From Human Rights Watch

February 5, 2019 is Lunar New Year, the biggest holiday in China. It is a time when people travel to see their families, enjoying fundamental rights to liberty and freedom of movement. But these basic rights are often unjustly denied to those Chinese whose lives are dedicated to protecting the rights of others – the activists, lawyers, and writers who are China’s embattled human rights defenders. Human Rights Watch spoke to more than two dozen Chinese human rights defenders, asking them to share their stories.

In recent years, Chinese authorities have intensified their efforts against human rights defenders, subjecting them to various kinds of harassment and continuous surveillance, or detaining and prosecuting them on fabricated criminal charges. Human Rights Watch has extensively documented cases from across China.

Human Rights Watch spoke to more than two dozen Chinese human rights defenders, asking them to share stories of the police harassment they had recently experienced. Some said the harassment felt so routine they could not even think of a story that stood out. Others declined to share detailed information, worrying that publicizing their story would further restrict their freedom. Some even asked us to leave their story out altogether because they did not want to “make life harder” for their government minders. After many years of daily interactions, they empathize with their guards’ unpleasant job.

The stories rights defenders shared reveal their remarkable resilience, strength and humor in the face of severe and unrelenting oppression. The following are among those they agreed to share publicly. Their quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Read full story here.