LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Chinese rights lawyer Xie Yang detained for ‘inciting state subversion’
A human rights lawyer has been detained in China on suspicion of “inciting state subversion”, according to an official notice obtained by his wife weeks after he spoke out for a hospitalised teacher. Xie Yang — who has previously defended Christians and democracy activists — has not been heard from since he was detained more than a…
China crackdown on rights lawyers ‘shocking’: UN expert
A UN rights expert on Wednesday slammed a years-long crackdown on rights defenders and lawyers in China, highlighting the case of one attorney who disappeared after revealing he was tortured in detention. Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, warned that a clampdown that began more than five years…
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
‘I’m still striving and persevering’: life with an imprisoned husband
The following is by Xu Yan, the wife of detained Chinese lawyer Yu Wensheng who has been incarcerated for almost two years and was subject to a secret trial earlier in the year. The article was written on Yu’s birthday. On January 18, 2018, Chinese lawyer Yu wrote an open letter suggesting constitutional reform to change…
Something to hide? This Christmas, it was not a rights lawyer on trial, but the Chinese legal system itself
After more than three and a half years of incommunicado detention, Wang Quanzhang has finally faced trial, but little is known of exactly what happened during the closed-door proceedings other than he fired his state-approved lawyer within minutes. We had only first learned about his closed-door trial two days before, on Christmas Eve, along with…
FEATURES
Bar Association head Philip Dykes seeks ‘better understanding’ between Hong Kong and mainland lawyers
The head of Hong Kong’s professional body of lawyers has vowed to continue engaging with their mainland Chinese counterparts, despite warning signs that such efforts may not be entirely welcome. Chairman of the city’s Bar Association Philip Dykes said that he hopes to raise the city’s legal profile internationally, as well as foster “better understanding”…
‘Scornful and contemptuous’ of the law: 3 years on, Hong Kong activists rally against Beijing’s lawyer crackdown
Hong Kong activists have called for the immediate release of Chinese human rights lawyers and activists ahead of the third anniversary of Beijing’s wide-reaching crackdown. During a march to the China Liaison Office in Sai Wan, they called upon the mainland authorities to reinstate the lawyers’ licenses to practice law. Former lawmaker Albert Ho led the…
The Pillar of Shame: The history of Hong Kong’s harrowing tribute to the Tiananmen massacre victims
The eight-metre tall Pillar of Shame statue connects a Danish artist, China and Hong Kong with the commemoration of 1989 Tiananmen Massacre victims. It also reflects the development – or perhaps the deterioration – of democracy and human rights in Hong Kong. “The old cannot kill the young forever,” is engraved on the base of…
