China NewsBase
Fast, easy search of the China news that matters
The China News Database was last updated at 12:45AM today.
Database searches currently perform best when a tag filter is used. We suggest trying out these tags: Xi Jinping, Russia, Taiwan, COVID-19, climate change, electric vehicles, gaming, IPOs, Belt and Road Initiative.
You may also filter by articles featured in our daily members-only Access newsletter, to get a curated overview of the top news and analysis about Chinese politics, business, and society. Select one option:
- All top news and analysis
- SupChina top news and analysis
- Top news and analysis from elsewhere — Stories in the “News briefing,” previously known as “Recommended links”
This product is in beta testing and development. If you would like to share feedback on the content or user experience, please email editors@supchina.com.
58 articles matching the search query.
Xi Jinping is in Hong Kong
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is visiting Hong Kong for the 25th anniversary of the handover — his first trip to the city since the anti-government protests that began in 2019 and his first appearance outside the mainland in over two years.
Xi will attend Hong Kong’s handover, but not the press
Hong Kong authorities have barred at least 13 journalists working for local and international news outlets from covering official events for the 25th anniversary of the handover this week, in a surprise to none.
June 4 in Hong Kong: A suppressed city fights for its memory of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown
For the third year in a row, memorials for those who died on and near Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 were absent in Hong Kong. But local artists and students found their own ways to commemorate the event despite threats from the authorities.
Hong Kong names ex-cop John Lee as its new leader
Under Hong Kong’s controversial new election process, John Lee has won the single-candidate election to become the city’s top leader. Lee received 1,416 of the 1,424 votes cast by a pro-Beijing election committee that has been chosen to represent Hong Kong’s 7.5 million people.
Hong Kong Journalists Association's press freedom award suspended - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP
A Hong Kong journalist group has postponed its press freedom award due to “the COVID pandemic and sociopolitical involvement in recent months,” Hong Kong Journalists Association chair Ronson Chan said on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, another journalist group in the city, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC), suspended its annual Human Rights Press Awards so as not to “unintentionally” violate any laws. Hong Kong Free Press published the names of the winners anyway: In full: Winners of the axed FCC Human Rights Press Awards — revealed. In The Atlantic, Timothy McLaughlin writes: “Hong Kong’s main press club has given up in the face of a new, repressive regime.”
Former top cop to be next leader of Hong Kong?
John Lee, a former law enforcement official and a favored candidate to win, has announced his currently unopposed bid to be Hong Kong’s next leader.
UK judges resign from Hong Kong court over China's crackdown on dissent
Britain’s last two serving judges have quit Hong Kong’s highest court, citing lost freedoms under Beijing’s National Security Law (NSL) imposed nearly two years ago.
“I have concluded, in agreement with the government, that the judges of the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression,” Robert Reed, who heads Britain’s top judicial body and one of the two judges, wrote in a statement. The Hong Kong government responded by vehemently opposing the “unfounded allegations” against the NSL’s impact on the legal system in Hong Kong.
The U.K.’s BNO scheme, one year later
A year into its inception, a visa program introduced by the U.K. has opened a path to work and citizenship for millions of Hongkongers. But much work remains to make the scheme more inclusive and resettlements easier.
Apple Daily: Hong Kong Closure is Warning Sign for Fading Media Freedom in China
Apple Daily’s closure was “a turning point in [Hong Kong’s] public life,” writes Iain Marlow for Bloomberg. After Hong Kong authorities raided the pro-democracy newspaper and arrested employees in 2020 and 2021 under Beijing’s National Security Law, the decline of Hong Kong’s civil groups has shown how far authorities will go to “stamp out any hint of opposition, or even of independent social organization.”
Citizen News becomes latest Hong Kong news site to close down
In less than a year, three independent media outlets in Hong Kong — Apple Daily, Stand News, and now Citizen News — have closed due to increased pressure from authorities enforcing the National Security Law.
The SupChina 2022 Red Paper
We all read the headlines, but what really happened in China in 2021? And what’s on deck for 2022? This is our annual guide to the China issues we all need to know about.
As many as 127 journalists are behind bars in China and Hong Kong
China is the “world’s worst jailer of journalists,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said in its annual survey. Reporters Without Borders estimated that 127 journalists are currently detained in China, including Hong Kong, which has seen its press freedoms rapidly deteriorate under the National Security Law.
Hong Kong Jails Activist for 3 Years, 7 Months in Secession Case
“Hong Kong jailed a student activist for three years and seven months after pleading guilty to secession, as authorities use a Beijing-drafted national security law to crack down on political dissent,” reports Bloomberg.
Hong Kong jails protester for chanting political slogans
Another strict sentencing in Hong Kong: Ma Chun-man (馬俊文 Mǎ Jùnwén), a 31-year-old former food delivery worker in Hong Kong, received a sentence of five years and nine months in jail for chanting slogans, including “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” in what one legal expert told the Financial Times indicated an “almost zero-tolerance approach” to dissident voices. Back in July, the first conviction under the city’s National Security Law had rejected the argument that slogans like this could mean different things to different people, as the court ruled that the slogan “was capable of inciting others to commit secession.”
Hong Kong independence activist with ‘clear conscience’ admits secession
Hong Kong under the National Security Law: Activist Tony Chung (鍾翰林 Zhōng Hànlín), 20, became the “youngest person convicted under national security law [but told the] judge he has no regrets for continuing his independence campaign,” while Hong Kong filmmakers see their future being censored.
