China Change » Rule of Law

In Zion Church Case, Chinese Authorities Punish and Harass Defense Lawyers to Force Them Out

China Change, March 24, 2026 Last October, following the detention of 18 pastors and church workers of Zion Church, including its lead Pastor Jin Mingri (金明日), as many as forty lawyers joined the defense team as the case progressed. The Zion Church members were charged with “the crime of illegally utilizing information networks” and detai [...] Keep reading »

Full Text of Xu Zhiyong’s Court Judgment

China Change, January 29, 2026 In December 2019, Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, and more than 20 other Chinese lawyers and ordinary citizens held a two-day gathering in the southeastern city of Xiamen, Fujian province, later referred to as the “Xiamen Gathering.” Shortly afterward, Chinese authorities launched arrests targeting the participant [...] Keep reading »

A Home in God: The Story of Detained Pastor Jin Mingri and China’s City Churches, Part One

Yaxue Cao, October 30, 2025 Zion Church Under Attack On the evening of Saturday, October 10, in Beihai, Guangxi (广西北海), more than twenty police officers stormed into the home of Pastor Jin Mingri (金明日, Ezra Jin), the head pastor of Zion Church (锡安教会), just after he and his elderly mother-in-law had finished dinner. One officer [...] Keep reading »

‘Socialist Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics’: Establishment, Destruction, Reconstruction, Reform, and Reversal

Li Fangping, August 21, 2025 It’s been seven decades since the promulgation of Communist China’s first Constitution in 1954. To evaluate the journey of its rule of law, the successes and failures, I’m going to divide my analysis into four periods. I. The CCP’s founding leaders never meant to honor PRC’s first Constitution The [...] Keep reading »

The 10th Anniversary of the 709 Crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers and Defenders: Ten Notable Events Over the Past Year

China Change, August 7, 2025 The year 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the “709” crackdown. A full decade has passed since the mass arrest of lawyers that shocked both China and the world, and this persecution has not ended. Over the past year, several more lawyers have been arrested, sentenced, or placed in administrative detention. [...] Keep reading »

1,296 Days in Limbo: The Trial of Xie Yang and the Eleven Notices That Delayed It for Thirty-Two Months By Way of Punishment

Yaxue Cao, July 29, 2025 I. At 10 a.m. Beijing time on July 30, 2025, after 1,296 days in detention, lawyer Xie Yang (谢阳) is finally standing trial at the Changsha Intermediate People’s Court. He is charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” This is the second time Xie Yang has been imprisoned since the internationally known [...] Keep reading »

A Decade On — It’s Time to Stop

Chen Guiqiu, ex-wife of Xie Yang, July 28, 2025 Human rights lawyer Xie Yang (谢阳) was arrested in January 2022, shortly after displaying a banner in support of an elementary school teacher in his province who had been arbitrarily detained in a mental hospital for online expression. As of today, he has been held for 1,295 days without trial. His [...] Keep reading »

709 － A New Documentary

China Change, July 25, 2025 (Email subscribers may have to view in browser to see the embedded YouTube link.) This documentary offers, for the first time, an authoritative overall account and analysis of the 709 Crackdown on human rights lawyers in China that began ten years ago in 2015, covering all aspects of the incident: arrests, smear campaign [...] Keep reading »

Passing Through Luhe Traffic Police Brigade and Songzhuang Police Station – a Nightmare on the Tail of the 10th anniversary of the 709 Crackdown

Li Heping, July 24, 2025 “The 709 crackdown was already one of the greatest injustices of our time. If I am now framed by these traffic police, I might as well smash my head against the wall and die right here.” — Li Heping, 709 lawyer Part One: A Five-hour Wrangling With Luhe Traffic Police Brigade from July 11, 2025, 11:00 p.m. to July [...] Keep reading »