Hannah Theaker
@htheaker.bsky.social
Lecturer in History and Politics, University of Plymouth, researching histories of Islam, rebellion and minoritization in China; documenting the contemporary sinicisation of Islam in China
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Didn't expect but Hell Yeah!
High court rules proscription of Palestine Action unlawful!
Shabana Mahmood, Starmer & the rest of the gov't can shove it.
"“a very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association"
High court rules proscription of Palestine Action unlawful!
Shabana Mahmood, Starmer & the rest of the gov't can shove it.
"“a very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association"
UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule
Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Didn't expect but Hell Yeah!
High court rules proscription of Palestine Action unlawful!
Shabana Mahmood, Starmer & the rest of the gov't can shove it.
"“a very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association"
High court rules proscription of Palestine Action unlawful!
Shabana Mahmood, Starmer & the rest of the gov't can shove it.
"“a very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association"
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Only 24 hours left for people to fill in the consultation on the "Earned Settlement" proposals.
Join other 130k people and make your voices heard.
Settlement should be a right for everyone not a privilege for few high earners.
ukhomeoffice.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Join other 130k people and make your voices heard.
Settlement should be a right for everyone not a privilege for few high earners.
ukhomeoffice.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
February 11, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Only 24 hours left for people to fill in the consultation on the "Earned Settlement" proposals.
Join other 130k people and make your voices heard.
Settlement should be a right for everyone not a privilege for few high earners.
ukhomeoffice.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Join other 130k people and make your voices heard.
Settlement should be a right for everyone not a privilege for few high earners.
ukhomeoffice.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
PS. Not too late to tell the government what you think about their proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain - the public consultation is open until 12th Feb.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
February 3, 2026 at 3:34 PM
PS. Not too late to tell the government what you think about their proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain - the public consultation is open until 12th Feb.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Breaking: Guan Heng has just been released from detention and is now reunited with his mother, a long-awaited and joyful reunion. DHS has not yet decided whether to appeal his asylum. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who stood by him and helped make today possible.
February 3, 2026 at 11:04 PM
Breaking: Guan Heng has just been released from detention and is now reunited with his mother, a long-awaited and joyful reunion. DHS has not yet decided whether to appeal his asylum. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who stood by him and helped make today possible.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Former Party cadre Ma Ruilin speaks with @liyuan6.bsky.social about his work on surveillance systems in China: “I realized that the very systems I helped build in 2008 had become shackles for Muslims [...] I had handed a demon’s whip to the state to use against my own community.”
‘I’m Free’: A Muslim Official Who Lost Faith in China Gains a Voice
Ma Ruilin worked as a Communist Party cadre helping fellow Muslims navigate their country as religious minorities, until the official hostility became too great to bear.
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Former Party cadre Ma Ruilin speaks with @liyuan6.bsky.social about his work on surveillance systems in China: “I realized that the very systems I helped build in 2008 had become shackles for Muslims [...] I had handed a demon’s whip to the state to use against my own community.”
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Thank you to everyone who has shared this. The hearing is over for today. DHS has filed a motion to pretermit (end Guan's asylum application in the US) and have him sent to Uganda - where he'd be at risk of being sent to China. The hearing to decide that will be held 12 January.
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites.
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
ICE Holding Chinese Man Who Documented Uyghur Camps
Heng Guan is awaiting an immigration hearing on Monday that could lead to his removal from the U.S. and ultimately land him back in China, according to his lawyer and a New York-based activist group.
www.wsj.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Thank you to everyone who has shared this. The hearing is over for today. DHS has filed a motion to pretermit (end Guan's asylum application in the US) and have him sent to Uganda - where he'd be at risk of being sent to China. The hearing to decide that will be held 12 January.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
'There in the shadows [of the White Paper] lies the call for HE institutions to specialise, with the lurking threat that many will lose their research funding in some, but perhaps many, areas, in order to better fund those with more intensive research.'
Labour must not repeat history by sidelining research in post-92 universities
The abolition of the binary divide in HE made visible the wealth of research excellence in what became known as the post-92 part of the sector. Katie Normington worries that forcing specialisation ris...
wonkhe.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:48 AM
'There in the shadows [of the White Paper] lies the call for HE institutions to specialise, with the lurking threat that many will lose their research funding in some, but perhaps many, areas, in order to better fund those with more intensive research.'
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
It's official: 400 redundancies and a campus closure. At-risk staff will get a letter next week. Absolutely no serious consideration of any of the union's counterproposals.
Please share widely.
Please share widely.
December 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
It's official: 400 redundancies and a campus closure. At-risk staff will get a letter next week. Absolutely no serious consideration of any of the union's counterproposals.
Please share widely.
Please share widely.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Some good news this morning - exports of Xinjiang tomatoes have collapsed. Last year I worked with the BBC to expose how XJ tomatoes produced with forced labour were making their way to UK supermarkets via Italy. 🧵
The western Chinese region of Xinjiang dramatically increased tomato cultivation and processing in recent years, but slumping sales to Italy and other western European markets have left it sitting on a vast stockpile of unsold paste. on.ft.com/4i5bFtZ
November 16, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Some good news this morning - exports of Xinjiang tomatoes have collapsed. Last year I worked with the BBC to expose how XJ tomatoes produced with forced labour were making their way to UK supermarkets via Italy. 🧵
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Compulsory team teaching on every module is perhaps the biggest ever threat to the quality of teaching in UK universities.
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
November 6, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Compulsory team teaching on every module is perhaps the biggest ever threat to the quality of teaching in UK universities.
