Meeting

Virtual Roundtable: The Imminent Trial of Two Human Rights Lawyers—Criminal Justice in Xi Jinping’s China

Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Tyrone Siu/REUTERS
Speakers
Shengchun Sophie Luo

Human Rights Activist; Spouse of Defendant Ding Jiaxi

Biao Teng

Pozen Visiting Professor, University of Chicago; Grove Human Rights Scholar, Hunter College  

Presider

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia, Council on Foreign Relations; Faculty Director Emeritus, U.S.-Asia Law Institute, New York University

By the end of this month, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, two of China’s most innovative and moderate political reformers and human rights lawyers, will be subjected to a secret trial for alleged subversion of state power after two years of criminal detention. This will result in their imprisonment for many years. Our speakers, Shengchun Sophie Luo, the wife of defendant Ding Jiaxi, and Teng Biao, a previous victim of Beijing’s secret police kidnappings and co-founder of the New Citizens Movement with Xu and Ding, offer an in-depth understanding of what Xi Jinping’s “rule by law” means in practice.

Top Stories on CFR

Mexico

Organized crime’s hold on local governments fuels record election violence; Europe’s cocaine pipeline shifting to the Southern Cone.

Defense and Security

John Barrientos, a captain in the U.S. Navy and a visiting military fellow at CFR, and Kristen Thompson, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a visiting military fellow at CFR, sit down with James M. Lindsay to provide an inside view on how the U.S. military is adapting to the challenges it faces.

Myanmar

The Myanmar army is experiencing a rapid rise in defections and military losses, posing questions about the continued viability of the junta’s grip on power.