“Xiamen Authorities Violently Evict Street Vendors, Sparking Clashes and Injuring Three (2026.08.20)”
On August 20, outside Vanke Cloud City in Jimei District, Xiamen, Fujian Province, authorities deployed large numbers of urban management officers and police to evict street vendors, triggering several violent clashes that left three people injured and hospitalized. According to several informed netizens, the incident began after a well-connected local figure cordoned off a street and converted it into a night market, charging vendors monthly fees ranging from 3,500 to 7,500 yuan. Because the fees were too high, the vendors refused to operate inside the night market. Authorities subsequently accused those who had not paid the fees and continued operating along the street of “unauthorized roadside trading” and forcibly drove them away.
“Disaster-Affected Villagers in Nanning, Guangxi, Refuse to Recognize Dam Failure as a ‘Natural Disaster’ (2026.08.20)”
On August 20, residents of Liulan Village, Xiaoyi Town, Hengzhou, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, were asked to sign a form titled “Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Natural Disaster Relief Application and Approval Form.” They were told that they would receive 1,000 yuan in relief funds after signing. However, the villagers believed that signing the form would amount to acknowledging that the Liulan Reservoir dam failure—which left many villagers dead—was a natural disaster. They therefore refused to sign.
“Female BYD Worker in Chengdu Scatters Joss Paper Outside Factory, Demands an End to Night Shifts (2026.08.20)”
On the afternoon of August 20, outside a BYD factory in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, a female worker livestreamed herself scattering joss paper while publicly demanding that Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD Group, abolish the night-shift system. Her courageous action was praised by many fellow workers. One worker said: “I work at BYD too. She is truly brave—she is a hero!”
“Pet Fair Asia in Shanghai Covers Up the Words ‘I Support Legislation for an Animal Protection Law’ (2026.08.20)”
On August 20, at Pet Fair Asia held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, security guards and staff attempted to cover up the words “I support legislation for an Animal Protection Law” written on a signature wall. Since the “Wangwang Incident” drew global attention earlier this month, the Chinese Communist Party has further tightened its censorship of related content.
“Unbowed After Five Years Behind Bars: Hong Kong Barrister Chow Hang-tung Faces Verdict in National Security Trial Today (2026.08.21)”
Chow Hang-tung, born in Hong Kong on January 24, 1985, is a Hong Kong barrister, human rights defender, and former vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, commonly known as the Hong Kong Alliance.
She studied natural sciences and geophysics at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom before pursuing research in seismology. She later left academia, returned to Hong Kong to study law, and qualified as a barrister. She has long been involved in human rights issues in mainland China and Hong Kong and has provided legal assistance to people prosecuted for participating in social movements.
In 2016, Chow became vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance. Founded in 1989, the organization long called for the vindication of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, accountability for the June Fourth crackdown, and the release of political prisoners in China. For more than three decades, it organized Hong Kong’s annual June Fourth candlelight vigil.
Following the imposition of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the June Fourth vigil was banned and the Hong Kong Alliance became a major target of the authorities. On June 4, 2021, Chow was arrested after calling on Hong Kong residents to commemorate June Fourth in their own ways. She was arrested again on September 8 of that year after refusing to provide national security police with information about the Alliance’s members, finances, and activities.
Chow refused to bow to pressure from the authorities. She rejected allegations that the Hong Kong Alliance was a so-called “foreign agent” and refused to cooperate with the Hong Kong police’s sweeping demands for information about a civil society organization. Even though she knew that defiance could cost her freedom, she stood by her judgment—and has paid for it with years of imprisonment.
Chow, former Alliance chair Lee Cheuk-yan, former vice-chair Albert Ho, and the Alliance itself were subsequently charged with “incitement to subversion of state power.” Prosecutors alleged that the Alliance’s longstanding political objectives, including “ending one-party dictatorship,” amounted to inciting others to subvert China’s state power.
