Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist and NYU fellow, just released a new video where he calls for the release of Chinese political prisoners and urges other nations to intervene and tell China to loosen some of its more restrictive laws. The video was released just in advance of the United Nation's Human Rights Day, which is slated for December 10th.

Two and a half months after his imprisonment on charges of tax evasion, internationally-renowned artist Ai Weiwei was released by Chinese authorities because (according to state news agency Xinhua) "of his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from" (likely diabetes or hypertension).

Chinese officials are fuming over Friday's Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony because they really don't like the winner, jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo. Police have arrested many of Liu's supporters, and today the Foreign Ministry called them anti-Chinese "clowns." How mature.