Monday was the third anniversary of the beginning of the “709” or “Black Friday Crackdown,” in which hundreds of rights lawyers and others were detained. While most were swiftly released, others were accused, in a state media blitz featuring several televised forced confessions, of conspiring to hype and manipulate sensitive cases. Several were prosecuted and sentenced; one victim, lawyer Wang Quanzhang, remains missing nearly 1,100 days after he was taken.
