Human Rights Watch: China

• Human Rights Watch: China
  
  China: Guangzhou Activists to be Tried on Spurious Charges
  Press release 
  NOV 26, 2014
  The Chinese government should immediately drop all charges against Guangzhou activists Guo Feixiong and Sun Desheng and release them.
• 
  China: Xinjiang Verdict Upholds Unjust Life Sentence
  Press release 
  NOV 21, 2014
  The Xinjiang High People’s Court upheld a life sentence for “separatism” against China’s most prominent Uighur scholar in proceedings that grossly violated his basic rights.
• 
  China: Release Veteran Journalist Gao Yu
  Press release 
  NOV 19, 2014
  The Chinese government should drop all criminal charges against Gao Yu, a veteran journalist accused of having leaked an internal Chinese Communist Party (CCP) document calling for greater censorship of liberal and reformist ideas.
• Why should we grovel at China’s feet?
  Commentary 
  NOV 14, 2014
  The Australian government has taken the extraordinary step of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to address Parliament on November 17, presumably to help nudge forward the two countries' pending free trade agreement.
• Joint Letter to President Obama on Forthcoming China Visit
  Letter 
  OCT 29, 2014
• China: Obama Should Publicly Call for Individuals’ Releases
  Press release 
  OCT 29, 2014
  In a letter released today, nine leading human rights organizations urged President Obama to take up the Chinese government’s crackdown on civil society as a barrier to bilateral relations on his upcoming visit to China. Obama will meet with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on November 12, 2014.
• 
  Olympics: Host City Contracts Will Include Rights Protections
  Press release 
  OCT 22, 2014
  The decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to include human rights protections in future host city contracts is a positive step to combat a set of serious rights violations linked to Olympics in Beijing and Sochi.
• Human Rights Watch Letter to General Secretary Xi Jinping Re: the Fourth Plenum
  Letter 
  OCT 19, 2014
  We write now on the occasion of the Fourth Plenary Meeting of the 18th Chinese Communist Party Central Committee (the Fourth Plenum) to be held on October 20-23, 2014 in Beijing.
• China: Use ‘Rule of Law’ Plenum to Reduce Abuses
  Press release 
  OCT 19, 2014
  The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) should make its upcoming Plenum meeting meaningful by taking steps to address human rights abuses.
• Eight Questions about “Occupy Hong Kong”
  Q & A 
  OCT 16, 2014
  Hong Kong’s Occupy Movement refers to a citizens’ blockade of major roads in Hong Kong’s Admiralty, Mongkok, and Causeway Bay districts since September 29, 2014. At the height of the protests, hundreds of thousands of students, activists, ordinary citizens, and politicians took to the streets to press the Hong Kong government to respond to their demands for full democracy in the territory.
• Joint Letter regarding the continuous imprisonment of Dr. Liu Xiaobo
  Letter 
  OCT 10, 2014
  We are writing to you to express our strong indignation regarding the continuous imprisonment of Dr. Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, in China.
• 
  Hong Kong: Protect Rights to Peaceful Protest
  Press release 
  OCT 5, 2014
  Hong Kong Chief Executive C.Y. Leung should urgently assure the public of their rights to peaceful assembly and expression in advance of his deadline that city streets be cleared by October 6, 2014, Human Rights Watch said in a public letter today.
• Human Rights Watch Letter to Chief Executive Leung on Hong Kong Protests
  Letter 
  OCT 4, 2014
• 
  Dispatches: What’s Next for Hong Kong
  Dispatches 
  OCT 2, 2014
• 
  Hong Kong: Free Peaceful Protesters; Avoid Excessive Force
  Press release 
  SEP 29, 2014
  Hong Kong authorities should avoid excessive use of force as pro-democracy protests continue, Human Rights Watch said today. Officials should immediately free anyone still detained for peacefully participating in demonstrations between September 27 and 29, 2014.
• 
  Dispatches: Political Earthquake in Hong Kong
  Dispatches 
  SEP 28, 2014
• 
  US: Ai Weiwei Exhibit Spotlights China Repression
  Press release 
  SEP 26, 2014
  The “Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz” exhibit, scheduled to open September 27, 2014, casts a spotlight on China’s intensifying crackdown on free speech and peaceful dissent, Human Rights Watch said today.
