Analyses and Opinions

On the Lack of a Fair Judiciary in China: Reflections of a Criminal Defense Lawyer (One) Li Jinxing, September 8, 2023 Li Jinxing (李金星), arguably one of the most prominent defense lawyers in today’s China, has dedicated much of his career…

Lao Gao and I Li Tingting, August 29, 2023 Li Tingting (李婷婷), also known as Maizi (麦子), is a feminist activist and one of the “Feminist Five.” She currently lives in New York City with her partner. In this essay, she tells the story of…

Freedom Isn’t Weak: The Political and Artistic Significance of the Chinese ‘Socialist Core Values’ Graffiti and the Counter-Graffiti in East London Yao Bo, August 18, 2023 Yao Bo (姚博), better known as Wuyuesanren (五岳散人), was a well-known…

‘Not a Single Penny’: Why One Overseas Chinese Won’t Donate to ‘Disaster Relief’ Efforts in China Wuyuesanren, August 5, 2023 Wuyuesanren (五岳散人), or Yao Bo (姚博), was a well-known Chinese journalist, a Weibo “Big V” with a large number of…

Ilham Wang Lixiong, July 29, 2023 This is a China Change translation of a Radio Free Asia column by Beijing-based author Wang Lixiong (王力雄), published on July 24, 2023. Wang Lixiong is a well-known author on Tibet and Xinjiang, as well as…

Young and Furiously Laughing in China Yaxue Cao, May 28, 2023 A Xiaoguo stand-up comedy show in Nanjing. Following the Blank Paper protests last November, I realized that I had been caught off-guard by contemporary Chinese youth,…

In Zealous Effort to Increase Grain Production, China Deploys Force and Coercion to ‘Manage’ the Countryside China Change, April 30, 2023 It’s the season for spring planting in China, starting from the south and moving up to the north.…

A Protest Song Has Emerged in China — It’s the Communist Anthem Yaxue Cao, March 5, 2023 Shanghai, 1973. Photo: Bruno Barbey The first time I heard The Internationale sung in China as a protest song was when Shanghai went into lockdown…

The Choice Facing the Taiwanese People: Moving Towards Greater Enlightenment, or Falling Back to the Dark Age of Dictatorship? Tsao Hsing-cheng, January 18, 2023 Is that even a choice? — you may ask. China is this mammoth totalitarian…

A Conversation With Ilham Tohti Yaxue Cao, January 13, 2023 The article was first published by the Uyghur Human Rights Project. A Chinese version is also available. Photo: AP Listen to the author reading it I wrote down the title…