In recent years, China’s LGBTQ+ community has been swept up in the Chinese Communist party’s broader crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression. In May 2023, a well known LGBTQ+ advocacy group in Beijing announced it was closing due to “unavoidable” circumstances. Last February, two university students filed a...
The 15-year-old Beijing LGBT Center, one of the pioneers of the “different sexual orientation movement” in China, announced this week that it had terminated its operations without explanation.
Analysts said the closure of the well-known rights center was seen as inevitable and a reflection of the increasingly repressive political environment in China under Xi Jinping.
[…] In 2019, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed the Special Act on Same-Sex Marriage, becoming the first country in Asia to allow same-sex marriage, but the regulations stipulated that married same-sex couples could adopt only children biologically related to one of the partners […] Taiwan is now leading Asia in same-sex marriage legislation.
The evidence suggests LGBTQ+ activists in China have had a particularly tough time since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013. The effects of targeting have spiralled in the past few years, reflected in the abrupt closure of the Shanghai Pride in 2020, and the 2021 shutdown of LGBT Rights Advocacy China – an organisation that held law-based campaigns.
The girls – who were detained in shopping centres, classes and street markets – were accused of “spreading and encouraging others to wear a bad hijab” and wearing makeup....
This was only one incident, and hopefully it won’t be repeated elsewhere.
Such incidents happen often in Afghanistan, and mostly against women. The central government bans girls from education, just to name another example.
There is another article by CBS quoting representatives of the central government:
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban regime’s chief spokesperson, confirmed the arrests to CBS News on Monday, saying “a group of women who were involved in modeling to promote clothes were detained, advised in front of their family members […]
The person said that after several hours of searching [for a woman detained by the Taliban], the family found the woman at a local police station late Tuesday evening, where Taliban officials demanded money, along with her passport and other documentation, as a penalty and “to guarantee that she will not violate the dress code in the future.”
The family member said the authorities told the family they would “take her biometrics and photos, and if she violates the dress code in the future, she will be imprisoned for a longer period.”
Recent arrests of women in Kabul Afghanistan for ‘bad hijab’, confirmed by the Taliban, regrettably signified further restrictions on women’s freedom of expression and undermines other rights,” [United Nations special envoy for Afghanistan] Bennett said in a social media post.
Regarding the ‘1984 social credit system’ there are a lot of good resources which tell a story far diffrrent from yours. One recent example is tbe documentary ‘Total Trust’ by Chinese film maker Zhang Jialing. The film’s introduction says:
Total Trust is an eye-opening and deeply disturbing story of surveillance technology, abuse of power and (self-)censorship that confronts us with what can happen when our privacy is ignored. Through the haunting stories of people in China who have been monitored, intimidated and even tortured, the film tells of the dangers of technology in the hands of unbridled power.
Watch the film. There are many reviews about it (and other sources about surveillance in China). It’s really easy to find on the web.
I think this law has similar intentions.
Addition: <a href="">@megopie</a> it would be great if you could post a source of what you say. Thanks in advance.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose real power derives from his position as the head of the ruling Communist Party, has placed more emphasis on quality over quantity. He has demanded absolute loyalty from party members, launched an ideology drive to shore up their faith, and unleashed a crackdown on internal dissent. Members are bound by more stringent rules – and millions of cadres have been investigated for violating them in the past nine years since Xi took control of the party.
Gangs are running profitable businesses inside the correctional facilities, and even have the keys to their own units. Recent rioting showed the extent of their power, posing a difficult challenge for the government of Daniel Noboa.
China’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will take place Jan 23 in Geneva. The UPR is a mechanism of the Human Rights Council to assess the human rights record of every UN member state every four to five years....
“The Saudi government uses its Public Investment Fund to expand its influence and fund lavish sporting events in an attempt to obscure how it systematically violates human rights,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch....
In the midst of a surge in executions in Iran, four ethnic Kurds are on the brink of execution following 18 months of incognito detention since their arrest in July 2022....
