Peter Humphrey, September 30, 2019 Bogged down by a trade war with America, unrest in Hong Kong, a slowing economy and a surge of ill will across the planet, the People’s Republic of China is approaching its 70th anniversary on the back foot, and keen to stir some favourable sentiment. At home, in the run-up to the celebrations, its ruler Xi Jinp [...] Keep reading »

Wang Dan, September 8, 2019 In Hong Kong, social resistance against the “China extradition” law has entered the stage of protracted conflict, with various forms of protests taking place every weekend. Hongkongers’ courageous efforts to defend their freedom have won them respect worldwide. Meanwhile, with regard to the goals they are striving [...] Keep reading »

Wang Lixiong, July 18, 2019 Beijing has designated “the main dangers affecting the stability of Xinjiang” as being “separatist forces and illegal religious activity.” This, as a matter of logical extrapolation, naturally divides the Han and local ethnic minorities into opposed groups. Because the Han are neither in favor of [...] Keep reading »

Citizens Movement in China, June 2, 2019 In the hearts of millions of people, there is a collective memory that has been suppressed for 30 years. How to awaken this memory, and confront our nation’s historical wounds? How to exorcise the haze of authoritarianism that has plagued this great land for millenia past? How to break out from the totalit [...] Keep reading »

Teng Biao, March 12, 2019 As the Communist Party held this year’s “Two Sessions” (两会), Beijing activist Hu Jia (胡佳) was kept under control by being forcibly moved across the country to Guangdong. Human rights lawyer Tang Jitian (唐吉田) and Xu Zhiyong (许志永), of the New Citizens Movement, received midnight visits in Zhengzhou [...] Keep reading »

Lü Pin, March 11, 2019 “As far as human rights activism is concerned, the outside world tends to focus on short-term incidents, such as when activism comes into direct confrontation with the state. But the outside world cannot keep long-term and sustained attention, which leads to many long-term, internal difficulties being left undiscussed.” [...] Keep reading »

Liao Yiwu, translated by Michael Martin Day, March 4, 2019 On December 9th, 2018, on the eve of International Human Rights Day, in my hometown of Chengdu, Sichuan, the most influential house church in China today, the Early Rain Covenant Church, was raided by the police and banned, and more than 100 believers were taken away. The chapel, semin [...] Keep reading »

Wang Dan, February 5, 2019 On February 2, tens of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets again, demanding change. This article by 1989 Tiananmen student leader Wang Dan (王丹) was published in Chinese by Radio Free Asia on January 25. After teaching in Taiwan for years, Wang Dan now lives in the Washington, DC area and heads the new Dialogu [...] Keep reading »

Zheng Yefu, January 25, 2019 “Now it’s time to lay it bare: You can’t fool the Party into starting this journey, nor can you allow the calls for political reform that lack a clear final goal to numb the minds of the people.”  I. Why Hasn’t Political Reform Happened? In the late 1970s, China undertook a reform; the main elements were [...] Keep reading »