China Change » Civil Society

From Sea to a Sea of Words: Poet Ensnared as China Shuts Down Commemoration of Liu Xiaobo

Yaxue Cao, September 14, 2017 It’s said that when Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010, one of his friends wept. But he wasn’t shedding tears of joy. “He will never get out alive,” the friend said. At the time, the 55-year-old Liu had just begun his 11-year sentence at the Jinzhou Prison in Liaoning [...] Keep reading »

‘Riding on a Dream, We Push Forward’: A Statement on the Fourth Anniversary of the China Human Rights Lawyers Group

The China Human Rights Lawyers Group, September 13, 2017 Today, September 13, 2017, marks the fourth anniversary of the founding of the China Human Rights Lawyers Group. Even though it is the obligation of government to respect and safeguard human rights based on international treaties and the Constitution, it is also the natural and [...] Keep reading »

Tulip for Wang Quanzhang

Safeguard Defenders, August 28, 2017 The Human Rights Tulip is an award by the Dutch government for courageous human rights defenders. Wang Quanzhang (CHINA) is a lawyer, father and husband whose work to defend and protect persecuted religious groups, especially Christians and Falun Gong practitioners, has made him a target himself. H [...] Keep reading »

Why Is Wu Gan ‘The Butcher’ So Important?

Mo Zhixu, August 16, 2017 The Chinese original was first published in December, 2015. The importance of Wu Gan “the Super Vulgar Butcher” has been widely recognized for some time, and the most direct testament to his importance comes from none other than the party-state itself. On May 18, 2015, Wu Gan left for N [...] Keep reading »

The Twelve ‘Crimes’ of Wu Gan the Butcher

China Change, August 13, 2017 On Monday one of China’s most well-known rights defense activists, Wu Gan (known by the moniker “The Super Vulgar Butcher” online) will be put on trial in the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court. The court says that the case involves “state secrets” and has announced that it will be a cl [...] Keep reading »

Wu Gan’s Pretrial Statement

Wu Gan, August 9, 2017 Wu Gan (吴淦), arguably the most celebrated activist in recent years in China’s struggle for justice and human rights, and a seminal user of online mobilization and peaceful direct action, was the first detainee of what has come to be known as the 709 Crackdown. Wu Gan became known for his role in mobilizing public [...] Keep reading »

From Brittany, in Memory of Liu Xiaobo’s Spirit and Voice of Conscience

Hermann Aubié, August 9, 2017 Dear Xiaobo, About three weeks ago, shortly after the world learned about your terminal liver cancer diagnosis of late May 2017, you died aged 61 in the Northeast region of China where you were born. As the poet Tang Danhong wrote, you departed as “an innocent prisoner into the eternal light” [...] Keep reading »

Paying Homage to Liu Xiaobo from Behind Bars

By Wu Gan, July 31, 2017 Writing from a detention center in Tianjin, well-known activist Wu Gan (吴淦) is among the last of the 709 detainees. — The Editors I recently heard the news of Liu Xiaobo’s (刘晓波) death in prison from liver cancer. I also heard of the videos of medical experts treating him, supposedly showing what [...] Keep reading »

Remembering Liu Xiaobo — And What the U. S. Can Do

By Yang Jianli, July 22, 2017 “The U.S. should implement targeted sanctions against those personally responsible for Liu Xiaobo’s death. The U.S. can use the Global Magnitsky Act as a tool to sanction them—banning them from traveling in the U.S. and freezing their assets in this country—and also encourage its allies to do the same. [...] Keep reading »