Tsao Hsing-cheng, January 18, 2023 Is that even a choice? — you may ask. China is this mammoth totalitarian giant, and Taiwan, small as it is, is a vibrant democracy with formidable technological prowess. In one survey after another, over 80% of Taiwanese are against “reunification” with China under “One Country, Two Systems,” and over half are in favor of Taiwan becoming a de jure independent country. So why is it even a choice as the title suggests? Aren’t the Taiwanese, regardless their political persuasions, united in their resolve to defend Taiwan against China’s likely aggression? Having traveled in Taiwan for 30 days and talked to as many Taiwanese recently, I can assure you that the political landscape there is much more complicated than the […]

December 31, 2018 China is at a crossroads. History will remember 2018. In March, Xi Jinping amended the Constitution to everyone’s chagrin, paving the way to life in power. It’s an anachronism to go back to permanent power in the 21st century. More than that, it’s a subversion of civilization; it’s a shame for the country and for all Chinese nationals.   Xi Jinping has imposed his will on the entire Chinese population. In order to hold onto power, he has to strip the Chinese of their rights and dignity and enslave them. Xi Jinping is building a new model of totalitarianism that directly threatens freedom of movement and property rights. Each person lives in fear. Xi Jinping attempts to monopolize all the resources and gain […]

China Change, November 6, 2018  Teng Biao interviewed Prof. Stein Ringen on August 2, 2018 and October 5 via Skype. Stein Ringen is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Oxford and Professor of Political Economy at King’s College London. Teng Biao is a visiting scholar at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute, New York University and a Chinese human rights lawyer. – The Editors    Teng Biao (TB): I think your book, The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century, is one of the best books on Chinese politics in recent years. Is this your first book on China? What inspired you to study China? Stein Ringen (SR): First, I’m interested in governments and states and how they work. This is the biggest […]

China Change, February 28, 2018       We don’t know what Xi Jinping was expecting when the proposed removal of the term limit for state chairman was announced on February 25 — but he was wrong if he was expecting that the news would be received like a beam of light from the sky, eliciting awe and relief, as depicted in a recent CCTV propaganda video glorifying Xi as the father figure of the people and the country. Xi and his loyalists seem to have been stung by the shock and ridicule — and sometimes the pointed silence — coming from Chinese social media. The censors clamped down fast and heavily. An explainer in People’s Daily a few hours after the announcement summarized ten […]

Mo Zhixu, July 1, 2016 2016 is also an election year in China, in case you are not aware of it.     A struggle is once again brewing in Wukan. Four years ago, after a protracted struggle during which village representative Xue Jinbo (薛锦波) lost his life under mysterious circumstances in police custody, the people of Wukan were able to elect a village leader that they trusted. But several years later, they still haven’t been able to win back their rights and things have again become unsettled. Police recently detained Lin Zulian (林祖恋), the elected head of Wukan’s village committee, and then put him on television to confess to accepting bribes. And in just the past few days in Gansu Province, independent candidates for […]