Chinese lawyer Chen Qiushi, censured over Hong Kong social media posts, vows to keep speaking out

Commentator says in YouTube video he was ‘criticised and educated’ after reporting on the unrest in the city, but ‘it’s my right to insist on speaking out’

Chen also thanks controversial MMA fighter ‘Mad Dog’ Xu Xiaodong for his support and having the courage to ‘show his face’ on film

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In his first online video for more than a month Chen Qiushi (left) expressed his thanks to MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong (right) for his support. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:39pm, 16 Oct 2019Updated: 9:01pm, 16 Oct 2019

A Chinese rights lawyer who says he was harassed and silenced by mainland authorities after reporting on the Hong Kong protests in August made his social media return at the weekend in a video in which he vowed to continue to speak out on the issue.

Chen Qiushi – who had 740,000 followers on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, before his account was deleted – had been out of the public eye since making the broadcasts in which he challenged state media reports that the people leading the protests in the city were rioters and separatists.

Most of those involved were peaceful, the 34 year old said. “Not all of them are rioters.”

Days later, he was called back to Beijing under pressure from mainland authorities. All of his social media accounts were deleted and his video broadcasts disappeared along with them.

But the Beijing-based lawyer and online commentator made his comeback on Sunday when a video he said was made in the northern coastal city of Qingdao on October 2 was shared on Weibo.

“Since coming back from Hong Kong, I’ve been taken to meetings with officials from many departments,” he said, adding that the film was the first he had made since returning to the mainland.

He said that after being asked to give an account of his trip to Hong Kong, he was questioned, recorded, and “criticised and educated”.