50 Years After Prague Spring, Lessons on Freedom
As his country commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Soviet invasion that crushed an effort to ease the totalitarian grip of Communism known as the Prague Spring, the Czech Republic’s… Read more »
Category: dissent
As China’s Woes Mount, Xi Jinping Faces Rare Rebuke
China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, seemed indomitable when lawmakers abolished a term limit on his power early this year. But nearly five months later, China has been ruffled by economic headwinds, a vaccine scandal… Read more »
The roots of Russian aggression
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday met the head of Russia’s oldest rights group as well as the widow of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel literature laureate and prominent dissident of… Read more »
Dmitriev trial highlights brutal treatment of dissent
‘The Yuri Dmitriev case is, perhaps, the most important thing happening in Russia right now,’ says Jay Nordlinger. Dmitriev is a legendary researcher in Karelia, the region in northwest… Read more »
‘Xi Jinping’s Moment’ – Communist Party primacy in all realms of politics and civil society
Xi Jinping has emerged as the most decisive, disciplined Chinese leader in a generation, and, given China’s rise in relative strength compared to the West, the most powerful in more… Read more »
Liu Xiaobo’s legacy will shape China’s future, forum told
China’s government should ensure that the law grants access to independent legal counsel and family members, as well as addressing the ill-treatment in detention and deaths in custody, the United… Read more »
China’s crackdown another step toward ‘digital totalitarian state’?
China’s crackdown on human rights activists is the most severe since the Tiananmen Square democracy movement 25 years ago, according to a new Human Rights Watch report. Beijing is systematically… Read more »
Kremlin disinformation: dismiss, distort, distract, and dismay – at home and abroad
While Russia is employing active measures and perpetuating disinformation abroad, it is also using allegations of fake news to silence domestic critics and analysts who query the official ideological narrative…. Read more »
China losing soft power edge ahead of G20 summit
Until late last month Xi Jinping was looking forward to easy “soft power” victories at this week’s meetings with Angela Merkel in Berlin and the G20 summit in Hamburg… Read more »
Internet the ‘de facto forum’ for Vietnam’s dissenting voices
A prominent blogger and environmental activist in Vietnam was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison on charges of national security offenses, including sharing anti-state propaganda on social media, The New… Read more »