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On my mind: the death of Liu Xiaobo, the first Nobel Peace Prize recipient to die in custody since the Nazi era. The Chinese Communist Party government spared no effort to both hide his existence from the people they govern, and to spin propaganda to those they do not. Even at the end, propaganda videos purporting to show that he received proper medical care showed the lengths a regime can go when it lacks humanity.
Nicholas Kristof writes a tribute that also puts the onus on the world community, the US included, for consistently soft pedaling the issue to stay in the good graces of China and its economic machine.
The Economist discusses China’s Conscience.
China watcher par excellence, Bill Bishop of Sinicism has a roundup including a link to Perry Link’s English translation of Mr Liu’s Charter 08. Mr. Link added today his reflections in The Passion of Liu Xiaobo.
The South China Morning Post from Hong Kong has extensive coverage. The paper is now owned by Alibaba’s Jack Ma. Despite the central government tightening the screws on Hong Kong with the July 1 20th anniversary of the handover from British to Chinese governance, the paper still maintains a level of journalistic independence.
Recorded in mid-May, hear China legal expert Jerome A. Cohen talk human rights in China on the Sinica podcast.
Hacks:
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Travels:
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Events:
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Ideas:
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Liu Xiaobo: the man China couldn’t erase.
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South China Morning Post has been losing its independence long time ago. Need to be cautious.
totally disagree SCM is an independent newspaper. Just don’t sugar coat it in anyway would you please
I said “a level of journalistic independence.” That they are leading with this shows the vast difference between them and the other outlets in HK reporting on this, and those in the Mainland who are silent. I stated their new owner and did not claim they have full inpedence. For non-Chinese speakers, SCMP is still an outlet to pay attention.
but isn’t it offensive to involve a controversial media with CP background in your post where you tried to pay tribute to a Liu. You should have been sensitive enough to be aware his death is related to CCP.
When I wrote the post I figured you would turn up and find a way to find fault…I included SCMP with lengthy disclosure because it has perhaps the most extensive English language coverage of his death, sample titles include “Liu Xiaobo was free of hate, and his death leaves the nation poorer,” “Chinese censors scrub Liu Xiaobo tributes online,” “‘Lamb to the slaughter’: Hongkongers mourn Liu Xiaobo,” and so on. These do not pay tribute or inform English-language audiences?
re: jason
Ideology … or just awareness? It would seem a rising, aspirational and growing middle class would care a lot, if they knew.
The more immediate impact is probably among the younger generations in Hong Kong who are more aware (access) and have a lot to lose.
I don’t think most of the Chinese people even care about Liu, just as most of us do. It’s a different ideology, which is very hard to argue ours is intrinsically better than theirs, and to this end, that’s all there is.