{"id":10785,"date":"2015-07-14T05:44:49","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T21:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=10785"},"modified":"2015-07-14T07:47:14","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T23:47:14","slug":"china-launches-sweeping-crackdown-on-rights-lawyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/","title":{"rendered":"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 100 arrests \u2022\u00a0Human rights lawyers branded \u201cenemies of the state\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

chinaworker.info reporters<\/p>\n

Xi Jinping has once again shown his authoritarian credentials with what appears to be a nationally coordinated weekend crackdown on human rights lawyers, described as \u2018unprecedented\u2019 by many observers. At least 107 lawyers, activists and their relatives have been detained or interrogated by police in 15 Chinese cities since Thursday, 9 June.<\/p>\n

The high-profile crackdown may in part at least be connected to the disastrous meltdown in China\u2019s stock markets during the past four weeks, with the Chinese regime fearing this could trigger political instability not least among millions of small investors who have lost their savings and retirement nest eggs. The one-party dictatorship (CCP) has a long history of \u2018killing the chicken to scare the monkey\u2019 as the Chinese proverb goes \u2013 enforcing social control by punishing certain groups or individuals. The very public nature of this weekend\u2019s campaign suggests its primary aim is deterrence \u2013 to instil fear in other groups that may be considering protests.<\/p>\n

The main target of the security sweep is the Beijing-based law firm Fengrui, whose legal staff have previously taken on politically sensitive cases and defended victims of official abuse. The People\u2019s Daily, in characteristic propagandistic\u00a0tones, said the weekend operation was to \u201csmash a major criminal gang that had used the Beijing Fengrui law firm as a platform since July 2012 to draw attention to sensitive cases, seriously disturbing social order.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wang<\/a>
Wang Yu of Fengrui Law Firm, arrested on 9 June.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smear campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n

Foreign media reports quoted an unnamed employee who said more than a dozen police searched the Fengrui\u2019s offices on Friday. This source said at least ten of the company\u2019s lawyers, including director Zhou Shifeng, were taken into police custody.\u00a0The media attack on the firm was a smear campaign, the employee said. One day earlier, Fengrui associate Wang Yu was arrested at her Beijing apartment in a dawn raid. Police also arrested Wang\u2019s husband and 16-year-old son. A petition protesting Wang\u2019s arrest was signed by more than 100 Chinese rights lawyers and activists, many of whom were subsequently rounded up as the police operation intensified.<\/p>\n

According to Hong Kong-based legal advocacy groups, at least 82 of the detainees have now been released. Several of those released were reluctant to speak to journalists and others said they had been warned not to comment or post on internet about the arrests. The Financial Times reported that one human rights lawyer, Guangzhou-based Sui Muqing, has been charged with \u201cinciting subversion of state power\u201d and placed under house arrest. This charge is widely used by the Chinese regime to eliminate critics,\u00a0and\u00a0carries a penalty of up to ten\u00a0years in prison.<\/p>\n

The regime\u00a0has grown impatient with\u00a0rights lawyers which it sees as\u00a0a thorn in its side. While the judicial system in China is heavily controlled by the one-party state\u00a0and leaves little room for\u00a0even the most skilful\u00a0lawyers\u00a0to protect the\u00a0victims of state repression, the increasingly public profile of independent lawyers \u2013 via\u00a0social media and in connection with popular social causes \u2013 has raised their authority as a critical voice against the CCP establishment. Eva Pils, an expert in Chinese legal affairs at Kings College London, told the New York Times that the CCP regime, \u201csee a need to delegitimize it, to officially declare the human rights lawyers enemies of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStrikes are on the rise\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overseas groups, including Amnesty International have condemned the arrests. Amnesty spokesman William Nee offered an explanation for the current crackdown: \u201cIt is something they have never put up with but especially as it looks like social protests are on the rise, strikes are on the rise, there is the potential for economic uncertainty. I think all these factors have together in the government\u2019s mind made them want to crack down on human rights lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since taking power in late 2012, Xi Jinping has modelled his rule on Putin\u2019s Russia, with an increasing crackdown against\u00a0all forms of opposition, including relatively moderate voices who accept and defend CCP one-party rule while advocating partial political reforms. This was the case with ethnic Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti, who received a life sentence last year for allegedly advocating \u2018separatism\u2019. Yet Tothi is known as a secular (non-religious) reform advocate with close family links to the ruling party. His imprisonment seems more like the regime wanting to\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0its resolve and ruthlessness in the face of\u00a0a deteriorating political situation in the restive Western region of Xinjiang which has a majority Muslim and Turkic speaking population.<\/p>\n

Last week, Beijing\u00a0introduced a new national security law that contains extremely broad and sweeping definitions of potential security threats. This is a further sign that as the country\u2019s economic woes deepen Xi\u2019s regime is opting for even greater repression and a pre-emptive stance against potential opponents. But this hard line position could backfire on China\u2019s new \u2018strong man\u2019 \u2013 triggering an explosion of mass anger against the dictatorship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 100 arrests \u2022\u00a0Human rights lawyers branded \u201cenemies of the state\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":10786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,124],"tags":[207,4612,4606,4610,4608,1633,915],"class_list":{"0":"post-10785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-china","8":"category-news","9":"tag-ccp","10":"tag-fengrui","11":"tag-human-rights","12":"tag-ilham-tothi","13":"tag-national-security-law","14":"tag-repression","15":"tag-xi-jinping"},"yoast_head":"\nChina launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers - China Worker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers - China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More than 100 arrests \u2022\u00a0Human rights lawyers branded \u201cenemies of the state\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-13T21:44:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-13T23:47:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/07\/i-e1436823740864.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"309\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-13T21:44:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-13T23:47:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":847,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/i-e1436823740864.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"CCP\",\"Fengrui\",\"Human Rights\",\"Ilham Tothi\",\"National Security Law\",\"Repression\",\"Xi Jinping\"],\"articleSection\":[\"China\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/\",\"name\":\"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers - China Worker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/i-e1436823740864.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-13T21:44:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-13T23:47:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/i-e1436823740864.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/i-e1436823740864.jpg\",\"width\":550,\"height\":309},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/14\\\/10785\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5\",\"description\":\"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Chinaworker.info\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"width\":120,\"height\":126,\"caption\":\"Chinaworker.info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SocialistAction\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/socialistactionhk\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers - China Worker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers - China Worker","og_description":"More than 100 arrests \u2022\u00a0Human rights lawyers branded \u201cenemies of the state\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/","og_site_name":"China Worker","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","article_published_time":"2015-07-13T21:44:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-13T23:47:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":309,"url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/07\/i-e1436823740864.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers","datePublished":"2015-07-13T21:44:49+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-13T23:47:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/"},"wordCount":847,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/07\/i-e1436823740864.jpg","keywords":["CCP","Fengrui","Human Rights","Ilham Tothi","National Security Law","Repression","Xi Jinping"],"articleSection":["China","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/","name":"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers - China Worker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/07\/i-e1436823740864.jpg","datePublished":"2015-07-13T21:44:49+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-13T23:47:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/07\/i-e1436823740864.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/07\/i-e1436823740864.jpg","width":550,"height":309},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/07\/14\/10785\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"China launches sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","name":"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5","description":"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization","name":"Chinaworker.info","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","width":120,"height":126,"caption":"Chinaworker.info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socialistactionhk\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}