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China Lawyer Crackdown Enters 6th Year with Fears for the Same Fate in Hong
Kong

Joyce Huang

   Thursday marks the anniversary of the start of a sweeping purge
   involving more than 300 rights lawyers and activists in China that
   began on July 9, 2015. The ongoing sweep known as the 709 Crackdown is
   named for the date.

   Prominent Chinese lawyers at home and abroad, who had been incarcerated
   or persecuted, told an online commemorative forum late Tuesday that the
   rule of law in China has continued to decline under the repressive rule
   of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

   Some said that many laws in China, including the Constitution, which
   guarantees freedom of speech and basic legal rights, have been cast
   aside when they conflict with the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP)
   interests.

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