@martinwwitte.bsky.social
Formerly did China human rights work, local journalism, and language teaching, now at UC Berkeley
Whatever comes of Trump’s starring role in the Epstein Files, many conservatives will excuse & forgive his sexual abuses, constant lying & obfuscation, & leverage of powerful institutions to protect himself, since they’ve already excused and forgiven their religious leaders of the same acts.
December 24, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Whatever comes of Trump’s starring role in the Epstein Files, many conservatives will excuse & forgive his sexual abuses, constant lying & obfuscation, & leverage of powerful institutions to protect himself, since they’ve already excused and forgiven their religious leaders of the same acts.
Don’t know about you, but if I had voted for a vastly dangerous, kleptocratic, ignorant, lazy, racist, misogynistic, criminal candidate for president whose regime (in just months) had kidnapped children & citizens and law-abiding residents, ended aid & killed tens of thousands of people immediately,
December 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Don’t know about you, but if I had voted for a vastly dangerous, kleptocratic, ignorant, lazy, racist, misogynistic, criminal candidate for president whose regime (in just months) had kidnapped children & citizens and law-abiding residents, ended aid & killed tens of thousands of people immediately,
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Thank you, @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social for your support and inspiration!
I welcome and echo these calls by @chrdnet.bsky.social for the Chinese government to release all those serving long term prison sentences as a result of exercising their internationally recognised right to defend human rights.
🔴 This #InternationalHumanRightsDay, #CHRD calls on 🇨🇳 govt to end its use of long-term imprisonment against human rights defenders.
While #Beijing imposes decade-long sentences, we continue to recognize and celebrate their contributions.
💡 www.nchrd.org/2025/12/chin...
While #Beijing imposes decade-long sentences, we continue to recognize and celebrate their contributions.
💡 www.nchrd.org/2025/12/chin...
December 11, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Thank you, @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social for your support and inspiration!
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Police visit and threat veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu in Beijing. Mainland gov is directing the suppression of free expression and intimidation of online commentators questioning HK authorities' handling of the disastrous fire.
December 11, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Police visit and threat veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu in Beijing. Mainland gov is directing the suppression of free expression and intimidation of online commentators questioning HK authorities' handling of the disastrous fire.
I’m about three minutes from being the guy who drives away from the gas station with the hose still in the tank.
December 7, 2025 at 6:34 AM
I’m about three minutes from being the guy who drives away from the gas station with the hose still in the tank.
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🔔 Three yrs after the #BlankPaper protests, 🇨🇳 continues to repress rights, obstruct #UN access, and undermine human rights mechanisms— all while sitting on the Human Rights Council. We must show #Beijing it has not succeeded in erasing #FreeExpression entirely.
By @sophiedrich.bsky.social 👇
By @sophiedrich.bsky.social 👇
China’s ‘White Paper’ Protests: 3 Years Later
More than 100 people were arrested over the White Paper protests. Three years later, the status of many of those people remains unknown.
thediplomat.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
🔔 Three yrs after the #BlankPaper protests, 🇨🇳 continues to repress rights, obstruct #UN access, and undermine human rights mechanisms— all while sitting on the Human Rights Council. We must show #Beijing it has not succeeded in erasing #FreeExpression entirely.
By @sophiedrich.bsky.social 👇
By @sophiedrich.bsky.social 👇
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💡 #HumanRightsDay Countdown: #IlhamTohti, a Uyghur professor sentenced to life in 2014 for peacefully advocating for #Uyghur rights, including by establishing a website to promote better understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese.
📔 www.nchrd.org/2014/07/pris...
📔 www.nchrd.org/2014/07/pris...
December 1, 2025 at 8:12 AM
💡 #HumanRightsDay Countdown: #IlhamTohti, a Uyghur professor sentenced to life in 2014 for peacefully advocating for #Uyghur rights, including by establishing a website to promote better understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese.
📔 www.nchrd.org/2014/07/pris...
📔 www.nchrd.org/2014/07/pris...
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The era we are living in offers too many illustrations of greed, narcissism, and hatefulness. But I still believe we can recommit ourselves to serving the common good of all Americans. [Artwork by Jennifer Bloomer]
November 28, 2025 at 3:01 AM
The era we are living in offers too many illustrations of greed, narcissism, and hatefulness. But I still believe we can recommit ourselves to serving the common good of all Americans. [Artwork by Jennifer Bloomer]
I’ve learned more re the Bible, morality, education, civics, workings of government & the Constitution in the last 10 years than in my previous 44 since conservatives craving/in political power who claim to be authorities in all these have perverted/profited off them so flagrantly & disgracefully.