• Britain Betrays Hong Kong… Again
  Commentary 
  SEP 22, 2014
  If you were told the Chinese government — an unelected, one-party state — will decide who you can vote for, what would your response be? Not only would you likely object, you would expect others, especially democracies, to loudly condemn the idea. But Britain has done just the opposite to the people of Hong Kong, when it failed to call China out for breaking its promise of greater democracy for the island territory.
• UN Human Rights Council: Egypt's Human Rights Situation; Repression in China; and Arrests in Bahrain
  Oral statement 
  SEP 17, 2014
  In Egypt the human rights situation is deteriorating gravely. The authorities continue to implement a new law effectively banning protests and to jail and try political opponents in legal proceedings that flagrantly violate due process rights.
• In China, Big Companies are Learning the Business of Human Rights
  Commentary 
  SEP 16, 2014
  IBM and Ai Weiwei, L’Oreal and Liu Xiaobo, Daimler and the Dalai Lama. In many senses these aren’t likely pairings, but suddenly it seems major international corporations and critics of the Chinese government have more in common than previously thought.
• 
  Timeline of Ilham Tohti’s Case
  Fact Sheet 
  SEP 15, 2014
• China: Uighur Scholar’s Trial a Travesty of Justice
  Press release 
  SEP 15, 2014
  The prosecution of China’s most prominent Uighur scholar, the economist Ilham Tohti, is a disturbing example of politicized show trials and intolerance for peaceful criticism, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial only serves to deepen perceptions of discrimination against Uighurs, Human Rights Watch said.
• China: Release Guangzhou Activists
  Press release 
  SEP 11, 2014
  The Chinese government should release the activists Guo Feixiong and Sun Desheng, who are to go on trial on September 12, 2014, in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, Human Rights Watch said today. Guo and Sun face charges for their peaceful advocacy against corruption and for human rights.
• UN Human Rights Council: Welcoming New High Commissioner Prince Zeid and Highlighting Obstacles HRC is Facing
  Oral statement 
  SEP 8, 2014
  Governments are primarily responsible for protecting human rights but when they fail the UN and its member states must act decisively and unequivocally to prevent abuse.
• Dispatches: China Sows Seeds of Crisis in Hong Kong
  Dispatches 
  SEP 2, 2014
• 
  China: Stop Interfering in Peaceful Hong Kong Protests
  Press release 
  AUG 28, 2014
  The Chinese central government and Hong Kong authorities should not impede peaceful protests or other means of peaceful expression, Human Rights Watch said today. China’s top legislature is set to formally announce its decision on Hong Kong’s political reform on August 31, 2014, and the expected announcement is likely to trigger large protests.
• “Love China and Love Hong Kong”: Whose Mainstream Opinion?
  Commentary 
  AUG 10, 2014
  Hong Kong’s deep reservoir of discontent is not, as Beijing contends, the result of efforts by “anti-China” forces. They are the local reactions of people who have no influence over policies that are rapidly changing their home.
• China: Gao Zhisheng Out of Prison, but Freedom Uncertain
  Press release 
  AUG 8, 2014
  The prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was released from prison on August 7, 2014, yet his true freedom remains uncertain
• Dispatches: No News Is Bad News in Hong Kong
  Dispatches 
  AUG 4, 2014
• 
  China: Free Prominent Rights Lawyer
  Press release 
  JUL 31, 2014
  The Chinese government should free the prominent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng and refrain from imposing any further restrictions on his movement, Human Rights Watch said today. Gao has repeatedly been subjected to enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, or imprisonment on baseless charges.
• Chronology of Gao Zhisheng
  Fact Sheet 
  JUL 31, 2014
• 
  China: Baseless Charge Against Uighur Scholar
  Press release 
  JUL 30, 2014
  The Chinese government’s announcement on July 30, 2014, of “separatism” charges against the Uighur economist Ilham Tohti is deeply disturbing, Human Rights Watch said today.
• The Brics Have a Chance to Succeed Where the World Bank Has Failed
  Commentary 
  JUL 30, 2014
  The emerging Brics economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – struck an agreement this month to establish a development bank with an initial capital of $100bn. The Brics want the bank to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects. From the outset, it should adopt open and transparent processes, and environmental and social rules, that are the best in the business. It should help communities become involved in the development of projects, invest in schemes that communities actually want, and ensure that its investments benefit the most marginalised people.
• Dispatches: Setting the Stage for China’s Next Show Trial?
