The year was marked by harsh crackdowns on human rights defenders and people perceived to be dissidents, as well as the systematic repression of ethnic minorities. The beginning of the year saw the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, which killed more than 4,600 people in China. People...

Kamile Wayit, a 19-year-old Uyghur female university student was sentenced on 25 March 2023 under the charge of “promoting extremism” after posting a video on WeChat about the November 2022 “A4 protests” in China. A spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed her conviction to...

Kamile Wayit, a Uyghur student studying in Henan, was taken away by the police on 12 December 2022, after she returned to her home in Atush, Xijiang, for a holiday. In November 2022, Kamile posted a video on WeChat about the “A4 protests” that took place across China after a fire in Urumqi. Soon...

Zhanargul Zhumatai, an ethnic Kazakh journalist and artist, was taken away from her mother’s house in Urumqi, Xinjiang, on 10 February. The state security police detained her after she communicated with people abroad and spoke out for the land rights of Kazakh herding communities. Zhumatai had...

Veteran internet radio host “Giggs” Edmund Wan, who was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment under “sedition” and “money laundering” charges for criticising the authorities and fundraising for young people who took part in the Hong Kong 2019 protest movement, was released on 18 November 2022.

Huang Qi, founder and director of Sichuan-based human rights website “64 Tianwang” was able to speak with his mother on videoconference on 24 November 2022. His health has further deteriorated following his diagnosis of hyperthyroidism in July. With limited access to healthcare and additional...

Detained veteran internet radio host “Giggs” Edmund Wan, who had been remanded in custody for over 19 months, was sentenced to 32 months’ imprisonment on sedition and money laundering charges on 7 October. Wan is imprisoned for criticizing the government in his radio shows and fundraising for the...

Detained veteran internet radio host “Giggs” Edmund Wan, who has been remanded in custody for over 18 months, faces a total of 10 sedition and money laundering charges. At the time of being charged, Wan hosted his own show on an independent radio station, in which he commented on current affairs....

48 individuals from predominantly Muslim ethnic groups have been allegedly interned in camps or sentenced without a fair trial and sent to prison in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang). They have been included in the Free Xinjiang Detainees campaign bringing the total to 120...

#MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin and labour activist Wang Jianbing went missing on 19 September 2021. Detained under “inciting subversion of state power”, both of their cases are now with Guangzhou City People’s Procuratorate. They were charged for joining weekly private gatherings held at...

Human rights lawyer and China’s labour rights advocate Chow Hang-tung was charged for “inciting subversion” under the new National Security Law on 9 September 2021 and faces potential 10 years’ imprisonment. At the time of being charged, she was the vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support...

Huang Qi, founder and director of Sichuan-based human rights website “64 Tianwang”, has had no access to his family since 2020, and his health has significantly deteriorated and is at risk of worsening further. It has been reported that Huang has not been able to access proper medical care recently...

Uyghur woman Buheliqiemu Abula and her 13-year-old daughter were detained near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on 31 March and told by police they faced deportation to China along with two Uyghur men already held. Buheliqiemu Abula is the former wife of Nuermaimaiti Ruze, who with Aimidoula Waili has been...