Search Results for: China and Human Rights

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance sentenced media tycoon and Apple Daily newspaper founder Jimmy Lai to 20 years imprisonment on Monday following his conviction in December on “national security” charges. This marks the latest development in a years-long legal battle, and the heaviest sentence since the instatement of the 2020 National Security Law. Lai was [...]

A deal between the US and China on TikTok that was finalized on January 22 concludes a years-long saga that put in peril the social media platform’s ability to function in the United States. US officials had long argued that TikTok, previously owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, posed national security risks. In particular, US [...]

UN human rights experts expressed concern Thursday over the repeated denial of adequate medical treatment for Yang Li, a Chinese human rights defender. In the statement, the experts warned: “The arrest and indictment of Yang Li appear to represent an effort by the authorities to prevent her from peacefully exercising her rights to seek redress for [...]

The Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China announced a group execution Thursday that brought a landmark cross-border crime case to a close. The 11 ringleaders from the northern Myanmar Ming family criminal syndicate and its affiliated fraud groups have been executed. The 11 people executed had committed grave crimes against Chinese citizens, [...]

A UN expert urged states to recognize hostage-taking as a crime against humanity on Thursday. The statement comes as a preparatory committee is drafting a treaty on crimes against humanity. The Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, called on states participating in the negotiations to include hostage-taking as a crime against humanity in the [...]

The global security system is creaking under the weight of crises it can’t seem to manage. Wars grind on in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere. The Security Council is paralyzed by veto politics. The Secretary‑General is criticized from all sides. And into this moment of institutional fatigue steps a new player: President Trump’s “Board of [...]

Amnesty International on Thursday called on Kazakhstan to immediately drop criminal charges against 19 activists affiliated with the local Atajurt human rights movement who face up to 10 years in prison for participating in a peaceful protest near the nation’s border with China. Marie Struthers, Eastern Europe and Central Asia director at Amnesty International, condemned [...]

Amnesty International released a statement Thursday as a trial begins for activists who organized an annual vigil commemorating the protestors who were killed in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. The rights organization states that this is an escalation of Hong Kong authorities’ “weaponization” of national security laws to repress dissent. The two activists are Chow Hang-tung [...]

The UN Human Rights Office raised alarm on Monday over a “sharp hike” in the number of executions globally in 2025. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk articulated the office’s key concerns, stating: My Office monitored an alarming increase in the use of the capital punishment in 2025, especially for offences not meeting [...]

The Taiwan Ciaotou District Court on Saturday ordered the incommunicado detention of a journalist. The District Prosecutors Office accused the journalist of bribing army officers to obtain military information, in violation of the island’s National Security Act, Anti-Corruption Act, and criminal provisions regarding the disclosure of confidential information. In a press statement, the District Prosecutors [...]