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Absolutely shocking that the Chinese govt pressured a UK university to shut down research about forced labour in Xinjiang and the links to global supply chains. The work of Laura Murphy and her team had been instrumental in getting Chinese companies sanctioned.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Absolutely shocking that the Chinese govt pressured a UK university to shut down research about forced labour in Xinjiang and the links to global supply chains. The work of Laura Murphy and her team had been instrumental in getting Chinese companies sanctioned.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
A British university complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project being dropped, the Guardian can reveal.
In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:13 AM
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
"In total, the documents show Sheffield [Hallam University] had earned £3.8m in 2021/22 from China and Hong Kong." That's how little was enough for them to sell out.
This is as bleak as it gets:
‘China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show’ www.bbc.com/news/article...
‘China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show’ www.bbc.com/news/article...
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
www.bbc.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:14 AM
"In total, the documents show Sheffield [Hallam University] had earned £3.8m in 2021/22 from China and Hong Kong." That's how little was enough for them to sell out.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
'In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.' 1/3
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:44 AM
'In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.' 1/3
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
I wrote a story @theguardian.com about Zhang Yadi, a London-bound Chinese student and Tibetan rights advocate who was arrested over the summer on suspicion of “inciting separatism.”
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support
Zhang Yadi was due to begin a degree in the UK but the activist vanished on holiday amid tensions over Dalai Lama
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:22 AM
I wrote a story @theguardian.com about Zhang Yadi, a London-bound Chinese student and Tibetan rights advocate who was arrested over the summer on suspicion of “inciting separatism.”
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
There is no such thing, as Starmer well knows, as a "golden ticket of resettlement and family reunion" for people who have been granted refugee status. This is meaningless guff aimed to play to populist fantasies that refugees get provided with everything. 1/
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights
People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:36 PM
There is no such thing, as Starmer well knows, as a "golden ticket of resettlement and family reunion" for people who have been granted refugee status. This is meaningless guff aimed to play to populist fantasies that refugees get provided with everything. 1/
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
New today: my essay in @jodemocracy.bsky.social on The Golden Age of Transnational Repression: www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the...
The Golden Age of Transnational Repression | Journal of Democracy
Authoritarian regimes are targeting exiles and diaspora communities in more places than ever before. Activists, journalists, and regular people living abroad must watch their backs…
www.journalofdemocracy.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:35 AM
New today: my essay in @jodemocracy.bsky.social on The Golden Age of Transnational Repression: www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Most of the restrictions mentioned in this article are in 2021's Internet Religious Information Services regs. www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/internet-...
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
September 22, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Most of the restrictions mentioned in this article are in 2021's Internet Religious Information Services regs. www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/internet-...
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
My head is actually spinning at how many current and future colleagues, both in the China field and beyond it, we are about to lose because of this
September 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
My head is actually spinning at how many current and future colleagues, both in the China field and beyond it, we are about to lose because of this
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Most humanities research — including the best, most world leading research by people we’ve all heard of — is unfunded, by which they mean produced as part of one’s routine job as a university lecturer, just “not funded by a big competitive external grant”.
This would mean the death of research.
This would mean the death of research.
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 12, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Most humanities research — including the best, most world leading research by people we’ve all heard of — is unfunded, by which they mean produced as part of one’s routine job as a university lecturer, just “not funded by a big competitive external grant”.
This would mean the death of research.
This would mean the death of research.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
This is a jaw-dropping statement from anyone in a uni leadership role — but also — what exactly is ‘low-quality’ and ‘hobbyist’ research? Nearly every academic I know is burning the candle at both ends and STILL producing important work in their fields. This feels like an anti-humanities dog whistle
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 12, 2025 at 8:23 AM
This is a jaw-dropping statement from anyone in a uni leadership role — but also — what exactly is ‘low-quality’ and ‘hobbyist’ research? Nearly every academic I know is burning the candle at both ends and STILL producing important work in their fields. This feels like an anti-humanities dog whistle
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Tens of thousands of people in China are barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest surveillance apparatus.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China
U.S. technology firms such as IBM, Dell and Cisco largely designed and built China’s surveillance state, an AP investigation finds. The tech companies deny wrongdoing.
bit.ly
September 9, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Tens of thousands of people in China are barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest surveillance apparatus.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
We just released IMMARKUS 1.0 - our first full release!
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
IMMARKUS
An image annotation environment for the MARKUS platform. Developed by Prof. Dr. Hilde De Weerdt, Dr. Rainer Simon, Dr. Lee Sunkyu, Dr. Iva Stojević, Meret Meister, and Xi Wangzhi with funding from the...
immarkus.xmarkus.org
September 8, 2025 at 12:44 PM
We just released IMMARKUS 1.0 - our first full release!
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
From Sanmenxia and Three Gorges to the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam, China has long relied on monumental hydropower to prove state capacity. @zenel25.bsky.social and @pguer.bsky.social show how such projects, while promising development and security, often deepen the very insecurities they claim to resolve.
The Technopolitics of China’s Yarlung Tsangpo Dam Project and the Paradox of Hydropower | Made in China Journal
Three years after announcing their intent to construct a mega-dam along the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River as part of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan, Chinese officials gave their approval to proce...
madeinchinajournal.com
September 4, 2025 at 11:42 AM
From Sanmenxia and Three Gorges to the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam, China has long relied on monumental hydropower to prove state capacity. @zenel25.bsky.social and @pguer.bsky.social show how such projects, while promising development and security, often deepen the very insecurities they claim to resolve.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Lovely to hear Melvyn Bragg talking about the big idea behind "In Our Time": to get academics on the air, talking about the subjects they were most passionate & knowledgeable about, without worrying about whether they had "media training".
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!
September 4, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Lovely to hear Melvyn Bragg talking about the big idea behind "In Our Time": to get academics on the air, talking about the subjects they were most passionate & knowledgeable about, without worrying about whether they had "media training".
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!