China’s Tightening Grasp on Social Media Offers a Potent Tool of Repression for President-for-Life Xi Jinping, PEN America Report Warns
With an increasing array of technological, legal, and ideological tools at its disposal, Beijing is ever more able and willing to systematically erase expressions of dissent, silencing internet users… More
Half-Free: How “Conditional Release” Continues to Limit Free Expression for Writers at Risk
The goals of incarceration and limited release are one in the same: to suppress free expression and to enforce silence. More
“They Killed Him”: Denial of Medical Care in China and the Literary Conscience
As a matter of medicine, it was of course cancer that took Liu’s life. But the responsibility for his death must rest on the shoulders of the Chinese state. More
Yang Tongyan | China
A writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, Yang Tongyan was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for “subversion of state power,” and died in November 2017 while… More
Death of Imprisoned Chinese Writer and Activist Yang Tongyan a Further Blow for Free Expression
News of PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award honoree Yang Tongyan's passing is a harsh reminder of how China treats its critics. More
Celebrated Authors and Artists Call on China to Release Poet Liu Xia, Wife of Late Dissident, Ahead of Trump Visit
Liu Xia's continued torment is a cruel manifestation of China’s determination to suppress not only dissenters, but someone whose only crime was to love one. More
November Featured Case: Alex Chow
Alex Chow, a student and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been held in Chinese detention since August 2017 for his role in catalyzing the 2014 Occupy Central Movement… More
China Must Prove—Not Just Claim—Gui Minhai is Free
It is impossible to believe that Gui Minhai is free when he has not contacted his family or friends and when his whereabouts are not publicly known. More
She is Not Free: Liu Xia’s “Time to Mourn” Video Suggests Government Propaganda
Liu Xia’s recent “grant me time to mourn” video fits squarely within the pattern of Chinese propaganda videos in which individuals give coerced statements that promote the party narrative. More
Chinese Writer Yang Tongyan Released on Medical Parole for Brain Tumor
News that Chinese dissident writer and 2008 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award Winner Yang Tongyan was released on medical parole for brain cancer is another appalling reminder of… More
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