Barefoot Lawyer Reports

In this final part of the interview, Mark Clifford and Dr Saunders discuss the erosion of judicial independence in Hong Kong, highlighting the resignation of foreign judges and the manipulation of the legal system to target political dissidents. They discuss the unjust detention of Jimmy Lai and others, such as Chen Guangcheng's friend and human rights lawyer, Gao Zisheng, emphasizing the mock...

As tensions rise in the Middle East, a recent U.S. strike against Iran’s nuclear and propaganda infrastructure has sparked surprising reactions inside China. In this episode, Chen Guangcheng shares how Chinese citizens are responding to the footage—using coded language to bypass censorship and expressing hope that the U.S. might one day take similar action against the Chinese Communist Party’s pro...

What happens when a regime exports surveillance, censorship, and repression beyond its borders? In this episode of The Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China, Chen Guangcheng discusses the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on U.S. institutions, the theft of Western technology used to oppress Chinese citizens, and how CCP-affiliated individuals are undermining freedom of speech—even on American campuse...

In part three of an interview with Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, he delves deeper into the story of Jimmy Lai, a prominent media figure and political prisoner, highlighting his courage, the obstacles he faces, and his unwavering commitment to democratic values. Drawing parallels to Natan Sharansky's own experience as a Soviet dissident, Clifford highlights...

In this episode of The Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China, Dr. William Saunders interviews Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong. Clifford discusses the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy movement, including the arrest of Jimmy Lai and the forced closure of Apple Daily. The conversation highlights how Beijing has dismantled press freedom and sil...

In this episode of The Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China, Chen Guangcheng reflects on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre—what led to it, how the Chinese Communist Party crushed the movement, and whether another mass uprising is still possible today. From tanks in the streets of Beijing to the modern surveillance state, this conversation explores the harsh realities of authoritarian rule, the resili...

In this episode of The Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China, Dr. William Saunders interviews Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, about the trial of imprisoned media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai. Clifford discusses Lai’s unwavering defense of universal values despite spending over 1,400 days in solitary confinement under Hong Kong's National Security L...

The Chinese Communist Party has quietly replaced a detained bishop—and the Vatican seems powerless to stop them. Chen Guangcheng unpacks what we know about the Vatican’s agreement with the CCP and how the Party has consistently ignored it while eroding the rights of Chinese Catholics. With Pope Leo XIV newly elected, many are hoping for a change in course. Will he stand up to the CCP’s growing inf...

In this episode, Chris Mee highlights how Bishop Guo, under intense pressure from the Chinese government to conform to state religious control, gave up his public role in defense of his priests’ spiritual integrity. His story — marked by humility, sacrifice, and quiet resistance — is a stark example of the suffering faced by clergy under China's authoritarian religious policies.

In this episode of The Barefoot Lawyer Reports, Chen Guangcheng discusses the growing unrest and protests occurring across China—why they’re happening, what they mean for China, and how they could impact the rest of the world. These uprisings, combined with pressure from U.S. tariffs, may present a “historic opportunity” to loosen the grip the CCP has long held on the Chinese people.

In this powerful interview, Professor William Saunders (Director of the Center for Human Rights at Catholic University) sits down with Christopher Mee, a first-year law student and former intern at the Hudson Institute. Together, they uncover chilling stories from the new Hudson Institute report, “10 Persecuted Catholic Bishops in China” by Nina Shea.

Chen Guangcheng discusses China’s deepening demographic crisis. From abandoned rural villages to empty city blocks, Guangcheng breaks down how the CCP's past and present population policies have backfired—triggering a potential collapse in China's workforce and long-term economic stability. What is the CCP's plan to address this, and will it affect other countries?

In part two of this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Peter Tozzi, the first place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on his essay, “The CCP’s Genocide Against the Uyghurs: Why Americans Should Care”.

In part one of this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Peter Tozzi, the first place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on his essay, “The CCP’s Genocide Against the Uyghurs: Why Americans Should Care”.

In this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Sarah Thomas, the second place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on her essay, “The Future of China: Religious Freedom and Ecological Civilization”.

In part two of this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Peter James, the second place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on his essay, “China’s Death Camps”

In part one of this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Peter James, the second place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on his essay, “China’s Death Camps”.

In part one of this episode of the Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China, Dr. Sen Nieh, Fellow at Catholic University's Center for Human Rights, gives an overview of forced organ harvesting in Communist China, an atrocity frequently committed against practitioners of Falun Gong.

In part two of this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Jonathan Froelich, the third place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on his essay, “A Practical Plan for Chinese Human Rights Intervention by the United States”. You can read the essay here: https://humanrights.catholic.edu/this-may-sting-a-bit-a-practical-plan-for-chinese-hu...

In part one of this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Jonathan Froelich, the third place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on his essay, “A Practical Plan for Chinese Human Rights Intervention by the United States”. You can read the essay here: https://humanrights.catholic.edu/this-may-sting-a-bit-a-practical-plan-for-chinese-hu...

On September 19, 2024, Chinese human rights activist Yaxue Cao showed her film, The Defenders: 20 Years of Human Rights Lawyers in China, at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. Sponsoring the event was The Center for Human Rights, The Center for Religious Liberty, and The Center for Law and the Human Person. Her film features several prominent human rights lawyers, includi...

On September 19, 2024, Chinese human rights activist Yaxue Cao showed her film, The Defenders: 20 Years of Human Rights Lawyers in China, at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. Sponsoring the event was The Center for Human Rights, The Center for Religious Liberty, and The Center for Law and the Human Person. Her film features several prominent human rights lawyers, includi...

In part one of this Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China interview, Dr. William Saunders interviews Father Ambrose Ekeroku, the third place winner of the Center for Human Rights’s annual essay contest, on his essay, “Technology Censorship of Religious Groups in China”. You can read the essay here: https://humanrights.catholic.edu/human-rights-essay-contest/

In part four of the Barefoot Lawyer Reports on the CCP's history of human rights abuses in modern China, Chen Guangcheng discusses Communist China's economic situation in the 1990s, as well as its decades-long infiltration of Hong Kong. Guangcheng's Public discourse article: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2024/07/95522/

In part three of our series covering China's modern human rights atrocities, Chen Guangcheng discusses the origins of Falun Gong, as well as the beginning of the Communist Party's persecution against the spiritual movement.