Chow has remained in pretrial detention for nearly five years since her arrest in September 2021. The courts have denied her bail applications more than ten times, while her trial has repeatedly been postponed. Despite prolonged imprisonment, isolation, and the threat of up to ten years in prison, she has steadfastly refused to plead guilty or renounce her political convictions.
A qualified barrister, Chow has represented herself in court on multiple occasions. She has maintained that the Hong Kong Alliance pursued its demands peacefully for decades, and that commemorating June Fourth, seeking accountability for the crackdown, advocating political reform, and calling for an end to one-party rule are protected exercises of freedom of expression, association, and political participation.
On August 21, 2026, Hong Kong time, the Hong Kong High Court will deliver its verdict in the Alliance’s “incitement to subversion” case. On the eve of the verdict, Chow thanked the public for its longstanding support and well wishes through her Patreon page. She wrote that “justice resides in the hearts of the people” and that there was no need to look up to such a top-down judgment.
Chow also revealed that the Hong Kong Correctional Services Department had changed the way she was transported after the trial began. For every court appearance, she was restrained with handcuffs, ankle cuffs, a waist chain, and a leg chain, and escorted by correctional officers pulling an iron chain. The specially designed handcuffs and waist chain immobilized her wrists and upper body, forcing her to keep her shoulders hunched, her back bent, and her wrists flexed throughout the journey from Tai Lam Centre for Women to the West Kowloon court. Because she also had to carry heavy court documents, the handcuffs dug deeply into her wrists, leaving marks that remained visible throughout the day. Despite the pain, she described the future journeys as “elementary training” to build her physical endurance.
Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan continue to plead not guilty. If convicted, they could each face up to ten years in prison.
Hundreds of “Red Armband” Officials Storm Village to Push Through Polluting Project, Clashing With Villagers in Zhejiang (August 19, 2026)
On August 19, a clash broke out in Xidui Village, Huxi Town, Dongyang, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, after authorities pressed ahead with construction of a large-scale pig farm designed to raise 100,000 pigs annually within a Class II drinking water source protection zone near the village, despite strong opposition from residents. Multiple videos from the scene show hundreds of government workers, all wearing red armbands, entering the village in an aggressive show of force to push the construction through, triggering repeated violent clashes with protesting villagers.
“Xiamen Workers Forced to Eat Standing Up After Fire Authorities Deem Tables and Chairs Non-Fireproof (2026.08.19)”
On August 19, at a factory in Tong’an District, Xiamen, Fujian Province, local fire authorities banned the use of tables and chairs on the grounds that they were not fire-resistant, leaving workers with no choice but to eat standing up.
Following the July 9 fire at a shoe factory in Jinjiang, large-scale fire safety inspections have been conducted across Jinjiang and throughout Fujian Province, forcing numerous factories to suspend operations or even close down. Yet the fire authorities, who did virtually nothing during the rescue operation, have now recast themselves as “guardians of justice,” imposing excessive measures in the name of fire safety. Ultimately, the consequences are once again being shifted onto ordinary workers.
Police in Ji’an, Jiangxi Beat a Restrained Dog to Death With Iron Bars on a Public Street (August 19, 2026)
On August 19, in the Chongwen East Avenue area of Yongfeng County, Ji’an, Jiangxi Province, four police officers beat a dog to death with iron bars in broad daylight in a busy commercial district, after the animal had already been brought under control.
“Villagers in Ordos Protest Uncompensated Land Seizure and Face Police Crackdown (2026.08.17)”
On August 17, in Chaideng Village, Shierliancheng Township, Jungar Banner, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, villagers protesting the local government’s seizure of land for road construction without compensation were subjected to a police crackdown. Several villagers, including elderly people and children, were beaten. Afterward, villagers went to the local police station to protest and demand accountability, but their efforts produced no result. Meanwhile, videos and information about the incident that villagers posted online were quickly deleted.
“Urban Management Officers in Tianhe, Guangzhou Beat Street Vendors and Seize Food Cart (2026.08.18)”
In the early hours of August 18, on Dapian Road in Tangxia Village, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, more than a dozen urban management officers surrounded and beat three street vendors before seizing their food cart.