Governments’ double standards in applying the human rights framework not only put countless lives at risk, but they chip away at trust in the institutions responsible for enforcing and protecting rights, Human Rights Watch said....
Jailed Alexey Navalny told a Moscow court of “freezing” conditions inside his prison, as he appeared via video link to outline his case against the authorities at the Siberian penal colony in which he is being held....
In 2022, the last full year on record, remittances from migrants to their countries of origin amounted to $647 billion, according to the World Bank, which estimated $656 billion for 2023 last June. These figures showed no sign of abating during the pandemic and nor will they decrease in the coming years, according to the...
After escaping the North, 139 North Koreans reached the South in the January-September 2023 period, sharply up from 42 from the same period 2022, according to Seoul’s unification ministry. In the third quarter, 40 defectors ― three men and 37 women ― came to the South....
The story of a Kazakhi woman who lived in China provides chilling new details of how the Chinese state detained upwards of a million people in “re-education” camps from 2017 to 2020....
Neighbours whose economic fortunes were supposed to be tied to the heft of the country’s rebound from the pandemic seem to be doing pretty well without it....
The Chinese economy is at a critical juncture. The collapse of Zhongzhi Enterprise Group serves as a stark reminder of the underlying fragility within the real estate sector and the broader economy.
Taiwan holds elections on 13 January, pitting the pro-autonomy Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) against the more pro-Beijing KMT. The outcome of the vote has huge consequences for relations across the Taiwan Strait and for the future of an autonomous Taiwan, whose independence Beijing has vehemently opposed — and threatened...
A new, in-depth timeline of efforts to help Samer Abu Daqqa reveals that Israel was repeatedly pressed to allow for his rescue, but kept emergency crews at bay for hours.
Voters spurned Beijing’s repeated calls not to vote for Lai, delivering a comfortable victory for a man China’s ruling Communist Party sees as a dangerous separatist....
‘It’s difficult to survive’: China’s LGBTQ+ advocates face jail and forced confession (www.theguardian.com)
In recent years, China’s LGBTQ+ community has been swept up in the Chinese Communist party’s broader crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression. In May 2023, a well known LGBTQ+ advocacy group in Beijing announced it was closing due to “unavoidable” circumstances. Last February, two university students filed a...
Afghan girls as young as 16 arrested in shops, classes and markets in Kabul by the Taliban, who labelled them ‘infidels’ for wearing ‘bad hijab’ (www.theguardian.com)
The girls – who were detained in shopping centres, classes and street markets – were accused of “spreading and encouraging others to wear a bad hijab” and wearing makeup....
China feels the country isn’t patriotic enough. A new law aims to change that. (edition.cnn.com)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/10848936...
Taiwan’s vote is a crack in the new axis of autocracy - (Opinion) (www.afr.com)
Unpaywalled link: web.archive.org/…/taiwan-s-vote-is-a-crack-in-the…...
Armed gang storms Ecuador TV station as state of ‘internal armed conflict’ declared (www.theguardian.com)
Lawyers for Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai appealed to the United Nations expert on torture over the treatment of a witness they believe was tortured before giving incriminating evidence (1ft.io)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/10781442...
Family of woman shot dead on Gaza ‘safe route’ calls for justice --- [video, 3 min] (www.aljazeera.com)
[Warning: video contains disturbing images.]...
UN Must Include Strong Language on Tibet in China Review, exiled Tibetans say (tibet.net)
China’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will take place Jan 23 in Geneva. The UPR is a mechanism of the Human Rights Council to assess the human rights record of every UN member state every four to five years....
Despite Image Campaign: Human Rights Watch Accuses Saudia Arabia of Mass Killings, Death Sentences, Unfair Trials And Abusive Detention Practices (www.hrw.org)
“The Saudi government uses its Public Investment Fund to expand its influence and fund lavish sporting events in an attempt to obscure how it systematically violates human rights,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch....
