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Late last month, Shanghai resident Pei was one of many people who came out in support of historic protests against China's COVID-19 curbs, including filming several seconds of footage of a man being arrested on a street corner.

Almost immediately, Pei said, five or six plainclothes police grabbed him. He was taken to a police station and held for 20 hours, at times with his arms and legs tied to a chair, he told Reuters.

"The policeman who shoved me into the car tried to intimidate me by saying I should be worried if other people find out what I did. Feeling defiant, I told him, I will let the world know what you police are doing," said Pei, 27. He asked to be identified only by part of his name for fear of repercussions.

Now, as many Chinese residents welcome a relaxation of lockdown measures that have crippled businesses and stoked unemployment, some protesters scooped up by China's security apparatus face an anxious wait about their fate.

While Pei and other protesters were released with a warning, some rights lawyers and academics note President Xi Jinping's hard line on dissent over the past decade, and say risks remain of further harassment and prosecution.

"'Squaring the accounts after the autumn harvests' is the Party's way of dealing with people who have betrayed it," said Lynette Ong, a University of Toronto professor, referring to the practice of delaying score settling until the time is ripe.

China's Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a request for comment on the laws they might use against protesters. The Shanghai police also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pei's description of how he was arrested or on what further actions they might take.

Last week, in a statement that did not refer to the protests, the Communist Party's top body in charge of law enforcement agencies said China would crack down on "the infiltration and sabotage activities of hostile forces" and would not tolerate any "illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order".

Asked about the protests, China's foreign ministry has said rights and freedoms must be exercised lawfully.

FINES AND JAIL TIME?

Reuters was unable to establish how many protesters are still in police custody. Social media appeals for details on the whereabouts of a handful of missing protesters remain online.

The protests, widely seen as a tipping point to an easing in tight COVID restrictions, largely petered out in several cities after police mounted a heavy presence on streets.

The repercussions of protesting in China have grown in recent years under Xi's tenure, with the Ministry of Public Security introducing guidelines two years ago that have been used by local authorities to ban protesters from taking up jobs such as tour guides or insurance agents, and also make it harder for their family members to obtain government-related jobs.

Zhang Dongshuo, a Beijing-based lawyer who has handled rights cases in the past, said the levels of punishment for protesting in China vary widely.

Those deemed to be bystanders could be let off with a small fine and up to 15 days' detention, while physical altercations with police could lead to jail terms for disrupting public order or "picking quarrels" and provoking trouble.

Those who shouted slogans calling for the ouster of Xi or the Communist Party - as seen in a number of protests across China - potentially face heavier charges of inciting or engaging in subversion of the state, Zhang said, which in the most extreme cases carry punishment of up to life in prison.

Eiro, another Shanghai protester who was detained after trying to stop police from taking away a fellow protestor, said that during her interrogation, police particularly wanted to know if anyone had distributed blank A4 sheets of paper that were a defining symbol of these protests, as well as the identities of protest organisers.

"The police said there'll be no punishment for all of us this time, but may call us back after further investigation," she told Reuters on an encrypted messaging app.

Pei, Eiro and other protesters Reuters spoke to said they were asked by police to sign letters of repentance, with some of them asked to read the letters aloud while being filmed.

During Hong Kong's protracted anti-China, pro-democracy protests in 2019, thousands were arrested but only charged much later with offences such as rioting and subversion, and many are still in legal proceedings.

"I probably won't go (protesting) again in the short term," Eiro said. "Everyone was impulsive this time and had no experience. We hadn't prepared well and there wasn't any mature organisation and communication platform that could unite and organise everyone."

"WORTH IT"

During a meeting in Beijing last week with European Council President Charles Michel, Xi attributed the dissent in part on youths frustrated by the pandemic, according to one senior EU official.

Alfred Wu, assistant professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, said a harsher crackdown was only more likely if authorities believed the protests to be organised and political in nature, rather than leaderless and spontaneous.

"They just sprang up organically because people were driven by a sense of hopelessness and desperation about the never-ending COVID restrictions," Wu said.

For some, however, the desire for broader political freedoms remains undiminished even with the COVID relaxation measures.

"I don't think this is good news or a victory in our struggle because what we are asking for is liberty," said Eiro.

Despite the looming shadow of future reprisals by authorities, Pei said he had no regrets.

