Journalist assault, human rights lawyer sentenced, Uyghur students jailed, Indian correspondent expelled.
This statement was originally published on freedomhouse.org as part of the China Media Bulletin 171 – June 2023.
Assault of journalist by Guizhou police sparks rare backlash, punishment: On May 23, a journalist from Jimu News was assaulted by three police officers including a deputy chief while investigating a fatal accident in Bijie, Guizhou Province. The assault ignited a rare public debate about the hostility journalists face from authorities in China. By June 2, over 5 million people had viewed footage of the attack. State media, including the state-run China News Service, condemned the violence and demanded justice for the reporter. The three officers were eventually suspended and detained in connection with the case. Xu Jiangqiao, an editor at Jimu News, urged the government to release the identities of the attackers and provide an explanation of the incident to the public.
Human rights lawyer sentenced; others face charges, harassment, travel bans: On June 8, Front Line Defenders reported that human rights lawyer Chang Weiping was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for “subversion of state power” after a closed-door trial lasting less than two hours during which he was denied access to lawyers. Chang had been detained in October 2020 after posting a YouTube video detailing allegations of police torture he said took place earlier in the year; he was reportedly tortured again while in custody between October 2020 and April 2021. In another case, it emerged in May that Xu Yan, the wife of veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, had been charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” The couple was detained in Beijing in April en route to a meeting with European Union (EU) officials and arrested on charges of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a common charge used against critics of the Communist Party. Many lawyers have been warned off representing them, and their son lives alone under strict police surveillance. Police in Chengdu prevented rights lawyer Li Heping and his family from boarding a flight to Thailand on June 9, citing national security concerns.
Uyghur students sentenced for sharing video of protests, using VPN: On June 8, the Guardian reported that Kamile Wayit, a Uyghur student, had been convicted of “advocating extremism,” although the length of her sentence remains unclear. Wayit was detained by police in Xinjiang in December for sharing a video about protests against China’s zero-Covid-19 regime, and was convicted even as Han Chinese protesters and netizens who shared similar material in other parts of China were released on bail. In another case, new information emerged on June 8 that Mehmut Memtimin, a Uyghur university student, was sentenced to 13 years in prison at Tumshuq Prison, in Xinjiang. He was arrested in 2017 for using a virtual private network (VPN) to bypass censorship. News of the two sentences emerged alongside confirmation of three deaths of other Uyghurs in detention at the same prison where Mehmut Memtimin is reportedly held.
Indian journalists forced out, Chinese American citizen jailed on espionage charges: On June 16, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCC) lamented that India would soon have no more foreign correspondent representation in China, joining countries such as Australia and Canada whose reporters were recently expelled. The situation emerged after a reporter with the Press Trust of India was asked to leave China when his visa expired at the end of the month. Two other Indian reporters were barred from returning to China in April due to visa restrictions, and another left Beijing on June 10. The FCC’s announcement came after Indian authorities rejected visas for two Chinese journalists and Beijing imposed restrictions on Indian journalists in China, including their ability to hire local correspondents and travel within the country. Chinese state media still retain a presence in India. Separately, on May 15, John Leung, a Chinese American citizen who previously had close ties to the Chinese government and CCP-linked groups in the United States, was arrested and charged with spying in China. Details of Leung’s case are unclear.
