The Wang Liqiang spy/defector story: real or fake?

Wang Liqiang is a Chinese national now in Australia who recently went to the Australian press (here, The Age) to…

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On Nazi comparisons

On a China-related internet discussion group of which I’m a member, there was recently an exchange about the appropriateness of…

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Xi Jinping’s Succession: What Did the West Get Wrong?

What would happen if Xi Jinping suddenly died, killed by assassination or incurable illness? Would such an unexpected departure of…

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Party Rules 101 – Are all Party Committees the same? Answer is NO.

Explaining Party rules gives me the strange gratification of feeling like a lawyer that I have never felt when dealing…

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Backstory of China’s Anticorruption Supervision Commission

When I wrote the paper The Rise of Party Commission of Discipline & Inspection (1927-2012) three years ago, I thought…

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China’s death-threat diplomacy

Last week I wrote about China’s hostage diplomacy. Now the Chinese government has forced me to use a new headline.…

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First they came for the Canadians…

I have just published an op-ed in the Washington Post on the cases of detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael…

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Jiang Shigong on Xi Jinping and socialism with Chinese characteristics: an empty vessel

Jiang Shigong (强世功) is a distinguished professor at Peking University’s Faculty of Law and a smart guy. Over the last…

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China Enters the Counter-Reform Era

Thanks to Don for inviting me to join his blogging effort!  Below, I’ll lay out my argument that China is…

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Critical theory in the service of authoritarianism

Just saw this wonderful tweet from Chris Buckley. Dang, wish I had said that! But seriously: using the language of…

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