  Dispatches 
  JUL 29, 2014
• The EU’s Human Rights Dialogue with China: Quiet Diplomacy and its Limits
  Commentary 
  JUL 25, 2014
  It’s been a quarter of a century since the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre in China, one of the events that spurred governments around the world into putting human rights on their foreign policy agendas.
• Dispatches: How the BRICS Can Run a Rights-Respecting Development Bank
  Dispatches 
  JUL 16, 2014
• Dispatches: Clipping a Sparrow’s Wings in China
  Dispatches 
  JUL 15, 2014
• Leta Hong Fincher Book Discussion at Human Rights Watch
  Written statement 
  JUL 15, 2014
• 
  China/Hong Kong: Make Report Reflect Democracy Demands
  Press release 
  JUL 13, 2014
  Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, should present to the central Chinese government a report reflecting strong demands from Hong Kong residents for genuine universal suffrage, Human Rights Watch said today.
• “Underestimating Bad Faith”
  Commentary 
  JUL 8, 2014
  It’s been a quarter of a century since the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre in China, one of the events that spurred governments around the world into putting human rights on their foreign policy agendas. And since that time, diplomats, activists, scholars, and others have debated the best ways to support respect for human rights in China, especially in light of the government’s extraordinary intransigence on this issue, now reinforced by the country’s growing international influence and economic might. In the 1990s, the standard diplomatic tools included linking trade with human rights progress, pressuring Beijing to release individuals from jail and sometimes into exile, adopting resolutions criticizing China’s record at United Nations fora, and trying to engage Chinese officials in more systematic discussions about human rights.
• Dispatches: China’s Repression Isn’t Public Order
  Dispatches 
  JUL 8, 2014
• 
  China: US Should Use Summit to Confront Abuses
  Press release 
  JUL 7, 2014
  The US administration should task the diverse US agencies participating in a dialogue with China on July 9 and 10, 2014, with raising China’s deteriorating human rights situation.
• China: End Nationwide Crackdown on Activists
  Press release 
  JUN 29, 2014
  The Chinese government’s crackdown on activists and civil liberties shows little sign of abating, even though the tense 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre has passed.
• HRW: Torture is an 'expanding scourge' in Asia
  Q & A 
  JUN 26, 2014
• Hong Kong Gets Out the Vote
  Commentary 
  JUN 25, 2014
  Over the past four days, more than 700,000 people in Hong Kong have presented the Chinese government with one of its worst nightmares: a peaceful process that challenges Beijing's authority under international law.
• China: End Arbitrary Detention System for Sex Workers
  Press release 
  JUN 23, 2014
  The Chinese government should abolish the Custody and Education system used to detain primarily sex workers for up to two years without trial, Human Rights Watch said in a report newly translated into Chinese that was released today. China has an estimated 183 Custody and Education centers holding more than 15,000 inmates, most of them women. China should also decriminalize adult voluntary sex work, Human Rights Watch said.
• China: Allow Peaceful Demonstrations in Hong Kong
  Press release 
  JUN 18, 2014
  The central Chinese and Hong Kong governments should respect Hong Kong people’s peaceful advocacy for universal suffrage and refrain from interfering in nonviolent activities planned by the group Occupy Central, Human Rights Watch said today.
• China: Free Lawyer, Drop Charges
  Press release 
  JUN 14, 2014
  The Chinese government should immediately release the prominent human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and drop all charges against him.
• 
  Q&A: Witnessing the Aftermath of China’s Tiananmen Square Massacre
  Commentary 
  JUN 3, 2014
  Human Rights Watch deputy executive director for external relations, Carroll Bogert, who covered the Tiananmen protests as a reporter for Newsweek, talks with Amy Braunschweiger about how China has been shaped by the horrific events of those days more than two decades ago.
• China, the world remembers Tiananmen massacre
  Commentary 
  JUN 3, 2014
  Here's an uncomfortable truth confronting Chinese President Xi Jinping: It's 2014, but the pro-democracy, pro-rights sentiments that manifested across China as demonstrations in 1989 are still alive and well.
• 
  China: Address Enduring Legacy of Tiananmen Massacre
  Press release 
  MAY 29, 2014
  25 years after the Tiananmen Massacre of June 4, 1989, popular demands for accountability, the rule of law, freedom of expression, and other basic human rights in China have continued to grow.
• China: Quashing Criticism at Home and Abroad
  Commentary 
  MAY 26, 2014
  Imprisoning popular bloggers. Maintaining the “Great Firewall” to censor the Internet. Expunging from history books references to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Maintaining a Propaganda Department to disseminate the state’s—and only the state’s—version of reality.
