China
The Chinese government is the world’s leading jailer of writers and public intellectuals. Writers, journalists, bloggers, and creative artists face censorship, harassment, imprisonment, and enforced disappearance because of their writing or creative expression.
What You Need to Know
More than 100 writers are currently behind bars on politicized charges in China. The majority were jailed for online expression that was critical of official policies or expressed pro-democracy viewpoints.
China’s leader Xi Jinping has overseen an extensive crackdown on free expression that has included attempted cultural and linguistic destruction targeting Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongolians and other ethnic minorities elevating to potential crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, and the crushing of civil and political rights in Hong Kong.
As China’s economic and political strength has increased, the Chinese Communist Party has also expanded its censorship apparatus overseas to try and limit expression about China beyond its borders, engage in transnational repression against exiles and the diaspora, and erode international human rights norms.
News
Individual Cases
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Status: ImprisonedChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Gulmira Imin, a poet and Uyghur-language website moderator from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2010 for “splittism, leaking state secrets, and organizing an illegal demonstration.” In June 2021, Imin’s life sentence was reduced to…
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Status: ImprisonedChina/Hong Kong
Apple Daily publisher and opinion writer Lai was arrested in August 2020 for violating Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Released on bail a month later, Lai was soon targeted in a police raid on the paper’s office. In December 2020,…
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Status: Continued HarassmentChina
Dissident poet Zhu served seven years in prison in connection with his poetry and was released in early 2018. Five months later, Zhu was briefly detained in September 2018 for “subversion of state power.” Police searched his home and took…
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Status: ImprisonedChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Nijat, a student of Ilham Tohti, was arrested for his involvement with Tohti’s website Uyghurbiz, which promotes mutual ethnic understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. He was sentenced in a 2014 secret trial and has been held incommunicado since 2018.
Reports & Research
Addressing Beijing’s assault on free expression and defending human rights standards globally is a key priority.
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Writing on the Wall
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Made in Hollywood, Censored by Beijing
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Forbidden Feeds
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Splintered Speech
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Darkened Screen
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Censorship and Conscience
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Threatened Harbor