November 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
I’ve learned more re the Bible, morality, education, civics, workings of government & the Constitution in the last 10 years than in my previous 44 since conservatives craving/in political power who claim to be authorities in all these have perverted/profited off them so flagrantly & disgracefully.
Rarely in US history has there been more violent gov action against innocent people paired w/ such aggressive assertion of federal power against states, yet Americans who most tout the right to bear arms to fight tyranny & defend states’ rights to self-rule, are silent/committing the violence.
October 7, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Rarely in US history has there been more violent gov action against innocent people paired w/ such aggressive assertion of federal power against states, yet Americans who most tout the right to bear arms to fight tyranny & defend states’ rights to self-rule, are silent/committing the violence.
I live in the US and work at UC Berkeley, which means I have to praise both Charlie Kirk’s high-minded morality and Benjamin Netanyahu’s visionary geopolitical leadership to keep my job, save me and my family from getting doxxed, and make sure my name doesn’t get added to cancel-culture blacklists.
September 17, 2025 at 1:05 AM
I live in the US and work at UC Berkeley, which means I have to praise both Charlie Kirk’s high-minded morality and Benjamin Netanyahu’s visionary geopolitical leadership to keep my job, save me and my family from getting doxxed, and make sure my name doesn’t get added to cancel-culture blacklists.
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the person behind this unhinged, anti-factual editorial is set to decide coverage at one of the nation’s major news networks
September 12, 2025 at 10:33 PM
the person behind this unhinged, anti-factual editorial is set to decide coverage at one of the nation’s major news networks
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Look forward to attending virtually this #HRC60 in person side event, and seeming you there - journalists, policy thinkers, decision makers, anyone concerned about the human rights situation in #China, on Tue. 9/9, 1-2pm, Geneva.
@chrdnet.bsky.social 's report in March this yr exposed the scale of arbitrary detention in 🇨🇳 and how it may constitute #CrimesAgainstHumanity. At the upcoming #HRC60 in Geneva, advocates will unite to amplify these critical findings and push for action on key recommendations. Join us online 👇
September 8, 2025 at 3:38 AM
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I’ve lived in DC over 40 years and have yet to meet a government worker who wasn’t dedicated to their job.
July 13, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I’ve lived in DC over 40 years and have yet to meet a government worker who wasn’t dedicated to their job.
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10 yrs ago, on Jul 9, 2015, authorities across China launched an unprecedented assault on lawyers and rule of law activists, an incident known as “709” crackdown. Police seized over 300 lawyers and activists. www.nchrd.org/2025/07/chin... Authorities have since tightened restrictions on lawyers.
Chinese government impunity for crackdown on lawyers fuels decade of repression | Chinese Human Rights Defenders
www.nchrd.org
July 9, 2025 at 1:10 PM
10 yrs ago, on Jul 9, 2015, authorities across China launched an unprecedented assault on lawyers and rule of law activists, an incident known as “709” crackdown. Police seized over 300 lawyers and activists. www.nchrd.org/2025/07/chin... Authorities have since tightened restrictions on lawyers.
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My piece in today's NYT, in which I urge Americans to show courage in front of Trump. Being courageous is not simply a display of moral strength. It is also an effective strategy: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...
Opinion | What I Learned in China: Obedience Gets You Nowhere
www.nytimes.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:50 PM
My piece in today's NYT, in which I urge Americans to show courage in front of Trump. Being courageous is not simply a display of moral strength. It is also an effective strategy: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...
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5 years ago today, Beijing imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong that has "extinguished" the city's "political and civil vibrancy". "Increasingly, only Chinese Communist Party loyalists...can occupy key positions in society." Read @hrw.org's report www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...
China: Building a ‘Patriots Only’ Hong Kong
China’s government has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms since imposing the draconian National Security Law on June 30, 2020.
www.hrw.org
June 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
5 years ago today, Beijing imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong that has "extinguished" the city's "political and civil vibrancy". "Increasingly, only Chinese Communist Party loyalists...can occupy key positions in society." Read @hrw.org's report www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...
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here is what I want to say www.davidbrickeybloomer.com/blog/https/wwwdavidbrickeybloomercom/blog-page-url/2019/8/31/new-post-title-1
here is what I want to say (a poem on the launch of the UN Children and Armed Conflict Report) — everyday (b)looms
here is what i want to say here is what i want to say: little bones do not make good barricades— yet every year (we tally) children: blown apart & stitched into war like threadless but...
www.davidbrickeybloomer.com
June 22, 2025 at 5:37 AM
here is what I want to say www.davidbrickeybloomer.com/blog/https/wwwdavidbrickeybloomercom/blog-page-url/2019/8/31/new-post-title-1
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“In 2024, 33 Chinese NGOs showed up about 300 times on the lists of speakers at [#UN] Human Rights Council sessions. There were only three of them in 2018. None criticized #China [govt], #ICIJ’s review of their statements found.”
www.icij.org/investigatio...
www.icij.org/investigatio...