• China: Xinjiang Bombing an Atrocity, Restraint Needed
  Press release 
  MAY 22, 2014
  The bombings in Xinjiang were a horrific act for which Chinese authorities need to respond by respecting basic human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 22, 2014, bomb blasts in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, killed more than 30 people and wounded more than 90, according to Chinese state media reports. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
• 
  Dispatches: A Desperate Act, an Abusive System
  Dispatches 
  MAY 20, 2014
• China: Free Activists Held for Marking Massacre
  Press release 
  MAY 5, 2014
  The Chinese government should immediately drop charges against prominent human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, clarify the status of journalist Gao Yu, and release other activists who have been detained for commemorating the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, Human Rights Watch said today. The Chinese government should also not silence, detain, or disappear any other rights advocates in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the massacre.
• Nepal: Government Dismisses Reports of Abuse of Tibetans
  Press release 
  MAY 1, 2014
  The Nepali government’s denial of mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal is not supported by facts, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today.
• Letter to Nepal Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahendra B. Pande Re: Situation of Tibetans in Nepal/MoFA Press Statement
  Letter 
  MAY 1, 2014
  We write now to respond to several issues raised by and in that press release. We are committed to the highest standards of accuracy and objectivity in our reporting, and remain willing to correct any factual mistake that the Government of Nepal would bring to our attention.
• Hang Together: Why the EU needs to Confront China on Rights
  Commentary 
  APR 29, 2014
  This year will see a pair of quarter-century anniversaries of key political events in China and Europe: the remembrance in June of those who died in the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989, commemorations in Europe of uprisings, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
• 
  China: Exams Accessible to the Blind a Breakthrough
  Press release 
  APR 15, 2014
  The Chinese Education Ministry’s decision to provide Braille or electronic exams for national university entrance will improve access to higher education for candidates who are blind or have visual impairments.
• China: Drop Charges Against Civic Activists
  Press release 
  APR 10, 2014
  The Chinese government should drop all charges and release five New Citizens Movement activists on trial this week for publicly protesting official corruption. The New Citizens Movement is an informal group that has advocated the promotion of civic rights and participation, including the public disclosure of officials’ assets to curb corruption and protecting the rights of children of migrant workers.
• 
  China: Investigate Lawyers’ Torture Claims, Close Black Jails
  Press release 
  APR 7, 2014
  The Chinese government should investigate four prominent human rights lawyers’ claims that they were tortured by police officers while in detention, Human Rights Watch said today.
• Australia: Make Rights a Priority on First China Visit
  Press release 
  APR 6, 2014
  Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott should make the protection and promotion of human rights in China a central purpose of his trip there.
• 
  China: Investigate Police Violence at Eco-Protests
  Press release 
  APR 1, 2014
  The Chinese government should impartially investigate apparent excessive use of force by police against environmental protests in Maoming, Guangdong province, Human Rights Watch said today. A police crackdown against hundreds of Maoming residents demonstrating against a new petrochemical plant on March 30 and 31, 2014, resulted in dozens of casualties.
• 
  Nepal: Increased Pressure from China Threatens Tibetans
  Press release 
  MAR 31, 2014
  Nepal has imposed increasing restrictions on Tibetans living in the country as a result of strong pressure from China, Human Rights Watch said in a new report published today.
• 
  Dispatches: Casting a Light Into China’s Black Jails
  Dispatches 
  MAR 28, 2014
• Merkel Should Speak Frankly to China on Rights
  Commentary 
  MAR 27, 2014
  Chancellor Merkel should refuse to be blackmailed by either the Chinese government or the German industry. Both favour reducing the relationship to economic, educational, and cultural exchanges.
• Letter to Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council Re: Forthcoming Visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping
  Letter 
  MAR 27, 2014
  We write on the occasion of the forthcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping visit to Brussels on March 31, 2014. In light of European Union commitments to human rights, made unambiguous through the 2012 European Union (EU) Strategic Framework on human rights and democracy and Action Plan, we urge that you make the deteriorating human rights situation in China a central topic of discussion during this visit.
• China: EU Leaders Should Confront Xi on Rights
  Press release 
  MAR 27, 2014
  The EU’s leaders should publicly raise concerns about the shrinking space for rights advocates in China with President Xi Jinping, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today to Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, and Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president. Xi will make his first visit to Brussels as China’s president on March 31, 2014.
