LEADER FOR LIFE
The World According to Xi Jinping: Kevin Rudd, Foreign Affairs, Nov.-Dec. 2022 — In the post–Cold War era, the Western world has suffered no shortage of grand theories of history and international relations. The settings and actors may change, but the global geopolitical drama goes on: variants of realism and liberalism compete to explain and predict state behavior, scholars debate whether the world is witnessing the end of history, a clash of civilizations, or something else entirely.
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Why China Isn’t Facing Another Tiananmen Moment: Andrew J. Nathan, WSJ, Dec. 2, 2022
After Zero-Covid, China’s Health Industry Faces Titanic Shift: Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, Dec. 6, 2022
Xi Jinping Approaches Multiple Points of No Return: Joseph C. Steinberg, WSJ, Dec. 1, 2022
Jimmy Lai Faces Communist Justice in Hong Kong: Paul A. Gigot, WSJ, Nov. 29, 2022
For Further Reference:
Biden Should Support Chinese Protesters and Dissidents: Stephen Yates and Christian Whiton, Washington Times, Nov. 29, 2022 — The Chinese have taken to the streets in several major cities to protest tyrannical COVID-19 restrictions that have kept some people locked up for months. The protests, however, were not just directed against those restrictions, but also feature the Chinese calling for democracy, including the end to the tenures of leader Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party.
Zero-Covid and Xi Jinping’s Deal with the Devil: Holman W. Jenkins Jr. WSJ, Nov. 29, 2022 — Vladimir Putin has a rival for most obtuse authoritarian. Or perhaps it’s no contest at all. Mr. Putin can always plead contingency.
China Opens ‘Police Station’ to Spy on Citizens in Israel – Report: Lahav Harkov, Jerusalem Post, Dec. 7, 2022 — China has opened a police station in Israel to spy on Chinese nationals abroad, according to the NGO Safeguard Defenders.
The Painter in Italy Who Informed the World About China’s Protests: Lily Kuo and Pei-Lin Wu, Washington Post, Dec. 10, 2022 — Every few seconds, Li Ying receives a message on Twitter. University students are demanding transparency from school administrators; workers in Fuzhou are sleeping in tents in an unheated university dining hall despite orders for campus lockdowns to be lifted; residents in Xi’an are lining up at midnight to take PCR tests so they can go to work the next day, even though coronavirus testing requirements were supposedly lifted.
China Abandons Key Parts of Zero-Covid Strategy After Protests: Frances Mao, BBC News, Dec. 7, 2022 — China is lifting its most severe Covid policies – including forcing people into quarantine camps – just a week after landmark protests against the strict controls.
‘The Authorities Will Step Up Control’: Where Next for China After Protests?: Verna Yu, The Guardian, Dec. 10, 2022 — Since Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, China’s Communist party has enacted a sweeping crackdown on civil society. Independent NGOs have been shut down, journalists and human rights lawyers arrested and outspoken media tamed.
What the Protests Tell Us About China’s Future: William Hurst, Time, Dec. 5, 2022 — As thousands took to the streets across multiple Chinese cities over the last ten days, many have sought to understand the state’s response, any impact this wave of mobilization might have on Chinese politics, and how things might evolve in the coming weeks. It is still very early days and prediction is dangerous, but we can begin to draw some basic lessons.
Protests across China come to a halt: Sky News, YouTube, Dec. 1, 2022
China’s government steps up censorship amid COVID protests, lawyer says: CBC News, YouTube, Dec. 3, 2022 — China’s ‘zero-COVID’ policy has sparked demonstrations in the country’s major cities, leading police to conduct random searches to look for photos and messages about the protests. Teng Biao, a Chinese human rights activist, lawyer and academic living in exile in the U.S., discusses the censorship regulations.
Tiananmen Square: Rarely seen video of the 1989 protests in China: CNN, YouTube, Dec. 6, 2022 — In 1989, protests by students in Tiananmen Square changed the course of history — resulting in a massacre the Chinese government still denies today. Watch CNN’s coverage from on the ground that year. After the Chinese government pulled the plug on the broadcast, CNN reported by telephone and used video travelers snuck out of the country.