Macao’s prominent democracy activist Au Kam San has been sentenced to 12.5 years in jail in the city’s first national security case.
The case was marred by violations of due process and fair trial rights, including a closed trial and restrictions on his choice of lawyer.
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Thai authorities should not forcibly return two Uyghur men to China, where they face grave risks of torture and other serious abuses.
The two men, whose names are not public for security reasons, were transferred from prison to immigration detention in Bangkok after receiving a royal pardon, apparently in preparation for deportation.
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A country that imprisons its youth leaders buries its future.
Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on baseless national security charges.
Wong has been in custody since November 2020, when he was 23, and faces imprisonment until late 2036, when he will be 40.
To keep Hong Kong society subdued, the government appears to have adopted the tactic of stacking charges against influential pro-democracy leaders to ensure their prolonged detention.
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Outrageously cruel 10-year sentence against #HongKong# activist Joshua Wong. Wong’s been detained since he was 23, and now he won’t get out until he’s 40–that’s if they don’t keep heaping more prison time on him. Relentless repression in HK.
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Xiaomi phones are silently logging what apps you install and sending short screen clips to the cloud for anti-fraud checks.
This came to light after a developer reverse-engineered a rooted Xiaomi 14 running HyperOS 3. His friends had received calls from local police ordering them to uninstall X and Telegram. He found privileged system components that track recent app usage, upload lists of third-party apps, and capture brief encrypted screen recordings for cloud risk analysis. Xiaomi’s own developer documentation confirms the system retains 72-hour records of screen activity and app installs, even after you delete the apps.
Most users cannot turn this off.
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I wrote about that "China First" ad targeting Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Mississippi Senate race, and what it might say about a future Democratic approach towards China policy (and towards campaigning in red states...)
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When even Halloween is “sensitive” 😢
On the International Day of Political Prisoners, we remember those who have been imprisoned for their beliefs, their words, and their courage to speak freely.
At JF Books, we have gathered a wide selection of writings by political prisoners, biographies, memoirs, and books exploring the struggles for freedom, human rights, and democracy in Hong Kong, China, and beyond. Behind each book is a personal story, a piece of history, and often a voice that those in power have tried to silence.
We believe that keeping these stories accessible is one way to preserve memory, encourage understanding, and sustain hope. Explore our collection at
We will keep making room for these stories, and for the conversations they deserve.
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Don’t miss this week’s newsletter: one of our young writers travels to the most notorious prison camp in the Mao-era gulag to pay her respects and see what remains.
Beijing Queer film festival cancelled
Beijing under Xi has been tightening social and ideological control, so any activities outside of those sanctioned by the party-state are subjected to intensifying scrutiny and official harassment. - @hrw @wang_maya
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The authorities have put more pressure on what little is left of China’s civil society, as well as the LGBT communities and independent film-makers. A queer film festival basically faces all of these overlapping pressures.
- HRW @wang_maya told @guardian @amyhawk_
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The authorities also recently sentenced artist Gao Zhen to three years in prison under the same law for his provocative Mao sculptures; in one, he depicted Mao kneeling and apologizing to his victims.
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Spanish football behemoth @LaLiga's obsequious apology to the Chinese government over French football player+Spanish league star Kylian Mbappé's "Chinese dictator" meme comment sets a bad precedent for free speech—for athletes and Chinese people; analysis with @HRW’s @wang_maya:
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How China is covertly using Western influencers in Xinjiang "the foreign influencers and the Chinese state are playing a dangerous game. And the hashtags establish a direct link between supposed ‘individual accounts’ and Chinese state propaganda campaigns. Global platforms including YouTube, Meta, and TikTok all take firm lines on “Covert Influence Operations”."
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Beijing Queer Film Festival has been cancelled; the post below details years of authorities' intensifying pressure on the film festival, as well as on LGBT rights in China👇, as Xi Jinping's government intensifies social control.
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突发：爱酷电影周宣布取消：原定今秋举办的第十九届北京酷儿影展停办🇨🇳🏳️🌈
2026年10月29日，爱酷电影周（Love Queer Cinema Week，即北京酷儿影展 Beijing Queer Film Festival）在官方Instagram账号发布声明，宣布“原定于近期举办”的影展取消，并向计划参与的观众致歉。声明没有说明取消原因，也没有提到原定日期和场地。今年4月20日影展开放了2026年征片，8月2日起招募志愿者，招募截止9月1日。
影展创办于2001年。当年导演、学者崔子恩和北京大学学生杨洋在北大办起第一届，放映了《蓝宇》《东宫西宫》《今年夏天》。据长期组织者吴漫记述，影展结束后校方约谈组织者，几名学生受到处分，并被告知校内放映必须经过审查、取得许可。2005年第二届开幕前几个小时，北大通知不得在校内举行，影展转到798艺术区一处私人工作室，以邀请制进行，用短信通知观众地点。此后场地屡次被临时叫停，组织者把一周的放映分散到六七个地点，自称“游击战”。
2014年影展再次被叫停。组织者几天内改为带观众乘坐北京开往怀柔的列车，在车上用U盘同步观看回顾影展十年的纪录片《我们的故事》。2015年起影展改名“爱酷电影周”，中文名里不再出现“酷儿”，此后在北京法国文化中心（Institut français de Pékin）举办。同年，影展原定5月17日国际不再恐同、恐跨日在荷兰驻华使馆放映，据组织者记述，当地部门在放映前几天多次警告中方组织者，称会对其工作和家庭造成“严重后果”，放映最终临时取消。
2021年起，影展宣传不再出现影展和组织者名称，只介绍影片；2025年停用运营多年的微信公众号。2024年开幕放映时，场外停着六辆警车。2025年，第十八届影展仍在10月下旬至11月初举行，志愿者报名约200人，是前一年的四倍。
今年6月，北京法国文化中心原定在骄傲月放映法国电影《Enzo》和《Eat the Night》。据Urania研究所报道，警察6月6日到场，要求审查影片，并查验在场中国公民的身份证件，放映随后取消。目前没有公开信息表明这件事与爱酷电影周停办有关。
背景：北京同志中心已在2023年宣布关闭，高校LGBTQ+微信公众号从2021年起被成批删除。二十五年来，爱酷电影周靠更换名称、分散场地、减少线上痕迹维持运作。
参考来源：
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Mao never apologized to the people he killed.
“Even low-profile activism can result in a prison sentence.” — @PostOpinions
That says it all. Hongkongers at risk of deportation deserve a permanent pathway to freedom and safety, not the prospect of joining hundreds of political prisoners back home.
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As usual, the Chinese government is responding to public outrage—this time over animal cruelty—with its familiar tools: censorship, intimidation, & dispersal. Peaceful expression, including compassion, should never be treated as a threat to state security.
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#HongKong# pro-democracy leader Wu Chi-wai’s been detained at Heathrow Airport, had his passport confiscated & told he’ll be deported in 7 days. He’s an ex #PoliticalPrisoner#, released on 30 June, & should be allowed to enter the UK on a BN(O) visa.
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