With New Conviction, Hong Kong Uses Security Law to Clamp Down on Speech
An activist, Ma Chun-man, was convicted of inciting secession after, he said, he chanted slogans to test the limits of the law.
Amnesty International Exits Hong Kong, Citing National Security Law
The organization plans to pull out of the city by the end of the year, marking one of the most prominent departures of a rights group since China’s imposition of the law.
Hong Kong Convicts Second Person Under National Security Law
A Hong Kong court convicted a second person under a Beijing-drafted national security law, reinforcing fears the legislation will be strictly interpreted amid a sweeping crackdown on political dissent.
As Hong Kong’s Civil Society Buckles, One Group Tries to Hold On
Unions and other organizations have dissolved after facing pressure under a new security law. The Hong Kong Journalists Association is hoping it can avoid that fate.
Court rulings free Hong Kong police to probe older offences under security law
Retroactive justice in Hong Kong: Reuters reports that police in the city “have launched investigations into acts that took place before the national security law was imposed a year ago, despite assurances by Beijing and Hong Kong that the financial hub’s legislation would not be retroactive.”
Hong Kong National Security Police Freeze Tiananmen Campaign Group's Assets
A second person stands trial under the national security law, while nine more people are charged under it.
China Says Hong Kong Crackdown 'Must Continue' After Vigil Organizer Disbands
A member of the Tianamen Mothers victims' group says banning the Alliance and its candlelight vigils won't erase history.
China Accuses US of 'Undermining Stability' as Vigil Organizers Consider Disbanding
The ruling Chinese Communist Party underscores its claim that Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests were fomented by foreign powers.
Only 'Patriots' Voted Onto Hong Kong's New Election Committee
The closed circle election puts in place an electoral system where no genuine political opposition can exist.
Pro-Beijing Media Target Hong Kong Trade Union, Labor Groups in Latest Denunciations
The pro-democracy Confederation of Trade Unions appears to be next on Beijing's hit-list under a city-wide crackdown on dissent.
Hong Kong to Add More National Security 'Crimes' With New Law
Security chief Chris Tang tells Beijing-backed media that new legislation will govern espionage, theft of state secrets, and groups with overseas ties.
US Visa Extension to Offer 18-Month Work Permit to 'Eligible' Hongkongers
An Aug. 5 memorandum from President Joe Biden hands eligible Hongkongers a visa extension that carries the right to work.
The anaconda in the chandeliers: The Hong Kong National Security Law and its implications for middle powers
In May 2021, an Israeli company became the first documented case of China imposing free expression limitations on a foreign business under the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law. Tuvia Gering argues that democracies must research the law and its implications to ensure that their citizens are not prosecuted for exercising their basic rights.
Hong Kong’s first national security trial ends in guilty verdict
Today saw the first verdict from a trial under Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Promoters of the draconian law say the defendant committed a violent criminal act, but his conviction hinged on the interpretation of language, not on the nature of his acts.
US hurts whomever it claims to be on its side: Global Times editorial
The national security law for Hong Kong is not a toothless tiger. Those who take radical actions in Hong Kong against the law will be sanctioned.
Beijing demands Hong Kong build ‘iron wall’ of national security as Washington warns businesses of political risk
Xia Baolong, the head of the Chinese State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, delivered a speech celebrating what Beijing sees as the success of its national security law in Hong Kong and outlining expectations for the future of the city.
Beijing approves Hong Kong government reshuffle, doubling down on national security law enforcement
Two security officials in Hong Kong were promoted today, marking an even heavier emphasis on enforcement of Beijing’s national security law. John Lee, the new number two in city government, is the first chief secretary since the 1997 handover to not have economic or social policy expertise.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily shuts down as police target editors
With its founder in jail, bank accounts frozen, and editorial staff at risk of arrest, the blows fell fast and hard against the territory’s 26-year-old pro-democracy tabloid.
Outcry over ‘chilling’ effect of Hong Kong media arrests for ‘foreign collusion’
Media is the new target of national security law enforcement in Hong Kong. A day after 500 police officers raided the newsroom of pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily and arrested five executives, two were charged with foreign collusion.
Hong Kong expands film censorship under national security law
Any movie, whether foreign or domestic and even regardless of content, can now be barred from screening in Hong Kong if local censors feel its showing could endanger national security as defined by Beijing.
China’s firewall is spreading globally
Chinese internet censorship efforts are increasingly being felt in places outside the country.
Hong Kong political crackdown continues with more prison time for pro-democracy activists, second Tiananmen vigil ban
As Hong Kong’s courts gave additional prison sentences to activists and the city’s police again banned the annual June 4 gathering, the Legislative Council formally approved new rules imposed by Beijing requiring that only “patriots” can be elected to public office.
Jimmy Lai gets a year in prison for pro-democracy protests
Some of Hong Kong’s most senior and prominent pro-democracy leaders have been given jail time or suspended sentences for their participation in demonstrations or on national security law offenses. Beijing is getting real.
Beijing passes resolution to ensure only ‘patriots’ loyal to the Communist Party rule Hong Kong
As expected, the National People’s Congress in Beijing passed a resolution to change the electoral system in Hong Kong. The new rules will effectively ensure that pro-democracy politicians remain in a permanent minority in the territory.
U.K. prepares for mass immigration from Hong Kong
The U.K. expects around 300,000 Hongkongers to apply, over the next five years, for a new visa for those with British National Overseas (BNO) status. Beijing retaliated by saying it would not recognize BNO passports, but this appears to be an entirely symbolic gesture.
