Under Tim Cook, Apple aided the CCP's censorship and surveillance of its population. It removed almost all VPNs from the Chinese app store, and built a joint-data center with the Chinese government. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/t...
Glad to read @yaqiu.bsky.social on #China #AI:
"The long-term implication is a global information environment heavily shaped by Beijing, alongside AI governance norms that legitimize expansive governmental discretion over the protection of individual rights."
jamestown.org/prc-state-ce...
The U.S.-China AI competition discourse is getting more concerning. On both sides, the competitive impulse feels very real, while the language about “serving the people” and “improving society” feels mostly performative.
Mandatory reading for two types of people: 1) "I just want to China, it was awesome." 2) "China is taking over the world, stop resisting and just submit."
While I am no fan of the Falun Gong disinformation machine, I admire the persistence of Falun Gong practitioners in seeking to hold Cisco accountable for its role in helping the Chinese government torture them. The first time I heard the case was when I started to work on human rights 15 years ago.
"The baseline pension for retirees who lacked formal employment—a category that includes almost all farmers—is 163 yuan ($24) per month."
Endless billions for AI and robotics while the generation that built the miracle is forced to toil until their last breath
I periodically receive trolling emails, most of them are virulent misogyny (you realize CCP-paid trolls hate me more because I am a woman than I am a CCP critic). But this one really looks like AI hallucination. Hello, CCP, I think you need to "drink tea" with your AI.
Of course, Falun Gong media gossip is no comparison to CCP propaganda. But principled CCP critics should speak out against Falun Gong media's rumor-mongering, because it makes the broader anti-CCP camp look less credible.
The China discourse on social media: on the one hand, you have the "useful idiots" on the left denying mass atrocities in Xinjiang; one the other hand, you have Falun Gong media on the right peddling rumors about political infighting in Zhongnanhai every other day. SIGH.
Yes, democracy sometimes fails to deliver, but autocrats always fail to deliver. Now one is thrown out of power by THE PEOPLE. On to the next. When will that man in Beijing face his turn?
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/w...
On Lawfare Daily, @michael-feinberg.bsky.social and human rights advocate @yaqiu.bsky.social discussed the role of AI in China’s surveillance and censorship apparatus, both online and offline. youtu.be/fT_albJp40A
It's good that governments are recognizing that the United Front is a trojan horse, but the challenge is how to respond without turning the broader Chinese diaspora into a collateral damage. The simple answer: real expertise. www.economist.com/china/2026/0...
As we hear more and more about China, we are actually understanding less and less about the country.
Your periodic reminder that Trump and his cronies are the biggest threat to U.S. national security. The politically connected have always tried to profit from their access, but Trump's buddies do it with total shamelessness -- and high success. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
I was quite happy to sit down with @yaqiu.bsky.social for @lawfaremedia.org and discuss an otherwise dour topic: the past, present, and future of the PRC's surveillance state.
On Lawfare Daily, @michael-feinberg.bsky.social sat down with human rights advocate @yaqiu.bsky.social to discuss the role of emerging technologies, like AI, in China’s surveillance and censorship apparatus. youtu.be/fT_albJp40A
Nothing irks me more than people living with freedom and privilege telling me that I no longer understand "submissive" Chinese/Asian values because I’ve somehow morphed into a “Westerner.”
The fact that the unhinged U.S. president is getting more unhinged is depressing. But Americans should still be grateful for the fact that you can say so without fear, and you need to fight to preserve that freedom, as I told @jaynordlinger.bsky.social www.jaynordlinger.com/p/freedom-on...
My trust in the US government’s competence has gone dramatic down. Now every time there is an announcement of a prosecution in a Chinese espionage case, I can’t help but wonder, “did they identify the right guy? Or is this another nothingburger while the real spies continue to run amok?”
The Falun Gong media's anti-CCP rumormongering is having a very damaging effect on the overall credibility of critics of the CCP. It is in the interest of all of us who care about truth to unequivocally condemn it.
It strains credulity that an international police conference is being held in Hong Kong, where the police have madly gone after its citizens for peaceful protest. It is yet another sign of how the international order has gradually been captured by the CCP. www.newsweek.com/interpol-how...
Friday afternoon musing: I entered the human rights field 15 years ago hoping to make China more like America. Increasingly, though, I feel America is becoming more like China. Still, I have faith in our fundamental longing for human dignity. We just need to hang in there. TGIF.
Grateful to @jaynordlinger.bsky.social for the opportunity to talk about my favorite topic -- freedom & democracy: why people in China still want them (despite superficial polls show otherwise) and how Americans need to defend them before it is too late. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/freedom-on...
The marginalization of human rights in global discourse, particularly the lack of attention to human rights in China, is having an worrying effect: more and more people around the world are coming to see the CCP's authoritarianism as a model to be respected and emulated.
When she came to America from China, she noticed something about Americans: they had "freedom on their face." They carried themselves differently, unafraid. Yaqiu Wang (@yaqiu.bsky.social) is a human-rights defender. Inspiring woman, with whom I have podcasted. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/freedom-on...
This is really thoughtful and excellent conversation from @yaqiu.bsky.social and @goldkorn.bsky.social.
Full interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHOq...
Thanks to @chinafile.bsky.social for doing the interview with me. One dilemma many of us CCP critics are grappling with these days is how to keep our criticism of the CCP from being weaponized by the wrong people for their own agenda.
It's disappointing to see how discussions of Chinese AI are so centered on national security, rather than how it affects the lives of people living in the country.
This is encouraging news. When united, the E.U. is a powerful force. We need good values, but we also need the power to defend them. At this critical moment, the E.U. should assume that mantle.
