February 22, 2020 This open letter was initiated by professors Andrew Nathan, Perry Link, and Zhang Lun. Please join them, as many of their colleagues have done, to sign this letter. Please send your name and affiliation to: chinacitizenmovement@gmail.com. The list of signatories will be updated daily. The Chinese version of this letter can be found here. Mr. Xi Jinping, President of China: We are startled and dismayed to learn of the recent forcible arrest in Guangzhou of Xu Zhiyong, a citizen-activist and holder of the degree of Doctor of Laws from Peking University. It was only a few days ago, on February 6, 2020, that Li Wenliang, a physician and an early whistle-blower on the spread of the corona virus in Wuhan, died in […]
By Mo Zhixu, published: April 6, 2016 Authoritarian resilience has always been an illusion. On March 6, 2015, the Wall Street Journal published a piece by George Washington University Professor David L. Shambaugh entitled “The Coming Chinese Crackup.” In it, he pointed to five indications that China’s political system is seriously falling apart—a view that attracted widespread attention for some time after its publication. Ever since 1989, many have predicted the impending collapse of Chinese Communist rule. But there are two reasons why Shambaugh’s piece was so noteworthy. First, Shambaugh has enjoyed good personal relations with leading Party officials. His books have been published in Chinese translation, and state media have often quoted his views. In January 2015, the China Foreign Affairs University under the Ministry […]