michaelcaster

Published 6 January 2021 Nikkei Asian Review, here. Last week, China ratified an extradition treaty with Turkey and if Ankara follows suit the pact will become law, potentially putting thousands of Uyghurs living in Turkey at risk. China has pursued an aggressive worldwide campaign to sign such agreements as part of extraterritorial legal and extra-legal … More Turkey should stand up for Uyghurs and refuse to ratify China extradition treaty

Published 13 April 2020 at Hong Kong Free Press, here. Ren Zhiqiang, an outspoken Chinese tycoon, who in a February essay blamed the Coronavirus outbreak on a Party culture that prioritizes propaganda, flattery toward Xi Jinping, and silences free speech, has himself been silenced. He disappeared last month, joining a growing list of recent whistle-blowers who have gone missing after speaking … More A missing Chinese property tycoon exposes how Xi Jinping governs through enforced disappearance

Published 3 April 2020 at Hong Kong  Free Press, here. If you care about human rights in China, April 5 should be circled on your calendar. On that day, human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, my old friend and colleague, after an outrageous series of abuses by the Chinese state, is set to walk free. Wang, … More Detained Chinese lawyer Wang Quanzhang must be granted freedom, not ‘non-release release’

Published 7 September 2019 at Hong Kong Free Press, here. This week, after months of protest, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam finally withdrew the controversial extradition bill largely responsible for sparking a months-long resistance. For movement leaders like Joshua Wong and others the announcement came as too little, too late, especially following intensified police brutality. … More Too little, too late: It’s time to freeze the sale of crowd control equipment to Hong Kong police

Published 30 August 2019 at Hong Kong Free Press, here. August 30 is set aside each year as the International Day of the Disappeared to raise awareness of the victims of enforced disappearances and to end the terrifying state practice. The practice involves authorities taking someone using agents of the state, or those acting on their behalf, followed by … More Int’l Day of the Disappeared: China must put a halt to secret detention and all forms of enforced disappearances

Published 3 May 2019 at Hong Kong Free Press, here. Today is World Press Freedom Day. Every year, 3 May is a day to celebrate the principles of press freedom, but also to defend journalists from attacks and to remember those who have suffered because of their commitment to the free flow of ideas by … More On World Press Freedom Day, China must account for disappeared photojournalist Lu Guang

Published 21 January 2019 at Hong Kong Free Press, here. China is engaged in what increasingly resembles crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. This includes the mass internment of one million Uyghur, Kazakh, and other Muslim minorities, forced labour, torture, and efforts to destroy their unique cultural identity. Such abhorrent practices must be denounced and denied a place in the next wave of … More At Davos, the message of ‘Globalization 4.0’ must include a rebuke of China’s ethnic cleansing in Xinjiang

Published 4 January 2019 at the Guardian, here. Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, has called China’s detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor a “worrying precedent” but for many China watchers it is all too familiar. It reminds us of the detentions of other foreign citizens, such as Canadian Kevin Garratt, Briton Peter Humphrey, … More China thinks it can arbitrarily detain anyone. It is time for change