"It was worth it. It allowed me to personally see the Communist Party's control over our speech, and to see how the freedom of the people under its rule is deeply restricted." (Reuters)

North Korean government-backed hackers referenced the deadly Halloween crush in Seoul to distribute malware to users in South Korea, Google's (GOOGL.O) Threat Analysis group said in a report.The malware was embedded in Microsoft Office documents which purported to be a government report on the tragedy that killed more than 150 people after tens of thousands of young revellers crowded into narrow alleyways.

"This incident was widely reported on, and the lure takes advantage of widespread public interest in the accident," the Threat Analysis Group said.

Google attributed the activity to a North Korean hacking group known as APT37 which it said targets South Korean users, North Korean defectors, policy makers, journalists and human rights activists.

Google also said it has not determined what the malware, which exploited an Internet Explorer vulnerability, was intended to achieve. It reported the problem to Microsoft on Oct. 31 after multiple reports from South Korean users on the same day. Microsoft issued a patch on Nov. 8.

A United Nations panel of experts that monitors sanctions on North Korea has accused Pyongyang of using stolen funds gained through hacking to support its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes to circumvent sanctions.

North Korea does not respond to media inquiries, but has previously released statements denying allegations of hacking.

On Thursday, South Korean officials warned businesses against inadvertently hiring IT staff from North Korea.

In May, the United States issued a similar advisory, saying rogue North Korean freelancers were taking advantage of remote work opportunities to hide their true identities and earn money for Pyongyang. (Reuters)

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday she hoped to lead a trade mission to China once border settings are changed to allow travel to her country's biggest trading partner as it emerges from the pandemic.

Ardern said she had expressed her hopes to visit to China's President Xi Jinping during talks last month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok, which had been their first in-person meeting since 2018.

"I do hope to return to China in person when the settings allow, and I discussed with the President our ambition of taking a trade mission into China early next year – a plan that was welcomed by the President," Ardern told a meeting of the New Zealand-China Council in Auckland.

Ardern said New Zealand's trade and economic links with China have proven resilient, despite the challenges of COVID. Her comments came just two days after China announced it was dismantling key parts of a strict "zero-COVID" policy, in a much-needed move to give momentum to a flagging economy.

Delivering a speech marking 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Ardern said New Zealand's relationship with China was important but complex and evolving.

Ardern said "we continue to recognise that there are areas where China and New Zealand do not agree, where our interests or world view differ."

She added that in those areas where New Zealand and China disagreed her government remained willing to engage but would always advocate for New Zealand's interests and values, and speak out when needed.

"We do this predictably, consistently and respectfully," she said.

During the talks in Bangkok Ardern discussed bilateral relations and areas of co-operation with Xi, while also raising concerns about human rights and the Taiwan Strait.

New Zealand has long been seen as the moderate, even absent, voice on China in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, but it adopted a tougher tone this year after China and the Solomon Islands struck a security pact.

While Australia's relationship with China has deteriorated, New Zealand and China's interactions have remained largely cordial. (Reuters)

Canada on Friday imposed fresh sanctions on Russia, Iran and Myanmar, citing alleged human rights violations by their governments.

The measures included sanctions against 33 current or former senior Russian officials and six entities involved in alleged "systematic human rights violations" against Russian citizens who protested against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,500 individuals and entities from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Sanctions were also imposed on 22 individuals in Iran, who included senior members of the judiciary, prison system and law enforcement, as well as political leaders, such as senior aides to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and figures in state-directed media outlets, the statement added.

Sanctions on Iran came a day after Iran hanged a man convicted of injuring a security guard with a knife and blocking a street in Tehran, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the first such execution over recent anti-government unrest. Nationwide protests erupted after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in police custody on Sept. 16.

"There is more work to be done, but Canada will never stop standing up for human rights," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said.

In addition to Iran and Russia, Canada also imposed sanctions on 12 individuals and three entities in Myanmar that perform key functions on behalf of the Myanmar military, facilitate arms flows to the military and enable the military's violence, Canada said.

The military seized power in a coup in Myanmar last year. Rights activists say the junta is now regularly using the death penalty as a "political tool."

More than 16,500 people have been arrested and more than 13,000 of them remain in detention since the coup, according to a human rights organization that documents violations by the Myanmar military. (Reuters)