Tortured Tibetan Monk in Critical Condition
China is accused of torturing a Tibetan monk after he participated in protests against a dam in eastern Tibet, according to London-based human rights group Tibet Watch.
Gonpo Tsering, the head of Yena Monastery in Shiba Village, was arrested in February 2024 during a Chinese paramilitary crackdown on protests against the Kamtok (Gangtuo) hydropower plant (金沙江崗托水力發電廠).
The project threatens to submerge ancient monasteries and displace thousands of residents.
Tibet Watch says Gonpo, 45, was tortured so severely that he is unable to speak or swallow food, faces difficulty breathing, suffers from brain injuries and has lost his sight.
He is currently in emergency care in a hospital in Chengdu.
Beijing Steps Up Persecution of Underground Christians
Nearly 30 pastors, preachers and members of the underground Zio Protestant church were arrested in China this month.
Among those detained was Zion founder Ezra Jin Mingri (金明日), whose church in Beijing was previously raided in 2018.
The arrests this month, which took place across eight different cities, represent “the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution” against an underground church in decades, Bob Fu, founder of the religious rights organization China Aid, told The Wall Street Journal.
China has long permitted Christianity under state leadership, but those worshiping at so-called underground churches that have not been officially sanctioned face arrest and detention.
Covid Whistle-Blower Jailed Again
Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan (張展), who was previously jailed for four years for reporting on the Covid-19 outbreak, was sentenced late last month to two years in prison, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Zhang, a 42-year-old former lawyer, was sentenced for picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (尋釁滋事罪), the same charge that resulted in her imprisonment in 2020 for documenting the early stages of the pandemic from Wuhan.
Zhang’s latest sentencing comes after she reported on China’s human rights abuses, RSF said.
U.N. Report on Cross-Border Repression
The U.N. Secretary-General’s annual report on intimidation and reprisals against human rights groups and activists cooperating with the U.N. found that targeted repression across borders is growing.
The report highlighted a number of cases linked to China, including the targeting of overseas Hong Kong dissidents Anna Kwok (郭鳳儀) and Carmen Lau (劉珈汶), for whom bounties of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (around $130,000) each were issued in connection with their pro-democracy activism; the intimidation of Uyghur linguist and activist Abduweli Ayup during a conference at UNESCO’s headquarters; and the harassment of the legal team supporting jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英).
The report also highlighted the continued repression against human rights defenders Chow Hang-Tung (鄒幸彤), Li Qiaochu (李翹楚), Xu Yan (許艷), Yu Wensheng (餘文生), Chen Jianfang (陳建芳), Wang Yu (王宇), Li Wenzu (李文足), Wang Quanzhang (王全璋), Wang Qiaoling (王峭嶺), Li Heping (李和平) and Jiang Tianyong (江天勇).
In a separate U.N. event held by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Mary Lawlor, U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, warned that China’s prolonged imprisonment of human rights activists is among the most harmful methods of repression.
“States, you really have to up your game and continue to include the names of such prisoners in your human rights dialogues with China,” Lawlor said. “You must make efforts to visit them or engage with family members to let them know they have not been forgotten. But most of all, you have to stop being afraid of China.”
Chinese Student Held for Tibet Activism Abroad
A Chinese student who had studied in France was arrested in China because of her support for Tibet, according to Amnesty International, which said her case is part of a broader pattern of violations targeting those who advocate for human rights, both within China and abroad.
Zhang Yadi (張雅笛), also known as Tara, had returned home and was due to begin graduate studies in London when she was arrested on charges of “inciting separatism” (煽動分裂國家罪). She is reportedly being held incommunicado at the Changsha State Security Bureau detention center.
The Associated Press reports that while living abroad, Zhang became a vocal advocate for Tibetan rights, joining the group Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet and criticizing Beijing’s policies and practices in the region under a pseudonym.
Law on ‘Ethnic Unity’ Promotes Ideological Control
A law submitted to China’s National People’s Congress last month would provide a legal basis for repressing ethnic minorities and enforcing ideological control in China and abroad.
China’s draft Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, according to an explanatory document cited by Human Rights Watch, “implements General Secretary Xi Jinping’s (習近平) important thinking” on ethnic affairs and promotes “the common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups … along the path of rule of law.”
The law would prohibit acts that “damage ethnic unity” and mandates a uniform “a common consciousness of the Chinese nation” in such areas as education, religion, mass media and the internet.
It requires parents to educate children to love the Chinese Communist Party and says authorities should “promote the transformation of customs and habits” ensuring “civilization and progress” when it comes to marriage, and prevent anyone from obstructing marriages on ethnic or religious grounds.
Languages other than Mandarin would be marginalized, as the law calls for mandatory Mandarin education from preschool and Mandarin proficiency by the completion of compulsory education.
The draft law also calls for interfering in public opinion abroad, by promoting “the consciousness of “belonging to the Chinese nation” among the Chinese diaspora and “Taiwan compatriots” through “exchanges and cooperation among Chinese and foreign academia, civil society groups and think tanks.”
“Tibetans, Uyghurs, and others who speak out for minority populations can expect even greater government repression,” said Maya Wang, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The draft law on ethnic unity is a blatant effort by the Chinese government to control people’s thoughts and expression about China both inside and outside the country.”
Xinjiang Camps Survivor Details Forced Sterilization
A survivor of the mass detention camps for Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities in China’s western province of Xinjiang has come forward with details of torture and forced sterilization.
Qalbinur Sidiq, an ethnic Uzbek teacher, was forced by the authorities to accept a job at an internment camp for men in February 2017.
“People were tied up and forced to crawl to get into the ‘classrooms,’” she told RFE/RL’s Balkan Service. “They suffered in every way. Sometimes I would hear screams and cries for help from other rooms.”
She was later transferred to a women’s only camp where she witnessed the forced sterilizations of female inmates, including one woman who died as a result.
Sidiq was also fitted with an intrauterine device to prevent pregnancy and sterilized after she became ill.
She later made her way to Europe but says her husband, an ethnic Uyghur who was not allowed to leave the country, was threatened by police and forced to divorce her.
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