Rights group calls for pressure of international community on Iranian regime to "halt imminent execution" of four ethnic Kurds (iranhumanrights.org)
In the midst of a surge in executions in Iran, four ethnic Kurds are on the brink of execution following 18 months of incognito detention since their arrest in July 2022....
Global Rights Crises Deepen as World Leaders Shy Away, Human Rights Watch Says In World Report 2024 (www.hrw.org)
Governments’ double standards in applying the human rights framework not only put countless lives at risk, but they chip away at trust in the institutions responsible for enforcing and protecting rights, Human Rights Watch said....
“If you eat every day within 10 minutes, then this meal turns into a rather complex process:" Kremlin critic Navalny tells Russian court of ‘freezing’ conditions inside his Arctic prison (edition.cnn.com)
Jailed Alexey Navalny told a Moscow court of “freezing” conditions inside his prison, as he appeared via video link to outline his case against the authorities at the Siberian penal colony in which he is being held....
The many faces behind remittances: ‘Every week I sent them money so that they could eat what we were not able to’ (english.elpais.com)
In 2022, the last full year on record, remittances from migrants to their countries of origin amounted to $647 billion, according to the World Bank, which estimated $656 billion for 2023 last June. These figures showed no sign of abating during the pandemic and nor will they decrease in the coming years, according to the...
China: No Letup in Xi Jinping’s Repressive Rule, Amid Economic Showdown, Mourning for Ex-Premier Shows Discontent - Beehaw (www.hrw.org)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/11086495...
Number of North Korean defectors entering South Korea more than triples in Jan.-Sept. 2023 period (m.koreatimes.co.kr)
After escaping the North, 139 North Koreans reached the South in the January-September 2023 period, sharply up from 42 from the same period 2022, according to Seoul’s unification ministry. In the third quarter, 40 defectors ― three men and 37 women ― came to the South....
‘We did it to our own people’: How China forced Kazakhs to implement its ethnic crackdown (www.telegraph.co.uk)
The story of a Kazakhi woman who lived in China provides chilling new details of how the Chinese state detained upwards of a million people in “re-education” camps from 2017 to 2020....
The latest indignity for China’s flawed recovery (www.smh.com.au)
Neighbours whose economic fortunes were supposed to be tied to the heft of the country’s rebound from the pandemic seem to be doing pretty well without it....
Trial of Jimmy Lai: ‘Dissenters Risk Similar Fate’ Warns Co-founder of UK Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (www.jurist.org)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/10896265...
Hiring in China: Monkey King wanted, perks include warm cave – and plenty of bananas (edition.cnn.com)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/10824497
The Latest Bankruptcy Suggests the Worst Is Not Over in China’s Economy (investorplace.com)
The Chinese economy is at a critical juncture. The collapse of Zhongzhi Enterprise Group serves as a stark reminder of the underlying fragility within the real estate sector and the broader economy.
Taiwan voters face flood of pro-China disinformation (www.france24.com)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/10930832
Taiwan confronts China's disinformation behemoth ahead of vote (www.codastory.com)
Taiwan holds elections on 13 January, pitting the pro-autonomy Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) against the more pro-Beijing KMT. The outcome of the vote has huge consequences for relations across the Taiwan Strait and for the future of an autonomous Taiwan, whose independence Beijing has vehemently opposed — and threatened...
Israel Bombed an Al Jazeera Cameraman — and Blocked Evacuation Efforts as He Bled to Death (theintercept.com)
A new, in-depth timeline of efforts to help Samer Abu Daqqa reveals that Israel was repeatedly pressed to allow for his rescue, but kept emergency crews at bay for hours.
'Return to the right track' - Taiwan tells China to 'face reality' and respect election results (www.france24.com)
Voters spurned Beijing’s repeated calls not to vote for Lai, delivering a comfortable victory for a man China’s ruling Communist Party sees as a dangerous separatist....