At the U.N., China is deploying a growing army of puppet organizations to monitor and intimidate human rights activists - ICIJ
Beijing-backed “GONGOs” have transformed the Palais des Nations into a hostile environment for critics of President Xi Jinping.
www.icij.org
April 28, 2025 at 9:02 AM
“In 2024, 33 Chinese NGOs showed up about 300 times on the lists of speakers at [#UN] Human Rights Council sessions. There were only three of them in 2018. None criticized #China [govt], #ICIJ’s review of their statements found.”
www.icij.org/investigatio...
www.icij.org/investigatio...
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#Beijing continues to harass activist #XuYan following her release in January—a #NonReleaseRelease. She faces constant surveillance outside her home and is followed and photographed when going out. Despite her complaints, nothing has changed.
🔗 wqw2010.blogspot.com/2025/03/3_17...
🔗 wqw2010.blogspot.com/2025/03/3_17...
Just in 💡: Activist #XuYan, wife of imprisoned lawyer #YuWensheng, has been released after serving a 1 year and 9 months sentence for "inciting subversion."
获刑1年9个月的著名人权捍卫者许艳女士今刑满获释，目前已回到北京家中。
wqw2010.blogspot.com/2025/01/19.h...
获刑1年9个月的著名人权捍卫者许艳女士今刑满获释，目前已回到北京家中。
wqw2010.blogspot.com/2025/01/19.h...
March 25, 2025 at 7:16 AM
#Beijing continues to harass activist #XuYan following her release in January—a #NonReleaseRelease. She faces constant surveillance outside her home and is followed and photographed when going out. Despite her complaints, nothing has changed.
🔗 wqw2010.blogspot.com/2025/03/3_17...
🔗 wqw2010.blogspot.com/2025/03/3_17...
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Human rights lawyer #LuSiwei faces trial today. In an Aug 2023 statement, #UN experts said, "It is outrageous that human rights defenders working peacefully to promote, defend or protect the rights of others, are being persecuted even while fleeing."
🔗 www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
🔗 www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
April 16, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Human rights lawyer #LuSiwei faces trial today. In an Aug 2023 statement, #UN experts said, "It is outrageous that human rights defenders working peacefully to promote, defend or protect the rights of others, are being persecuted even while fleeing."
🔗 www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
🔗 www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
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#LuSiwei ’s trial is set for this afternoon. His wife told media that the charge of “illegally crossing the border” usually carries up to 1 year. Given Lu’s past and current detention, he could be released—but there are concerns about an unexpected outcome.
🗞️ www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhe...
🗞️ www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhe...
卢思位案于下周开庭 家属期盼当庭释放
2023年在老挝被强行遣返中国的人权律师卢思位涉嫌偷越国境的案件，下周将在成都开庭。卢思位妻子表示，在正常情况下，卢思位应该可以当庭宣判和释放，但担心存在变数和丈夫因长期关押对身心造成的伤害。
www.rfa.org
April 16, 2025 at 5:45 AM
#LuSiwei ’s trial is set for this afternoon. His wife told media that the charge of “illegally crossing the border” usually carries up to 1 year. Given Lu’s past and current detention, he could be released—but there are concerns about an unexpected outcome.
🗞️ www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhe...
🗞️ www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhe...
All the renminbi I still have from my China days (mid 90s) was issued in 1980. Must have been a very good year for cash.
March 31, 2025 at 12:43 AM
All the renminbi I still have from my China days (mid 90s) was issued in 1980. Must have been a very good year for cash.
With the US Postal Service just one entity under existential threat from the political right, I share my review of an excellent book on the history of China’s national post office. It, too, came under attack—literally—during tumultuous times in modern history.
asianreviewofbooks.com/the-making-o...
asianreviewofbooks.com/the-making-o...
“The Making of China’s Post Office: Sovereignty, Modernization, and the Connection of a Nation” by Weipin Tsai
My first brush with a Chinese post office was in August 1994, shortly after I arrived in Wuhan to teach English at a medical university. Back then, mailing letters home to the United States was an …
asianreviewofbooks.com
March 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM
With the US Postal Service just one entity under existential threat from the political right, I share my review of an excellent book on the history of China’s national post office. It, too, came under attack—literally—during tumultuous times in modern history.
asianreviewofbooks.com/the-making-o...
asianreviewofbooks.com/the-making-o...