lawyers of their choice for at least the first six months after their return and Dong Guangping still had no access by the end of the year. Miao Deshun, a labour activist arrested after participating in the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was reportedly released in October after 27 years’ imprisonment. Activists who commemorated the Tiananmen crackdown continued to be detained, including Sichuan activists Fu Hailu and Luo Fuyu.1 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION In March, police reportedly detained at least 20 people in connection with the publication of an open letter criticizing President Xi and calling for his resignation. The open letter blamed President Xi for trying to build a “personality cult” and abandoning collective leadership. Those detained included 16 people working for Wujie News, the website which published the letter on 4 March. On 4 April the government issued guidelines to increase law enforcement of cultural matters in a bid to “safeguard the ‘national cultural and ideological security’”. The guidelines would increase regulation of many “illegal” and unauthorized activities, including: publishing, film and TV distribution, foreign satellite TV broadcasting, artistic performances, and imports and exports of cultural products. China made further efforts to reinforce its already oppressive internet censorship architecture. Thousands of websites and social media services remain blocked, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and internet service and content providers were required to maintain extensive censorship on their platforms. Six journalists from Sichuan-based website “64 Tianwang” were detained for covering protests in relation to the G20 Summit in Hangzhou in September. One, Qin Chao, remained in detention. FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF Proposed amendments to the Regulations on Religious Affairs issued on 7 September Amnesty International Report 2016/17 would extend power to various authorities to monitor, control and sanction some religious practice. The amendments, which emphasized national security with a goal of curbing “infiltration and extremism”, could be used to further suppress the rights to freedom of religion and belief, especially for Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and unrecognized churches. The campaign to demolish churches and remove Christian crosses from buildings in Zhejiang province, launched in 2013, intensified into 2016. According to international media, more than 1,700 crosses had been removed by the end of 2016, prompting a series of protests. Zhang Kai, a lawyer who offered legal assistance to the affected churches, appeared on state television on 25 February, looking thin and exhausted, to give a videotaped “confession”. He was initially detained in 2015 on suspicion of state security crimes and “disturbing public order” and was later placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location”. He was released without explanation and returned to his hometown in Inner Mongolia on 23 March. On 26 February, Bao Guohua and his wife Xing Wenxiang, pastors from Jinghua city in Zhejiang province, were sentenced to 14 years’ and 12 years’ imprisonment respectively for embezzling money from their congregation and “gathering a crowd to disturb social order”. Bao Guohua had been vocal in opposing the removal of crosses from churches. Falun Gong practitioners continued to be subjected to persecution, arbitrary detention, unfair trials and torture and other illtreatment. Falun Gong practitioner Chen Huixia was detained in June and, according to her daughter, tortured in detention because of her beliefs.2 DEATH PENALTY A white paper issued by the government in September claimed that China “[strictly controlled] the death penalty and employ[ed] it with prudence to ensure that it applies only 121