søndag 7. august 2016

China’s crackdown raises familiar specter of foreign forces


In halting televised confessions and emotional courtroom testimony, Chinese lawyers and activists held in a government crackdown have voiced the same ominous message: Shadowy foreign forces are funding, directing and encouraging activities bent on destabilizing China’s government and smearing its reputation. The familiar narrative of a country besieged by foreign enemies - with the United States implied as ringleader - is a key element of China’s yearlong campaign to stamp out the country’s burgeoning legal activism movement. That effort drew new attention this week with the carefully scripted trials of a lawyer and three activists on subversion charges. Read more