent economist Zhu Hengpeng had gone incommunicado following his alleged WeChat critiques of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping’s economic policies.





Hong Kong

Mass sentencing under security law: On November 11, three government-appointed judges handed

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down sentences, ranging from 50 months’ to 10 years’ imprisonment, to 45 prodemocracy activists involved in a landmark National Security Law trial. Over 50 activists were arrested

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in January 2021 for their involvement in an unofficial primary contest

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in 2020; 47 were subsequently charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” under the sweeping legislation. Some 31 defendants pleaded guilty, while the remaining 14 were convicted

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in May 2024; 2 were acquitted. The sham trial and harsh penalties have heightened international

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concerns over Hong Kong’s deteriorating rule of law; human rights organizations, including Freedom House, have called for the activists’ immediate

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and unconditional

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release and for targeted sanctions

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to hold those responsible accountable.

Software banned on Hong Kong government devices: On October 23, Ming Pao reported

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that government entities citywide were working to comply with IT security guidelines imposed in April. The guidelines ban

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government employees from using services including WhatsApp, Gmail, and WeChat on government-owned computers, unless approved by supervisors. The Hong Kong government cited security concerns

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as the reason for the restriction. Some departments are introducing devices dedicated solely to the restricted software, while others are developing alternative cloud-storage and communications solutions. The transition was due to be completed by the end of October, according to the report. The rule has triggered unease among government employees, with some fearing it might negatively impact productivity and work quality.

Activists penalized for unlicensed fundraising: On October 31, the Eastern Magistrates Court heard a case involving 10 members of the League of Social Democrats, one of the few remaining

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prodemocracy parties in the city, according to a Hong Kong Free Press report

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. The party members faced a total of 26 charges

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of “raising funds without permission” and “displaying banners without permission” for their fundraising activities in 2023. Six of the accused pleaded guilty and received fines ranging from HK$800 (US$102.94) to HK$1,000 (US$128.67). The remaining four, who pleaded not guilty, will face trial.





Censorship and surveillance

Mass killings censored: On November 11, a 62-year-old man drove

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a car into a crowd at a sports facility in Guangdong Province, killing 35 people and injuring another 43. At least five

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Weibo hashtags

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and nine WeChat articles

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referring to the incident were blocked. Citizens laid flowers and candles outside the facility, which were quickly removed

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by the authorities. An unidentified man aggressively shoved

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a British Broadcasting Corporation reporter while trying to stop the reporter from filming near the area. On November 16, a 21-year-old man, allegedly angry at his internship compensation and his graduation status, took a knife

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to his alma mater in Jiangsu Province, killing 8 people and wounding 17 more. Weibo deleted at least 10 hashtags

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related to that incident. On September 30, the eve of China’s National Day, a knife attack

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at a Walmart in Shanghai left 3 people dead and 15 others injured, prompting censors to remove at least seven associated hashtags

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on Weibo.

Information on attacks targeting children withheld: On the morning of November 19, in Hunan Province, a 39-year-old man rammed a vehicle into students in front of a primary school. Weibo removed eight hashtags

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related to the assault on the same day. In its public announcement

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, the police revealed neither the number nor the age of those injured and referred to the location only by road names, in an attempt to deflect attention from the targeted victims of the assault—schoolchildren. On October 28, a 50-year-old man stabbed

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pedestrians near a Beijing elementary school with a knife; he injured five people, three of them children. Beijing authorities issued a similarly nebulous statement

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, omitting the school’s name when disclosing the location of the attack. At least eight hashtags referring to the assault were deleted

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on Weibo, including four used by state-affiliated media to promote a police statement on the case.

Halloween celebrated amid suppression: Over the last weekend of October, residents in Shanghai

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and Hangzhou

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took to the streets in costumes to embrace Halloween. The celebration was met with a crackdown, with multiple individuals in both cities questioned

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or escorted away by the police. Warnings surfaced on Weibo on October 25 that a heavy police presence blocked off Shanghai’s Julu Road, where partygoers had flocked to celebrate Halloween in 2023. Those posts were quickly deleted. Hashtags including “Shanghai Halloween,” “Hangzhou Halloween,” and “Julu Road” were censored

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on Weibo.

Book made inaccessible on review site: Other Rivers: A Chinese Education, a new book by American author Peter Hessler, has been removed from Douban, a popular media-review platform in China. Prior to its removal, the book had reportedly received

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over 500 reviews, which were also deleted. In the book, Hessler describes and compares his experiences teaching and living in China across 30 years and offers his observations of living in Chengdu during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason for the book’s removal remains unclear.

Beyond China

New report on WeChat’s encryption: On October 15, Canada-based research group Citizen Lab published

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its security analysis of Micro Messenger TLS (MMTLS), the proprietary network-security protocol used by WeChat. MMTLS is based on the widely used Transport Layer Security

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protocol but includes modifications that weaken its cryptographic security. The analysis highlights how WeChat, like other software developed in China, deviates from international best practices, resulting in vulnerabilities. (Citizen Lab has previously revealed cryptographic weaknesses in several

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Chinese keyboard apps

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.)

Transnational repression against Uyghur rights event: The eighth General Assembly of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), a Germany-based rights group, was targeted by Beijing-linked actors, according to a Voice of America (VOA) report

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published on October 22. Prior to the late-October assembly held in Sarajevo, hackers attacked a WUC employee’s email account and sent emails to participants, falsely claiming the meeting had been postponed

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. The Chinese embassy in Sarajevo reportedly urged local police to arrest Dolkun Isa, the WUC’s former president, while Chinese authorities pressured delegates in several other countries not to attend. The assembly nevertheless proceeded

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, although delegates reported continued harassment with individuals allegedly photographing

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them during the event.





Take Action

Access uncensored content: Find an overview comparing popular circumvention tools and information on how to access them via GreatFire.org, here

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or here

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. Learn more about how to reach uncensored content and enhance digital security here

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.

Support a prisoner: Learn how to take action to help journalists and free expression activists, including those featured in past issues of the China Media Bulletin here

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.

Visit the China Media Bulletin Resources section: Learn more about how policymakers, media outlets, educators, and donors can help advance free expression in China and beyond via a new resource section

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on the Freedom House website.





Copyright 2024 Freedom House

All rights reserved.

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Washington, DC 20036



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