 The Weiquan movement is a non @-@ centralized group of lawyers , legal experts , and intellectuals in China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism . The movement , which began in the early 2000s , has organized demonstrations , sought reform via the legal system and media , defended victims of human rights abuses , and written appeal letters , despite opposition from Communist Party authorities . Among the issues adopted by Weiquan lawyers are property and housing rights , protection for AIDS victims , environmental damage , religious freedom , freedom of speech and the press , and defending the rights of other lawyers facing disbarment or imprisonment . 
