Chinese dissidents

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Bad News for Dissidents in Hong Kong
Bad News for
Dissidents in
Hong Kong
Mar 19, 2024 11:00 AM CDT

Bad News for Dissidents in Hong Kong

New law gives government sweeping powers to stifle dissent

(Newser) - Hong Kong lawmakers unanimously approved a new national security law Tuesday that grants the government more power to quash dissent, reports the AP , widely seen as the latest step in a sweeping political crackdown triggered by pro-democracy protests in 2019. The Safeguarding National Security Bill will expand the authorities' ability...

Chinese Defector: I'll Wait 'Months' in Airport If I Have to

Tiananmen Square critic Chen Siming says he feels safe in Taiwan, though he wants to go to US

(Newser) - A Chinese dissident known for his commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre is currently holed up in a Taiwan airport, pleading for asylum from the United States, or Canada if the US won't take him. Chen Siming has been hunkered down since Friday at Taoyuan International Airport near...

Chinese Dissident Planned Jet Ski Escape for Years

Kwon Pyong told friends of his plan to reach South Korea as early as 2019

(Newser) - The man who fled from China to South Korea on a jet ski last week reportedly planned his escape for years. A friend in the US tells the New York Times that Kwon Pyong, a 35-year-old human rights activist critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping, "felt depressed living in...

Woman Claims She Was Held in Chinese 'Black Site' in Dubai

China, Dubai dispute her allegations

(Newser) - A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uighurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a so-called "black site" beyond its borders. The woman, 26-year-old Wu Huan, was...

He Called China's President a 'Clown,' Then Disappeared

Communist Party investigating one of its own, who criticized COVID-19 response

(Newser) - A prominent Communist Party member has disappeared in China after insinuating that President Xi Jinping was "a clown who had no clothes but was still determined to be emperor." Ren Zhiqiang—the son of a former deputy commerce minister and a longtime friend of Vice President Wang Qishan,...

Chinese Dissident's Last Words Were for His Wife
Dying Nobel Winner's
Last Words Were
for His Wife
the rundown
Jul 14, 2017 1:14 PM CDT

Dying Nobel Winner's Last Words Were for His Wife

With Liu Xiaobo gone, concern shifts to Liu Xia

(Newser) - There were no mentions of Liu Xiaobo to be found across Chinese social media sites following the Nobel Laureate's death on Thursday , a result of government censors. But that doesn't mean Liu's Chinese admirers weren't paying tribute. Though "RIP" and even the burning candle emoji...

Famous Chinese Dissident Dead at 61
China's Most
Famous Prisoner
Dead at 61
UPDATED
Jul 13, 2017 9:04 AM CDT

China's Most Famous Prisoner Dead at 61

Liu Xiaobo had been diagnosed with cancer, denied opportunity to seek treatment abroad

(Newser) - Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has died at age 61, the AP reports. Liu, the country's most prominent political prisoner, was first put behind bars in 1989 in connection with the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. His fourth and last prison sentence, for inciting subversion thanks...

After Jailed Nobel Laureate's Cancer, China Relents

Liu Xiaobo received medical parole after learning of late-stage liver cancer: lawyer

(Newser) - Jailed Nobel Peace laureate and Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been released on medical parole after being diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer, his lawyer said Monday. Liu was in stable condition at China Medical University's No. 1 Affiliated Hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang, lawyer Mo Shaoping told...

After 4 Years, This Man Has His Passport Back

Dissident artist posts image on social media he's supposedly banned from

(Newser) - Ai Weiwei announced on Instagram that he got his passport back today, four years after it was confiscated by Chinese authorities. The artist and government critic posted a photo of himself holding a Chinese passport with the caption, "Today, I got my passport." Ai was detained by...

China Embassy's New DC Address: Dissident Plaza?

Beijing says road-renaming plan 'sheer farce'

(Newser) - In what China dismisses as a "sheer farce" and "meaningless sensationalism," efforts to rename the road in front of its embassy in Washington, DC, after a dissident are gathering steam. An amendment that would make the embassy's new address 1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza—after a Nobel...

With Eye on June 4, China Rounds Up Activists

At least 20 detained ahead of Tiananmen anniversary, Amnesty says

(Newser) - Chinese authorities have detained at least 20 activists amid increasingly intense efforts to suppress commemorations of next week's 25th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. The latest detainee, a founder of the Southern Street Movement, which calls for an end to one-party rule, was...

China Dissident: NYU Caved to Beijing, Forcing Me Out

University denies pressure behind end of Chen fellowship

(Newser) - A prominent Chinese dissident is blaming pressure from Beijing for the end of his fellowship at New York University. "The work of the Chinese Communists within academic circles in the United States is far greater than what people imagine, and some scholars have no option but to hold themselves...

Next for Ai Weiwei: Heavy-Metal Album

Seems prison time turned Ai Weiwei toward hard rock

(Newser) - Artist, activist, and persistent thorn in the side of Chinese authorities Ai Weiwei has decided to turn up the volume—by way of a heavy-metal album. The 55-year-old dissident says he gained an interest in music during the 81 days he was detained by authorities in 2011. The guards "...

Elton John's Shout-Out Could Get Him Barred From China

Singer dedicated entire show to dissident Ai Weiwei

(Newser) - Chinese Elton John fans who missed his sold-out show in Beijing last night may never get another chance to see the superstar. In a move certain to infuriate authorities, the singer dedicated his "whole show" to dissident artist Ai Weiwei, the South China Morning Post reports. A murmur of...

Ai Weiwei Loses Final Appeal in Tax Case

Dissident must pay $2.4M fine—or face jail

(Newser) - Ai Weiwei lost his second appeal against a $2.4 million tax evasion fine today, settling the case for good. Now, if he doesn't shell out the remaining $1.05 million, the dissident artist could face jail time—and he says he's not paying, Reuters reports. To pay...

Ai Weiwei to Thousands of Supporters: Please Sue Me

Dissident artist's unusual move comes on heels of tax-case loss

(Newser) - Ai Weiwei today lost his challenge against tax evasion charges and the $2.4 million fine China has slapped him with—but he once again wasn't allowed into court to make his case, he says. Police barred him from attending today's court date, calling him to explicitly tell...

Chen's Brother: Government Beat Me With My Own Belt

His mother says she's getting harassed, too

(Newser) - Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng says his family is facing intimidation and reprisals in the wake of his escape, and a Sky News crew managed to elude authorities long enough to get interviews with his brother and mother to back up the claims. A snippet from an interview with brother Chen...

China Slams US Call to Free Tiananmen Prisoners

Record turnout at Hong Kong vigil

(Newser) - The US marked the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown yesterday by urging China to free political prisoners still jailed 23 years later, prompting China to express its "strong dissatisfaction" with US interference. The US is "making baseless accusations against the Chinese government and arbitrarily interfering with China's...

Pro-Life Groups Hope Chen Gets on Bandwagon

But he's focused on China's 'lawlessness', not US politics

(Newser) - Chen Guangcheng's story threatens to make him into a political football now that he is in the US, the Washington Post finds. The blind dissident was jailed after exposing forced sterilizations and abortions under China's one-child policy, and though his views on abortion are unclear, anti-abortion groups are...

Blind Chinese Activist to Speak in NYC

Chen Guangcheng and mentor participating in event Thursday

(Newser) - Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist who was the focus of a nearly monthlong diplomatic standoff, has a speaking engagement in New York City this week. Chen will speak Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations in Manhattan. His mentor, New York University law professor Jerome Cohen, also will participate...

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