• Letter to Mr. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission Re: Forthcoming Visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping
  Letter 
  MAR 27, 2014
  We write on the occasion of the forthcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping visit to Brussels on March 31, 2014. In light of European Union commitments to human rights, made unambiguous through the 2012 European Union (EU) Strategic Framework on human rights and democracy and Action Plan, we urge that you make the deteriorating human rights situation in China a central topic of discussion during this visit.
• 
  France: Raise Rights With Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping
  Press release 
  MAR 23, 2014
  French President Francois Hollande should publicly deliver a strong message in defense of human rights to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today. Xi will make his first visit to France as president of China the week of March 24, 2014.
• 
  Thailand: More Uighurs Face Forced Return to China
  Press release 
  MAR 21, 2014
  The government of Thailand should ensure that 112 newly detained people believed to be ethnic Uighurs are not forcibly returned to China, Human Rights Watch said today. Thai authorities detained the group in Sa Kaew province near the Thai-Cambodia border and brought them to the central Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok. A senior Thai Immigration Bureau official said that Chinese officials with access to the group identified at least 30 as Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim and Turkic minority that originates from western China.
• Review of third and fourth periodic reports of China
  UPR 
  MAR 20, 2014
• China Universal Periodic Review Outcome Statement
  UPR 
  MAR 20, 2014
• Letter to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Upcoming Visit to China
  Letter 
  MAR 17, 2014
• Thailand: Don’t Forcibly Return Uighurs to China
  Press release 
  MAR 14, 2014
  The government of Thailand should ensure that a group of 220 ethnic Uighurs are not forcibly returned to China and have urgent access to refugee status determination proceedings by the United Nations refugee agency.
• 
  Dispatches: The Death of a Defender in China
  Dispatches 
  MAR 14, 2014
• 
  China: Advance Reforms, Protect Speech at 2014 Congress
  Press release 
  MAR 4, 2014
  China’s National People’s Congress should make progress on key, overdue reforms and should ensure citizens will not be punished for speaking out around its annual meeting, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang. The National People’s Congress (NPC), which meets annually and is attended by more than 3,000 delegates from across the country, opens in Beijing on March 5, 2014.
• Letter to General Secretary Xi Jinping Re: The annual plenary session of China’s National People’s Congress
  Letter 
  MAR 3, 2014
  I write on behalf of Human Rights Watch on the occasion of the annual plenary session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), which will be held in Beijing from March 5-13.
• China Wrongs a Rights Defender
  Commentary 
  MAR 3, 2014
  Beijing denies medical care to Cao Shunli as part of an attempt to prevent her from speaking to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
• 
  China: Uighur Economist at Risk of Torture in Detention
  Press release 
  FEB 27, 2014
  The Chinese government should immediately drop all charges against the Uighur economist Ilham Tohti and release him.
• Human Rights Watch Submission to Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  Written statement 
  FEB 19, 2014
• Australia: Set Benchmarks for China Rights Dialogue
  Press release 
  FEB 19, 2014
  The Australian government should use its 15th human rights dialogue with China to raise specific human rights cases and set clear benchmarks for improvements on rights, Human Rights Watch said today.
• 
  Red Handed: China is also Complicit in North Korea's Crimes Against Humanity
  Commentary 
  FEB 19, 2014
  Beijing seems determined to obstruct the workings of international justice.
• Chinese Government Must Close Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality
  Commentary 
  FEB 17, 2014
  JURIST Guest Columnist Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch says that the Chinese government must begin to consider the vehement demands of the people to reform.
• China's high test scores obscure discriminatory education system
  Commentary 
  JAN 29, 2014
• A Dream Deferred
  Commentary 
  JAN 27, 2014
  How a recent exposé vindicates activist Xu Zhiyong's vision for China.
• China: Reverse Judgment in Show Trial of Xu Zhiyong
  Press release 
  JAN 25, 2014
  The conviction and four-year sentence of Xu Zhiyong, one of China’s preeminent rights advocates, for “gathering crowds to disturb social order” is a pretext to chill popular protests against corruption.
• 
  China: New Leaders Fail to Embrace Genuine Reforms
  Press release 
  JAN 21, 2014
  The Chinese Communist Party reinforced its monopoly on power in 2013 through tough new measures and hardline rhetoric, dashing hopes that the country’s new leadership would engage in deep systemic reforms to improve human rights and strengthen the rule of law.