China

China

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.

Individual Cases

  • Chai was detained on March 21, 2019 for publishing a politically sensitive article on Red Reference, a magazine where he worked as an editor. He was held for six months under residential surveillance before being formally arrested in September 2019.…


  • Uyghur historian and publisher Seydin disappeared in 2017 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “inciting extremism” in late 2019, likely for his involvement in publishing an Arabic grammar book. In May 2020, via a video released by…


  • Author and poet Rinchen disappeared in 2020 when he was contemplating writing a second book on Tibetan language and culture. His whereabouts were unknown until he was sentenced to 4 years in prison in September 2022.


  • Huang was detained in October 2019 after publicly supporting sexual assault survivors and creating a platform to promote survivor solidarity. She was released in early 2020, but police kept her passport and continued to surveil her. On September 19, 2021,…


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Experts