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The Chinese government enforces control over information and public discourse, and continues to suppress dissent and peaceful assembly. Participants in religious activities have been persecuted through surveillance, raids and security laws. Human rights defenders, writers, artists and other civil society actors have been detained and prosecuted under vague national security provisions; censorship and online surveillance of these groups persisted. The authorities suppress activism aimed at achieving gender equality and impose restrictions on freedom of expression by women and LGBTI people, particularly in digital spaces. Ethnic groups including Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Tibetans are under strict political and cultural control. In the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, national legislation further erodes human rights.

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The authorities intensified control over information, public discourse and freedom of association through new regulations, censorship and intimidation.

In February 2025, the National Radio and Television Administration introduced a new licensing system for all online micro dramas (short-form scripted videos), requiring prior approval before publication. The measure extended to content on major social media platforms including WeChat, Douyin and RedNote. Meanwhile, the Cyberspace Administration of China, together with 11 other agencies including the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security, issued the Internet Military Information Dissemination Management Measures, prohibiting the online production or sharing of any undisclosed information about national defense or the armed forces.

Journalists and media outlets continued to face censorship. In June 2025, news outlet Caixin and weekly newspaper Southern Weekly published investigative reports about an alleged death in police custody; both reports were swiftly deleted from official websites and social media platforms.

In September 2025, the Cyberspace Administration of China launched a two-month nationwide campaign targeting content on social media and short-video platforms that “incited hostility” or “spread pessimism”. Platforms were warned to delete such material and any other material deemed to discredit public institutions.

Workers and their advocates remained unable to exercise freedom of association. On February 10, 2025, the ILO issued an annual report raising concerns about the continued prohibition of independent trade unions and other restrictions on freedom of association in China.

The authorities continued to target human rights defenders, lawyers and activists under vague national security and public order provisions. Such measures were routinely used to suppress legal advocacy and activism, with prolonged pretrial detention, closed proceedings and restricted access to legal counsel. The authorities also continued to use “residential surveillance at a designated location”, a form of secret detention amounting to enforced disappearance, particularly against human rights defenders, rights lawyers and individuals investigated for national security offense.

Human rights lawyers and their families faced ongoing attacks. Labor and social rights defenders remained under tight surveillance. Writers, journalists and artists continued to face criminal prosecution for exercising their right to freedom of expression and their human rights work. Students and younger people were also targeted.

China continued to impose death sentences and carry out executions for a wide range of offense, including several that did not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” under international human rights law and standards. Official data on death sentences and executions remained classified as a state secret, making it very difficult to assess the government’s claim that the death penalty was being applied “prudently”.

Despite the state’s restrictions over information on the death penalty, the authorities continued to publicize selected cases in the media as a deterrent. The authorities also continued to use the death penalty for cases of corruption, executing a former financial executive in December 2025 for large-scale bribery.

Uyghurs continued to face severe restrictions of their rights, including freedom of movement. Official policies reportedly discouraged Uyghurs from traveling overseas, while compelling Uyghurs abroad to choose between seeing family in China and exercising their right to freedom of expression.

In March, June and September 2025, The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN human rights office, reiterated concerns regarding ongoing violations in Xinjiang. It urged China to implement its recommendations from 2022, including ending arbitrary detention, clarifying the fate and whereabouts of those held, and ensuring accountability. The government rejected these calls and took no steps towards accountability or an independent follow-up mechanism.

In September 2025, UN experts sent an official communication to the authorities raising concerns over the reported enforced disappearance of Uyghur academic Rahile Dawut and the arbitrary detention of artist Yaxia’er Xiaohelaiti. The UN experts stated that these cases reflected broad systematic repression of Uyghurs’ cultural and academic expression.

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In March 2025, the State Council Information Office released a white paper, Human Rights in Xizang in the New Era, which explicitly promoted “bilingual education” with Mandarin as the main medium of instruction. The paper promoted schooling as a means of “strengthening national unity”, including via political education. During a rare visit to Tibet in August 2025, President Xi emphasized “unity and development” and presided over the start of construction of a controversial dam linked to forced displacement and harmful environmental impacts on local communities.

The authorities continued to interfere in Tibetan Buddhist religious affairs. In July 2025, following the Dalai Lama’s announcement of plans for his eventual succession, Chinese state officials and media asserted that any reincarnation process must proceed “in accordance with Chinese law” and under the authority of the Communist Party.

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For more information on Amnesty International’s work on China, refer to the links on Xinjiang and Hong Kong in the introduction above, the links to news releases / actions below, or contact the AIUSA China Coordination Group.

Illustration of Chinese government's crackdown on journalists, activists, human rights defenders, and ordinary citizens

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