(2) UPDATE as of 19 October 2019: Nikkei Asian Review reportsthat a Japanese professor at Hokkaido University has been detained in China. The unnamed man is in his 40s, and was detained in Beijing earlier in September while travelling in China. The reports states it is the first Japanese person classified as a civil servant that has been detained in China. It is believed he is detained related to Espionage charges.
Safeguard Defenders is now inviting organizations and individuals to submit proposals for small projects aimed at empowering civil society and rights defenders in China. We welcome all interested parties to submit their ideas throughout October and November. Received submissions are evaluated on a rolling basis. Please carefully read the focus and guidelines below before submitting your proposal.
(September 9, 2019) A group of non-governmental organizations have sent a letter to UN members states calling for action at the 42nd Session of the Human Rights Council over the Chinese government’s jailing of many human rights defenders protecting economic, social and cultural rights, and closure of civil society organizations promoting equal protection of those rights.
In a landmark case, Sweden’s Supreme Court on July 9 ruled against the extradition of one of China’s most sought after corruption suspects.
Qiao Jianjun, a Chinese Communist Party member and mid-level state official, is being pursued by Beijing under its Operation Fox Hunt program for returning fugitives from overseas. Qiao is suspected of embezzling funds back home.
Sweden held Qiao in detention for nearly a year, until the Supreme Court held a hearing on 18 June following which Qiao was freed, pending a decision.
China’s state TV has been responding vigorously behind the scenes to five complaints against it made between November 2018 and April 2019 by Safeguard Defenders and victims to UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom for airing forced confessions.
CCTV13 today (2019-02-22) aired the 50th known Forced TV Confessions since Xi Jinping came to power. CCTV13's news program Focus On (共同关注) aired a confession in their evening news broadcast featuring Wang Linqing (王林清), a judge on China's Supreme Court that went missing on January 3, 2019, and possibly placed into Liuzhi under China's new National Supervision Commission.
Chinese police are moving away from TV broadcasts and using short video platforms, microblogs and targeted screenings to air forced confessions.
UPDATE: A day after this blacklist was announced, in a separate move, the US State Department said it was imposing 
Today is the International Day of the Disappeared; a day that marks the countless victims of state-sponsored enforced disappearances around the world.
